Milwaukee, WI – The UWM Boycott Coalition for Worker’s Rights at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee declared a major a victory after the university halted sales of Palermo’s Pizza for the remaining school year and summer. Students and workers at the university have been struggling to end the sales of Palermo’s Pizza. A boycott of the pizza was called by Palermo’s workers attempting to form a union.

A two hour sit-in and rally, May 7, carried out by Youth Empowered in the Struggle, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and members of AFSCME and the Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association, resulted in a negotiation that ended the pizza sales for the rest of the school year and summer.

“It has been a long struggle but a worthwhile effort to ensure that our immigrant brothers and sisters are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve,” said Valeria Gonzales, a member of Youth Empowered in the Struggle. “It's about time the university listened to the students' voices.”

Previous actions at the university included an occupation of administrative offices and large rallies. Before this action, the university dropped the prices of other pizzas, removed a prominent Palermo’s pizza sign from the campus pizza stand, and posted notices about the Palermo’s pizza strike.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was pressured by members of SDS in 2008 to sign on to the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent labor rights monitoring organization, which concluded the Palermo’s workers were illegally fired after attempting to form a union. Participation in the WRC has been a major rallying point for boycott coalition organizers to push for the university to join the boycott of Palermo’s.

The May 7 event started outside the UWM Union in the afternoon when about 50 students and community members rallied. Led by Youth Empowered in The Struggle and the Latino Student Union, a group of five students, mostly from Students for a Democratic Society, risked arrest by taking over and occupying the restaurant window where the pizza is sold. They covered the pizza window with a banner stating “Drop Palermo’s. Support the strike. Solidarity with workers.”

As the five students occupied the pizza stand, they were followed by the crowd that was rallying outside. The protest continued outside the pizza stand with YES leading chants such as “Hey hey, ho ho, Palermo’s Pizza’s got to go.” The event lasted two hours and ended after negotiations where the Associate Vice Chancellor announced to the rally that the pizza stand would be shut down throughout the rest of the summer.

The Boycott Coalition has been organizing actions on campus for the past nine months in solidarity with the Palermo’s workers who're fighting to get recognition for the Palermo’s Workers Union. The Palermo’s workers are primarily Latino and immigrant workers.

Palermo's is a frozen pizza company based in Milwaukee. Last summer the majority of its employees filed for the recognition of a union, to which management’s response was to fire the unionizers. As a result, around 180 workers walked out on June 1, 2012 and have been on strike ever since. Initially near 70 workers were fired for their attempts to unionize.

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #Boycott #YouthEmpoweredInTheStruggle #PalermosPizza #antiunionBusting

Milwaukee, WI – Thousands attended this year’s May Day celebration here. The May 1 event advanced the demand for immigration reform, including legalization for all undocumented immigrants in the U.S., as well as continued support for the nearly year-long Palermo's workers’ strike.

Workers from labor unions including USW, LiUNA, AFT, UFCW and the Teamsters marched in the event with good contingents. Teamster Daniel Ginsberg-Jaeckle said, “We need to continue supporting the workers on strike from Palermo’s. The company has hired scab labor to try to break the strike. Many of the union workers out today are here in a show of solidarity with those workers.”

Students and youth came out in large numbers, with many of high school and college age representing the Vosces de la Frontera-affiliated organization Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES). Students for a Democratic Society at UW-Milwaukee also brought out a contingent in support.

Kennia Coronado, vice president of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of YES, said, “We're here because we need to make sure we have a legalization process for all. We need to allow for the reunification of families.”

Coronado states that hundreds of youth from grade school to college level joined the rally and march.

The event closed with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, read in a speech by Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope, “'A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.' We're showing today that our backs are not bent over!”

#MilwaukeeWI #immigrantRights #workersRights #May1 #PalermosPizza

Milwaukee, WI – Over 50 students and community members rallied Feb. 6 at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) to demand an end to the sale of Palermo’s pizza on campus. The rally was organized by the Coalition to Boycott Palermo’s, which includes Youth Empowered in the Struggle, Students for a Democratic Society, the Alliance of History Graduate Students, the Hmong Student Union and the Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association.

The rally was followed by a march around campus with several strikers, along with the participation of organizers from Voces de la Frontera and the United Steel Workers.

