SP National Announcements

SP National Announcements

• US OUT OF IRAQ NOW- (11/27/05) by Eric Chester International Commission Chair The Socialist Party USA opposed the invasion of Iraq from the start, and we continue to demand the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq. The United States had no legitimate reason for invading Iraq and it has no legitimate reason to remain there. The invasion of Iraq was not a mistake, or an error based on faulty intelligence. It was the logical consequence of a foreign policy designed to ensure that U.S. based corporations control vital resources and that the U.S. military dominates key regions throughout the world. The United States is in Iraq to control its vast petroleum deposits and to solidify its control over the Middle Eastern region.
• Celebrate May Day 2006- On May 1st walkouts at schools and workplaces across the US will take place in solidarity with immigrant com- munities under attack by Congressional legislation. These walkouts invoke the powerful tradition of May Day - the socialist celebration of international working class solidarity. Once again US immigrants are taking a leadership role in the struggle for social and economic justice, just as they did at the birth of May Day in Chicago a hundred and twenty years ago. The Socialist Party USA joins in the celebration of May Day and condemns the Democratic and Republican Parties for militarizing our borders and failing to protect the rights of all workers. Callous and ineffectual immigration policies are exacerbating racism in the US and creating an underclass of super-exploited workers, all in the service of corporate profits. The Socialist Party furthermore rejects assimilationist policies and attitudes which marginalize and criminalize the diverse heritages of immigrants and people of color. Experience teaches us that only militant industry-wide labor action can challenge corporate power and win better wages, hours and working conditions. Nevertheless, the global inequalities that compel migrants to seek risky, back-breaking, low wage labor in the US cannot be resolved within the constraints of modern capitalism. In the tradition of May Day we call for the abolition of capitalist systems of ownership and trade, and the creation of a truly democratic society where production fulfills human need, not profit. In a world riddled with war and underdevelopment, we also add racism, militarism and imperialism to the list of global cancers which must be uprooted as prerequisites to peace and justice. The Socialist Party encourages all members and affiliates to take part in the May Day call for “No Work, No School, No Buying, No Selling” and for members and affiliates to take part in local May Day actions. A list of actions can be found on the Socialist Party USA website www.sp-usa.org and on http://www.nohr4437.org/.
• The Socialist Party USA mourns the loss of Frank P. Zeidler.-

  The Socialist Party USA mourns the loss of Frank P. Zeidler.

  The Socialist Party USA mourns the loss of our comrade and Chairperson Emeritus, Frank P. Zeidler.

  Frank served as the Socialist Mayor of Milwaukee Wisconsin from 1948 through 1960 and as the Party's presidential candidate in the 1972 election. He served also as the Socialist Party's Chairperson Emertius and was an active member of the Socialist Party of Wisconsin. He recently attended the Party's National Committee meeting this June in Milwaukee.

• STOP BECHTEL! August 6-9, 2006- The Socialist Party's National Action Committee has voted to endorse the August 6-9th actions against Bechtel on the anniversary of the US Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Information on the campaign can be found at: http://www.august6.org The campaign call can be found at: http://www.august6.org/call_to_action We encourage locals (especially one which are not sending members to the National Organizing Conference) to organize actions or take part in actions already organized on August 6th through 9th. A listing or events that have already been planned can be found at: http://www.august6.org/events .
• SP-USA Year in Review-
  
  From The
  Socialist Party - USA
  National Office
  

  December 15, 2007
  
  Comrades,
  
  As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to reflect on some of our work. 2006 has been a productive year for the Socialist Party. We ran a series of activist campaigns, got the Socialist back on schedule, and organized a successful summer organizing conference. We also organized new locals and have many new faces in the party. Here are some highlights:
  
  Socialist Summer: The Party organized three activist campaigns this summer and fall:

  • Anti-Recruitment: Affiliates across the US took part in this campaign and organized anti/counter recruitment actions. The Party later joined the YPSL’s “No War But Class War” campaign.
  • Immigrant Solidarity/Fair Food: Party affiliates across the US joined in coalition with immigrant solidarity organizations during and after the May 1st immigrant workers rallies. Affiliates have also been organizing local Alliance for Fair Food chapters in cooperation with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
  • New Orleans Solidarity: Socialist Party members have supported the work of the Common Ground Collective in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans.
  
