Responsibility of Trade Unions and People of Conscience for March for Jobs, Pittsburgh

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Responsibility of Trade Unions and People of Conscience for March for Jobs, Pittsburgh

To our trade union brothers and sisters:

Over 100 trade union, religious, civil rights and immigrant right organizations and over 350 individuals are calling on people to come to Pittsburgh on September 20 for a March on Jobs, right before the “G-20” summit of the political leaders of the 20 largest economic powers to be held in that city. The endorsers include the United Steel Workers and the United Electrical Workers, who are mobilizing for the march. The Bailout the People Movement, as initiators of this activity, have always taken courageous and bold stands. They have respect because they have been willing to work with others.

This struggle needs your help. Working people are facing their biggest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Right now, over 27 million people are unemployed or underemployed in the country (14.9 million officially unemployed, 9.1 million unemployed and 2.3 million not counted because they had not looked for work in 4 weeks). A record 1.5 million homes have gone into foreclosure in the first half of 2009. The labor movement has been on the decline, as the big corporations and their government manipulated some trade union leaders to think that the way forward was to collaborate with the bosses rather than fight against them. The labor movement has always been strongest when it has worked with other social sectors.

Now many workers have begun to fight back. Stella D’Oro workers in the Bronx have been fighting against wage and benefits cuts and a plant closing for a year. The Republic Windows workers in Chicago took over their plant to win their severance and health insurance due them. Immigrant workers have been demonstrating for legalization. Homeowners are fighting against foreclosure, students are opposing tuition increases, women are fighting for equal rights and wages, people of color are opposing racial profiling and police brutality. Meanwhile, the U.S. is spending $100 million each day for the war against Afghanistan, but cannot find the money for health insurance for the poor. The governments are continuing their bailouts of trillions of dollars to the banks and big financial institutions. The recent G-20 ministerial meeting in London approved the multi-million dollar bonuses to the managers of these institutions, showing that they care for the CEOs but not for the common people.

It is high time for the labor leaders to join with others in fighting for a people’s agenda. It will show your respect and love for the working people to have a tent in Pittsburgh with your union banners. You can help provide busses to bring people from other parts of the country. You could help to also set up a job fair, show students how to apply for tuition assistance, help people to fight against foreclosures. In other countries, such unity between the trade union movement and other workers has brought gains for all working people.

We must show that we are the ones with a conscience, that we care about the working people here and around the world. Please come to Pittsburgh and show your support!

March: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2 PM, Monumental Baptist Church, Soho & Wylie Streets

Contact: Bail Out the People Movement, www.BailOutPeople.org, March4Jobs@gmail.com, NYC: 212-633-6646, Pittsburgh: 412-780-3813

Dr. Muhammad Shafique

President


Mr. Shahid Comrade

General Secretary

(917) 280-0840