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Louisiana Movement for Workers Councils Tells Louisiana Legislature: Bail Out the People!

Members of the Louisiana Movement for Workers Councils held a press conference at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge on December 18 before a hearing on CARES Act money the State has withheld from workers.
Members of the Louisiana Movement for Workers Councils held a press conference at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge on December 18 before a hearing on CARES Act money the State has withheld from workers.

On December 18 members of the Louisiana Movement for Workers Councils (LMWC) held a press conference at the Louisiana state Capitol to demand that state legislators use the tens of millions of unspent federal relief dollars to bail out workers suffering hardship because of the COVID pandemic.

The state of Louisiana received $1.8 billion in federal relief (CARES Act) funds to supposedly cope with the fallout from the pandemic. Around $525 million of those funds were used to reimburse local governments for “pandemic related expenses.” Yet many of the poorest parishes were excluded from relief because they couldn’t afford the expenses in the first place.

Tens of millions of dollars were used to pay off sheriff’s departments instead of going to food, housing assistance, health services, or economic relief.

Of the $50 million dollars set aside for (pitifully low) $250 payments to essential workers, $11 million never made it into the hands of workers.

$362 million in CARES Act funds are simply unaccounted for.

LMWC demands that these funds go directly to low income households who are bearing the brunt of the crisis. 200,000 Louisianans are jobless. At least 1 in 6 Louisiana households is struggling to put food on the table. Around 30,000 households are on the verge of eviction in Orleans Parish alone.

We refuse to go hungry and die as our tax dollars are used to bail out big corporations or buy arms for the police. We need jobs, income, housing, and healthcare. The LMWC is prepared to fight to get what we deserve. Join us!

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Colombian People Charge U.S. Puppet Government with Mass Murder

by Adam Pedesclaux

Sign reads: “Here the only one who has sown violence is the government.”

On September 9, 2020, the Colombian police brutally murdered father and engineer Javier Ordonez on the street for violating a coronavirus curfew. They tased and beat him with clubs as he lay pinned on the ground, begging them to stop. At the hospital, Javier was pronounced dead.

Like the protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd, the people of Colombia had had enough. While the people were on the streets denouncing the fascist government of Ivan Duque Marquez, the police shot live rounds into the crowds, injuring many and killing several. The police continued to terrorize citizens throughout the month, shooting people down in the street, even going as far as to throw bombs at people and into open windows. At one point, the military killed a trans woman in a moving car, ignoring her lover begging for an explanation as to why they would do such a monstrous thing.

As dead protesters were being buried, spineless coward Ivan Duque commended the police for their work and even visited the police station.

For those unfamiliar with Colombia, such a story that parallels that of our own in America may come as a surprise. Being an Amerikkkan puppet state comes with all the racism, misogyny and homophobia that the U.S. has. The two governments work hand in hand to run the dehumanizing capitalist machine that has run people into the ground for short term gain for the wealthy in both countries, from massacring over a thousand striking banana harvesters to stealing land from working class people and having one of the largest disparities in land ownership between the rich and the poor. It only makes sense then that the people who get tired of the bullshit pick up rifles and fight against the enemy that kills them. Therefore, the people created guerrilla militias such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which would survive in the jungles while fighting the state.

After many years of fighting a desperate war against the state, the guerrillas were promised peace in a deal brokered by Hugo Chavez and Cuba. In 2016, the deal came with agreements for certain requirements to be met, such as honoring the victims of the war between factions as well as reparation. One of the major factors of the agreement, however, was the disarming of FARC. With this came an agreement of peace in Colombia and the promise of no more violence that both sides were supposed to adhere to.

Fast forward four years and the Colombian state is still enacting violence against working people. Thousands of former FARC members and activists, trade unionists, women’s and community group members have been killed by the government and government sponsored paramilitaries while the capitalist machine goes on. The recent rampage by the police left dozens of people dead.

It is up to the Colombian people to drive their struggle forward, but it is up to us in the U.S. to stop the boot that crushes all in its wake. As working people, we must stand up to all oppression if the death and despair is to stop.

