Thursday, January 31, 2008

[olympiaworkers] Urgent action: Free jailed workers' rights activist in Bangladesh

 
This is urgent - please act and pass this message on to friends, co-workers and colleagues.

Mehedi Hasan, a field investigator for the U.S.-based Workers Rights Consortium, was jailed seven days ago in Bangladesh as part of crackdown on trade unions.
 
His family is not allowed to see him, and workers' rights activists have expressed fears for his safety.
 
Please help us to mobilize thousands of people around the globe in a massive email campaign and flood the Bangladeshi government with messages calling for his immediate release -- and for an end to repression of trade unionists in that country.
 
 
And please -- pass this message on.
 
Thank you.
 
Eric Lee 


This message was sent from Eric Lee to olympiaworkers@riseup.net. It was sent from: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3 2LG, United Kingdom. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing Software


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From: "Eric Lee" <ericlee@labourstart.org>
Date: Thu, January 31, 2008 12:58 am


If you are having trouble viewing this message, please go to
http://community.icontact.com/p/labourstart/newsletters/inside.

This is urgent - please act and pass this message on to friends,
co-workers and colleagues.

Mehedi Hasan, a field investigator for the U.S.-based Workers Rights
Consortium, was jailed seven days ago in Bangladesh as part of crackdown
on trade unions.

His family is not allowed to see him, and workers' rights activists have
expressed fears for his safety. Please help us to mobilize thousands of
people around the globe in a massive email campaign and flood the
Bangladeshi government with messages calling for his immediate release --
and for an end to repression of trade unionists in that country.

Click here now to send a message to Bangladesh:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=335

And please -- pass this message on.

Thank you.

Eric Lee


This message was sent by: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3
2LG, United Kingdom

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

[olympiaworkers] I'd like a large latte, a muffin and a union card, please

 
In this week's mailing:
  • "I'd like a large latte, a muffin and a union card, please"
  • The funniest union video I've seen in a while
  • Workers in Russia and New Zealand thank you
  • On the global waterfront - the fight to free the Charleston 5
"I'd like a large latte, a muffin and a union card, please"
 
Workers in coffee chains like Starbucks are notoriously difficult to unionize.  But that's not stopping unions from trying -- and winning -- in some unlikely places.  
 
The IUF is running an international campaign in support of workers in a Tel Aviv branch of Coffee Bean and has asked for all of us to take a minute and send off a message in support of the workers who have been on strike for a week now.
 
Meanwhile the efforts by the venerable Industrial Workers of the World to unionize Starbucks have gotten a lot of mainstream media attention lately, including a major article in The New York Times.
 
The funniest union video I've seen in a while
 
This had me laughing out loud - What have the unions ever done for us? 
 
(It helps if you're familiar with the film "Life of Brian".)  
 
If you've seen an online video that's pro-union and as good as this one, let me know. 
 
Workers in Russia and New Zealand thank you
 
Trevor Hanson, General Secretary of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, thanked us for our recent online campaign.  "As you will be aware," he wrote, "the union was successful in preventing the loss of jobs and conditions through a contracting out process to an anti-union employer. Around 100 jobs are secure for now with proper union coverage ... The international response to our battle was the deciding factor, with our international affiliate the ITF providing much assistance. The LabourStart email campaign was an effective part of the dispute for us. It provided a boost for the local workers, publicized our dispute internationally, and caused a reaction from the employers who initially demanded the emails stop, but by the end of the dispute were asking more politely."
 
Mikhail Chesalin, Chairman of the Dockers' Union of Russia, Kaliningrad Local, wrote: "I want to thank you for your support of our campaign for workers' rights in the port of Kaliningrad, and in protest of the attack on me this past June. Because of the global solidarity and commitment of thousands of trade unionists and activists like yourselves, we were able to mount an unprecedented flow of protest into the Kaliningrad Sea Commercial Port, and the Kaliningrad regional power structure ... We were able to force the authorities to deal with union rights with at least a modicum of care and decency, and given the climate here, that is a significant achievement. We were even able to force the reopening of the investigation into the attack on me, after the authorities cynically tried to close the case."
 
On the global waterfront - the fight to free the Charleston 5 
 
On the Global Waterfront tells the story of longshoremen in South Carolina who confronted attempts to wipe out their union and rallied the nation and labour around the world in their successful fight.   It's our book of the week, and by purchasing copies you help support LabourStart.  Thanks.
 
Eric Lee

 
 

 


 


This message was sent from Eric Lee to olympiaworkers@riseup.net. It was sent from: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3 2LG, United Kingdom. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing Software


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From: "Eric Lee" <ericlee@labourstart.org>
Date: Tue, January 29, 2008 6:02 am

If you are having trouble viewing this message, please go to
http://community.icontact.com/p/labourstart/newsletters/inside.

In this week's mailing:

- "I'd like a large latte, a muffin and a union card, please"

- The funniest union video I've seen in a while

- Workers in Russia and New Zealand thank you

- On the global waterfront - the fight to free the Charleston 5


"I'd like a large latte, a muffin and a union card, please"


Workers in coffee chains like Starbucks are notoriously difficult to
unionize. But that's not stopping unions from trying -- and winning -- in
some unlikely places.

The [http://www.iuf.org] IUF is running
[http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=318] an
international campaign in support of workers in a Tel Aviv branch of Coffee
Bean and has asked for all of us to take a minute and send off a message in
support of the workers who have been on strike for a week now.

Meanwhile the efforts by the venerable Industrial Workers of the World to
[http://www.starbucksunion.org/node] unionize Starbucks have gotten a lot
of mainstream media attention lately, including a major
[http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1943] article in The New York Times.

