Forum / Reading Events

 

July 2 (Saturday) 2:00 PM (Free) National Japanese American Historical Society - 1684 Post St., SF
The ILWU and Japanese Americans (Presentation)
By Harvey Schwartz
On February 23, 1942, just weeks after Imperial Japan’s raid on Pearl Harbor, CIO officer and later long-serving ILWU Secretary-Treasurer Louis Goldblatt testified before a Congressional committee established to review President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order calling for the internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans in “relocation” camps for the duration of World War II. That day Goldblatt condemned the government’s resort to concentration camps and charged, “This entire episode of hysteria and mob chant against the native-born Japanese will form a dark page of American history.”
Goldblatt’s prediction, of course, came true. In this forum, we will explore Goldblatt’s courageous 1942 stand and many other phases of the multi-racial ILWU’s historical experience with Japanese-Americans. During its early days in the 1930s under Harry Bridges, the legendary union’s founding president, the ILWU stood against discrimination and for civil rights and social justice. It maintained this policy through its 1940s organization of 25,000 Japanese and other Asian agricultural workers in Hawaii and still practices it. We will trace all of this history in our program, which will feature Peter Yamamoto of the NJAHS, chair; Harvey Schwartz, curator of the ILWU Oral History Collection, presenter; and Larry Yamamoto, Bay Area artist and retired ILWU longshore worker and commentator.
When America Was Overcome with Anti-Japanese Xenophobia during WWII, One Union Fought Back - by Peter Cole

July 5 (Tuesday) 10:00 AM (Free) San Francisco Labor Council Office- 1188 Franklin St., Suite 203, SF
Bread & Roses with Retired Union Members
Come to an open regular meeting of FORUM (Federation of Retired Union Members), an organization of retirees affiliated with the San Francisco Labor Council. Retirees come from a spectrum of unions with members and workers in San Francisco. FORUM supports alliances between working people and retired people to preserve and improve healthcare, social security and pension benefits. The July program will briefly highlight members’ current activities and primarily focus on personal recollections of the 1934 General Strike and other significant labor actions. Anyone with stories to tell about labor history is especially invited to come and share memories. Refreshments will be served.

July 7 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Donation) SF General Hospital - Carr Auditorium - 22nd & San Bruno Ave., SF
Black Lives Matter, Labor & Minority Workers on the Job
The attack on African Americans is not only by the police on the street. There has been a national epidemic of racist hanging noose incidents at work locations. These have also taken place in San Francisco, Oakland and other cities in Northern California.
At the same time there is the question of whether police should be part of the labor movement.
This forum will look at these issues and what working people and unions can do about these issues.
Initial Speakers:
Daryle Washington, Formerly IBT 350 Member
Brenda Barros, SEIU 1021 SF General Hospital Chair
Brandon Buchanon, UAW 2850 UCD Chief Steward
Phelicia Jones, Justice for Mario Woods Coalition, SEIU 1021

July 9 (Saturday) 9:00 - 4:00 PM (Free) City College of SF Mission Campus - 1125 Valencia, R107 - 109, SF
Labor Education Share
Labor Educators — teachers who work with labor unions, union members, other activists and workers of all kinds - will share methods and curriculum in a full day of demonstrations and discussions.
Options include joining us for dinner the night before at Delancey Street, staying in a nearby hotel where we have a block reserved, ordering lunch for the 9th in advance for $20 (union caterer), and offering to demo one of your own good teaching approaches. Program and details are still being worked on.
Contact helenaworthen@gmail.com or 510-828-2745 for more information. www.uale.org

July 10 (Sunday) 5:00 PM (Free) Green Arcade Bookstore - 1680 Market St. at Gough, SF
Book reading Frisco by Daniel Bacon
Frisco is the most important dramatic novel centered around the San Francisco General Strike in 1934. Bacon has integrated the characters, including Harry Bridges and other leaders of the ILWU, into the novel and gives a gripping portrayal of the class struggle.
In the summer of 1934, a strange silence descended on San Francisco. Streetcars disappeared. Gas stations closed. Theater marquees turned off. Stores and restaurants locked their doors. Butcher shops ran out of meat. The wealthy fled to their country estates. It was as if the city had died. In his debut novel, Bacon describes the forces that led to this extraordinary state of affairs. We see it through the eyes of Nick Benson and Clarisa McMahon, a young couple whose relationship is torn apart when financial hardship forces them to take separate paths. The former lovers must then learn to survive in a city that is struggling with a broken economy and a widening gap between rich and poor.
Based on historic events, Frisco introduces us to Harry Bridges, a charismatic union organizer who leads longshoremen into a strike that spreads to the entire West Coast. On opposites sides of this bloody conflict between capital and labor, Nick and Clarisa find their loyalties wavering, their relationship uncertain. In telling this tale, Bacon delivers a passionate story of betrayal and redemption, amid a tumultuous period when the City by the Bay was affectionately known as Frisco.
http://www.daniel-bacon.com/frisco/

