News

AAUMC Update on Iraq and Iraqi Oil Workers..

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The following letter was sent to Congressional and Senatorial leaders by Leo Gerard, President of the United Steel Workers union. This union also represents the oil industry workers in the U.S.
Please share this develop with others.

July 31, 2007
VIA FAX

Honorable Carl Levin, Chairman
Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman
Honorable John McCain, Ranking Member
Honorable Michael B. Enzi, Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services Comm. on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Joe Biden, Jr., Chairman
Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman
Honorable Richard Lugar, Ranking Member
Honorable Ted Stevens, Ranking Member
Committee on Foreign Relations Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Subcommittee on Defense
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman

"Support this worldwide Divestment and Boycott Campaign Against Israel and Apartheid" appeals Palestinian Labor Leader in SF Speech.

Boycott

"We actually don't have any other way to exercise international pressure except calling our friends and supporters in the trade unions around the globe to call for this Boycott and Divestment." stated Manawel Issa Abdellal, member of the Executive Committee of the 250 thousand member Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in a recent speech to union activists and labor movement supporters in San Francisco.

"Factories actually exist inside the settlements and their products are going to the markets in Europe and in the United States. The whole world is saying these settlements are actually illegal settlements. So why would it be wrong to boycott them?", he continued.

"My message to you as labor activists is to follow the lead of unions in Canada and Britain."

Arab Americans are an integral part of the American work force. Yet Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian people in the U.S. are currently facing a new wave of racism, discrimination and widespread suspicion from their fellow Americans in the aftermath of the political and cultural changes that have become systematic since 9/11.

Some recent reports claim that the economy has added 1.5 million jobs over the past year (2003), but this has not come close to making up for the 2.6 million jobs that have disappeared since the recession of 2001. Employers have responded to the rise in unemployment by squeezing more out of existing workers ? often after multiple rounds of layoffs.

Arab American Union Members Council and Break the Silence Mural Project present:

A SPECIAL COMEDY EVENT WITH MAYSOON
7:30 pm
Friday, May 20th, 2006

Opening with Music and Refreshments

Meet Maysoon Zayid, who makes hay out of being what some think is a living, breathing oxymoron: an Arab American comedian. So much for the stereotype of the silent, pliant Muslim woman.

"By introducing Maysoon to the Bay Area community, we are not only breaking a stereotype but also introducing humor to a very tense political situation," stated the organizers.

First Unitarian Universalist Church
1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco
$10-25 sliding scale

A benefit supporting Arab working families in the Bay Area and the promotion of art and cultural events.

For more information about Maysoon, visit her website.

Labor Night at Made in Palestine:
An Evening of Art, Music and Solidarity

Made in Palestine is the first U.S. museum exhibition of the contemporary art of Palestine. It is a survey of Palestinian artists of the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and the diaspora.

Labor Night is a reception for the Labor community of the Bay Area. Working families in Palestine face many of the same problems that we do in the U.S.: union busting, lack of health care, low wages and unemployment. We hope that Labor Night will help to link our two struggles, and give our local community a glimpse of the triumphs and tragedies of life in Palestine.

Labor Night sponsored by the Justice in Palestine Coalition Labor Committee and the Arab American Union Members Council.

Tuesday, April 19
6:30-9:00 PM
SomArts Cultural Center
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco