Organizing Kit: Student Labor Week of Action

Posted by on February 26, 2007

STUDENT LABOR WEEK OF ACTION MARCH 28 – APRIL 4
OUR DREAMS, OUR RIGHTS: DEMAND A BETTER FUTURE

Imagine a world where everyone who chooses to is able to go to college; a world where workers on our campuses and in our communities have a voice about the conditions in which they work every day; a world where the fruits and vegetables we eat are picked by workers who earn a living wage; a world where we can proudly wear our university apparel, knowing the workers that made our clothing were paid fairly and afforded the basic rights of breaks, safe working conditions and an 8 hour work day. Cesar havez and Martin Luther King, Jr. both imagined a world like this.

Now is the time to turn our dreams for a better world into a reality.

From March 27-April 4, 2007, students and workers join together to celebrate the lives of Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to continue their work to build a better future. Join us as we demand:

* An end to worker intimidation and a fair process for workers to join unions, including passage of the Employee Free Choice Act
* Living wages for all campus employees
* University codes of conduct that support workers? rights both on campus and overseas
* And MUCH MORE!

The struggles for equality, access to higher education and for fair and safe working conditions throughout our campuses, fields, and factories have a long and proud history in the US. Organizing by students and workers have brought about much needed changes such as labor laws for farm workers in California, the desegregation of our universities, and the 40-hour work week. It has been only through coming together and demanding change that we have achieved social progress.

Dr. King once said, ?Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for freedom. A man can?t ride your back unless it is bent.?

It is in this tradition that we announce the 8th annual National Student Labor Week of Action. Encompassing both Cesar Chavez Day and the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the National Student Labor Week of Action is a time for students across the country to demonstrate our strength as we demand respect and dignity for working people and affordable, accessible education for everyone.

Working people are struggling to make ends meet. The rising cost of tuition and financial aid cuts are making it harder for people to attend college, and many young people are burdened with mountains of student loan debt. Students and workers of all ages are falling behind as the gap between the rich and the poor widens. Although the best opportunity for working people to get ahead economically is by uniting with co-workers to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits, our schools and corporations routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire people who try to organize unions.2007 marks the 39 th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers began organizing over 40 years ago. While significant changes have been made since then, there is still much more work to do.

* DOWLOAD THE ORGANIZING KIT
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9paJRZs1Tcui/

* SIGN UP HERE!
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/97aJRZs1Tcu8/