July 14 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU 34 Hall - 801 2nd St., next to AT&T Ball Park
Puerto Rico, Colonization, Privatization, and Human Rights
Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States since 1898. The first free trade zone was set up in Puerto Rico during the 1950’s and it was called “Bootstrap”. It set up tax free zones for US multi-nationals and the US has also pushed privatization of the Puerto Rican economy in energy, healthcare, and other services.
The result has been deprivation and forced exile of the majority of the people in Puerto Rico. Today the US government has taken direct control of Puerto Rico like the bankrupt cities in Detroit and Flint, and this is being used to attack the working class. This forum will look at the present situation and also what US workers can do about this.
The following list is some of the speakers:
Katherine Adames Rodriques is ?a pro-independent socialist from Puerto Rico who moved to the Bay Area last year. She has been a member of the Organización Socialista Internacional, the Puerto Rico Network of Solidarity with Palestine, and the Committe Against Homophobia and Discrimination. As a militant teacher, she was very active in the Puerto Rico Federation of Teachers, whose organizing efforts she supported and with which she mobilized against the government's attack on public education and its neoliberal policies.
Roberto Pastrana Pagés is a nonprofit worker and a member of SEIU Local 1021. In 2014, he moved from Puerto Rico, where he had been a member of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations on the islands, such as Puerto Rico para Tod@s, and the Committee against Homophobia and Discrimination at the University of Puerto Rico. A militant pro-independence socialist, Roberto was part of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and the Federación Universitaria Pro Independencia (FUPI). He was part of the push for LGBT rights and worked for visibility and solidarity within the working class.
Sponsered by United Public Workers for Action
www.upwa.info

July 15 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Free) First Unitarian Universalist Church - 1187 Franklin St., SF
The Cost of NAFTA, CAFTA &TPP
How “Free Trade” Agreements Affect Emigration, Worker and Human Rights
"Harvest of Loneliness - The Bracero Program" (58 min.) 2010 by Gilbert Gonzalez
Film Harvest of Loneliness - The bracero Program will be shown at the beginning of the program.
Corporate trade agreements in the post-war period have had radical effect on working people in the United States and around the world. This forum will look at how these agreements destroy labor rights, forcing millions into exile while destroying democratic rights.
From Puerto Rico, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Turkey, and Africa, the role of these trade agreements has driven down wages and living conditions, and destroyed healthcare.
Partial list of speakers: Humberto Montes de Oca,Electrical Workers Union leader of the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas/Electrician's Union-Secretario del Interior; Guadalupe Ibeth Luquin Montaño, the National "CNTE" Executive Member Teachers Union; Bob Carnegie, Australia MUA Branch Secretary.
This Small Town Shows Why The Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Be A Disaster For American Workers - by Peter Cole

July 16 (Saturday) 10:00 - 4:00 PM (Free) ILWU 34 Hall - 801 2nd St., next to AT&T Ball Park
International Conference Against Privatization
The effort to destroy unions and working conditions is directly connected to privatization and deregulation. In nearly every country of the world, public workers are under attack through outsourcing and deregulation. This educational conference will look at privatization in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
Another key part of international policy that is being pushed through the US-controlled IMF and World Bank are trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the TPP. This conference will look at the history of so-called “Free Trade” agreements and how this has lowered working conditions and also brought about the destruction of health and safety conditions and the privatization of healthcare, housing, education, and all public services.
Another focus of this conference will be the relationship of privatization to corruption on a global level. The crisis in Brazil and other countries are examples of how privatization has led to a growing corruption crisis.
Speakers from around the world will connect the dots and explain how unions have organized locally, nationally and internationally to defend working people.
Partial list of speakers: Humberto Montes de Oca,Electrical Workers Union leader of the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas/Electrician's Union-Secretario del Interior; Guadalupe Ibeth Luquin Montaño, the National "CNTE" Executive Member Teachers Union; Bob Carnegie, Australia MUA Branch Secretary; David Welsh, NALC 214; Frank M. Adamson PhD. Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the Sanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), expert on New Orleans Charter Take-over.
Endorsed by Transport Workers Solidarity committee, United Public Workers For Action (UPWA.info)