The funniest union video I've seen in a while

This had me laughing out loud -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=184NTV2CE_c] What have the unions ever done
for us?

(It helps if you're familiar with the film "Life of Brian".)

If you've seen an online video that's pro-union and as good as this one,
let me know.

Workers in Russia and New Zealand thank you

Trevor Hanson, General Secretary of the Maritime Union of New Zealand,
thanked us for our recent online campaign. "As you will be aware," he
wrote, "the union was successful in preventing the loss of jobs and
conditions through a contracting out process to an anti-union employer.
Around 100 jobs are secure for now with proper union coverage ... The
international response to our battle was the deciding factor, with our
international affiliate the ITF providing much assistance. The LabourStart
email campaign was an effective part of the dispute for us. It provided a
boost for the local workers, publicized our dispute internationally, and
caused a reaction from the employers who initially demanded the emails
stop, but by the end of the dispute were asking more politely."

Mikhail Chesalin, Chairman of the Dockers' Union of Russia, Kaliningrad
Local, wrote: "I want to thank you for your support of our campaign for
workers' rights in the port of Kaliningrad, and in protest of the attack on
me this past June. Because of the global solidarity and commitment of
thousands of trade unionists and activists like yourselves, we were able to
mount an unprecedented flow of protest into the Kaliningrad Sea Commercial
Port, and the Kaliningrad regional power structure ... We were able to
force the authorities to deal with union rights with at least a modicum of
care and decency, and given the climate here, that is a significant
achievement. We were even able to force the reopening of the investigation
into the attack on me, after the authorities cynically tried to close the
case."

On the global waterfront - the fight to free the Charleston 5

[http://www.labourstart.org/bookoftheweek] On the Global Waterfront tells
the story of longshoremen in South Carolina who confronted attempts to wipe
out their union and rallied the nation and labour around the world in their
successful fight. It's our book of the week, and by purchasing copies you
help support LabourStart. Thanks.


Eric Lee

This message was sent by: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3
2LG, United Kingdom

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

[olympiaworkers] Sex Workers' Art Show Tour 2008!

From: info@sexworkersartshow.com
Date: Mon, January 14, 2008 3:56 am
To: sexworkersartshow@gmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Everyone!
Please pass this on to all your lists!
See you out on the road!
xo
AnnieSex Workers' Art Show National Tour 2008
The Sex Workers' Art Show Tour is coming to your town! The show is a
mindblowing evening of visual and performance art created by people who
work in the sex industry, dispelling the myth that they are anything short
of artists, innovators and geniuses!

The wildly successful cabaret-style show is hitting the road again,
bringing audiences a blend of spoken word, music, drag, burlesque, and
multimedia performance art. Intelligent and hot, disturbing and
hilarious, the performances offer a wide range of perspectives on sex
work, from celebration of prostitutes' rights and sex positivity, to
views of the darker sides of the industry.

This year's incredible lineup of performers includes international
burlesque sensation and recipient of the "Best Body in Burlesque" award,
Miss Dirty Martini; infamous feminist author of I Love Dick Chris Kraus;
award-winning author of the coming-out memoir How I Learned to Snap, Kirk
Read; porn star and writer Lorelei Lee; performance artist and comic
queen of cleavage The World Famous *BOB*; performer and musical theatre
mutineer Erin Markey; internationally infamous drag-subverter Krylon
Superstar; dominatrix and destroyer of Asian feminine mythology Keva I.
Lee; and tour founder and director Annie Oakley.

The show includes people from all areas of the sex industry: strippers,
prostitutes, dommes, film stars, phone sex operators, internet models,
etc. It smashes traditional stereotypes and moves beyond "positive" and
"negative" into a fuller articulation of the complicated ways sex workers
experience their jobs and their lives. The Sex Workers' Art Show
entertains, arouses, and amazes while simultaneously offering
scathing and insightful commentary on notions of class, race,
gender, labor and sexuality! Also featured at the show will be a new
anthology of sex worker writings, Working Sex: Sex Workers Write About a
Changing Industry (Seal Press), edited by Annie Oakley. Working Sex
features work by several of the show's performers, as well as Eileen
Myles, Bruce LaBruce, Nomy Lamm, Michelle Tea, and many more!
For more info visit http://sexworkersartshow.com/

Tour Schedule:
check the site for updates! January


17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
30
31 Portland, OR
Olympia, WA
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Claremont, CA
TBA
Flagstaff, AZ
Santa Fe, NM
Tulsa, OK
New Orleans, LA
Huntsville, AL The East End
Washington Center for the
Performing Arts
UC Davis
The Victoria Theatre
Brick by Brick
UCLA
Pitzer College
TBA
Northern Arizona University
College of Santa Fe
The Nightingale Theatre
Zeitgeist Gallery
Flying Monkey Arts
February

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Atlanta, GA
Greensboro, NC
Durham, NC
Williamsburg, VA
Richmond, VA
Baltimore, MD
Washington, DC
TBA
New York, NY
Asbury Park, NJ
TBA
Annandale,




NY
TBA
Boston, MA
TBA
Providence,
RI
Middletown,
CT
TBA
Ann
Arbor,
MI
Gambier,
OH
TBA
Chicago,
IL
Bloomington,
IN
TBA
TBA Eyedrum Gallery
Guilford College
Duke University
College of William and Mary
Virginia Commonwealth University
Patterson Theatre (2 shows)
Rock and Roll Hotel
TBA
The Zipper Theatre
Asbury Lanes
TBA
Bard College
TBA
Coolidge Corner Theatre
TBA
Rhode Isl. School of Design
Wesleyan
TBA
University of Michigan
Kenyon College
TBA
Funky Buddha Lounge
Indiana University
TBA
TBA
--
_________________________
www.sexworkersartshow.com