UPCOMING EVENTS-USA:

PORTLAND ECONVERGENCE:

Coming up soon in Portland Oregon...the EConvergence. See their website for further details. Not a specifically anarchist events, but with anarchist input and some anarchist speakers. Here's their intro...

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Economic and Ecological Crises:
Our nation and the world face two great crises. The financial crisis of 2008 triggered the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and layoffs continue as older generations watch hard earned savings vanish, younger families live in fear of layoffs and bills they cannot pay, students despair of finding jobs when they graduate, and immigrants face detention and deportation. Meanwhile, the government lavishes trillion dollar bailouts without conditions on the Wall Street banks whose reckless behavior brought on the crisis, but vacillates when it comes to launching aggressive programs to help those who live on Main Street.

The greatest ecological crisis humanity has ever faced continues unabated. Temperatures rise, ice melts, and rain forests disappear as the planet lurches forward into dangerous, uncharted waters. Meanwhile, well-heeled lobbyists for fossil fuel industries and global agribusiness gear up in Washington DC and State legislatures across the country to stymie attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Northwest region of the United States has pioneered effective responses to environmental and economic problems in the past. A decade ago the “Battle for Seattle” during the World Trade Organization Ministerial meetings sparked a critical reevaluation of neoliberal globalization. Now that this model has been discredited, it is time for us to collectively determine what comes next.

This October, a group of internationally known speakers headed by Noam Chomsky will join academics, activists, and visionary thinkers from the Northwest region in Portland, Oregon to explore the way forward out of the twin crises challenging humanity. The gathering will take place in downtown Portland at the First Unitarian Church, whose ministries have a long history of aiding campaigns promoting social justice and environmental preservation, and at nearby Portland State University.

More than forty environmental, labor, human rights, social justice, student, peace, and community organizations from all over the Northwest have been working together since the beginning of the year to organize the conference. The program committee received over a hundred exciting proposals for panels, workshops, and cultural events in response to its RFP. Each day there will be plenaries as well as scores of panels and workshops exploring how we can make positive changes within our communities and push national leaders to respond more effectively to the economic and environmental crises.

If you would like to know more, or get involved in planning the conference as an individual or as a participating organization, visit the “contact” section of the web site.

AMERICAN LABOUR-PORTLAND:

SUPPORT PORTLAND IWW SOCIAL WORKERS:

The following appeal is from the website of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and it asks for your support for members of the IWW in Portland Oregon.

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Support Needed For Portland IWW Social Workers:
Workers at Streetlight / Porchlight Youth Shelters are asking for support from Fellow Workers in the IWW in an escalation campaign against Janus Youth Programs. The workers have been in wage re-negotiations with Janus since January but the negotiations have been shaky since the beginning.

Janus has repeatedly insisted that they don’t have to bargain and have refused to put forward any counter-proposals that would allow for the modest demands that the Union is seeking. Janus has denied the overwhelming majority of Information Requests throughout the course of negotiations as well, further hampering the negotiations. Attempts to reach out to the National Labor Relations Board have been fruitless as well despite evidence of “bad faith bargaining” on behalf of Janus.

The Union has dropped several of the original demands including a Spanish speaking pay differential in order to focus on a Cost Of Living Adjustment (if Janus provides it for other non-union Janus employees) and a raise for the On-Call (Sub) positions when they reach Bargaining Unit status. Janus’ last communication to the Union was that they were done with negotiations and that workers should wait until next year when the full contract expires to re-negotiate.
The first step in escalation was to have Portland IWW members and other local allies put pressure on Janus through a phone and email blast. The next step is to ask FW’s from across the world to do the same.

Below is a rough draft script for when making phone calls or sending emails. Phone calls are most effective but emails help as well. We are trying to hit them Monday (August 3rd) through Wednesday (August 5). Please take some time and make a couple calls during those days to help out workers at Streetlight / Porchlight Youth Shelters. If you have any questions or would like to get more involved please contact Chris at chrisagenda@gmail.com .

Contact the following (between 9am and 5pm Western time):
Dennis Morrow—Executive Director for Janus Youth Programs dmorrow@janusyouth.org 503.542.4608 (this number is for his assistant Martha)
Kevin Donnegan—Program Director for Shelters, part of Janus’ Bargaining Team kdonegan@janusyouth.org 503.880.5866
Andrew Altschul—Janus Lawyer, part of Bargaining Team Andrew@baaslaw.com 503 974 5022

"My name is __________ from the (name of city) IWW. (Molly Note- you don't have to be an IWW member to participate in this campaign-modify your script accordingly) I'm writing/calling to support the workers at Streetlight and Porchlight Youth Shelters.

I urge you to give a raise to Bargaining Unit Sub-Workers. This increase is a minimal cost to the agency and goes a long way to improving services at the shelter. The Union workers there have dropped some of their original requests and we expect Janus to respond in kind.

You have not bargained at all the past several months. You have turned down almost every information request and you have not budged an inch on meeting any of the Union's demands. The bargaining unit have shown that Janus does save a significant amount of money by having subs cover shifts.The money that was being saved was budgeted for wages.

Workers should not have to wait until next year's contract negotiations to get this raise and it is shameful that you have spent months avoiding a wage re-opener that you are contractually obligated to participate in.

We are watching and expect to see these demands met."