{"id":24165,"date":"2019-09-21T19:39:11","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T03:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=24165"},"modified":"2019-09-22T00:10:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T08:10:19","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-solidarity-with-auto-workers-no-scabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-solidarity-with-auto-workers-no-scabs\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Solidarity with Auto Workers! NO SCABS!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NoWe Say Fight Back!<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Seize Solidarity House<\/a><\/h1>\n

The corrupt and Quisling leadership of the United Auto Workers Union has sent its 50,000 General Motors worker-members out on strike\u2013a strike the labor bosses probably never wanted, as with the wildcat school workers\u2019 strikes of recent months.<\/p>\n

While William Serrin in his, \u201cThe Company and the Union,\u201d showed how the UAW used a counterfeit strike in 1970 to exhaust the ranks and then ram through a terrible contract, the social atmosphere is much different now\u2013social uprisings all over the world.<\/p>\n

It could be things will get out of hand. I surely hope so. There is every reason for more wildcats in Chrysler, Fords, and beyond.<\/p>\n

Here is a glaring contemporary reason.<\/p>\n

Nine UAW bosses have been charged with crimes ranging from embezzling from the union\u2019s treasury, to the tune of millions, to accepting bribes from the auto bosses in terms of cash, plush resorts, golf trips, and much more\u2013all well documented in the Detroit press.<\/p>\n

The two top UAW bosses, including president Gary Jones will be charged. In the highlight announcements of this strike, Jones is nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n

Clearly, the bribery and embezzlement involved both the auto companies and the UAW. There was a rotten exchange\u2013gifts and money for the delivery of sellout contracts; cheating on ratification votes when necessary.<\/p>\n

These crimes, however, are but a thin layer over the bigger heist every major union in the US conducts day by day. We shall get to that greater hustle shortly. First, what to do now?<\/p>\n

If this strike is to be won, it will have to be through direct action by the rank and file, self-organized in workers councils across all of auto (not just the false \u201ctarget\u201d GM) and including non-member supporters\u2013spouses, students, teachers, radicals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.counterpunch.org\/2019\/09\/17\/seize-solidarity-house\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Climate strike \u2013 live: Millions across world demand urgent action to save planet in largest environmental protest in history (an eco friendly way to end capitalism?)<\/h1>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of mostly students have taken to the streets of Australia<\/a> and other Asia-Pacific countries as a day of worldwide demonstrations against climate change<\/a>\u00a0gets underway.<\/p>\n

Millions of people around the world are expected to take part in what could be the largest climate protest in history. British students are preparing to walk out of lessons and lectures and adults are being encouraged to join them as they strike.<\/p>\n

Protests inspired by the teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg<\/a> are planned in around 150 countries as people demand world leaders take immediate action to limit the harmful effects of manmade climate change ahead of a environmental summit at the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>\u00a0in New York<\/a> on Monday, as the UN General Assembly opens.\u00a0\u00a0 www.independent.co.uk\/environment\/global-climate-strike-live-protests-greta-thunberg-speech-demonstrations-a9112986.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nurses<\/p>\n

Nurses in Four States Strike to Push for Better Patient Care<\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

Thousands of nurses across the country went on strike Friday morning, pushing for better patient care by demanding improved work conditions and higher pay.<\/p>\n

About 6,500 National Nurses United members at 12 Tenet Healthcare hospitals in California, Arizona and Florida organized a 24-hour strike, which began at 7 a.m., to protest current nurse-to-patient ratios that they contend are burning out employees and making it difficult to provide the best possible care.<\/p>\n

In Chicago, more than 2,000 nurses walked off the job after contract negotiations between National Nurses United and the University of Chicago Medical Center broke down on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to advocate for our patients,\u201d said Yajaira Roman, an intensive care unit nurse who works for Tenet Healthcare\u2019s Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., and a member of the union\u2019s bargaining committee. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty much urging the hospital to invest in the nurses and take steps to strengthen our recruitment and retention of experienced nurses at the hospital.\u201d\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2019\/09\/20\/us\/nurse-strike.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Striking<\/p>\n

80,000-plus Kaiser workers may strike Oct. 14, but talks continue<\/h1>\n

Unions representing more than 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers said their members will participate in a weeklong strike starting Oct. 14 to protest the company\u2019s labor practices.<\/p>\n

The healthcare giant\u2019s workers will strike in California and five other states as well as the District of Columbia, the unions said. The strike will affect employees with jobs as optometrists, a variety of technicians, clinical laboratory scientists, housekeepers and hundreds of other positions \u2014 largely those who are not doctors, registered nurses or mental health workers.<\/p>\n

A coalition of Kaiser Permanente unions announced the move in a news release Monday. With more than 80,000 workers, the October strike would be one of the biggest since 185,000 Teamsters went on strike at United Parcel Service in 1997, the coalition said.<\/p>\n

Contracts expired at the end of September 2018, and unrest escalated in July<\/a><\/u> when talks between the coalition and Kaiser stalled. Unions said they would take steps toward a potential strike. Kaiser employees and families marched through Oakland on Labor Day.<\/p>\n

www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2019-09-16\/more-than-80-000-kaiser-permanente-workers-to-strike-in-october<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Zionist-U.S. Orders Duke and U.N.C. to Recast Tone in Mideast Studies (people make gods, gods don’t make people)
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

The Education Department has ordered Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remake the Middle East studies program run jointly by the two schools after concluding that it was offering students a biased curriculum that, among other complaints, did not present enough \u201cpositive\u201d imagery of Judaism and Christianity in the region.<\/p>\n

In a rare instance of federal intervention in college course content, the department asserted that the universities\u2019 Middle East program violated the standards of a federal program that awards funding to international studies and foreign language programs. The inquiry was part of a far-reaching investigation into the program by the department, which under Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, has become increasingly aggressive in going after perceived anti-Israel bias in higher education.<\/p>\n