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End the U.S./Saudi Genocide of the Yemeni People

World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis Must be Stopped

The people of Yemen are suffering the worst humanitarian crisis in the world because of U.S. imperialism. Since 2015, the U.S. had backed a Saudi led war against Yemen by supplying weapons and bombs that have killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people and destroyed the county’s cities and agriculture. 20.5 million of the 29 million people living in Yemen lack access to clean water and sanitation, and over 60% of the people are starving. Half of the country’s healthcare facilities have been destroyed. Every day children are dying from starvation and preventable illnesses.

Stop the War Coalition has called for a global day of action on Monday, January 25. Join the Workers Voice Socialist Movement as we stand in solidarity with workers and oppressed people all over the world to say:
No War on Yemen!
12 Noon, January 25 at Duncan Plaza
Loyola Ave at Gravier St, New Orleans

U.S. uses “terror” designation to starve more children through sanctions and blockades.

Now international organizations are withdrawing aid from Yemen because the U.S. is calling Houthis in Yemen “terrorists.” This designation goes into full effect on January 19. The Houthis are an Indigenous people that have long resisted U.S. imperialism, overthrowing the authoritarian U.S.-backed regime in 2014 and establishing a government in the north of Yemen, while the south is ruled by a U.S. puppet government. The U.S. has no right to determine the national destiny of the Yemeni people.

Not only is the U.S. spreading vicious lies about the Houthis, they are recruiting members of al-Qaeda to help Saudi-backed militias overthrow the Houthi government. The U.S. capitalist ruling class doesn’t care if millions more Yemeni people die so long as they can crush any opposition to U.S. imperialism.

Workers around the world must unite to demand an end to the U.S./Saudi war on Yemen. As workers living in the most powerful and violent imperialist country on Earth, we have a special duty to stand with the people of Yemen and demand that not one more of our tax dollars go towards aiding, supplying, or abetting the Saudis in this genocidal war.

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Struggle for Black Lives Continues in Gordon Plaza

Sept. 9: Residents, including Derrick (pictured), speak out at rally in Gordon Plaza.

by Christina Tareq

Nearly 40 years ago, the City of New Orleans decided the toxic Agriculture Street landfill was the perfect place to construct and sell homes to Black New Orleanians. Building the Gordan Plaza subdivision, the city sold the homes to first-time homeowners. Today, Gordan Plaza (GP) has the second highest rate of cancer in the entire nation. “We are being experimented on, let’s see how long Black people can live on top of 150 cancer-causing chemicals,” says Shannon Rainey, President of the GP housing association and an organizer with the New Orleans People’s Assembly.

GP residents won a lawsuit against the city 20 years ago but still have not received restitution. There are 54 residents stranded in GP who continue to pay property taxes for homes that are killing them. They have been told by mayor after mayor to “be patient” as community members die of cancer. While most homes appreciate in value, these homes are essentially worthless. With no ability to sell their homes or rent them in good conscience, the only option for these working class Black families is to wage a struggle against the city for fully funded relocation of their community.

While running for mayor, LaToya Cantrell publicly called for fully funded relocation for Gordon Plaza. Since becoming mayor in 2018, she has said that she “hears Gordon Plaza” and that her administration is working on a “solution.” Yet the only changes the residents have seen over the last two years are more deaths, most recently that of one of the neighborhood’s long-time organizers, Mr. Robert Anderson, may he rise in power.

At a rally in Gordon Plaza on September 9, Mr. Derrick, who grew up in the neighborhood and whose mother still lives there, asked in regard to Mayor Cantrell’s empty promises, “who else will fight for our lives, if it’s not a Black woman? That’s the reason we were told to vote for a Black woman.” Mayor Cantrell continues to spur the calls for protecting Black lives in a majority Black city while meeting with White supremacists concerned about the fate of confederate statues. It’s up to the people to stand with each other! Join the struggle for a fully funded relocation for Gordon Plaza. Black lives matter while they yet live!

