[Marxism] Bullet: A Continental Campaign for Living Wages and Social Justice

["Pance Stojkovski" <pance@xxxxxxxxxx>]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 88 .... March 8, 2008
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A Continental Campaign for Living Wages and Social Justice

By Richard Roman and Edur Velasco Arregui

A coalition of Mexican unions and social movements has been calling for a
continental workers' campaign for a living wage and social justice in the
three NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) countries. The original
call was made in November 2006. It is being followed
by new efforts to develop this campaign (see below). It emerges in the
context of the impasses of the North American labour movement and the
continuing competitive pressures on wages and incomes of working people.  

Capitalism, by its very nature, pits individual workers and different
labour forces against each other in the search for jobs. It also promotes
competition among workers through a variety of strategies. The two-tier
workplace strategy (discussed in Bullet No. 85) is a good example of how
this is carried out within plants and within a single industry. It also
promotes this competitiveness through the cultural promotion of
individualism and consumerism. As well, capitalist enterprises take
advantage of pre-existing differences and tensions between groups (ethnic
groups, different nationalities, men/women, domestic-born/immigrant), to
enhance their divide and rule strategy. These strategies have always been
an important part of capitalism. 

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Southwest Labor Studies Association
34th Annual Conference May 15-17, 2008
California  Polytechnic University
Pomona, CA

** CALL FOR PAPERS, WORKSHOPS, AND PRESENTATIONS **

Working and Organizing Everyday:  Workers, Families, and Communities in
Local and Global Struggles

Featuring:  Plenary Sessions on The State of Working Families in the Inland
Valley and The Struggle for a Continental Living Wage

Global economic transformations coupled with U.S. imperial policies have
radically transformed the working and living conditions in communities
across the globe.  We invite proposals from scholars and community
activists for panels, interactive workshops, performances, displays, art,
film, and music that explore the local and global impacts of these
processes and how workers and communities are challenging them. 

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Historical and contemporary discussions of working class movements
- Immigrant worker organizing
- Global resistance to neoliberalism
- Impact of NAFTA and CAFTA on workers and communities
- Labor education
- Nativism and anti-immigrant movements
- Gender, race, and sexuality in organizing
- Youth and student activism

Proposal deadline is March 15, 2008.  Please send a short (1-2 paragraphs)
proposal and the name and contact information of the participants to
Enrique C. Ochoa at ecochoa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx at CLASS Dean's Office, Cal Poly
Pomona, Pomona, CA 91768.  For further information contact Enrique Ochoa at
(909) 869-3115 or ecochoa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Complete Bullet:
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet088.html





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