July 18 (Monday) 7:00 PM (Free) 518 Valencia - Near 16th St., SF
Red Vienna to SF: How Working Class of Vienna Solved Their Housing Crisis and Made the Rich Pay For It
By Professor Irmi Voglmayr, University of Vienna
In 1919, there was a massive housing crisis in Vienna with homelessness. The working class had won political power and implemented a plan of massive housing construction for the working class. Over 220,000 units were built and this well built housing still exists in Vienna and provides good homes for working people of the city.
This forum will look at how the housing crisis was solved in Vienna and the lessons for San Francisco and the United States.

July 19 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) 518 Valencia - Near 16th St., SF
Refugees, War, Immigrants in Europe and the Rise of Neo-Fascism
By Karl Fischbacher, LabourNet Austria, Retired Teacher Union Leader
The wars in the Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya have driven millions of people from their homes. The direct result has been the largest migration in Europe since the 2nd WW. It has helped give rise to a growing neo-fascist movement including parties that may take power in Austria and other countries.
Karl Fischbacher, who is a leader of LabourNet Austria, will report on migration in Austria and Europe and how that has been used by those governments and neo-fascists to encourage racism and xenophobia. The rise of Trump in the United States is also connected to this growing racism, nationalism, and dictatorship.

July 19 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Green Arcade Bookstore - 1680 Market St. at Gough, SF
Unheard Voices Rising Up: Workers’ Survival, Resistance and Power! - LaborFest Writers
The Housing Crisis, Homelessness, and How Capitalism Thwarts Self-Help and Organizing Efforts
LaborFest Writers’ Group will explore how unheard voices are rising up, resisting, and discovering their power. This movement is happening at work and wherever San Franciscans call home, whether it is brick and mortar or tent city. People are speaking out and demanding to be heard as they struggle to earn a living wage, to protect their rights, and to be able to stay in the city they call home. Join us for an evening of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, and music by LaborFest writers Phyllis Holliday, Keith Cooley, Susan Ford, Margaret Cooley, Nellie Wong, Jerry Path, Richard Chen and Alice Rogoff.
Contact: info@laborfestwriters.org

July 20 (Wednesday) 5:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 34 Hall - 801 2nd St. next to AT&T Ball Park
Forum On Adjuncts, Temps, Privatization And Education
The attack on professors by colleges and universities has made many temporary and part time workers with very little benefits and conditions. This has placed many of these workers in poverty who cannot even pay their healthcare and bills. This has not only included private colleges but the California community college and state university system.
This forum will look at these conditions for the "Freeway Flyers" and what is being done to organize and defend the rights of adjunct faculty.
With Brad Rettele, Director of "Freeway Flyers"; Robert Ovetz, Organizer and Adjunct Professor; Joe Berry, Writer and Organizer of Adjuncts; Rick Baum, AFT 2121.

July 21 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Free) 518 Valencia - near 16th St., SF
Freelancers, Journalism, Worker Rights, and Technology
Tens of thousands of journalists have lost their jobs in the US and most have ended up as freelancers. The use of technology has transformed our communication and media tools and this has drastically affected journalists, news and information. At the same time, there are growing threats to freelancers and journalists with repression and police attacks in San Francisco around the Mario Woods case, nationally and around the world.
This forum will hear from freelancers about the issues that they face in not only surviving but also the increasing dangers in their work.
We will look at not only what is happening to journalists but also how we can protect our livelihoods and health and safety. We will be screening Corruption and the Media in Turkey by Kibrit Film (2016). This 15 minute powerful documentary looks at how journalists, newspapers and independent media have come under attack and repression. The CWA Pacific Media Workers has called for the defense of journalist rights in Turkey and this has also been endorsed by the San Francisco Labor Council.
With:Sana Saleem writes for 48 Hill and she works on minority rights and internet freedom; Josh Wolf, a freelance journalist and video blogger who spent 225 days in prison in 2007 to protect his sources (This was the longest jailing of a journalist in US history); Steve Zeltzer, CWA Pacifica Media Workers Guild Human Rights Chair; Joseph Thomas, an independent videographer who is covering activism in San Francisco.
Sponsored by KPFA WorkWeek Radio
Click here to see more detail of each presenter.
http://sflaborcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/02-08-16TurkeyJournalistsResolution-Ltrhd.doc.pdf