While, the march was going on, six UWM students began a sit-in at office of director of auxiliary operations, Scott Peak, and refused to leave until he agreed to remove Palermo’s pizza from campus. The occupiers plastered the walls of Peak’s office with pictures of the strike, Boycott Palermo flyers and other union flyers.

The marchers conducted several mic-checks along the route and stopped in the student union outside Peak’s office.

The students waited about two hours to speak to director Peak, who presented the University’s position that it would make no decisions about the on-campus sale of Palermo’s products until they got written documentation of the National Labor Relations Board statement on the pizza workers’ strike. While those conducting the sit-in waited, others did more mic-checks in the student union and went around campus spreading the word about the ongoing occupation through in-class announcements.

After Peak left his office, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael Laliberte showed up and reiterated what Scott Peak said earlier, facing the wall with his back to the students. The sit-in lasted four and half hours, with a total of 15 students participating. No arrests were made, even as campus police hovered around the third floor of the student union, finally escorting the students from the office space.

This sit-in was the latest action done by the coalition to get Palermo’s pizza off campus. Before the sit-in the Coalition had already gotten the Student Senate and Faculty Senate to sign resolutions in solidarity with the strikers. They also collected over 1200 petition signatures, proving that the students and faculty are in favor of the boycott and want this corrupt corporation’s pizza off of their campus.

However, all that was done by the administration was the removal of the Palermo’s Pizza sign. They now market the product as simply “pizza,” allowing for customers to ‘make their choice.’ The sit-in was performed in hopes that the university would be forced to have to listen to the people.

Students for Democratic Society (SDS) organizer Tiffany Strong states, “The students and faculty are not being heard but instead the CEO is the only one being given the chance to speak. Our campus has a history of standing with workers’ rights and is affiliated with the WRC [Worker Rights Consortium]. The WRC has just come out with a statement finding Palermo’s under various violations. Hopefully with the WRC statement and the Coalition continuing to escalate, the pizza will finally be off our campus!”

The Worker’s Rights Consortium is an independent organization that monitors labor rights. It found that Palermo’s has violated U.S. and international law and the University of Wisconsin’s code of conduct in an illegal, ongoing anti-union and anti-immigrant campaign at the Milwaukee-based Palermo’s pizza factory and Roundy’s food stores.

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #Labor #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #YouthEmpoweredInTheStruggle #PalermosPizza #CoalitionToBoycottPalermos

Milwaukee, WI – Over 50 students rallied today, Feb. 6, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to demand the University join the boycott of Palermo's Pizza. Organized by UWM Boycott Coalition, striking workers participated in today’s rally.

Palermo's Pizza workers, mostly Latino, have been on strike since June 1, 2012 when management fired workers for attempting to organize a union.

After months of petitioning and other actions, today's rally led to the occupation of Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Scott Peak's office.

“Our campaign to get the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to join the boycott of Palermo's Pizza will occupy Scott Peak's office until a written agreement is made to stop the ordering of Palermo's Pizza,” commented Tiffany Strong of Students for a Democratic Society.

A Dec. 13 protest took place after the passing of a Faculty Senate resolution, condemning the sales of Palermo’s Pizza, which led to university administrators removing the Palermo’s sign from a pizza stand and changing the pizza marketing strategy.

A couple of protest organizers talked to the manager to find out whether or not they will continue to sell Palermo’s once the inventory from this semester has run out. The pizza stand manager stated that they would continue to order Palermo’s products to allow customers to make the choice to buy scab-made pizza.

UWM students are currently occupying campus administration offices as of the early evening, Feb. 6. They are demanding that the university stop selling Palermo's on campus. You can help! Call or email Auxiliary Services Director Scott Peak at (414) 229-6738, and email him at speak@uwm.edu, and demand that UWM stop selling scab pizza!

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PalermosPizza #UWMBoycottCoalition #ScottPeak

Milwaukee, WI- On Dec. 13, 40 student activists joined together for an action to escalate the campaign to end the selling of Palermo’s pizza on campus. The students held banners and signs reading “Boycott Palermo’s,” held mic checks and gave students passing by informational flyers on the boycott and strike.