  The campaigns are continuing well beyond the fall and the anti-recruitment and immigrant solidarity/fair food campaigns have helped build our activist base.
  
  National Organizing Conference: The Party organized our first truly national organizing conference since our 100th anniversary celebration in 2001 with a conference at Wayne State University in Detroit. The conference brought together members from across the US. The conference was highlighted by a plenary on community/ labor organizing and workshops on the summer activist campaigns. YPSL also held its national convention during the weekend.
  
  Members were also treated to a performance of Marx in Soho by Jerry Levy and a recreation of Debs’ Canton Ohio speech by Jim Griffin.
  
  Fall 2006 to Present: The year is ending with about a dozen electoral campaigns, new locals and the groundwork for the 2007 national convention being started.
  
  New Locals have popped up in the Mid-West and South East and older local have re-organized. We can pretty safely say that 2007 will be just as active, if not more so, and we look forward to having you with us.
  
  Please take this opportunity to renew your dues (even if you do not expire until early 2007) or make a contribution toward the work of the Socialist Party USA.
  
  You can pay dues on-line at: http://www.sp-usa.org/joinus/paydues.html or make a contribution at: http://sp-usa.org/contribute.html. You can also send your dues or contribution to the National Office at:
  SP USA 339 Lafayette St. #303 NY, NY 10012.
  
  Active Party affiliates receive a 10% dues rebate for all dues paid from members in their area. Dues which are paid by December 31, 2006 will count toward January rebates.
  
  I look forward to working with all of you in 2007!
  
  In Unity,
  
  Greg Pason
  National Secretary, SP USA

• J27: March on the Capitol-

  The NYC Local, along with SP locals from around the country will be traveling to DC for this event. Contact spnyc(at)spnyc.org, join our event list, or check here for Socialist Party meetups in DC.

  

  [from UFPJ]THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, NOW CONGRESS MUST ACT.

  On Saturday, Jan. 27th, people from every corner of the country will march on Washington, DC. Our message will be clear, our voice will be strong: End the war in Iraq, Bring all the troops home now! We urge you to join us!
  
  On Mon., Jan. 29th, we will take our message directly to the new Congress during our lobby day.

  You can help make these critical actions a great success:
  

  • Spread the word -- click here for flyers to download and distribute, web buttons to post, videos to share, etc.

  • Volunteer in NYC or DC in the weeks leading up to J27, or on the day itself.

  • Endorse this call to action. Click here to see the current list of endorsers.

  • Offer or request a ride on our ride board.

  • Post an offer or request for housing in DC.

  Read More from UnitedForPeace.org »
  
  
• J27 Reports-
  
  Snaps from inside the SP-USA contingent at J27, DC.

  Thanks to all who came out. Below are quick reports from the j27 anti-war marches in DC and San Francisco.

  Greg in DC

  Here are some of the folks who took part in the SP contingent. I also saw, Oregon Hunter and his family, Bob & Hopi Auerbach, Jesse Heiwa and we missed a bunch of you, bit I'm sure you took part in one of the many other contingents. Glad everyone attended. Thanks to NYC for bringing their banner. We'll have a new SPUSA banner for the next event (promise!:)

  http://www.sp-usa.org/campaigns/j27washingtondc.html.

  If you have photos, especially those of you who marched with other folks, please send them to me at natsec(at)sp-usa.

  In Unity,

  Greg [gpason(at)sp-usa.org]

  Harry in SF

  Hi Greg & others;

  While we didn't have a big enough contingent to carry an SP banner (which we don't have) 3 (as far as I know) SF Bay Area SPers were in SF's 1/27 anti-war march & demo which ended up at Pier 33 with a rally in support of the maritime unions who lost their jobs as the Alcaraz cruise ferry contract held previously by the union Blue & White Fleet had been given by the US Park Service to the non-union Hornblower which is being boycotted. Cde Tanya Smith carried her UPTE union banner in the labor contingent, and Cde. Jack Gerson, Oakland Educ. Assn., also was in the labor contingent which led the March, led by the Inland Boatmen's Union, ILWU. I marched in the IWW contingent as part of the labor contingent, and helped carry one of the two impressive large Wobbly red and black banners which drew a lot of attention from photographers. Also other members of the IWW carried smaller red & back IWW banners mounted on collapsible sticks which could be raised high above the crowd. Another FW carried an r&b banner reading: "Abolish Hierarchy!", with a "One Big Union" pennant mounted below it. About 10,000 people were involved.