July 21 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Free) First Unitarian Church - 1187 Franklin St. at Geary
July 22 (Friday) 6:00 PM (Free) ATU Local 1555 Hall - 132 9th St. at Lake Merritt BART
HOW SOLIDARITY CAN WIN
Come hear four of the victorious Boston School Bus Drivers talk about their fighting strategies, as part of their West Coast tour!
For more info: https://solidarityworks.wordpress.com/
Local contact: call 510 847 8657
https://www.facebook.com/events/1573335282960281

July 22 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 34 Hall - 801 2nd St. next to AT&T Ball Park
The Lessons of the Preparedness Day Bombing for Today: Repression, Frame-up, Labor and Political Prisoners
By Steven C. Levi
One hundred years ago on this date, a terror bombing took place in San Francisco on Market St. that led to the loss of 10 people with many injured. It was called Preparedness Day and was a march to get ready for world war. At the same time there was a growing and militant labor and anti-war movement in San Francisco and the entire country.
This bombing led to a massive attack on unions, labor and radical activists against the growing war campaign. Two labor activists and radicals Tom Mooney and Warren Billing were arrested and charged with planning the bombing. They were convicted and nearly went to their deaths. The labor movement took up their case and declared that this was a political frame-up. After decades of defense work they were finally released.
Writer Steven C. Levi who has written about San Francisco’s tumultuous history in COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE: The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Law and Order Committee, 1916-1919, will present the story of what happened on July 22, 1916 and how it affected the lives and people of San Francisco and the country.
This forum is also co-sponsored by Institute For Historical Study.
An exhibition of the Labor Archives and Research Center "Worshiping the God of Dynamite"
5/5 - 12/1/2016 at San Francisco State University Library - 1630 Holloway Ave., SF
"Local issues shape national politics." The Relevance Of The San Francisco July 22, 1906 Preparedness Day Bombing - by Steven C. Levi
http://www.instituteforhistoricalstudy.org
http://www.parsnackle.com/Publications.htm

July 23 (Saturday) 1:00 PM (Free) SF Main Library, Mary Louis Strong Room - 100 Larkin St., SF
Global Depression, the New Cold War and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games
by George Wright
When the IOC awarded the Olympic Games to Rio in 2009 Brazil was considered a Third World economic powerhouse. Over the past decade, owing to geo-political and economic conditions, Brazil is facing perhaps the worse political-economic crisis in its history. This presentation will discuss that crisis and its impact on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The presentation will also provide a preview of what to watch for at the Rio Olympic Games.
George Wright is a professor, who is an expert on the history of sports and class.

 

July 23 (Saturday) 3:00 PM (Free) SF Main Library, Mary Louis Strong Room - 100 Larkin St., SF
Labor System and Unrest in Saudi Arabia
by Sharat G. Lin
The system of expatriate labor contracting in Saudi Arabia pays workers from different countries entirely different wage scales for the same work, enslaves workers by seizing their passports, bans unions, and establishes elaborate systems of segregation and hierarchy. The labor system, employing as many as 9 million foreign workers, was pioneered by U.S. oil companies and management contractors. Deep-seated unrest lies just beneath the surface.
Sharat G. Lin writes on global political economy, labor migration, the Middle East, and South Asia. He lived in Saudi Arabia, and travels frequently to the region. He is a research fellow at the San Jose Peace and Justice Center.

