DEMONSTRATION AT THE GAP ROCKS FASHION FAIR
On March 29 over 100 demonstrators filled the main entrance at the Fresno Fashion Fair mall protesting The Gap’s use of sweatshop labor. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the newly formed United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) at CSUF were the demonstrations main organizers. This was the biggest demonstration so far at The Gap in Fresno. Medea Benjamin, director of Global Exchange and one of the organizers of the nationwide campaign against The Gap, attended the demonstration and told the crowd how important it is to keep the pressure up.
The demonstration, which was bigger than many people had expected, made Fashion Fair security extremely nervous. Security guards threatened to arrest protestors on several occasions but had to back down when they could not convince Fresno Police to help them. Protestors entered Fashion Fair for a brief march and handed out fliers in front of The Gap.
MONTHLY DEMONSTRATIONS PLANNED
The USAS is calling for monthly demonstrations at The Gap in Fashion Fair. The next demonstration will be May 6 at Noon. Several community groups have received a letter from Fashion Fair’s attorney threatening participants with arrest if they continue to protest The Gap at Fashion Fair. The letter, which is intended to intimidate protest supporters, is having the opposite effect. Most organizers expect the May 6 demonstration to be bigger than the last one and nobody wants to let Fashion Fair security stop them from handing out fliers.
The Community Alliance believes that there are fundamental principles that guarantee the community a right to protest and/or discuss issues in a public forum. The mall is about as close as you come in Fresno to a town square and citizens must have a right to express their opinions if the First Amendment is to have any meaning.
The organizers of the May 6 event will be planning the strategy and tactics of the next demonstration which will include a way for everyone to participate, whether or not they are willing to risk arrest. The important thing is to come out and show that this community is not frightened by Fashion Fairs threats and that we will let people know about The Gap’s use of sweatshop labor.
WHY FOCUS ON THE GAP?
Gap, like Nike, is an industry leader. Owning not only Gap but Banana Republic and Old Navy, it has become one of the most profitable and fastest-growing clothing retailers in the world. In 1998 Gap had sales of over $9 billion, net profits of $825 million and has an extraordinary projected growth rate over the next three years of 33%. Gap CEO Millard Drexler made $47 million and Gap Chairman Donald Fisher is worth $8 billion.
In 1995 Gap was the target of an anti-sweatshop campaign spearheaded by the National Labor Committee because of union-busting in the Mandarin factory in El Salvador. After successful grassroots mobilization, Gap agreed to a monitoring system at that factory that continues to this day. While Gap received good publicity for this move, it failed to implement all the reforms; it put minimal resources into the monitoring system and reneged on its pledge to extend such monitoring to other factories in the region.
Furthermore, in three years of discussions with anti-sweatshop groups, Gap has refused to take a serious look at the wage question. In a meeting with the company, we convinced Gap to agree to the statement that no worker making products for Gap should live in poverty, but Gap still refused to take the next step and accept responsibility for ensuring that workers are paid the necessary living wage.
In Saipan, a US territory replete with sweatshops, Gap does the most business of any company on the island--over $200 million a year, contracting in six factories. Whereas these companies import without tariff or quota restrictions and label their clothes 'Made in the USA,' they do not adhere to US labor laws. Workers and the anti-sweatshop groups UNITE, Global Exchange, Sweatshop Watch and the Asian Law Caucus filed a billion dollar lawsuit against Gap and 17 other retailers for labor abuses in Saipan.
The sweatshop problem undoubtedly extends beyond Saipan. In Russia we were notified that Gap pays factory workers just 11 cents/hour and keeps them in slave-like conditions. Workers from Macao contacted the Asia Monitor Resource Center in Hong Kong complaining of abusive treatment by factory managers, who forced them to work excessive overtime and cheated them out of their pay. A delegation from the National Labor Committee in June 1999 reported that Honduran Gap factory workers are subjected to forced pregnancy tests, forced overtime, exceedingly high production goals, locked bathrooms, and wages of $4/day, which only meet 1/3 of their basic needs. The workers said that if they tried to organize a union or even become more informed of their rights, they would be fired. They had never heard of Gap's code of conduct. In Indonesia, 700 workers went on strike in July, 1997 protesting miserable wages and the factory management's refusal to recognize their independent union.
As with other major apparel retailers, Gap must be pressured to pay workers a living wage, ensure their right to organize, disclose factory locations and allow independent monitoring.
