Posted on

Workers at Google Force Company to Cancel Pentagon Contract

More than 4,600 workers at Google demanded the termination of a company contract with the Pentagon, declaring in a petition that “We believe Google should not be in the business of war.” In March, many workers learned for the first time of Google’s involvement in a Pentagon program known as Project Maven, which sought to harness artificial intelligence technology to automate the operation of military drones. As part of the unending war waged on so many African and Middle Eastern nations, the US military has used its fleet of remotely piloted aircraft, or drones, to kill thousands of men, women, and children. Workers for Google acted on their outrage by resigning in protest and by threatening public protest; on June 1, caving to the mounting pressure of its workers, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced that it would not renew its “Project Maven” contract with the Pentagon.

Posted on

NOLA Hotel Workers Win Contract

On May 29, Hilton-Riverside workers voted to approve their first contract. The workers organized with UNITE HERE! Local 23 (NOLA, MS, TN), and have gained job security, seniority rights, and some of the highest wage increases the union has won anywhere along the Gulf. Local 23 was founded in 2009 and now has approximately 20,000 members, including workers in fast food, airport concessions, hotel and parking, among other areas of the economy.

Posted on

Teamsters Stand Up for Immigrants, Become “Sanctuary Union”

Ebere Garcia Vasquez

In Sept. 2017, the New York Teamsters passed a resolution to become a “sanctuary union,” following the Sept. 6 deportation of long-time Teamster member, Eber Garcia Vasquez. The union pledges to not cooperate with federal immigration agents seeking to deport its members, and to take proactive steps such as providing training and legal assistance. George Miranda, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16, stated: “Being a sanctuary union means we will do all that is in our power to keep our immigrant members safe and keep their families together. The Teamsters have fought against racism since our first days as a union, and this is the next step.”

Posted on

Boeing Technicians Unionize in South Carolina

Despite historically unfavorable conditions, the union movement continues to pick up steam in the southeast. In South Carolina, Boeing Co. technicians have scored a victory, forming the first collective bargaining unit at the South Carolina plane factory. The newly-unionized Workers face challenges, as they are still considered a “micro unit” (comprising only 180 flight-line workers). Boeing bosses have asked the labor panel to review the unionization process, accusing the workers of engaging in “artificial gerrymandering” for including employees at the North Charleston campus. Nevertheless, unionization at the South Carolina plant represents a major breakthrough for the labor movement in a so-called “right to work” state. Similar breakthroughs in organizing aerospace workers could occur in other southeast states, for example, at the Airbus SE factory in Mobile, Alabama.

Posted on

Cops Out Of Pride! A Rebirth of Radical LGBTQ Resistance in NOLA

Working class New Orleanians marched ahead of the corporate pride parade to protest attacks on the LGBT community such as the recent Supreme Court decision allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT people. Inspired by the struggles of the 60s and the rebellion at Stonewall, the protest retained a strong ant–cop sentiment. The chants and speeches criticized the parade’s continued rejection of the queer and trans youth of color who started the movement, in favor of the police, US military and corporations that oppress us.

Contact: queerworkersnola@gmail.com and join the fight.

A banner was dropped at Bourbon and St. Anne during the 2018 New Orleans Pride Parade, reading: “Breaking Out of Our Chains. No Pride in Erasing, Harassing, Surveilling Queer/Trans POC Youth

Posted on

Jefferson Parish Residents Demand Justice for Black Youth Choked to Death

By Malcolm Suber

Hundreds of Jefferson Parish residents have poured into the streets demanding justice for 22-year old Keeven Robinson, who was choked to death by 4 Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office (JPSO) narcotics agents on May 10. Keeven Robinson died after he fled from detectives at a Shell gas station in the Shrewsbury neighborhood of unincorporated Jefferson Parish. At some point the four detectives caught up with him, choked him, put him in handcuffs, and he wound up dead. None of the detectives were wearing body cameras, so one can only  surmise what happened when the detectives caught up with him.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto immediately began an attempt to create a cover for his detectives by claiming that Keeven Robinson had asthma and that his death was probably due to his breathing problems and not any thing such as choking that his detectives had done in apprehending Robinson. The family and the Black community were in no mood to accept this rationale given the brutal history of JPSO deputies and the almost daily killing of Black victims by the police forces of the USA. Family and friends immediately organized a rally and vigil on Robinson’s block and demanded an independent investigation. This action forced the Jefferson Parish coroner to issue his findings on the cause of death. He ruled that Keeven Robinson’s death was a homicide caused as result of asphyxiation. In other words, he was choked to death, just as Eric Garner was. Reformist organizations such as the NAACP have been active in their role of containing the spontaneous resistance. They are advising the masses to be patient and let the so-called wheels of justice prevail. But the masses recognize that only militant struggle will get any measure of justice for Keeven Robinson. They have witnessed time and again cops being indicted, tried for murder, but still get off.

We in the New Orleans Workers Group urge on resistance to police murders while we also try to spread the understanding that these police murders of Black victims is part of capitalist rule. The police serve the rich exclusively and  attempt to keep the rest of us in our place. The entire justice system, including the  police, is organized to protect the state apparatus that serves the ruling class  alone. This scourge will only be ended when the workers organize a fight against the capitalist oppressors, become the rulers and control a state apparatus that will serve exclusively the interest of working people.