July 24 (Sunday) 10:00 - 1:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 34 Hall - 801 2nd St. next to AT&T Ball Park
The Lessons of the Preparedness Day Bombing for Today
Repression, Frame-up, Labor and Political Prisoners
One hundred years ago, the trade unionist and labor activists Tom Mooney and Warren Billings were framed for a bombing that they did not do. After the bombing in San Francisco, unions were raided and the anti-labor business lobby went on a witch-hunt against organized labor, using this incident as a pretext.
Labor did mobilize to free Mooney and Billings. Hundreds of mass meetings were held and protests were organized. Major unions including the Machinists’ Lodge, the Iron Molders’ Association and United Steelworkers chose to strike, halting a large sector of the economy to demand their freedom. Two hundred and twenty big unions outside of industrial centers also joined in Mooney’s cause.
This forum will look at the use of so-called “terror” incidents to create a new anti-labor political environment. The use of “terrorism” as a political vehicle is a growing pretext for attack on our democratic and union rights.
This forum will look at some of the history of such incidents and political frame-ups of trade unionists and political activists.
It will also look at how labor has helped build a working class political movement to defend political prisoners in the US and around the world. Sponsored by KPFA WorkWeek.
Endorsed by Labor Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal

July 25 (Monday) 6:30 PM (Free) Plumbers Hall - 1621 Market St. 2nd floor at Franklin St., SF
Take It From the Workers Who Built Everything
Book readings by Bob Mattacola and Harvey Schwartz
The catastrophic San Francisco 1906 earthquake brought tens of thousands of unionized building trades workers to San Francisco to rebuild the city. These critically needed workers rebuilt the city in an amazing three years.
The most important and historically significant documentary account of the rebuilding of San Francisco was by union carpenter George W. Farris. This is the only daily diary of life in San Francisco after the traumatic and historic earthquake event. United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 22, with member Bob Mattacola, who learned about the diary, have now turned this story into a book called George W. Farris Diaries: A Daily Diary of a Union Carpenter in San Francisco January 1902-1910.
Bob Mattacola will read from this diary and take questions.
Also joining the book reading will be labor historian and writer Harvey Schwartz, who will read from his book on the workers who built the Golden Gate Bridge. The book, Building the Golden Gate Bridge: A Workers’ Oral History, is the story of workers who built one of the most famous icons in the world. Their stories, brought together by Schwartz, allow ironworkers, electricians, elevator constructors, laborers and others to describe their sometimes harrowing and even tragic experiences in their own words. Both books were produced by union printers and will be available at the event, which is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Labor Council and Carpenters Local 22.
http://www.laborfest.net/2006/story%20board%20pdf/Carpenter’s%20diary.pdf

 

July 26 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Uptown Body and Fender - 401 26th St., Oakland
Forum - Palestinian Workers, Human Rights, Labor and Zionism
Palestinian workers are under attack and they and their families face apartheid conditions. At the same time, legal efforts are being made to prevent an international boycott of Israel and labor action. Bay Area ILWU longshore workers played an important role in supporting Palestinian workers by boycotting the Israeli controlled Zim shipping line. This forum will look at the history of Zionism including the collaboration with the Nazis, and the present attack on UK Labor Party members critical of Israel who are being attacked as anti-Semites.
We will also look at the struggle of UAW 2865 to support the international boycott, and how their national leadership nullified their efforts.
Video from ILWU Zim Action On Port of Oakland will be screened.
Speakers:
Fadi Saba, President Luther Burbank Education Association CTA*, VP of The Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation www.defendingdissent.org, www.bordc.org
Jeff Blankfort, Editor Of Labor Bulletin On The Middle East and Radio Host of KZYX&Z Takes on The World
Lenni Brenner, Historian and author of Zionism In The Age Of The Dictators
Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10 retired and Chair Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
* for identification only
Sponsored by United Public Workers For Action.
www.upwa.info

July 27 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Redstone Building - 2940 16th St., SF
Uber, Worker Rights, Tech and the Public - A Panel & Discussion
The growth of UBER and other technology software companies has had a drastic affect on the regulated taxi industry and taxi workers not just in San Francisco but throughout the world. This panel will look at the worker and public issues created by UBER and other tech companies. It will also look at how workers both in the regulated taxi industry and at UBER and other companies are seeking to defend their wages and working conditions.
Sponsored by San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance
http://www.sftwa.org

July 28 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Free) SF North Beach Library - 850 Columbus Ave., SF
The Fight for Our History, the New York City Triangle Fire and Health and Safety Today
With Professor Mary Anne Traciatti, President of Remember The Triangle Coalition