For more information about the May 6 demonstration at The Gap contact USAS at 278-2891 or email <rgb12@csufresno.edu>.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
As a new board member of the Fresno Center for Nonviolence and a first time participant at the Northern California conference held March 18 and 19 in Stockton (University of Pacific campus), I would like to commend Chairman John Morearty and his hardworking staff for a most informative and sharing experience. Your lineup of participants and workshop leaders such as Marylia Kelley; Bill Tennings; Dr. Su Kapoor and wife, Veena; Rev. Tack Moriarty, Bruce Giudici and Isao Fujimoto was impressive and exceptional. Much of the information I gained was new and the updating from the various Peace Centers and the fine work they are pursuing was uplifting and refreshing. It was interesting to note, upon reflecting on the conference, the fine work being done on behalf of peace and justice throughout the Central Valley area. We do make a difference and much of what is being covered is realities that the general society must and should address.
The frustration expressed in our great valley of the "invisibility of the Valley and its people" of those of lower income and the huge injection of non western traditions should be a concern of us all. There indeed are “two very different worlds in the Central Valley." It is a challenge in getting all people to work together. Let us continue to work in the new millennium to end this disparity.
A future dream of mine, would be a yearly conference held in Fresno (central) to join with the southern region for a State conference. There is much to learn from all the Peace Centers of our great State.
Continued success to all Peace Centers in the year ahead on whatever you all do, for whatever is being done is better for all of society.
Sincerely,
Ray Ensher
GUEST EDITORIAL
CESAR E. CHAVEZ MARCH
By: Ed Perez & Carla Jo Dakin
The seventh anniversary of the esar E. Chavez commemorative
march in Fresno, Ca. took place on Saturday, April 8, 2000. There were
approximately 2000 participants at this joyous event that began with a Mass at 9
AM in the Fresno Convention Center. The Mass started with a spirited dance and
offertory by the "Matachines", or Aztec Dancers. During the Mass,
several community musicians led us in hymns. After the Mass, the people set out
on a three mile march from the convention center, up Tulare Street to Sixth,
south on Sixth to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard (Kings Canyon Road), and west on
this boulevard back to the convention center. The march was monitored by UFW
representatives and by a large contingent of Fresno Police in cruisers and on
police bicycles.
The march participants ran the gamut from young mothers and fathers pushing their babies in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs being pushed by their grandchildren, to young adults and elementary school children. We joyously chanted and sang throughout the march. Most marchers were bedecked in colorful clothing, UFW flags and banners of the "Virgen de Guadalupe" which dramatically contrasted with the beautiful blue sky on this glorious, bright, morning. This was one of the days that make it very pleasant to live in Fresno.
There were guitar players marching with us to liven our steps and at several places along the route, a group of disc jockeys provided the marchers with amplified music that ranged from "corridos" to "salsa" to "Latin Jazz". Each time that the marchers passed by these music stations, many of us burst out in happy dance steps accompanied by the tooting horns of passing cars. At the back of the procession were many colorful "low-rider" cars contributing their own music to the march. The scene was one of high energy amongst the people. I could sense the collective optimism, hope, and joy of the procession.
At other points along the route, some farsighted planners had provided water stations for the marchers. Everybody was glad of this foresight, for the march got somewhat dry towards the end of the third mile!
When the march reached the convention center, we were greeted by another large contingent of people who were there waiting for us. They cheered us in and several of the local radio stations also greeted us with another round of Mexican music. The air was electrifying! The marchers then went into the convention center where we enjoyed a simple, but delicious meal of beans, rice, tortillas, ground beef in salsa, and punch.
The program for the afternoon consisted of inspirational presentations by Paul Chavez, Cesar's son, and by Arturo Rodriquez, the president of the UFW. They spoke about the life and legacy of Cesar and the need to make his birthday a state holiday. Also included in the program were readings, in both Spanish & English, of poems and essays about what Cesar meant to them, written by students in elementary and high schools throughout the valley. The most inspirational were the memorized poems recited in Spanish by 5 & 7 year old children. Enjoying the optimism of these students and hearing their simple and sincere words, my wife, Carla Jo and I were greatly moved. The synergistic energy permeating the event recharged our commitments to continue our work in the community to help build a better world for all segments of our society!