The activists first took action in front of the Palermo’s stand in the food court and then proceeded to the dorms where the restaurant operations director recently moved his office. There, protesters performed mic checks and made statements demanding the removal of the pizza from the dorms. They finally made their way to the administration building, Chapman Hall. Unfortunately, Chapman Hall was locked down with security waiting, so the action took place outside of the building. The students then went back to the starting point to wrap up. Meanwhile, the Faculty Senate voted on and passed a strongly worded resolution to discontinue the sales of Palermo’s on campus. The university chancellor was in attendance at the meeting.

Since the Dec. 13 action and the passing of the Faculty Senate resolution, administrators removed the Palermo’s sign and changed the pizza marketing strategy. The signs at the stand now just simply state “Pizza” and they are selling both Palermo’s and Freschetta pizza. The price of Palermo’s pizza has been lowered to match that of Freschetta, which was originally sold at a separate location in the Union.

A couple of protest organizers talked to the manager to find out whether or not they will continue to sell Palermo’s once the inventory from this semester has run out. The pizza stand manager stated that they would continue to order Palermo’s products to allow customers to make the choice to buy scab-made pizza.

The removal of the Palermo’s sign is a victory since restaurant operations and administration have felt the need to discontinue the marketing of Palermo’s. However, because they are still ordering and selling Palermo’s products, the fight continues. On Dec. 20 and 21, organizers delivered letters to the director of auxiliary operations and restaurant operations staff, reminding them of the importance of removing the Palermo’s products and that the campaign will not end until they do so.

Youth Empowered in the Struggle and boycott coalition organizer Jorge Maya stated, “Although it was finals period, students gathered to make one last push for the campaign to get Palermo’s off of campus. The action had great impact it seems, they took down the Palermo’s sign, which is a small step [towards victory].” The UWM Student Boycott Coalition for Worker’s Rights plans on continuing the campaign throughout the winter break and next semester, until Palermo’s is finally off of their campus.

#MilwaukeeWI #Boycott #YouthEmpoweredInTheStruggle #PalermosPizza #UWMStudentBoycottCoalitionForWorkersRights

The group started a massive campaign on campus, flyering and educating students about the Palermo's workers’ struggle and meeting with UWM administration and the director of UWM restaurant operations to talk about a campus-wide boycott of Palermo's products.

At the same time, various student governments around the country passed resolutions of solidarity to support the boycott and to stop sales of Palermo's products on campuses. The UWM Boycott Coalition for Workers Rights created a resolution in September to be voted on by the Student Association of Milwaukee, the governing organization of the UWM student body. The resolution calls upon the UWM administration to stop the sale of Palermo's products until the labor dispute is resolved.

Coalition members gathered over 1000 signatures from students in support of the boycott. Graduate and undergraduate students, UWM alumni and UWM faculty and staff members all stood with the strikers, many of whom spoke to the Student Association Senate on working conditions within the Palermo's factory and on the Palermo's family's attempts to undermine the right to unionize.

After a long struggle, the resolution finally passed at the Nov. 19 Student Association meeting. UWM student Hannah Engber, who attended the meeting in support of the resolution, said, “I believe that workers’ rights are imperative to a functioning society. As students we have an obligation to fight for our future and the future of all workers.”

Organizers say there is more work to be done. Tiffany Strong, an SDS member and Student Association senator, has been integral in communicating the students’ voice on this issue to other student senators. She said, “There is still much work to do. We first must make sure that the Student Association of Milwaukee and the administration stop the ordering and selling of Palermo’s. Also, as organizers, we have to continue petitioning and reaching the student masses and continue the fight, for this is only the beginning. The workers’ struggle is the student struggle!”

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #Labor #strike #PalermosPizza

Students for a Democratic Society is calling on campuses and students across the country to stand with the striking Palermos Pizza workers in Milwaukee, WI.

Organize your campus to boycott the pizzas (http://sliceofjustice.com/), sign the petition (http://signon.org/sign/tell-palermos-pizza-stop), and donate to the strike fund (https://www.wepay.com/donations/183059)

Palermos workers demand what all workers deserve: respect, dignity, and the right to collectively bargain. In demanding a Palermos Workers Union, these workers have faced retaliatory action and incredible risk.