The New York City Triangle fire was the one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of the United States. Unions and workers in response to this built a mass movement for health and safety protection for all workers. Professor Mary Anne Traciatti will talk about the Triangle Fire and bringing home the lessons for today. There are less than 200 Cal-OSHA inspectors in California and only 2,000 in the United States for 130 million workers.
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org

July 29 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Free) Green Arcade Bookstore - 1680 Market St. at Gough, SF
The Council on Foreign Relations, Our Unions and Foreign Policy
By Larry Shoup
Larry Shoup, author of Rulers & Rebels: A People’s History of Early California, 1769-1901, has now written an important new book Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976-2014. In this reading, Shoup will look at the history of the AFL-CIO in relationship to the CFI and how this has affected US labor’s foreign policy.
The CFI was set up by the biggest capitalists and ideologues to develop the imperial economic interests of US multi-nationals, and Shoup will examine how the AFL-CIO has been involved in this organization and what it has meant concretely for workers in the US and around the world.
The AFL-CIO has taken tens of millions of dollars from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the US government for international labor work around the world. It was also been involved in supporting a military coup in Venezuela and other countries. The government funded AFL-CIO “Solidarity Center,” and its predecessor organizations, African-American Labor Center (AALC), American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), and Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI), were involved in setting up and supporting pro-corporate trade unions that supported privatization, deregulation and “free trade,” which was being pushed by the US government and US multi-nationals.
While the unions here are fighting NAFTA, CAFTA, and TPP, the Democrats, Republicans and US government are pushing deregulation, privatization and “free trade zones” around the world.
Shoup will look at the ideology of the CFR and how this continues to intersect the agenda of the AFL-CIO’s international perspective.

July 30 (Saturday) 10:00 - 4:00 PM (Free) Richmond High School - 1250 23rd St. Richmond, CA (Room TBA)
Defend Public Education, Charters: Connecting the Dots and Privatization - Conference
This conference will look at th history of the charter movement, how it has taken over the regulation of our education system, and how it is re-segregating education in California and nationally.
Public education in California is facing destruction in every direction. Supporters of charters and privatization over the last 30 years have seized control of the California Board of Education and also the Commission on Teacher Credentials (CTC). The deregulation of education rules in California allows a massive expansion of privately run charter schools in shopping malls and highly toxic industrial sites, even when local communities and school boards oppose their establishment.
Proposition 39, which passed in California, is now diverting hundreds of millions of dollars to building new charter schools with non-union labor and replacing unionized teachers with TFA and non-certified teachers. They are also allowing charters to grab up rooms and spaces at public schools and even setting up charters inside high schools and other public schools, creating chaos. Some charters in California are now run by Christian and Moslem sects who demand that students pray to play and indoctrinate students in their religious ideology with public funds.
Many of these charter schools have been set up with support from the Gates Foundation, the Wal-Mart Family through their Walton Foundation, the Broad Foundation, The Fisher Family KIPP Foundation, and Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Foundation.
They are driven by more testing through companies like Pearson and spend tens of millions on more computers rather than teachers. They are also attacking the teacher pension Cal-STRS by spiking the pension system and preventing new teachers from joining this state public pension system.
FOR REGISTRATION: Please send us 1) name; 2) e-mail address; 3) phone number; 4) which school (if you are teacher)
to laborfest@laborfest.net, or call 510-655-6529.
SPEAKERS:
Dr. Diane Ravitch - by skpe https://dianeravitch.net
Julian Vasquez Heilig, Ph.D. - CA NAACP Education Chair, Professor Sacramento State University* www.cloakinginginequality.com
Sharon Higgins - Expert on Charter Corruption & Gulen Charters http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com
Kristyn Jones - UTR Chair of Charter Committee
Dr. Roxana Marachi - Education Professor SJSU* https://eduresearcher.com/author/connectedu/
Mary Flanagan - UTR
Mark Hall - producer of Killing Ed http://www.killinged.com
Adam Bessie - DVC Diablo Valley College Professor Media https://adambessie.com
Pastor Brian Adkins - Open Door Methodist Church
Arto Rinteela - Fairmede Hilltop Neighborhood Council President, UBC Millwrights Local 102*
Diane Maddox - UTR Secretary
Carlos Taboada - Educator, Richmond High retired teacher
*for information only

Sponsored by: United Teachers of Richmond, Fairmede Hilltop Neighborhood Council, United Public Workers For Action, Voices Against Privatizing Public Education, Defend Public Education