The only negative aspect of this great event was the lack of cultural diversity and especially the lack of participation by other unions. We wondered, where were the Carpenters, who are trying to organize immigrant Latino carpenters? Where were the representatives of the Stationary Engineers Local 39, who represent a predominantly Latino city workforce? Where were the representatives of the Central Labor Council? Their absence at this event honoring a Latino who devoted his life to the labor movement, was very disheartening. There are those of us in the community who strongly believe that the labor movement lost its impetus when it distanced itself from their surrounding communities. If the labor movement is to regain the vitality and support that is necessary to fight against anti-labor globalization, then they must once again, become one with the communities of working people. Oneness with the working people was what made the labor movement great in the early part of the last century. We must regain that vision.
On a broader scale, not only were the unions absent, but there were few people of other cultures present at the event. We wondered at the reasons for this lack of diversity. Was it short sighted nationalism? Was it due to apathy? Whatever the reason, my wife and I made a commitment to work towards making this great event more culturally inclusive next year by volunteering to work on the event committee. A rich cultural experience such as this one needs to be shared with all groups who believe in the things that Cesar stood for: justice, equality, inclusiveness, and respect for all cultures.
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!
By Mark Stout
The Mobilization for Global Justice, a coalition of 400 organizations, including labor, environmental, and human rights organizations, has much to be excited about after masterminding a massive protest in Washington DC opposing the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tens of thousands of progressive activists and organizers from all over the country descended on DC for the week preceding the IMF meetings on April 16th and 17th, known as A16 (www.a16.org), driven by a common critique of the role that these two financial institutions play: By making huge loans to developing nations for socially and environmentally unsustainable projects, such as massive dams that have displaced millions of people while lining the pockets of multinational corporations, the World Bank and IMF have driven many nations to a level of unsupportable debt. These gargantuan debt loads have pushed many nations towards resource-extracting export industries, and have allowed the free market ideologues in these lending institutions to force nations to comply with a privatization and market liberalization agenda, known as "structural adjustment", that ignores local autonomy. This is the story of the final A16 weekend, from the perspective of a Central Valley organizer on the loose in our nation’s capitol.
One of the high points of the Saturday preceding A16 was a debate between organizers of the Mobilization for Global Justice and officials of the IMF and World Bank. The event drew such large numbers that the floors and stairways were filled and hundreds of people were turned away. "The problem with the World Bank and the IMF," joked John Nichols, writer for The Nation and emcee of these debates, "is that too many people are interested."
The massive protest on Sunday pulled thousands of direct action activists into the streets of downtown DC. Justin Ruben, a noted environmental justice organizer from Fresno, participated in a lock-down at 21st and G streets NW on Sunday morning. "It feels liberating to be out here and put my body on the line for democracy and human rights and justice around the world. Ruben was part of an inter-linked human structure, using "lockbox" devices that would make forceful removal of their bodies very difficult: 11 activists in a circle of chain and pipe locking devices linking their arms, and four more protesters lying on their backs in the center, their necks chained together with bicycle locks. Many similar human structures radiated out in the blocks surrounding the World Bank and IMF buildings.
That afternoon, at a permitted rally on the Ellipse lawn in front of the White House, Ralph Nader was speaking, campaigning for U.S. President on the Green ticket, in front of tens of thousands who attended: "The wealthiest 300 people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 3,000,000,000 – half the Earth’s population. It’s time we demand structural Justice! The whole world wants to see this change from corporate greed." While Nader spoke, Spokane, WA Steelworkers from Kaiser Aluminum, locked out of their jobs for over a year, were out on the Ellipse, wearing Green Party/Nader 2000 buttons and Earth First t-shirts. You may ask, "What is going on here, aren’t labor and environmentalists enemies?" Hardly. This is another sign of labor and environmental bonds enduring and growing after the "turtles and Teamsters" alliance shocked many in Seattle. These Steelworkers are building his alliance through the Coalition for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment.
Another of the speakers at Sunday’s rally, Kevin Danaher of the SF-based human rights organization Global Exchange, summed it up: "This is the first ever global revolution – a revolution about values, about love. That no children should be without schools, without vaccines, without food. There’s enough for everybody in this world. The question is not will it be a hundred years from now, nor fifty years, not even ten, five or even two years from now." Global Exchange, led by Danaher and Green Party Senate candidate Medea Benjamin, covered a large territory in the direct action protests and through extensive media work.
After the rally, thousands attending the rally took to the streets, in a march throughout Central DC. Drawing on chants from Seattle’s WTO protests, such as "This is What Democracy Looks Like!", while adding some new chants to their repertoire. Calling attention to community control of public space in the face of global corporate domination, the call of, "Whose streets? Our Streets!" rang out. After a tense showdown with riot police and mounted National Park rangers on Constitution Ave, hundreds of nonviolent youth protesters repeatedly chanted, "We don’t hate the police, this is about the IMF," convincing the authorities to back down rather than attack the defenseless activists in front of dozens of TV cameras. What a far cry from Seattle’s ubiquitous rubber bullets and tear gas!