  I saw only one organized contingent calling itself "socialist". That was the "International Socialist Organization" (ISO) which had a good-sized loudly chanting group carrying a large banner. Newspaper scalpers from Trot groups, Socialist Action, Spartacist League, The Organizer, and SWP were out selling their papers along the route and at the rally but had no organized marching contingents. The CP, COC, or DSA never have contingents at these demos or marches. The Sunday before, Tanya Smith and I were in the Bay Area Committee for Reproductive Rights counter-demo against the Catholic church 3rd annual annual Right to Lifers march along the Embarcadero. They had 10,000, we had maybe a thousand, but we didn't let them off the hook with our chanting and signs. They didn't seem very happy. I kept walking alongside them wearing my "No Gods, No Masters" t-shirt, loudly urging the Right-to-Lifers to go picket Death Row at San Quentin against the death penalty instead, and to join us the next Sat. in the anti-war march to protest the murderous policies of the US Govt in iraq, calling Geo W. the real mass murderer. I forgot whether the ISO was at this one but the Trotskyist Freedom Socialist Party was a very active part of BACORR and did tabling. I don't buy their Cannonite line, but am friends with several of them who are also pretty nice folks personally. Bay Area Atheist groups from SF, East Bay, and Silicon Valley participated for the first time with signs.

  All for now.

  Down with ALL bosses, Harry Siitonen

• Join the SPUSA at these events-
  
  The National Committee
  of the SPUSA,
  after meeting in Texas
  on February 10th,
  has endorsed and asks
  members to mobilize for
  the following events.
  
  Mon. Feb. 19, 2007: IWW And Make The Road By Walking Keep On Marching To End Slave Wages And Defend Workers' Right To Organize! Starting location: 9:30 am at Sunrise Plus / E-Z Supply, 48-01 Metropolitan Ave., Ridgewood, Queens. More... The SPUSA is working with the Labor Commission and the NYC Local to organize a contingent at this event. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail us at natsec@sp-usa.org March 8, 2007: The Socialist Party and our local will organie local International Women's Day events accross the US. Download the SPUSA IWD flier at: http://www.sp-usa.org/literature/intwomensday.pdf and check the SPUSA website (www.sp-usa.org) for updates. March 17, 2007: The Socialist Party USA has endorsed and will join the March 17 demonstration on 4th anniversary of the start of the criminal invasion of Iraq. We will assemble at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Constitution Gardens) at 12 noon in Washington, D.C. and march to the Pentagon. For more info.on our contingent, e-mail the National Office at natsec@sp-usa.org or check www.sp-usa.org for regular updates (starting on Feb. 20th). Also check out: MarchOnPentagon.org April 13-14, 2007: The Socialist Party USA has endorsed and will join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Major rally outside McDonald's global headquarters on Friday, 4/13 in Oak Brook, IL and will march as part of the CIW’s Carnival and Parade for Fair Food, Real Rights, and Dignity on Saturday, 4/14, in downtown Chicago. The Party will also work with locals in the area to organize a regional gathering for members and supporters of the Socialist Party. For more info.on our contingent, e-mail the National Office at natsec@sp-usa.org or check www.sp-usa.org for regular updates. Also check out: The Student Farmworker Alliance. June 27 - July 1, 2007: US Social Forum. The Socialist Party has already endorsed and encouraged our members and affiliates to take part in the 2007 US Social Forum. We now plan to organize a regional meeting for SPUSA members and supporters in the South East during the event. More information on gathering at the USSF will be posted on our website later this spring. You can find out more about the USSF at: http://www.ussf2007.org/. In Unity, Greg Pason National Secretary Socialist Party USA February 12th, 2007 _______________________________________________
• National Committee Meeting- June 9-10, 2007: National Committee Meeting Tampa, Florida more info
• 2007 National Convention- St. Louis Missouri- October 19-21, 2007: Socialist Party USA National Convention- St. Louis Missouri more info
• United States Social Forum- United States Social Forum 2007 June 27 - July 1, 2007 Atlanta, GA more info at http://www.ussf2007.org/ SP-USA Delegation Updates
• From the Clown to the Crown: National BK actions May 11-12th!-

