Wednesday, January 6, 2010

California Fight for Education Meeting SUNDAY

Workers, Students, Parents, Community Organize for A Day Without Education!

The Capitalist class is targetting their one of their biggest foes: public education. While they stuff their pockets with our tax dollars their puppets in the White House tell us: there is no money. What about the Bailout? What about the War(s)?! What about the prisons that litter our state. California is #48 out of 50 in education spending and #1 in Prison spending! We must defend our education by Strikes and Days of Action across the state of California. We hope other states and countries can join in.

This week there will be organizing meetings throughout the regions of California.

Northern California Location: International House (game room) at UC Berkeley, 2299 Piedmont Avenue - Berkeley, CA -- Time: 1pm (Meet at 12:00pm at this location to help set the agenda. Everyone is invited.)

Southern California Location: Cal Poly Pomona (building 66 -Bronco Bookstore- room 202 -2nd floor-), 3801 West Temple Avenue - Pomona, CA -- Time: 1pm

Contributors for Facts for Working People have joined with other militants within this movement and agreed to joint proposals for March 4th. What has united us is our recognition that the student militantcy can not sustain the movement. Students must organize with workers and attack the union bureaucracy as it hinders and confuses workers in the movement.

Union officials are eager to hand over millions of dollars in dues money as well as rally their members to elect Barak Obama. If only they orgainzed like that when their workers are being laid off! They have not and will not organize their members to fight against the budget cuts. We believe our actions must shut down the educational system at all levels and that includes strikes, work stoppages and school occupations. In the end we must build a self-sustaining organization after March 4th to continue to challenge capitalism's attempt to privitize education.

We are against capitalism and hope this movement will continue to build a working class movement of students and community members to challenge the system. The March 4th movement is a step toward that direction. Below are our proposals for the next meeting this coming weekend.

March 4th Regional Meeting Proposals

March 4th Regional Meeting Proposals1. Setting up March 4th Committees in where they do not exist ( i.e. LA and SD). Putting them to work where they do exist (i.e. Flyering). [side note: Oakland Committee did a flyering sessions Monday and Tuesday to a local high school and in downtown. seemed like the reception was positive.] I would like to stress this point as more resources put to this outreach is essential to making March 4 successful with the community. We need folks to go out there and flyer with us or to contribute money for the flyers at least!

2. Support Richard Mellors union resolution passed by AFSME 444 and to push other unions to adopt the resolution. Richard's resolution calls for the unions not only to endorse the resolution but to act and use resources to make March 4th strike a reality. We need to make Unions help do the work their rank-and-file workers need them to do!

3. Push student governments to endorse March 4th on campuses in a similar fashion to how we pressure the union bureaucrats. Our goal is to encourage them to act and use student government money to shut down the campuses on March 4th and rally students to participate.

4. Put calls out to various student groups- student groups like Mecha and Black Student Unions vary in their politics and actions. However, they are large organizations and have access to the student body. We agreed to pressure them to also officially call for a March 4th strike and shut down of education.

5. Student Worker Unity Day- This would be a day where students would consciously and actively reach out to the workers of the campus. Student Worker Unity Day is basically a big coordinated outreach action. In my opinion, these should be done weekly, and should build for worker-oriented meetings later the same day. They should also promote the Mellor Resolution. Ideally, we could designate a single day on which all campuses across CA and the USA could do a simultaneous SWUD action. We have been doing Worker outreach at UCB (ie Worker Townhalls, Newsletters) and have seen positive results.

6. A name for the group! We agreed to "No Fees, No Cuts Coalition" but the name doesnt really matter, as long as there is one. Push for other formal measures to make Regionals more effective (eg, bank account?).

If you are interested in getting involved with this movement please contact us. We Fight to Win

Julia Wallace- Organizer
Los Angeles Branch
Labors Militant Voice
(310) 404-6729

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