Monday’s protests against the World Bank and IMF climaxed in a showdown at Pennsylvania Ave and 20th Street, which had deadlocked for hours as riot police and National Guard troops donned gas masks. Dressed as a tree, the Mobilization Tactical Committee spokesperson Mary Bull of San Francisco and Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer brokered a deal that allowed hundreds of nonviolent protesters to voluntarily be arrested for crossing the police blockade. The 1,500 protesters arrested on Sunday ensured that these anti-globalization protests will receive the national media coverage they deserve while defusing a potentially violent situation that could have detracted greatly from the important messages that need to be spread: "Break the Bank and de-fund the Fund!"
Mark Stout is the founding member of the Fresno County Green Party Council. Some content courtesy of the Independent Media Center
FRESNO HUNGER STRIKERS WIN A CONTRACT AT UNIVISION
By David Bacon
FRESNO, CA (4/2/00) - After not eating for forty-three days, five workers and community supporters at KFTV Channel 21 finally swallowed a little fish soup Friday. In so doing they ended a fast that successfully made language discrimination in television a national issue, and ratified a union contract they said would take a big step in eradicating it.
"We really achieved something important here," said Martin Castellano, a master control technician at Fresno's Spanish-language television station and one of the hunger strikers. "I was beginning to lose strength after not eating for so long. I feel like a rock has been lifted from my shoulders."
Last May, workers at Channel 21 began organizing a union over complaints that they were paid much less than their counterparts in the English-language media. News anchors at Fresno's English-language stations can make $80,000 a year. Fermin Chavez made just over a third of that for the same job at Channel 21. Castellano, who has been with the station 10 years, made $21,500, while other local stations pay $30,000 and more for the same job.
"I feel that Univision has been discriminating against me because I do what they need to serve the fastest-growing media market in California - I speak Spanish," reporter Reina Cardenas declared angrily.
Workers say Univision can easily afford to pay more. The company's 1999 fourth quarter revenue hit $205 million, and netted $31 million. Its stock price more than doubled last year.
Allegations of pay discrimination were made even more bitter because KFTV management includes one of the nation's most prominent Latino political figures, and was represented in negotiations by a former national civil rights attorney. The station belongs to a large corporation, Univision, whose CEO is Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio. Cisneros was President Clinton's first secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and has been a longtime supporter of the United Farm Workers. In an era in which the Latino vote has become crucial to winning elections in many states, Cisneros packs a lot of political weight in the Democratic Party.
Facing the hunger strikers across the bargaining table was Vilma Martinez, a former civil rights lawyer who was executive director for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1973 to 1982. Telephone calls to Univision and the station seeking comment were not returned.
Lower wages for the Spanish-speaking is a hot civil rights issue in an era of anti-immigrant hostility. Although bilingual education became an untouchable issue in elections just two years ago, California's teachers are still paid an extra premium if they can speak Spanish as well as English, the same skill which earns less at Channel 21. Lower pay for Spanish touches a nerve for another, historical reason. It continues an age-old practice called the "Mexican wage."
For a century, until the civil rights movements of the sixties, Mexican workers in mines, railroads and factories were paid a special wage that was lower than their white counterparts doing the same work. The "Mexican wage" caused an armed uprising at the small Sonoran town of Cananea in 1906, in a famous battle that heralded the Mexican revolution.
Univision's wage scale provoked similar outrage among its workers, first inspiring them to vote for Local 51 of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians last May, and then to stop eating after more than 20 session of negotiations failed to produce a contract.
Two Channel 21 employees, Cardenas and Castellano, fasted for 43 days. They were joined by the negotiator for their union, Carrie Biggs-Adams, who works a regular job for NBC in LA in addition to helping with bargaining in Fresno, and two community supporters, Angel Noriega from the Committee of the Poor, and Tami Van Dyne, a staff member at the hotel and restaurant employees union.
"When I started this hunger strike, I thought Cisneros would talk to us, and it would just last a week," Cardenas says. "We were wrong about him. But I'm a very determined person. I felt my dignity and self-respect were on the line, and I wasn't going to give up."
