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I have been the National Coordinator
with CLR for just over 6 months now. I have learned much in this
time. I have learned that the struggle by workers for a voice
goes on daily. I have learned that those who sit on top of the
corporate world will do anything to maintain their hold on power
and money.
I have learned that no matter how hard workers get beaten down,
they keep rising up and continuing their fight. They refuse
to surrender. They refuse to believe that they deserve poverty
wages and dangerous working conditions. They know that
as humans they have the right to live quality lives, and to work
at jobs they choose, and to be rewarded for that work. They demand,
and fight for that right. And with your support they will achieve
that right.
Just as workers need more than poverty wages, organizations like
Campaign for Labor Rights need resources to enable us to support
worker struggles and to educate people in the US about the realities
our sisters and brothers face and the systemic causes of their
suffering. I know that you already understand this because you
have financially supported CLR's work.
I want to tell you a little bit about our present needs and then
ask you to take action on two urgent issues – a Free Trade
Agreement that the Republican Congressional leadership plans to
ram through before the new Congress takes over, and the brutal
repression of teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico.
I took this job because I believe that each of us is deserving
of respect. I believe that we should always do all we can to eliminate
inequality and to resist exploitation. The dominant economic system
can only function by applying inequality and exploitation. And
that means there is a lot we must resist. It also means that we
need to have the resources to continue the fight.
Campaign for Labor Rights is a small organization that
does incredible work on behalf of workers everywhere. We are leaders
in the anti-sweatshop movement. We educate, we organize and we
mobilize. We offer a critical analysis of trade policy and savage
capitalism that is too rarely heard in today’s world.
We do this with your support, and a very small budget. We do
it with computers that are barely hanging on, and we often pay
our bills late. We do this because our commitment is to justice
and to the workers of the world, and not to the electric company
(though we do try to get the bills paid before the lights go out?).
If it sounds like we are stretched, it’s because we are.
But we get our work done, and we do it well. Your support enables
us to keep going.
With this letter I am asking you to really step up and support
us, even more than you have in the past. There are two areas you
can especially help out with: our computer system and our educational
program. Our computer system needs to be upgraded, and quickly.
The time we spend fiddling with our antiquated computer system
is time we aren't spending on critical program work. Outside tech
support is incredibly expensive. For $6,000 we could buy a new
system that would meet our needs for the next six years or so.
So please, give as much as you can. It really will make a difference.
The second area is our educational program. We have a sweatshop
curriculum that we developed a decade ago. It is an excellent
program, but there have been many changes in the world and it
needs to be updated and expanded. This requires time and research,
as well as additional materials. This curriculum will allow us
to reach students and teachers at all levels of the educational
system, as well as community groups and organizers. It will inspire
and empower individuals to begin building stronger community institutions
based on justice and equality.
We will recoup our investment over time as school systems and
teachers buy the sweatshop curriculum, but we need $3,000 up front
to prepare the materials. If you can contribute $100 or more for
this important project, I'll send you a copy of the sweatshop
curriculum when it is finalized next spring. You can use it or
donate it to a school or library.
The other main part of our educational program is our critique
of the current economic system. We would like in the coming year
to spend more time working directly with communities and building
our grassroots base. In addition we would like to present workshops
at more conferences, and to put CLR at the forefront of offering
alternatives to the current system. This requires increased travel,
as well as materials for distribution and support for community
organizers.
Your support is critical to our work. More importantly, your
support is critical to workers everywhere. We help to amplify
their voice when they call for support, when they call for justice
and when they call for action. Your support helps us to do that.
At the bottom of this letter is a space where you can sign up
for our Action Alerts. I encourage you to do
so, as it is a great way to stay informed, and a simple way to
empower yourself to assist workers in their struggle. The frequency
of alerts varies from several per week to several per month. In
most cases you will be asked to write a letter or make a phone
call. If you’d like to do more, call me or send me an email
to jon@afgj.org and I will contact
you with further details. (Do to a kink in our web page, you will
have to scroll down considerably to reach the sign-up box. I hope
to have this fixed soon.)
By this time next week, the Congressional elections will have
been decided. Most pundits are predicting that one or both houses
of Congress will change party leadership. If that's what has happened
in reality there will still be a period between now and when the
new Congress takes office in January, where the current leadership
and the defeated members will still be in control. It is what
is called a "lame-duck session."
