Building a Movement for Worker Justice

The Vermont Workers' Center is pleased to announce that on January 26, workers, students, educators and health care providers from around the state will be gathering at Building a Movement for Worker Justice. This conference, part of the Global Day of Action, aims to build a stronger movement for workers' rights, livable wages, economic justice, quality healthcare for all and global solidarity. View agenda, download brochures and register at http://www.workerscenter.org/register/#jan26

Vermont Workers' Center leaders discuss January 26 mobilizations

From the November 30 episode of the Vermont Workers' Center television show:

Food Sovereignty Call to Action for January 26, 2008

From Via Campesina, Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America and the Student Trade Justice Campaign

Join Via Campesina and other organizations worldwide in demanding Food Sovereignty and an end to the corporate control of our food system by global agribusiness

On January 26 self-organized groups from all around the world will take creative action in their community. This will manifest in many ways, from nonviolent direct action, civil disobedience, street theater, convergences, teach-ins and other activities and events. Grassroots movements around the world are making their voices heard and saying “Another World is Possible” in coordination with the World Social Forum.

In solidarity with global farmer’s movement Via Campesina who has called for action on this day, Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America, and the Student Trade Justice Campaign are calling for individuals and grassroots groups to take action to demand food sovereignty by rejecting the industrialized food system controlled by international institutions and global agribusinesses and promoting the transition to sustainable, small-scale, decentralized local food systems.

Why are we calling for this? Because people’s lives depend on it. Our globalized food system, and the increasing push for industrial-scale agrofuels2 are pushing people off their lands around the world and depriving small farmers, Indigenous communities, and millions of people everywhere from access to land and resources to grow their own food. While this may seem archaic to many people in the US who buy their food at the supermarket, 70% of the world population make a living though producing food.

Transitioning to local food systems is a direct response to fighting climate change, preserving forests, and other ecosystems that are critical to the earth’s carbon cycling capacity as well as standing in solidarity with farmers, Indigenous communities and landless people worldwide.

This transition is necessary to prepare ourselves for the changing climate by taking back control and local ownership of land, seeds, biodiversity, water and where and how we produce our food.

There are many ways our actions can manifest: by targeting agribusiness giants like Cargill, Monsanto and ADM that are headquartered in the US we can act in solidarity with people in the global south (and here in the U.S.) where these agribusinesses are wreaking havoc on people’s food sovereignty.

You can take action in a variety of ways, some ideas include: organizing a demonstration at a supermarket chain, or a large-scale agrofuels refinery that isn’t community based, or finding out what agribusiness facilities are located in your town and take action against them using non-violent direct action, civil disobedience, banner hangs, flyering, and creative street theater. If action isn’t your cup of tea you can organize a local foods dinner to bring farmers and eaters together in your community and facilitate a discussion about what food sovereignty looks like in your community.

For example, the Student Trade Justice Campaign is coordinating students to organize actions outside key supermarkets chains in their community. They will be passing out flyers with information about why we should demand food sovereignty and challenge the corporate control over our food system as well as promote the transition to sustainable, small-scale, decentralized local food networks. On the same flyer, there will be information about local farmers’ markets and community owned local stores etc... To find out more contact info@tradejusticecampaign.org

We are still in the process of designing and planning our actions and would like to include other organizations and individuals as much as possible. We have a phone conference call scheduled for Monday December 17 at 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific. Please spread the word far and wide, we strongly desire your feedback and suggestions. The call in number will be 1-800-220-9875 and access code is: 53705125#

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Theatre of the Oppressed Comes to Burlington

There will be a Theatre of Oppression led by Claire Pichard of Top Lab in NYC and co-facilitated by Jen Berger. It will be held at the Workers' Center at 294 North Winooski Ave in Burlington on January 5th 2008 from 10am until 6pm. The cost for the workshop is a sliding scale 20.00-50.00.

Register online using PayPal at www.workerscenter.org/register

More information is available on Top Lab's website at www.toplab.org

WSF 2008 website ready

Check out what social movements are planning around the world at www.wsf2008.net

Call to Vermont Organizations

CALL TO VERMONT ORGANIZATIONS
ACT TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER WORLD
"MANY STRUGGLES, ONE MOVEMENT"

Social movements from around the world have called for an international mobilization on January 26, 2008. We call on Vermont organizations to be part of this international struggle against war, racism, sexism and corporate rule which produce violence, exploitation, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster and deprive people of human rights. We believe in the slogan of the World Social Forum, from which this call emerges, "another world is possible," and we call on Vermont organizations and individuals to act together for another world.

We invite organizations and individuals in Vermont to undertake throughout the week of January 21-27 creative actions, activities, events and convergences focusing on the issues of their choice, and we call for one united, public demonstration on Saturday, January 26 in Burlington, around the following three themes:

END THE WAR AND BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW
HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT
CLIMATE JUSTICE

We recognize that workers, veterans, people of color, women, youth and the LBGT community are disproportionately affected by these crises. The unjust war in Iraq uses working-class people and people of color as cannon fodder, and its costs starve public services and public education. Our healthcare "system" leaves 63,000 Vermonters uninsured, overworks and underpays front-line healthcare workers, and cannot even care for our returning veterans. The brunt of climate change will be born by people of color, indigenous peoples and countries of the Global South, with Hurricane Katrina being a perfect example of the lethal intersection between poverty, racism and global warming. We are committed to make sure that voices from the groups and communities most affected by these crises are heard in this action.

Initiating signers
Vermont Workers' Center
Iraq Veterans Against the War (Vermont chapter)
Global Justice Ecology Project

Central Vermont WILPF
Peace and Justice Center
Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) at UVM
Peace Vermont