According to the union, Univision has a reputation for hardball bargaining. When workers at San Francisco's Channel 14 organized a union for similar reasons three years ago, they spent a year in negotiations. One of the station's most-respected news reporters, Lupita Figueroa, was fired in the fight over the contract there.
Last week Univision finally made important concessions on the workers' demands, and the union agreed to a settlement. Chavez' salary rises to 37,000 a year, Castellano's to 26,500, and Cardenas gets a $3450 raise. Some employees received as much as a 42% increase, in addition to 4% raises for each of the three years to come. The company also agreed to pay the raise retroactively to December 1 of last year.
In addition, Channel 21 management had made proposals workers viewed as an attempt to punish them for joining the union. One proposal demanded that Castellano work ten straight hours without a break, with no paid lunchtime. Another would have allowed the station unlimited use of free-lancers, which employees feared would be used to replace them.
Univision finally agreed to pay Castellano and master control technicians a half hour for lunch, even when they had to eat on the job. Freelancers become permanent employees after working 90 days in a year, and station employees have the right to report all stories within a 65 mile radius.
"We're still underpaid," Castellano explained, "and in the long run, the wages really need to come up, especially since we all do more than one job. But this contract gives us the foundation to stand on. We'll be back in future negotiations to eradicate the difference."
After ratifying the agreement, workers broke their fast in a religious ceremony at the encampment they had maintained in front of the station for weeks.
Biggs-Adams noted that the fast and community support had a big effect. "Advertisers were pulling out, and many community supporters refused to be interviewed on Channel 21," she said. Squads of community supporters followed remote news crews, and held up signs on camera supporting the hunger strikers whenever they attempted to film a segment.
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While strikers noted the support of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamente and supervisor Juan Aranbula, most other Latino politicians in the area remained silent throughout the dispute. "That made us very grateful for the grassroots community support we received, especially from the United Farm Workers and the Fresno Labor Community Alliance," Castellano said. "That's what gave us the strength to last this long. At a certain point, Univision realized that people were really beginning to hear our story, and the publicity hurt them a lot. I don't think they ever thought we would get this far."
STUDENTS OF THE WORLD - UNITE!
By: Chuck McNally
mothernight@rocketmail.com
As I write this I am watching the developing protests in Washington D.C., where students, workers, and community organizers from around the world are confronting the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
As a student at UC Berkeley, a transfer student from Fresno City College, and one of the many people who is involved in the growing movement for social and economic justice the world around...I would like to tell you about some of the recent victories and struggles that we as students have been involved in.
Many of you may have noticed the increasing activity around sweatshop issues at Fresno State, let me say that this is not isolated. Students throughout this state and across this nation are increasingly linking up with labor groups on their campuses and in the surrounding areas.
Recently many of our campuses won a big victory in getting the Workers Rights Consortium, a student/religious/NGO/labor initiated, monitoring group that seeks to empower those who make apparel for our universities so that they no longer work under sweatshop conditions.
Many students are also working very closely with PCUN (an Oregon farm worker union) and Local 890 (Teamsters) to get their respective boycotts to be honored on our campuses and in our communities.
Let it be known that what you are beginning to see at Fresno State and all around you, is just the beginning of a growing movement around the world for education, workers rights, and the basic liberties which people of this world are entitled to.
For more information:
on PCUN - www.pcun.org
on the Workers Rights Consortium - www.workersrights.org
BOYCOTT BASIC VEGETABLE
By: Teamsters Local 890, Basic Strikers Committee
Our boycott of Basic Vegetable Products and their Parent company, Basic American Foods is going well. We are getting strong support from throughout Northern California and have now begun to focus on Los Angeles as well.
An important Basic Vegetable customer there is Nissin Foods, which makes Top Ramen and Cup Noodles. For each of these products, Nissin has a direct competitor, Maruchan Foods, whose ramen and Cup of Soup products consumers can choose. We are asking our supporters to e-mail the President of Nissin Foods, Mitsu Arayama at <mits@crfoods.com> and tell him how you feel about Nissin Foods supporting Basic Vegetable Products by buying their dried onion and garlic, and asking him to tell you what steps he is going to take to deal with this situation.
Please copy us at <ibt890@pacbell.net> with any message that you send to Mr. Arayama. Please forward this on to your friends as well. For more information please see the Teamsters 890 Strike Aid Page - http://www.teamsters890.org/strike.htm
Monday, May 1
INTERNATIONAL WORKER’S DAY
Tuesday, May 2 • All Day
Catholic Lobby Day 2000, a time to engage in critical dialogue with our
legislators. Organizers are filling at least 9 buses for the trip to Sacramento.
