FREEDOM TO JOIN A UNION.

This from LabourStart:

The camp after the thugs attacked.

 

  

    On the morning of 24 October, around 180 hired thugs violently evicted workers and peasant landowners from a protest camp at a mine in Mexico. The mine was owned by a Canadian company, Excellon Resources.

     The protest camp had been running peacefully since July at the entrance to the mining complex in order to put pressure on the company to recognise freedom of association and the workers’ right to join a union.

     A joint campaign sponsored by IndustriALL global union, Amnesty International and PRODESC, a Mexican NGO, was today launched on LabourStart:

 

http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1620&src=lsmm

 

      It will take you only a couple of minutes to show your support for these workers.  Please sign up, and spread the word.

 

Thank you!

 

Eric Lee

 

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY - RICARDO FLORES MAGON.

       As September closes, a bit late to mention, but one not to be overlooked, Ricardo Flores Magon, he was born the 16th. September 1874. After a life of revolutionary struggle and years in prison, he was arrested in America in 1918 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for "obstructing the war effort" and died in Leavenworth Prison on the 21st. November 1922. 

"FAREWELL!"

WE cannot break our chains with weak desire,

with whines and supplicating cries.

'T'is not by crawling meekly in the mire

The free-winged eagle learns to mount the skies.

The gladiator, victor in the fight,

On whom the hard-contested laurels fall,

Goes not in the arena pale with fright

But steps forth fearlessly, defying all.

O victory, O victory, dear and fair,

Thou crownest him who does his best,

Who perishing, still unafraid to bear,

Goes down to dust, thy image in his breast.

Farewell, O comrades, I scorn life as a slave!

I begged no tyrant for my life, though sweet it was;

Though chained, I go unconquered to my grave,

Dying for my own birth-right --- and the world's.

Ricardo Flores Magon.

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IS IT THE BIGGEST.

         People on the streets across Europe, but as we know, it isn't just Europe. From the Middle East to America, to South America, people are calling for change, with more pain, corruption and deprivation coming our way the anger will rise, the call for change will get louder.
         In Mexico this was billed as the biggest demonstration in the world, perhaps not accurate,  but it is up there with the big ones.

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KIDNAP AND TORTURE.

 This from Labour Start: 

Mexico: Human rights defender kidnapped and tortured

           José Enrique Morales Montaño, of the Center of Support for Workers (CAT) in Puebla was kidnapped and physically tortured on May 15, 2012 as he was headed to the Local Labor Board to accompany a group of textile workers who were fighting a case against a factory in the region. His captors kept a gun pressed to his head for extended periods of time, and threatened to kill him and the other members of the CAT. In the evening of the same day, they left him on an abandoned highway to Veracruz, and stole his cell phone and backpack; he suffered serious injuries.

            Show your solidarity with those in Mexico defending human and labour rights and demand a swift resolution to this injustice.

          Please take a moment to send off your protest message here:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1393&src=lsmm

Spread the word - build the campaign!

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THE STRUGGLE IS GLOBAL.

        An appeal and a thank-you from Labour Start:

        Members of the Mexican electrical workers union have been engaged in a heroic struggle that began more than two years ago -- and today they need our help. Despite being evicted from their workplaces by police and military in 2009, they continued their resistance and today are negotiating with the government on a just solution.

But they need our help -- the support of trade union members from around the world.

      Sending your message to the Mexican government and the union will take you less than a minute -- please do so now - click here.

        Please spread the word inside your union, to your workmates, friends and family -- and share the campaign via these social media sites:        

       Meanwhile, thanks to the more than 7,600 of you who responded to last week's appeal in support of jailed trade union leaders in Greece. The trial began on Tuesday and the union leaders have thanked all of you for your support. But we need more messages before it resumes next week, so if you've not yet sent off a message, please do so now - click here.

        Finally, it's a new year and we're relaunching our partnership with UCS - the unionised bookshop - to promote books by and for trade unionists. This month, I'd like to urge all of you to have a look at Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America. If you've never heard of Mother Jones, you're in for a real treat. And remember that every book you purchase using this link helps to support LabourStart.
Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee

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CUT OFF YOUR NOSE TO SPITE YOUR FACE???

       In this weird and exploitive system of capitalism, some times great effort is put into something and just when those responsible think they have success, up pops another problem caused by their success. The state of Arizona has been working away diligently trying to close its border with Mexico. According to The Centre for American Progress, there has been $115 billion spent on beefing up the border controls in the last 8 years, and the Arizona Border Patrol has double in the last seven years. So now that they are beginning to pat themselves on the back with congratulations as they think they have cut the number of people getting across the border, along come some moaning minnies. It seems that the Arizona farmers are complaining as they are now in trouble because they can't get enough migrant workers to work the farms. So it looks like that the US tax payers have paid $115 billion to cripple the Arizona farmers, ah, that's capitalism for you. This could be a case for some joined-up thinking and one group speaking to the other. Of course in a free and decent society there would be no borders.