  Fliering at BK in NYC

  Saturday MAY 12th
  Noon: Meet at Union Square South (by the steps)
  
  Proceed to flier and deliver manager letters at:
  
  Burger King
  519 6th Ave, b’twn 13th and 14th
  
  Burger King
  115 E 23rd St, At Park Ave.
  See www.fairfoodnyc.org for more
  

  From the SP-USA

  As part of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fair Food Campaign, a campaign endorsed and supported by the SPUSA, the Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA) has called for Fair Food Actions on May 11-12th. Party members, supporters and local affiliates are encouraged to take part. Check out the Party's Fair Food/Immigrant Solidarity website at for information. Take action in your community and let Burger King know that you won't accept a day more of inaction while injustice and human rights violations continue in the fields where BK's tomatoes are picked. Also check out the CIW site ( ) to see the report from last weekend's exciting "Clean Clothes, Fair Food" conference and protest in New York City! In Unity, Greg Pason
  National Secretary
  Socialist Party USA

  ---

  ACTION ALERT FROM THE CIW

  Greetings,
  
  The historic Taco Belland McDonald'sagreements were two huge steps down the path to farmworker justice, and students and youth were pivotal in both campaigns. Today, the movement for Fair Food continues as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and its allies look to expand the precedents of these agreements to the world's #2 burger chain: Miami-based Burger King.
  
  Mark your calendars and start organizing today to join students and young people across the country this May 11-12 in calling on Burger King to work with the CIW to address the human rights crisis in Florida's fields. Click herefor action ideas you can take in your own community, including dropping off the newBK manager letter .        
  
• Statement of Solidarity on the Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion-
  
  The Gay Liberation Front, 1970.
  by Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone
  Convener, Queer Commission of the SPUSA
  

  In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided a Greenwich Village bar: The Stonewall Inn. The Stonewall Inn, a gay and lesbian neighborhood bar with a large number of African American and Latino patrons, was also well-known as a safe space for those who did not conform to gendernorms: butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, and transsexual and transgendered persons before the terms were in popular use. All of these factors brought the police to Stonewall in 1969 for the purpose of illegally raiding the bar, and arresting its occupantsan action not unknown in New York in the 1960s. On that fateful day, however, the Stonewall's patrons had enough. Nobody knows who threw the first bottle that day. It may have been Sylvia Rivera, a transgendered activist and later a founding mother of political movements on behalf of transgendered and transsexual Americans. It may have been a still unidentified butch lesbian arrested in the bar. Over 2000 GLBTQ Americans clashed with 400 police officers on June 28. Arrests and beatings were concentrated among Stonewall's African American, Latino, butch and trans patrons. What ensued was known in the New York press and among the police as the Stonewall riots. For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual and queer Americans, and later the world, that fateful day marked the beginning of the Stonewall Rebellion. With shouts of "Gay Power," the rebellion that lasted five days in New York began to spread across the country. Gay, lesbian, trans and other queer Americans took to the streets to protest their continued oppression, objectification, and criminalization. This singular event, the Stonewall Rebellion, marked the beginning of the modern GLBTQ liberation movement, and brought GLBTQ political and social struggles out of the closets on onto American streets. Using this date as the flashpoint, cities across America and around the world continue to celebrate the last week of June as Pride Weekend, a weekend where we remember the Rebellion, organize to continue the fight for queer liberation, and celebrate our culture, community, families and history.