Issues include the need for affordable housing, adequate health care, and
addressing the problem of chronic poverty in the valley. Contact Edwin Peraza at
the Oscar Romero Peace and Justice Center for more information, (559) 442-5411
or email <eperaza@romerocenter.org>.
Saturday, May 6 • 9 AM
The Kennedy Club will be meeting at 4247 N Thorne (corner of Ashlan and Thorne).
Featured speaker will be Matilda Rangel, who will discuss police behavior and
attitudes in Fresno. Coffee and pastries are available beginning at 9 AM with a
brief business meeting and program beginning at 9:30 AM. The Kennedy Club is
open to members of any political party. For details call President Ray Ensher at
439-8140.
Saturday, May 6 • Noon
Demonstration to protest The Gap’s use of sweatshop labor. Meet at the main
entrance to the Fashion Fair mall. For details call 278-2891 or email:
<rgb12@csufresno.edu>.
Saturday, May 6th
The Great Rail Trail Planting 5,000 Trees in 1 day! Join Tree Fresno for
this historic day. Please call 278-5180 to register.
Sunday, May 7 • Noon - 4 PM
SunMt Earth Day visitors day. At 1 PM Elfie will give a tour of SunHouse and
organic orchards. 5,000 square foot passive solar center with solar electric
panels, composting toilet, many passive solar devices. Bring picnic lunch.
$10/person. Kids under 13 with parents free. Reservations required. Call
855-3710. We will send you a map because we are beyond the end of the end of the
road about 1 hour from Fresno. http://psnw.com/~sunmt/chronicles.html
Tuesday, May 9
Potluck begins at 6:30 PM and the program starts at 7:30 PM
The Fresno Center for Nonviolence presents SECOND TUESDAY which will be hosted
by Valta Pointer, discussing Jubilee 2000--the international movement to cancel
the IMF/World Bank obligations of countries in desperate need of debt-relief.
This event will be held at the Fresno Center For Nonviolence, 985 N Van Ness.
For more information call Richard Stone at 266-2559.
Thursday, May 11 • 5:30 PM
The Peace Challenge Awards Celebration will be held at Fresno City Hall. Call
266-2559 for more information.
Thursday, May 11 • 7 PM
The Fresno County Green Party invites you to its County Council meeting at the
Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 985 N Van Ness Av (S of Olive). Social Justice,
Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and Ecological Wisdom. The Green Party will
be preparing for extensive outreach and voter registration during the upcoming
summer months. Call 497-1724 for details. Green Party events: http://www.greens.org/cal/fresno
Saturday, May 13 • 9:30 AM
Fresno Center for Nonviolence monthly meeting at 985 N Van Ness.
Monday, May 15
Deadline for submissions to the June issue of the Labor Community Alliance
newsletter.
Thursday, May 18 • 7:30 AM
Community Health Care Roundtable. This month's Community Health Care Roundtable
will focus on Nursing Issues. Meeting time is from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the
College Community Congregational Church located at 5550 N. Fresno Street in
Fresno (at Browning between Barstow and Bullard). Free continental breakfast is
always included. Please call Fresno Metro Ministry at 485-1416 for reservations.
Thursday, May 18 • 7:30 PM
Death Penalty Focus meeting at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 985 N Van
Ness. For more information contact Maria Telesco at: <martel0000@aol.com>
or visit their web site at: http://www.fresnoalliance.com/focus/
Saturday, May 20 • 10:00 AM
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom meeting at Carol Bequette's,
3747 Circle Drive, West (229-9661). A special remembrance of Ernestine Leas.
Bring stories to share and something tasty for the brunch. Special outreach to
new members. Call new members and invite them to come, also prospective members
or friends of Ernestine who want to get in on this.
Saturday, May 20 • Preview 4-6 PM & Art sale 6-9 PM
Art for AIDS, the 5th annual BIG DEAL ART SALE benefitting central
California Aids Foundation at the First Congregational Church. Call Don or Polly
Brewer at 252-4029 or 485-4904 for more information.
Friday, May 26 • 5 - 6 PM
Street Heat on KFCF 88.1 FM featuring Labor and Community activists.
Friday, May 26 • 7:30 PM
John Chookasian Armenian Folk Ensemble at the Bonner Auditorium, Fresno Art
Museum. Sponsored by the Fresno Folklore Society. Tickets $15. For more
information call Pat at 431-3653.
