Sacrificial Poets spoken word at FIST fundraiser, Durham

Condemn Honduran Coup and Restore Honduran President Zelaya NOW!

Sign the Emergency Petition!

To: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Sign Petition! Israelis Attack Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

EMERGENCY: Israelis Attack Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
Take Action Now – Sign the Online Petition

Demand the Release of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, all aid workers and supplies NOW!

Last night, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

Smithfield Workers ratify first union contract

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 01, 2009 CONTACT: press@ufcw.org

WORKERS AT WORLD’S LARGEST PORK PLANT RATIFY FIRST-EVER UNION CONTRACT Deal raises Tar Heel workers’ wages and brings up benefits and working conditions to union standards

(TAR HEEL NC)—Five Thousand workers at the world’s largest pork processing plant have their first-ever union contract, after a majority of workers ratified the agreement over a two-day vote. Members of UFCW Local 1208 will join more than 10,000 other Smithfield workers, and more than 240,000 others who work in the meat packing and food processing industry who have a UFCW union contract.

A queer youth’s perspective: Tent City a ‘most amazing’ experience

FIST delegation in Detroit. LeiLani Dowell, second from left. WW photo: Alan Polloc

The People’s Summit and Tent City in Detroit was by far one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. It was like going to Cuba, or Venezuela, and seeing the level of solidarity that exists among the people in those countries—solidarity that is borne of the struggle to build, in the case of Venezuela, or retain, in the case of Cuba, socialism.

Socialism didn’t come to Detroit with the People’s Summit. But the message of it sure did, loud and clear, and the solidarity that could be seen in that park in downtown Detroit made clear to me that socialism can and will someday exist in the U.S. It made it clear to me in a way that no book could.

The demonstrations and rallies that took place during the People’s Summit and Tent City were very powerful, but the most powerful part of the People’s Summit was the interactions that were had on a daily basis among activists, organizers, workers, youth and people just off the street.

It was a true place for workers to connect, be heard and hear each other, and see the potential in struggle. An example of this was when, after FIST members had talked casually with about a dozen youth present on June 14, an impromptu meeting was called near an empty fountain behind the stage.

Tues., June 23: To fight plant closing, UE targets Wells Fargo. Join Us!

By Dante Strobino

Raleigh-Durham FIST

In the latest face-off in the growing struggle between workers and banks, more than 100 workers at Quad City Die Casting in Moline, Ill., are now being told that their plant will close on July 12 if Wells Fargo does not extend the company’s loan. These workers are members of United Electrical Workers Local 1174.

Wells Fargo has received more than $25 billion in federal bailout money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program. As mass anger grows against the banks, which have now received more than $10 trillion from the government, workers are still being thrown out of their jobs and homes.

Union calls day of action June 23

UE is calling for a national day of action on Tuesday, June 23 to bring pressure on Wells Fargo and Wachovia—which Wells Fargo recently acquired—to extend the loan to keep the Quad City Die Casting plant open.

People’s Assembly, Sat. June 27, Raleigh

Nepal elects new PM, reactionaries organize to defeat revolution

By David Hoskins

NYC chapter of FIST

Nepal swore in a new prime minister on May 25, three weeks after the resignation of Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda from the post. Prachanda’s resignation followed attempts by the armed forces, the Nepali Congress, and India to topple the revolutionary government.

The new prime minister is United Marxist Leninist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. The UML, despite its militant-sounding name and support from a section of the left, maintains strong ties to the old feudal ruling class and to an imperialist-dependent comprador capitalist class. The UML has oscillated between reform and reaction throughout its history and has a long record of betrayal of popular causes.

Statement in support of Tamil Tigers struggle for liberation in Sri Lanka

Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST) calls for the immediate end to the U.S.-supported campaign against the Tamil population of Sri Lanka and stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Tamil people for liberation.

The Sri Lankan government’s latest effort to annihilate the Tamil population was labeled a “final offensive” against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

N.C. workers fight cuts in jobs, services

By Dante Strobino

Raleigh-Durham chapter of FIST

When North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue announced that all state workers would be mandated to take 10 unpaid hours off to help balance the budget, many workers began discussing how they could collectively withhold their labor by organizing to take the same time periods off.

Teachers rally in Raleigh, N.C., against governor’s furloughs. FIST photo: Dante Strobino

Then the state legislature began discussing furloughs of up to 20 days for all state workers. But that plan was soon taken off the table after seeing the mass outrage it caused.

City and local governments began looking at similar measures to cut costs on the backs of workers and the oppressed. The city of Durham announced it was laying off 35 workers and eliminating 78 jobs. The city of Charlotte announced similar cuts, including threats to privatize the entire Recycling Department.

Already mass lay-offs and plant closings mean the state now suffers from the country’s second-highest official unemployment rate at 10.8 percent. In reality it is much higher when counting total unemployment, including permanently discouraged workers and the underemployed.