Student Labor Week of Action March 28-April 4th!

[Omaha Steve]

MARCH 2008 SLACTIVIST NEWS

* ON THE ROAD TO THE NATIONAL STUDENT LAOR WEEK OF ACTION!
o SIGN UP NOW!
o Grid of Local Actions
o Ideas & Resources
o Campaigns
o Organizing Kit
* There Ought to Be a Law – VIDEO CONTEST
* ACTION ALERT! Spread the petition to stop slavery in the fields of Immokalee, FL
* JOIN US for the Student Labor Strategies Forum at the Jobs with Justice National Conference
* Announcements and Upcoming Opportunities!

On the Road to the National Student Labor Week of Action

We are a little less than a month away from what is shaping up to be an amazing National Student Labor Week of Action. This March 28th – April 4th, students will stand together with workers, faith allies, and community organizations in a week of actions and events across the country to celebrate the lives of Cesar. E Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

Last week almost 30 campuses hopped onto our first national conference call and shared their amazing campus campaigns and initial plans on the week of action. Farmworker Justice, Affirmative Action, campus worker contracts and union drives, and living wages were but a few of the issues students are bringing to the forefront of the fights for social and economic justice in campuses across the country. We know that there are dozens of campuses that weren’t able to join us, and that’s why we scheduled a second national conference call for NEXT Thursday, March 13th @ 9pm Eastern. Hear updates and get new ideas on how to participate, and also get some amazing MEDIA TRAINING on our next conference call. If you’d like to learn more about the week of action or join us on the next national conference call, you can email [e-mail].

Visit www.studentlabor.org to learn more about the week of action, download the organizing kit and get ideas on how to get involved, and learn about great national campaigns you and your peers can get involved in.

o SIGN UP NOW!
o Grid of Local Actions
o Ideas & Resources
o Campaigns
o Organizing Kit

There Ought to Be a Law – VIDEO CONTEST

Hey Student Activists! How’d you like to win some cash and educate the country on the challenges workers face when they try to organize?

Did you know that: (from American Rights at Work)

Under the current labor law system, employers often use a combination of legal and illegal methods to silence employees who attempt to form unions and bargain for better wages and working conditions. When faced with organizing drives:

* 25 percent of employers fire at least one pro-union worker
* 51 percent threaten to close a worksite if the union prevails
* 91 percent force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors.

We know you see many of these horrid attacks on worker’s rights on campus all the time, and we need your help sharing your stories and putting faces to these issues in your communities!
That’s why the Communication Workers of America and Jobs with Justice have teamed up to sponsor a video contest where you can tell us your stories and why there needs to be labor law reform and why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

Visit www.efcavideo.org to learn more about the details and submit your video. Contest is ongoing through the week of action, so don’t forget to bring and use those cameras!

ACTION ALERT! Spread the petition to stop slavery in the fields of Immokalee, FL

Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) launches National Petition Campaign to end modern-day slavery, sweatshops in the fields!

The CIW has launched a National Petition Campaign to End Sweatshops and Modern-Day Slavery in the fields as the next major phase in the Campaign for Fair Food.

Seven years have passed since the launch of the Taco Bell boycott; a year has passed since Burger King publicly rejected the CIW's demands and launched a campaign to take away the gains made through the Yum Brands and McDonald's agreements; and just one month has passed since a federal indictment was handed down for the 7th case of modern-day slavery in the fields over the past decade.

And still, Burger King refuses to take responsibility for the degradation and sweatshop conditions endemic to the industry that supplies its tomatoes. It is time to say enough. Standing together as workers and consumers, with the national petition drive as our tool, we can make the latest slavery case the last..

Click on the link to learn more about the campaign and petition.

JOIN US for the Student Labor Strategies Forum at the Jobs with Justice National Conference

The 2008 JwJ National Conference (May 2-4, 2008 in Providence, RI) will attract a diverse group of more than 1,000 labor, community, student, and religious activists and organizers from across the country and the world for sessions on building power for workers, health care, immigrant worker’s rights, the campaign for a floor wage in Asia, student and youth organizing, low-income worker organizing, music, art, fun, and more!

