On Saturday, December 13, the Vermont Workers' Center, together with a wide variety of community organizations, is sponsoring the ELLA BAKER HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE. The event will take place from 9am-3pm at the Davis Center at UVM. [ Register now ]
This is a major gathering of workers, students, youth, educators and health professionals to build a broad- based movement for human rights in our communities. This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations, however many of the most basic rights remain unmet in the wealthiest country in the world. Skill-building workshops and activities will explore using a human rights framework to organize together in order to create fundamental change. Issues include: workers' rights, the economic crisis, the right to healthcare, anti-racism & indigenous issues, gender rights, rights of the child, war and militarism, environmental justice and building healthy communities.
The conference takes place on December 13th, the 105th anniversary of the birth of Human Rights activist Ella Baker. Ella Baker was one of the most important leaders in the Civil Rights Movement working as an organizer in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and later in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). With Ella Baker's influence, SNCC became the leading advocate for human rights in the country.
Sixty years after the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, still inspired by Ella Baker's commitment to justice, we are coming together at this conference to build a movement for fundamental change.
This event is accessible for individuals with disabilities. We will make accommodations for people with disabilities (including ASL Interpreters) upon request. Please make your request by Dec 5th by emailing conference@workerscenter.org.
Guest Speakers
US Senator Bernie Sanders
Ai-jen Poo, Domestic Workers United
Ashaki Binta, Black Workers For Justice and former director of the International Worker Justice Campaign
This event is free and lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, or learn more about the conference, please visit workerscenter.org/hrconference.
REGISTER TODAY: Ella Baker Human Rights Conference
Main Street not Wall Street! Action October 1st
While attention has focused recently on the Wall Street financial crisis, working families in Vermont and across the country have been facing an economic crisis in recent years, including: unaffordable healthcare, the lack of livable-wage jobs, foreclosures and a general decline in spending power. The Vermont Workers' Center is part of a national labor-community-faith coalition called Jobs With Justice, which is organizing a national day of action on October 1st. Across the country, people will conduct rallies, street theater, bake sales and actions to tell Congress and Wall Street that people are fed up with corporate greed and demand action to address the economic crisis facing working people, not just Wall Street financiers.
Workers' Center members will be giving Vermonters an opportunity to make their voices heard about what priorities Congress should have in dealing with the economic crisis, through a Vermonters Speakout Survey. The Workers' Center will deliver the responses to Vermont's Congressional delegation.
Workers' Center members will be gathering at the corner of Main Street and Church Street in downtown Burlington at noon on Wednesday, October 1st.
More information:
The first bail-out "compromise" failed largely due to overwhelming opposition from working families, because it did not address the needs of Main Street and constituted yet another give-away to the wealthy. Jobs with Justice is telling Congress:
- Make the people that created and profited from the mess pay for the clean-up, now.
- Any infusion of capital must have specific, binding public ownership requirements.
- Restructure and rein in the reckless private financial institutions.
- Pass a real recovery plan, for Main Street as well as Wall Street, paid for with progressive taxation, that addresses the needs for good jobs, affordable housing, health care, pensions, infrastructure and 'green' economy.
"Where is the bail out for the 47 million uninsured Americans without healthcare and the many millions of others facing unaffordable increases in costs for basic healthcare. Isn't that a crisis? Where is the bail out for those communities impacted by plant closings that throw thousands out of work. Isn't that a crisis?," says Dawn Stanger, President of the Vermont Workers' Center - Jobs With Justice. "Why is it only a crisis in our country when it involves Wall Street banks, private equity firms, investment houses and the wealthy that control their shares? And why does Wall Street's crisis suddenly become all of our problem."
Congressmen Welch's statement on why he voted against the bailout
Economist Dean Baker's cut on why the bill was bad
A piece on how to pay for the progressive economic recovery plan we need
HUD OFFICE SHUT DOWN: Solidarity Support For New Orleans Public Housing Fight
Today, members of the Vermont Workers' Center visited the Vermont offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to protest HUD's plans to demolish thousands of units of public housing in New Orleans, without guaranteeing former residents replacement housing or even allowing them a meaningful voice in the process of rebuilding affordable housing in New Orleans. It appears when HUD officials heard we were coming they shut down the whole office. When we arrived at 11am here's we found the office closed down, with a sign saying they would return at 4pm, yes 4pm! 
We delivered this statement:
Just over two years ago, New Orleans was devastated by the lethal combination of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes in recent memory, and the blatantly racist and classist neglect of the federal government for the city's low-income, overwhelmingly African-American residents. In the wake of this disaster, and with the federal government seemingly abandoning its obligations to Gulf Coast residents, many Vermonters stepped up to do what we could. The City of Burlington adopted Moss Point, Mississippi as a sister city, Burlington’s Imani Center coordinated a truckload of donated food and household supplies, and many made the trek to New Orleans to work with grassroots organizations such as Food Not Bombs and Common Grounds.
For two years, federal, state and local governments have not lived up to their responsibilities to the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless or exiled. Instead of receiving the infrastructure and services to allow for the safe return of Gulf Coast residents, the region remains in ruins, peoples’ livelihoods destroyed and entire communities displaced. We are outraged that four large public housing complexes are to be destroyed in the city of New Orleans. We understand that this represents the demolition of over 4600 homes, while only 744 units are expected to be rebuilt. This comes at a time when 52,000 families throughout the Gulf Coast region are about to be forced out of trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hundreds of people who have been kicked out of their homes are resisting these demolitions. They have had no say in the decision of HUD to destroy their homes, they have been barred from participating in their local city council meetings and pepper sprayed when they try to make their voices heard. As working-class Vermonters we stand in solidarity with these activists and demand an end to the destruction of public housing. Our city of Burlington, Vermont has long required that developers tearing down existing housing units replace them one-for-one, with strict guidelines about providing affordable housing. While this has not by itself solved the affordable housing crisis in Burlington, we believe it is a good principle, and we demand that HUD, at a minimum, adhere to it. We also strongly encourage our U.S. Senators to do everything they can to ensure passage of the Gulf Coast Recovery Act (SB 1668), which would require Gulf Coast recovery efforts to abide by these principles.
It is becoming increasingly clear that affordable housing is being eliminated all over the country. From the Old North End of Burlington Vermont to the 9th Ward of New Orleans we stand together to resist the process of gentrification. We are holding HUD responsible for this racist attack on poor black communities in New Orleans and demand that money spent on destruction be put towards rebuilding the affordable, public housing that was damaged over two years ago by Hurricane Katrina
After we delivered the statement we went outside and leafletted people in the community before taking two delegations to Senators Leahy and Sanders to push for their support of Gulf Coast Recovery Act.
We also got got some good media coverage including Channel 5 and Vermont Public Radio (hear interview with Workers' Center leader Jonathan Kissam on VPR news) and we were welcomed on to Burlington's newest community radio station, The Radiator. Here is Workers' Center Director James Haslam in the radio booth:
More info: on the struggle to defend public housing in New Orleans: www.defendneworleanspublichousing.org
More info on the Gulfcoast Recovery Act: www.gulfcoastrecover.com