Immigrant workers march in Goldsboro
Goldsboro, North Carolina, Feb. 21— Almost
300 immigrant workers and supporters gathered on a sunny day in Herman
Park in Goldsboro, North Carolina to demand amnesty, worker and civil
rights, and the right to obtain a driver’s license.
The march, organized by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC),
AFL-CIO was endorsed by over 30 different organizations representing
unions, congregations, immigrant advocates and other activist organizations.
FLOC is a union that represents immigrant farm workers and is boycotting
the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. to win union contracts for justice and a voice
on the job for the cucumber pickers who supply that company with their
crops.
Workers waved red flags and carried signs in English and Spanish that
read “No Human Being is Illegal”, “Workers Create All
Wealth” “Justice for All Workers” and “Union Yes,
Racism No”.
In North Carolina, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants
work in agriculture picking cucumbers, sweet potatoes, tobacco, on hog
and poultry farms and factories, and in the construction industry.
James Andrews, President of the NC AFL-CIO addressed the rally. “There’s
a feeling that nobody will know what will happen to immigrant workers
in this country and nobody will care.”
“How many people know that there is a massive blacklist of workers
that farmers don’t hire?” asked Andrews, referring to the
North Carolina Grower’s Association use of blacklisting to intimidate
and repress H2A farmworkers in North Carolina, hundreds of whom pick
cucumbers for Mt. Olive. “That is illegal and we will shine the
light into this dark corner on the corporations that hide there producing
those lists.”
The NC AFL-CIO has also stood behind immigrant workers in the broad
struggle against recent changes in DMV regulations which have made once
accessible drivers’ licenses impossible for many immigrants to
obtain.
Elizabeth Gomez, a local FLOC activist asserted that immigrants, like
all workers, have families to feed and must be able to safely and legally
drive to and from work.
The event was the first immigrant rights march since the passage of
the new drivers’ license changes, and also the first rally since
the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride made stops in NC last September.
Various unions joined the rally, including the UFCW International Union
and UE 150.
“We, as a union, are behind your struggles,” Larcene Taylor
of UE 150 Goldsboro Chapter at Cherry Hospital stated at the rally.
“FLOC has stood with us and we will stand with them. Workers rights
are human rights!”
Beatriz Maya, FLOC’s national director of education and a leader
in the struggle for amnesty warned, that “oppressive working conditions
and miserable wages will not end by winning legalization.”
“We know who our enemy is,” Maya states. “It’s not
la Migra, the government, or even the Congress who are simply agents
of certain interests. It’s the corporations that profit from the
suffering and death of workers like Mt. Olive Pickle and Smithfield
Packing. We must be smart and use this struggle to organize and educate
to fight in our workplaces.”
Source: FLOC
Anti-war march planned in Fayetteville,
NC
On Mar. 20, demonstrators from throughout the Southeast
will gather in Fayetteville, NC for what is expected to be the largest
anti-war demonstration held in this military town since the Vietnam
war. Fayetteville is home to Ft. Bragg, one of the largest military
bases in the US, and is adjacent to Pope Air Force Base. The march will
begin at 11 am at the Amtrak Station on Hay Street and proceed along
Hay Street to Rowan Street Park for a 1 pm rally that will include speakers,
music, poetry and song.
“We’re holding the march here in Fayetteville to show the
world that there are military families and vets in solidarity with the
millions of others who are negatively affected by war and occupation
in Iraq, and by its consequences at home,” said Lou Plummer of
Fayetteville Peace with Justice and Military Families Speak Out, two
of the events sponsors.
The Fayetteville march and rally is part of an international Global
Day of Action Against War and Occupation that will mark the first anniversary
of the US invasion of Iraq. Last year’s Feb. 15 Global Day of Action
brought out some 15 million demonstrators on all nine continents, including
Antarctica. In addition to the march in Fayetteville there will be an
event in Asheville from 1-5 at City-County Plaza.
Nazis and anti-racists clash in Raleigh
By Skyler Simmons and John Boyd
Raleigh, North Carolina Feb. 21 (AGR)-- Protected
by lines of baton-wielding police, approximately 30 white supremacists
gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Raleigh on Feb. 21. To
counter the rally, close to a thousand people assembled around the capitol
building to denounce the racist message being espoused by white supremacists.
The white supremacist rally was called by the National Socialist Movement
(NSM) in celebration of George Washington’s birthday and in an
effort to show a “unified front” of white supremacists. The
rally was attended by members of White Revolution, the Ku Klux Klan,
the American Nazi Party, and various skinhead factions.
Before the start of the rally a feeder march organized by Anti-Racist
Action (ARA) began a few blocks east of the capitol with the intention
of disrupting the NSM rally. The ARA march attempted to enter the parking
lot where the white supremacists were gathering but police blocked the
path. A brief scuffle ensued as protesters attempted to break through
the police line.
Unable to break the police line the ARA march remained on the corner
across the street from the NSM, forcing police to cancel their short
march to the capitol building, instead opting for a police-escorted
city bus to drive them around the demonstrators. The disruption caused
the rally to start 45 minutes late.
The ARA march then joined up with other counter-demonstrators behind
crowd-control barricades at the capitol building. Conflict again erupted
between protesters and police, as people sought to breach the barricades
in order to disrupt the NSM rally.
“Look at who you are protecting,” yelled one demonstrator
to the police. “You’re creating a safe haven for racism in
our state.”
Sixty members of the Black Student Movement from UNC Chapel Hill lined
the front of the rally dressed in black, maintaining a somber silence,
while hundreds of others heckled the racists and beat on drums. When
the NSM rally attendees belted out a series of “Seig Heil”,
anti- racists responded in the same rhythme, “fuck you, fuck you,
fuck you.”
Towards the end of the rally, around 100 anti racists returned to the
parking lot where the white supremacists had parked their cars. A few
managed to get into the parking lot where at least one NSM supporter’s
car was vandalized
Many counter demonstrators expressed hostility towards the overwhelming
police presence that separated them from the NSM rally. Tensions ran
high and six agencies including US Marshals and the State Bureau of
Investigation were deployed to protect the white supremacists. Lines
of baton-wielding police were backed up by Highway Patrol officers armed
with rubber bullets and tear gas, while undercover agents videotaped
and took still photos of anti-racist activists. Five people were arrested
during the rally on misdemeanor charges stemming from scuffles with
the police. One of the arrested had his collar bone broken by police
when he was tackled to the ground. Two others were arrested the previous
night for spray painting anti-racist slogans around the capitol.
The anti-racist crowd was enthusiastic. As the protest winded down,
most anti-racist activists felt like they had made a positive impact.
“I’m glad I came out today,” remarked Raleigh resident
Jamey Halston. “We completely outnumbered the racists, and managed
to disrupt their hate rally while simultaneously putting forth a message
of love and celebration of diversity.”