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Across LA, Movement Against Police Terror Grows

Sept. 25: Demonstrators from across Louisiana convened at the Governor’s Mansion to demand justice for victims of police terror

by Adam Pedescleaux

A week after Lafayette resident Trayford Pellerin was murdered by police outside of a gas station for allegedly carrying a knife, a demonstration protesting police violence was organized by a group called The Village in coalition with the NAACP. People of Lafayette gathered to march through the streets with Black Lives Matter signs, stopping to listen to speeches from people who knew Pellerin personally. Speakers called for justice and for the pig to be tried and jailed for the racist killing.

Just days after a white supremacist murdered two anti-racist protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, tension was high. White supremacists were emboldened by the fact that Trump and the police supported this act of terrorism. New Black Panther Party members as well as a New Orleans Workers Group member showed up armed and ready to defend the lives of protestors against any far-right provocateurs. Two Boogaloo members (far-right bigots who are radicalized on racist cesspool websites) came out armed though they later left.

On September 25, the New Orleans Workers Group caravanned to Baton Rouge to join a coalition convened by The Village to demand justice for Trayford Pellerin, Ronald Greene, Breonna Taylor and the countless others who’ve lost their lives to killer cops.

If we the people desire change in our community and communities everywhere, it is critical that we take to the streets and show our strength and determination to enact real and lasting change for the better, not those half-baked non-solutions that our two-faced politicians sell us so they can continue to line their pockets in peace. It is a requirement that we convince our coworkers, friends, and families that we can win a future where we and our children are free from racist terror!

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HOUSING VICTORY IN PHILADELPHIA SHOWS DIRECT ACTION WORKS!

This September, homeless mothers and children organized with Philadelphia Housing Action, Black and Brown Workers Cooperative, two homeless protest encampments, and others through a large-scale direct-action takeover of vacant, city-owned homes. This action resulted in forcing the city government in Philadelphia to agree to demands for 50 vacant homes to be used for very-low-income housing. As the economic crisis deepens and the pandemic continues without adequate response from the capitalist state, the people must take action to acquire what we need to survive. This is only a start to the work that needs to be done, but it shows the power of the people when we are organized!

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Breonna Taylor – Say Her Name

Six months ago, Louisville police shot and killed sister Breonna Taylor, 26 years old, who was sleeping in her home. The police lied to obtain a no-knock warrant seeking an individual they already had under arrest. With no warning, in a KKK-type raid, police burst into her home. Her partner, Kenneth Walker, used a legally owned gun to fire one shot at those who invaded his home. The police fired 33 shots killing Breonna and spreading bullets everywhere.

Breonna Taylor was an award winning EMT, a brave woman who served everyone during the pandemic despite the danger to herself. No one is indicted for her murder—for her lynching—at the hands of the racist, out of control police, who work hand in hand with right wing militias and who serve the interests of the ultrarich. With compassion, training, and an accountability to our communities, we can keep us safe but not while the racist protectors of the rich are free to terrorize us.

All we hear from the big business media is that Black Lives Matter protestors, Black and white, are violent outside agitators, terrorists, and looters. Both Trump and Biden have disparaged protestors. Yet 40 million people have joined these protests. The violence has come from the police and armed right wing groups funded by millionaires. Protestors have a right to defend ourselves. Of course, we organize defense and protection from violent fascist goons. Recent exposés have uncovered the emails, texts, and messages of the scum that Trump calls “good people” that document plotted assassinations, killings, fire bombings, and other attacks. The fascists who plan and execute these attacks count on the police to keep them safe.

Over 15,000 protestors have been arrested since the murder of George Floyd. While one of the cops who killed Breonna was only charged with firing into other apartments, none are charged with her murder. They should all be charged, indicted, and put behind bars. But charges should not only be for the triggerman but the police departments and politicians who fund, support, and protect them as accomplices before and after the fact.

The big business media heaped the same lies and blame on civil rights activists. We the people must reject their accusations and call for the freedom of all arrested protestors and the jailing of every last murderer of the more than 14 anti-racist protestors who have been killed since the uprisings began in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

The struggle to win justice for Breonna and all victims of racist police terror is far from over. The struggle will continue until we put society in the hands of working class rather than the capitalist class, which uses terror and violence here and around the world to gain and protect profits.