Saturday, May 27 • 8 PM
Gaia House cultural coffee house, 1009 N Wilson.
Monday, May 29 • 6:30 PM
The Community Alliance meeting at 985 N Van Ness. Call 226-0477 for
details.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Saturday, June 3
YARD SALE: The Fresno Nonviolence Center annual fundraiser, 985 N Van Ness.
Please collect your disposable treasures for us--drop off Friday afternoon (June
2) or call Angela at 435-6383 for pick-up. Volunteers needed both Friday PM and
Saturday AM.
Sunday, June 4
Fresno Stonewall GLBT Pride Parade and Festival will take place in the Tower
District. The parade line up begins at 9 AM at the DMV on Olive and Weber and
the parade procession starts at 10AM down Olive to the Tower Theatre and on to
Fulton ave. where the festival grounds is located. The Fresno Stonewall Pride
Committee formed 3 years ago and took over the Parade and festival to stay in
the spirit of that historical event June 27, 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York
at the Stonewall Inn where New York Police raids were conducted there on a
weekly basis. However, that particular evening the patrons had all they were
going to take from NYPD. After so many beatings and unjustified harassments they
drew the line and started to fight back. The crowds inside were protesting,
while a crowd of about two to three hundred onlookers gathered outside
surrounding police and patty wagons and chanted, "We aren't going to take
this anymore". The raid on the Stonewall Inn set off 3 days of
confrontation with police. For more information call 485-7884 or 233-6805.
Email: fresnostonewall@pacbell.net
For up to the minute information about what is happening in Fresno’s progressive community join the Community Alliance email alert network. We send out an updated calendar of events once a week and alert you when there is an emergency rally or demonstration. This is a free service. You can join by sending your email address to <clr2@igc.org> and saying you would like to subscribe to this service.
CENTER REPORT, MAY 2000
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PEACE CENTERS CONFERENCE: The 8th annual NCPCCC was held the weekend of March 18-19 with 6 Fresnans attending. The greatest benefits, as always, were the liberating pleasure of being among like-minded people and the expansive thinking that occurs in learning the different response of each Center to the same mandate to nonviolent social change. Several workshops were offered, including: "News & Media--obtaining, synthesizing and disseminating information"; The Culture of Peace, led by our own Veena & Sudarshan Kapoor; Interfaith Coalition Building; and Environmental Lobbying.
Our contingent came home with several ideas to work with. 1) A joint NCPC grant proposal to seek $5000 each under a united front that can appeal to larger foundations; 2) bringing representatives of Tri-Valley Cares (Livermore Lawrence Lab watchdog group) to Fresno to lay out the unreported realities of "stockpile stewardship" and the National Ignitions Facility; 3) helping create a Route 99 itinerary for representatives from Project Censored, and to bring their radio productions to local awareness; 4) importing a one-woman show about Colombia, in conjunction with a workshop on the U.S.'s South and Central American policies.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: SECOND TUESDAY (May 9) will be hosted by Valta Pointer, discussing Jubilee 2000--the international movement to cancel the IMF/World Bank obligations of countries in desperate need of debt-relief.
PEACE CHALLENGE AWARDS--Entrants will be honored and cash prizes awarded in our "Make It Better"contest for youth groups. Thursday, May 11, at 5:30 p.m., at City Hall...hosted by the Human Relations Commission. YARD SALE: our annual fundraiser will be held on Sat. June 3. Please collect your disposable treasures for us--drop off Friday afternoon (June 2) or call Angela at 435-6383 for pick-up. Volunteers needed both Friday p.m. and Sat. a.m.
WELCOME ABOARD: Jean Kennedy-Douglas (FCC instructor, reggae dance promoter and all purpose activist) has agreed to serve on our Board of Directors as liaison from WILPF. Her first act was to sign us up as co-sponsor for a group planning to attend the big Save Mumia rally in S.F. on May 13th....Two new groups have begun meeting at the Center. Rondalla, an acoustic music ensemble that plays music of Central & South America; and Justice for Children, a group of parents seeking fair treatment of children in the juvenile justice system. We have applied for a small grant from the Imperial Dove Court de Fresno to help subsidize space use by the several cash-poor organizations who meet there.
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THE WELCH REPORT, April 10, 2000.
Jack H. Welch, M.D.