That focus appears to reflect the views of an agency leadership that includes a civil rights chief, Kenneth L. Marcus,<\/a> who has made a career of pro-Israel advocacy and has waged a yearslong campaign to delegitimize and defund Middle East studies programs that he has criticized as rife with anti-Israel bias.<\/p>\n

In this case, the department homed in on what officials saw as a program that focused on the region\u2019s Muslim population at the expense of its religious minorities. In the North Carolina program\u2019s outreach to elementary and secondary school students, the department said, there was \u201ca considerable emphasis placed on the understanding the positive aspects of Islam, while there is an absolute absence of any similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism or any other religion…\u00a0\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2019\/09\/19\/us\/politics\/anti-israel-bias-higher-education.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

No school should go without a nurse, a social worker and a librarian<\/h1>\n

Seven years ago, I stood proudly<\/a> as a member of the Chicago Teachers Union during the 2012 teachers\u2019 strike that catapulted both poor working conditions for teachers and poor learning conditions for students into the limelight.<\/p>\n

Since then, teachers\u2019 strikes have happened across the country. And now all eyes are on the CTU: Will Chicago teachers strike again?<\/p>\n

Many people have drawn parallels to 2012, but the situation is much different. In 2012, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked teachers to work a longer school day and year without any extra compensation. An independent fact-finder sided with the CTU and said teachers should be paid for that extra time<\/a>. Emanuel didn\u2019t buckle, and teachers went on a seven-day strike until he did.\u00a0\u00a0 chicago.suntimes.com\/2019\/9\/4\/20849150\/chicago-teachers-union-contract-talks-nurses-librarians-social-workers-suburban-schools?fbclid=IwAR29CaenCcrxYvbOx-RENLc88k1Np_zNmddUu6DBv3FYisPuEMu9WV-DjFI<\/a><\/p>\n

Wayne State Board of Governors rejects code of conduct<\/h1>\n

A proposed code of conduct and responsibilities for the Wayne State University Board of Governors was rejected Friday, highlighting anew the ongoing split between members.<\/p>\n

The policy has been worked on for a long time and is overdue, said Governor Marilyn Kelly, chair of the WSU board’s Bylaws Review Committee, which recommended its adoption.<\/p>\n

But it was voted down by Governors Dana Thompson, Michael Busuito, Sandra Hughes O\u2019Brien and Anil Kumar. Those four board members have been at odds with the other four governors on numerous issues in recent months, including actions taken at a\u00a0June 21 meeting of the board that led to a lawsuit, which remains unresolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very disappointed that it failed,\u201d Kelly said after the meeting. \u201cIt seems like the kind of commitment that people would find no difficulty with.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement of responsibilities and code of conduct included numerous pledges including participating in the appointment, support and assessment of the president; understanding the mission of the university, preparing for and participating in all official board meetings and recognizing that the board\u2019s principal role is to provide oversight, review and approve strategies while deferring to the administration for the management of daily business.\u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/wayne-county\/2019\/09\/20\/wayne-state-board-governors-rejects-code-conduct\/2390845001\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Janet<\/p>\n

UC President (and Homeland Security Fascist) Janet Napolitano to step down<\/h1>\n

University of California President Janet Napolitano, who has championed immigrant students and sexual abuse victims but whose management style has sparked criticism, announced Wednesday she was resigning as head of the nation\u2019s premier public research university system.<\/p>\n

Napolitano made the announcement at the UC regents meeting at UCLA. She will step down Aug. 1, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision was tough, and at this moment bittersweet, but the time is right,\u201d Napolitano said. \u201cWith many new board members, with a new governor and what will be seven years of service behind me, I think the university will benefit from some fresh blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Napolitano, 61, said she would join the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy to teach and write in fall 2021 after a yearlong sabbatica\u00a0 www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2019-09-18\/uc-president-janet-napolitano-resigns<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Reuters<\/p>\n

U.S. drone strike kills 30 pine nut farm workers in Afghanistan<\/h1>\n

A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day\u2019s labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday.\u00a0 The attack on Wednesday night also injured 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at mountainous Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them,\u201d tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul told Reuters by telephone from Wazir Tangi.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan\u2019s Defence Ministry and a senior U.S official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike, but did not share details of civilian casualties.\u00a0 www.reuters.com\/article\/us-afghanistan-attack-drones\/u-s-drone-strike-kills-30-pine-nut-farm-workers-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1W40NW<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hastings makes good use of all these and more. Curiously, though, he neglects the memoirs of Colonel Bui Tin. Bui Tin is famous in Vietnam. He was the man who, in the absence of a more senior officer, accepted the surrender of the Southern government at the presidential palace in Saigon on 30 April 1975, after North Vietnamese tanks had crashed through its gates. Subsequently he became deputy editor of\u00a0Nhan Dan<\/em>, the Vietnamese Communist Party\u2019s official newspaper. He was an eyewitness to many of the key events in the country\u2019s post-1945 history and was on close terms with senior members of Hanoi\u2019s ruling elite. In September 1990, disillusioned by the corruption and incompetence of the government, he went into exile in Paris. His memoir,\u00a0Following Ho Chi Minh<\/em> (1994), as well as a series of interviews he gave to the BBC World Service, are the best inside account of political life in the North. He remained in Paris, available for interview, until his death in August 2018. And yet he is nowhere quoted. The other surprising absence is Truong Chinh, the ruthless old Stalinist principally responsible for the brutal Chinese-style land reform carried out in the early 1950s. He rates only one passing mention.\u00a0\u00a0 portside.org\/2019-09-14\/vietnam-terror-was-absolute<\/a><\/p>\n