The Student Labor Action Project would like to invite interested students to a National Student Labor Strategies Forum happening Friday, May 2nd where we plan to:-

* Bring students across the country together to analyze, learn from, and celebrate the work in 2007-2008, and look ahead to the summer and 2008-2009 academic year.
* Hear and share stories of exciting campaigns waged by students and their allies on campuses and communities across the country.
* Networking opportunities to meet and connect with other students and our allies from community, faith, and worker organizations.

That’s just the Student Labor Strategies Forum ?.Visit the JwJ website to see and learn more that’s happening at this exciting conference and to register!

There are limited scholarships available, email us your completed scholarship application by March 10, 2008.

Announcements and Upcoming Opportunities!

WANTED: new generation of writers and communication specialists to build tomorrow’s labor movement today!

AFL-CIO state bodies across the country are looking for recent college graduates with a deep commitment for social and economic justice who will work through November to help elect politicians at every level of government who stand with working families.

The AFL-CIO runs the largest grassroots mobilization program of any organization in the country, mobilizing more than 19.5 million working men and women across America. The 2008 election is absolutely pivotal.

We are looking for internal communications coordinators in key Presidential Battleground States. Ideal candidates are dedicated, creative, and passionate individuals who are ready to implement innovative use of video, blogging, social networking, newsletters, e-activist networks, and all other types of internal communications to deliver a strong progressive economic populist message.

We are looking for persuasive writers. Ability to relocate is a strong plus. Women and people of color strongly encouraged to apply. Pay and benefits are competitive and vary between States. Relationships with progressive organizations a strong plus.

Send your resume and a cover letter to Bernard Pollack at [e-mail].

Student Environmental Action Coalition - Regional Organizer

The Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) is seeking an experienced and motivated individual to join our organization as a youth, student and community organizer on climate change issues in their region and to act as a liaison with the Energy Action Coalition (EAC) and the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). This position is full time and may be based in the Southeast, Midwest, Northeast or San Francisco CA dependent on the skills of the applicant and the region she/he is in.

SEAC is a student and youth run national network of progressive organizations and individuals whose aim is to uproot environmental injustices through action and education. We define the environment to include the physical, economic, political, and cultural conditions in which we live. By challenging the power structure which threatens these conditions, students in SEAC work to create progressive social change on both the local and global levels.

If you think you would make a great member of our team, please send a resume and cover letter to [e-mail]. The deadline is rolling, but priority will be given to applications received by March 5th 2008. Feel free to email with questions. www.seac.org www.climatechallenge.org

Hotel Workers Rising Internship

Across North America, hotel workers are rising – organizing to lift one another out of poverty. Housekeepers, dishwashers, cooks are standing together to win the right to organize a union and improve their lives.

They need you – your energy, your education, your enthusiasm – to join them in that fight. UNITE HERE is offering a six-week, paid Hotel Workers Rising Internship for passionate student leaders who will spend their summer in the struggle for justice. Internship sites will be based in major cities across the U.S. and Canada.

The Hotel Workers Rising Internship will run in two sessions:
June 2nd-July 11th, 2008 and July 21st-August 29th, 2008.
Stipend: $450.00 per week.
Participants are responsible for their own housing.
For more information, email [e-mail]
Application Deadline: March 23, 2008.
To apply, click here. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
MOBILIZEORGANIZE: Do you want to fight for immigrants’ rights and economic justice?

Make a difference ? become a member of the UNITE HERE Organizing Team working to organize hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers in hotel, casino, retail and laundry work throughout North America. Help workers stand together and fight for their rights and economic security. We are interviewing soon-to-graduate and post graduate applicants for a two day intensive organizing skills workshop. Recommended participants will be offered paid organizer training apprenticeships and jobs.

2008 Dates are:

* Philadelphia, PA - April 18, 19
* Los Angeles, CA - May 2, 3
* New York, NY - June 6, 7

Requirements: Desire to fight for justice and organize the unorganized. ? Valid driver’s license.? Excellent communication skills.

How to Apply: Fill out an online application at http://jobs.unitehere.org/organizerapp.php For More Information contact: [e-mail]

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