• SP-USA October News- SPUSA Update late September/ early October Comrades, Following is a listing of Socialist Party USA activities through October. On September 29th, Party members will join thousands of anti-war activists in DC for the Troops Out Now! sponsored mobilization. Party members will gather near 3rd and Jefferson at 11:15 am. We hope to have out literature table up by 11:30 am and will march as a contingent at 1:30 pm. For day of march info. call Greg at 201-803-7574 or check out the party's Sept. 29th website at: http://sp-usa.org/sept29.html for updates. If you are attending please RSVP by sending an e-mail to natsec@socialistparty-usa.org. On October 3rd, the Party will honor the memory of Rosie Jimenez by calling for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment! If your local is hosting an event please contact us at natsec@socialistparty-usa.org. a list of events will be posted at http://sp-usa.org/rosiejimenezday.html
• Reds, Greens and Electoral Change- Please join Rune Lund, member of the Danish Parliament representing the Red-Green Alliance, and the Socialist Party USA for an examination of the possibilities of a red-green electoral alliance. Issues of environmentalism and energy sustainability have become fundamental to any thorough critique of the capitalism. Can this intellectual link be translated into an electoral force? Join us and find out more about a successful example of this strategy. Monday, October 1, 2007, 6.00pm 339 Lafayette Street (between Bleecker & Bond), Manhattan, NYC. Hit buzzer #11; come up to the Muste Room on the 3rd Floor. (No elevator, sorry.) DIRECTIONS: Take 6 train to Bleecker Street or F/V train to Broadway / Lafayette. More info: Greg, natsec(at)socialistparty-usa.org or 718 869-2279
• SP-USA Convention and New Socialist Women-

  Susan Dorazio susandor(at)crocker.com

  Comrades,
  Two weeks from yesterday (i.e., Friday, October 19) the SP 2007 National Convention will be convening. As you will see from the agenda draft below, it will be a full 3 days of discussion and decision-making. I hope that many of you will be there, or will be in close contact with your delegates and alternates between now and then, so that your opinions will be represented.
  
  SP women: I hope you will be able to attend a meeting of the Women's Commission over breakfast on Sunday morning. I also look forward to informal opportunities to talk with others about the status of and possibilities for women SP members, in the party and in our communities. One of the best ways women can influence the direction of the party is to be a National Co-Chair or Co-Vice-Chair, or a member of the National Committee. Please consider being a candidate for one of these leadership positions.
• SOCIALIST PARTY USA STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE SCREENWRITERS STRIKE- SOCIALIST PARTY USA STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE SCREENWRITERS STRIKE Labor Commission of the SP-USA When the irreverent early 20th century comedian W.C. Fields was once caught reading the bible he explained that he was “looking for some loopholes.” On Monday November 5th, 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) took a bold strike action to sew up some of the loopholes which have allowed the entertainment industry to make exorbitant profits from their labor. The Socialist Party USA (SP-USA) stands with the WGA and calls upon the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to concede to the WGA’s demands for a just contract. Unlike the often inebriated actor Fields, the AMPTP has found many profitable loopholes. While screenwriters are paid industry rates for work aired in traditional media venues such as television and movies, they receive only a small fraction of the profits generated in the “new” media outlets of DVD sales and internet based programming. Writers currently receive only 5 cents per unit for the sale of a DVD. For entertainment delivered via internet streaming video WGA members receive only 1.2% of gross revenue. There is also currently no language in the contract regarding the producer’s right to insert product placements into WGA member created scripts.
• Vermont Police Attempt To Arrest Socialist Presidential Candidate-
  
  Police order candidate Moore to start
  shopping, run for president less.

  Democratic Process Not So Easy For Minor Party Candidate Moore, Several Miles from New Hampshire Border Where Major Party Candidates Campaign Effortlessly

  Socialist Party USA Presidential Nominee Brian Moore was threatened with arrest Sunday afternoon by Brattleboro (Vermont) Police officers for petitioning in a supermarket parking lot to qualify on the presidential primary ballot of the Liberty Union Party of Vermont. The primary is scheduled for March 5th.

  The manager of Hannaford Supermarkets in Brattleboro repeatedly ordered Moore, in a hostile voice, to leave the large mall parking lot because it was private property and owned by the store. Moore and his three colleagues stood their ground and refused to leave claiming they had a constitutional right to participate in a democratic process in a public area so that he could be a qualified presidential candidate in Vermont.

  Two City of Brattleboro police cars, containing a lieutenant and a Sergeant Mike Gorman, arrived on the scene within minutes and ordered Moore and three of his petition colleagues "to leave or they would get a trespassing order, and would arrest us if necessary," Moore stated. Peter Diamondstone, an attorney and a leader of the Liberty Union Party in Vermont, and one of Moore's colleagues doing the petitioning, informed the officers that they had a constitutional right for such actions.

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