The Palermo’s Workers Union is demanding that Palermo Villa recognizes the Palermo’s Workers Union, re-instate the workers who were fired or replaced for participating in the strike, and negotiate a fair labor contract.

These workers, mostly Latino, courageously fight back amidst a time when workers, immigrants and students are all under attack from a ruling class in economic crisis.

A victory for the Palermos Workers Union is a victory for us all!

We applaud members of Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society who picket and organize alongside the striking workers.

Workers and students: unite and fight!

Boycott Palermos!

www.newsds.org

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PalermosPizza #pizzaWorkersStrike

Milwaukee, WI – More than 50 people came together here, July 12, for a Solidarity Dinner, followed by a mass picket to support the striking Palermo’s pizza workers. The Solidarity Dinner, held at United Lodge 66, brought together Palermo’s workers and members of Students for a Democratic Society, Voces de la Frontera, the Machinists, Occupy and other supporting organizations. More than $700 was raised to support the strike.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #VocesDeLaFrontera #PalermosPizza #pizzaWorkersStrike

Milwaukee, WI – Demanding the right to collectively bargain, Palermo’s frozen pizza workers have been out on strike since June 1.

Workers and supporters picket six days a week while collecting thousands of petition signatures online. A national boycott is in effect for Palermo’s frozen pizzas.

A solidarity dinner will be held July 12 at United Lodge 66 at 6:00 p.m., bringing together Palermo’s workers and members of Voces de la Frontera, the Machinists, Occupy and other supporting organizations.

After the dinner, at 7:30pm, attendees are all invited to join the picket line.

“We expect to raise money and enjoy our creativity before Thursday's picket,” commented Daniel Ginsberg of Occupy Milwaukee.

Carolina Soza-Gonzalez, who is helping to organize the solidarity dinner said, “The just fight for living wages, benefits and safe working conditions has been a constant through the history of this country. Milwaukee in particular is one of the places where the workers have gone as far as giving their lives for an eight-hour work day. Today the Palermo workers are the ones leading this fight, for them and for all of us. It is because their fight goes beyond this particular factory that we have the duty to support them. These workers, and their families, are fighting for our rights by risking it all – jobs, housing, health benefits.”

Soza-Gonzalez added, “The strike has been going on for over a month and we do not know exactly how much longer it will go on...so we need the support of everyone...the workers need money for rent and basic needs, they need food and even water and umbrellas for the picketing. They also need to know we are with them. They need our strength to continue, until victory.”

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #OccupyMilwaukee #PalermosPizza #pizzaWorkersStrike

Milwaukee, WI – A few blocks from Brewers stadium, picketing in hot sun, 150 plant employees of Palermo's Pizza are out on strike.

These workers, many Latino, walk the picket line each day, demanding job reinstatement, the recognition of the Palermo’s Workers Union and a just contract that addresses health and safety concerns, among other things.

Striking worker Roberto Silva says, “We want a union and we demand justice.”

A national boycott of Palermo’s Pizza is taking off, along with an online petition, which can be signed here. A strike fund has also been set up here.

The strikers are fed up with the way they are being treated. Intimidation, harassment and unsafe working conditions brought problems to a tipping point. Ten days ago, on June 1, these workers walked off the job and now face termination. Using termination and immigration audits as tactics to stop the union organizing, Palermo’s Pizza has not fazed the striking workers.

Solidarity is pouring in from Voces de la Frontera, faith and labor leaders, local labor unions, the national AFL-CIO and Occupy Milwaukee. A petition has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board. There will be elections for a union July 6.

Tiffany Strong of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) brought water to the picket line. “Every worker should have the right to organize and create a union. We should boycott Palermo’s until they agree to allow these workers to unionize and give them the respect and the rights they deserve. This is not just a workers’ fight or immigration fight, but a fight for humanity.”

Peter Adamczak of Occupy Milwaukee has been at the strike several days, helping to mobilize people and bring supplies. “Occupy supports this strike because it is a direct challenge to those who feel emboldened after Scott Walker's victory against the recall. This strike is a sure sign that the working class has not given up!”

#MilwaukeeWI #Labor #classStruggleUnionism #PalermosPizza #pizzaWorkersStrike #immigrationRights