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TEAPOT COLLECTIVE INTRODUCTION TO ANARCHY - PAGE 14.

       Next up is page 14 of the Teapot Collective Introduction to Anarchy, This is the last page, the next part is about the Teapot Collective and some suggested further reading. You can read page 13 HERE.

By the hundreds of thousands peasants organised in the MST ("Movement of the Landless") in Brazil are squatting land to live and work collectively. In the LA riots a few years ago, the poor revolted, looting and making their communities no-go areas for the authorities. In 1994, theZapatistas liberated many villages in Chiapas, Mexico, and their struggle against free trade agreements which had disasterous effects on the large peasant population has become international with the Encuentros, gatherings of groups and individuals from all over the world fighting corporate powers.

       But anarchy is also about small-scale resistance, about individuals refusing standards, ignoring authority and joining up to improve their lives. Everyday, we can experiment with and learn ways of dealing with each other without leaders or domination, with mutual respect, building the world we want now - in our relationships, our interactions and our resistance. 

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WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE ZAPATISTAS IN MEXICO?

'What is happening with the Zapatistas in Mexico?"

Speaker from 'Rebeldía Revista' Mexico

Talk by Javier Elorriaga, Editor of the 'Other Campaign' magazine, followed by questions and discussion.

Monday 23rd May

1pm-3pm

The Free Hetherington

The Glasgow University Occupation

13 University Gardens.       Just off University Avenue,    Glasgow University Campus.

http://freehetherington.wordpress.com/find-us/

         Javier is a journalist, video maker, historian, political analyst and a member of the editorial team of the influential magazine Rebeldia, which acts a voice for the Other Campaign and the Zapatistas throughout Mexico. He was a founder and co-ordinator of the Zapatista Front for National Liberation. He will speak about what's happening in Mexico today, especially what's happening with the Zapatistas.

      

       From their latest massive march through the town of San Cristobal to oppose militarisation and repression in Mexico, to the development of autonomy in the mountains and jungle of Chiapas, Javier will give a first-hand report of the movement which has inspired the anti capitalist movement world-wide. Don't miss this rare opportunity - these are Javier's only dates in Britain on his European tour.

A merchandise stall will be at both events selling Zapatista t-shirts, coffee and crafts. The money raised goes to health clinics run by the Zapatistas in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

Organised by Edinburgh and Glasgow Chiapas Solidarity Groups
http://www.edinchiapas.org.uk%20http//glasgowchiapassolidaritygroup.wordpress.com/

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A MOVING MOVIE!!!

           In a journey from the mountains of southeastern Mexico to the northern border with the United States, Subcommander Marcos, Zapatista spokesperson, and the people of Mexico trace the forgotten face of a country. A celebration of the struggle for land and dignity.

Glasgow Screening

Sunday 8th May

5.15pm

Glasgow Film Theatre

12 Rose St

Glasgow, G3 6RB

Followed by Q&A with the director Nicolas Défossé

          A merchandise stall will be at this event selling Zapatista t-shirts, coffee and crafts. The money raised goes to health clinics and schools run by the Zapatistas in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

           City of Los Angeles, USA. In the heart of the city, undocumented Mexican immigrants are hunted by the police and struggle to earn a living without losing their identity. On the other side of the border, in the mountains of southeastern Mexico, dawn arrives, hidden in mist. It is January 1st, 2006; thousands of indigenous Zapatistas prepare to say farewell to their spokesman Subcomandante Marcos. His mission: to travel across the country for the next six months to learn from the resistance of Mexican men and women who fight for a better Mexico. So begins a journey that plans to reach the border with the United States, at the other end of the country...

            From Chiapas to Quintana Roo, from Yucatan to Oaxaca, from Nayarit to Colima, from Michoacan to Guerrero, from the State of Mexico to the heart of the country and the enormous metropolis known as Mexico City, we follow the steps of this journey that traces the face of the "other" Mexico, made up of the humble and simple people, a face much different from the one TV shows us every day. It is a journey that dares to “start building the image of the people we really are.” as expressed by Subcomandante Marcos.

           This challenge is not without risks… by uncovering Mexico’s dignified and rebellious face, irrigating the seeds of rebellion and solidarity of an entire country, this journey is a provocation against those who control the country's economy and it's image. What starts as an isolated murmur will become a clamour of hundreds of thousands of voices, "Viva Mexico" How will those in power respond?

Glasgow Chiapas Solidarity Group:
glasgowchiapassolidarity@googlemail.com
http://glasgowchiapassolidaritygroup.wordpress.com/
http://www.vivamexicofilm.com/eng.html

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