The New Orleans Workers Group has organized and will continue to organize mass protests against police terror just as we will continue our work to halt evictions, raise wages, and win income and security for all workers and oppressed people.

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Free the Cameroonian 40 Now!

Aug. 14: People in ICE detention at Pine Prairie, LA hold signs reading “HELP” and “WE ARE INNOCENTS”

by A Scribe Called Quess?

“We are like a slave under a master with no place to go. The master[…] is ICE.” So said some of the 43 Cameroonian men detained in an ICE concentration camp in Pine Prairie, LA in a video published on Juneteenth this year. The men have been locked up by ICE for as much as 19 months with no end in sight. Racist Judge Scott Laragy has dismissed or “lost” evidence presented by the men while abusively telling them to shut up and trying to intimidate them into signing voluntary deportation during trials, adding to the 20% rate of African migrants facing deportation versus other immigrant groups with larger populations in the US. In response, they waged a 10-day hunger strike that landed them in solitary confinement where they were forced to drink toilet water. All this in a concentration camp where one out of five detainees have tested positive for COVID. The treatment of the men is illegal, as they qualify to seek asylum in the U.S., a right guaranteed by the Constitution for non-citizens fleeing political persecution in their homelands.

In their native Cameroon, a civil war has been waged by the dominant French-speaking government against the Southern, English-speaking region of Cameroon since 2016. This genocidal war is rooted in 55-year-old tensions between the two regions that have existed since British Cameroon established independence in 1961 and joined French Cameroon. Colonization left a deep divide that has festered over time as the French-speaking majority has tried to dominate the English-speaking minority to control their oil supply. This type of capitalistic oppression born of European colonization is all too common in the motherland. And its effects lead to refugee crises and migrants seeking safety in the U.S., the very country that helps perpetuate the oppression that led to the migrants’ crisis in the first place.

Aug. 14: New Orleans Worker’s Group leads protest of the illegal and brutal detention of migrants at GEO Group’s for-profit ICE detention center in Pine Prairie, LA.

As U.S. citizens, we can use our privilege to raise up the voices of our oppressed workers overseas. When interviewed by WV, Divine of the Cameroonian 40 encouraged folks on the outside to help the world hear their cry by contacting them for interviews, sharing their story on social media, and waging demonstrations on their behalf as New Orleans Worker’s Group comrades did on August 14th when they drove a motorcade to Pine Prairie and raised their voices in solidarity with the men. To learn more ways to support, email neworleansworkersgroup@gmail.com.

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Workers Give Walmart Heiress a Wake-up Call

Feb. 18: The labor rights group United for Respect led Walmart workers in a demonstration outside Walmart heiress Alice Walton's New York apartment, demanding a living wage and reliable working hours for all of the company's employees.

On February 18, Walmart workers protested outside the penthouse of Alice Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune. She and her family have amassed obscene wealth ($191 billion) by exploiting millions of workers around the world. The company itself has a revenue of $523.96 billion.

The action was organized by United for Respect, a labor rights group founded in 2011. They have helped Walmart workers organize to demand better pay, more predictable scheduling and consistent hours, among other rights. The crowd chanted “People over profit!” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! Corporate greed has got to go!” The workers demanded a living wage and reliable working hours for all Walmart workers. “It’s time for the Waltons and Walmart CEO [Doug] McMillon to stop hoarding company profits to enrich themselves through share buybacks,” said Melissa Love, a Walmart worker at the protest.

The action comes at a time when the company is planning to restructure its workforce as part of a plan that the bosses are cruelly calling the “Great Workplace” initiative. The plan aims to cut costs by ditching full-time staff and relying on even more part-time workers. This would be an intensification of the company’s existing strategy. Walmart cut its full-time staff by 30% between 2005 and 2018. 50% of Walmart’s U.S. workforce is part-time.

More people work at Walmart (1.5 million people) than for any other private company in the United States. The wages and labor practices established by Walmart set the standard for the retail industry as a whole. Collectively, Walmart workers have the potential to lead the fight for higher wages and better jobs for all retail workers. Organized against the bosses, their power would be unstoppable.