There is a strong chance that the Republican leadership will
use that period when defeated politicians won't be accountable
to anyone to push through a Free Trade Agreement with Peru.
We know that these so-called free trade agreements enrich a few
people in the U.S. and in the target countries while further impoverishing
farmers, cooperatives, and small businesses. Like NAFTA, CAFTA
and many other FTAs, this agreement does not include provisions
to protect Peruvian workers, farmers, the environment or social
institutions. It does not offer much for workers in the United
States either.
This agreement was so unpopular in Peru that the Peruvian
Congress had to pass the legislation during its own lame-duck
session. Peru’s poor, who make up more than half of the
population, were, and still are, outraged!
Now, our esteemed U.S. Congress is planning on using the same
tactic to get the U.S. end of the FTA passed. Rep. Bill Thomas
(R-CA) has announced that he will bring the FTA to vote on Nov.
13. Regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 7 election, the current
Republican controlled House will try to sneak passage through
of the Peru FTA while no one is looking.
This undemocratic attempt to pass an undemocratic trade agreement
should not be tolerated. Call your Congressperson today and tell
her or him that you will not stand for such an abuse of office,
regardless of whether or not they are returning. You can call
the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Be sure to call
before Nov. 13th which is when Congress is expected to resume.
I will post an update on our site very soon.
When CAFTA-DR was passed, it was done under conditions that violated
the rules of the House, and with outright extortion of several
Representatives. Now Congress wants to say “Voters be damned!!”
and repay their contributors, at the expense of workers here in
the U.S. and in Peru. People on either side of our narrowly defined
political spectrum should not tolerate this abuse of office.
And, of course, this is just one of many FTAs that the Bush administration
is seeking to implement in their quest to re-make the world into
one big open market for corporate profit. Still awaiting consideration
by Congress are agreements with Colombia and Vietnam, and the
administration is currently negotiating an agreement with South
Korea. The Korea agreement would be the largest FTA since NAFTA.
Delegations from South Korea have traveled to the U.S. to be
present – outside, since trade negotiations are secret and
not open to the people -- and to express their displeasure with
the FTA. Please let your representatives in Washington, DC know
that you would like for them to oppose this FTA, and all FTAs
that do not include provisions for labor rights, social programs,
agriculture and the environment. Of course, then it wouldn't be
a free trade agreement!
Your financial support will allow us to continue to educate people
and politicians on the effects of these so-called Free Trade Agreements.
It is important that people understand the undemocratic nature
of these agreements, and that they feel empowered to voice their
opposition to those who are negotiating the agreements.
Another situation I would like to call your attention to is unfolding
as I write this letter. Unfortunately the concerns of the Teacher’s
Union in Oaxaca, Mexico, are unlikely to be resolved when you
receive it.
After going on strike to demand higher wages and better working
conditions, this strike evolved into a call for more democratic
conditions and for the removal of the State Governor. Recently
the Mexican Federal government began massing troops near the edge
of the city, and on October 29th the Federal Preventative Police
(PFP) moved into the city and violently attacked the demonstrators.
At least 3 people were killed, and many more injured.
This violent response demonstrates how much of a threat organized
workers and their supporters represent. By exposing government
corruption, and calling for an end to that corruption, the people
expressed their human right to demand respect and accountability.
This will always be a threat to governments. And it will likely
always result in violence being directed at the people.
We cannot tolerate such violence, and we must condemn it at once.
Please take the time to learn more about this situation, and take
action in support of the people of Oaxaca. You can find information
and suggested actions on our main page. Follow the links for additional
information, as well as an excellent, though chilling, set of
photos.
Much of what CLR does is to make others aware of situations around
the world that involve people just like you and me demanding better
condition in their lives. While it may seem depressing that so
many people are struggling, in actuality it is empowering and
heartening that so many people are willing to challenge the conditions
of exploitation and degradation that they face.
It is important that we support these challenges. In
order for CLR to do this, we count on your support. By supporting
our work, you directly support these people who are risking life
and limb to make a better world.
Thank you again for your past support, and please continue that
support. Together we can make a difference in this world. Together
we can build a more just and equitable society.
Yours in struggle,
Jon Hunt
National Coordinator
Past
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