ABOUT MR. PUTIN
It is promising news that, since his election as president of Russia, Vladimir Putin has called for "the quick ratification of the START II nuclear-arms reduction treaty, an accord that has been stalled for years by hardliners and communists in the Russian parliament. Putin also called on parliament to make further, deep cuts in atomic missiles, a signal that he wants good relations with the West." These moves "could contribute to thawing Russian relations that were nearly frozen a year ago over the alliance's bombing of Yugoslavia". (The Fresno Bee, Apr. 1, 2000)
One of Putin's unlikely friends is Igor Shadkhan, a Jewish documentary film producer who was an anti-Soviet dissident in his day. Shadkhan made a film about Putin in the early 1990's when the latter was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, and became his friend -- a remark-able relationship for a self-respecting KGB officer!
To a caller in a Moscow phone-in, who ventured that "the ideology of communism was still very dangerous", Putin said that he felt "pretty much the same way ... people should see in practice the ideals of democracy and the market economy".
In an interview with Sir David Frost in London, Putin gave the impression that in him Russia has found a humane version of Peter the Great: "I cannot imagine my own country in isolation from Europe..." Could Russia join NATO? "I would not rule out such a possibility."
Putin strongly supports the Chechen war that has seen all-out assaults by the Russian Army on towns with no discrimination between civilians and fighters. There are well-documented accounts of torture, rapes and killings in prison camps, yet Putin argues that the Russian Army is defending Europe from terrorism.
There is much for foreign governments and human rights champions to worry about: Putin's prideful past in the KGB; the high proportion of his current allies who share that past; the brutality of his war in Chechnya; his insistence on a stronger state. The people who care most about democracy in Russia fear Putin, seeing him as the past returned. Andrei Sakharov's widow, Elena Bonner, has called Putin's fledgling regime "the introduction of modernized Stalinism".
Putin will not make war on capitalism but he wants to "send packing" those responsible for bringing it to Russia (e.g., reformer, Anatoly Chubais, now a business oligarch). He will try to use the state's power to rebuild a country that has plummeted from economic heights to poverty and mass unemployment. The weakness of his state in the world will dictate a continuing collaboration with the West.
Putin can "manipulate symbols", among the most potent of which is the Orthodox Church. Putin is the first Russian leader since Czar Nicholas II who can proclaim himself a believer, having been baptized soon after birth and remained faithful to the creed.
"All Russian politicians favor the state - it is part of the culture... which privileges suffering, submission; there is no tradition of free thought. Putin is a product of Russian culture. Now there will be a period of authoritarianism... which won't be too bad." (famous Russian-American filmmaker).
(Source: N.Y. Times Magazine March 19, '00: The Logic of Vladimir Putin by John Lloyd)
MAY DAY 2000
Amnesty for undocumented workers!
By: M. Gloria Hernandez
April 30, 2000 @10:00 a.m.
Chestnut and Cesár Chavéz Blvd.
(Kings Canyon Road)
Fresno, California
March to the federal building, where food, music, speakers will present unity, spirit and the passionate call for more worker protection and security!
History of May Day/ International Workers Day!
On May 1st, 1886 thousands of workers stood up to their bosses and went on a nation-wide strike for the eight-hour-day, one of the most visionary uprisings in U.S. history! Eight labor organizers were unjustly arrested, four of whom were hung. May Day commemorates the struggles of poor and working people. It is a time of solidarity and celebration throughout the world. May Day is also the ancient celebration of Spring, called Beltane by the Celts. It is a holiday of rejuvenation and a time to honor our earth.
The Call for Amnesty!
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The AFL-CIO's call for amnesty means more union members! Join to stop unscrupulous employers abusing undocumented workers! Throughout the history of this country, immigrants have played an important role in building our nation and its democratic institutions. New arrivals form every continent have contributed their energy, talent and commitment to making the USA and the American union movement richer and stronger. Newly arriving workers continue to make indispensable contributions to the strength and growth of our unions, benefitting all workers. The AFL-CIO believes the current system of immigration enforcement in the United States is broken and needs to be fixed. Undocumented workers should be provided permanent legal status through a new amnesty program. They should have full workplace rights in order to protect the labor interests of all American workers.
THE CALL FOR ACTION:
While agri-business celebrates billions of dollars a year, a full-time year-round worker making the minimum wage ($5.15 per hour earns $10,712 per year); a wage that would be defined below federal poverty level for a family of two. Many residents of the Central Valley continue to suffer abuse at the hands of their employers and the unemployment rates have been double digit for over 18 years, some of our older youth have never even experienced prosperity! Young children are the poorest age group among all Californians, even though their parents work! A minimum wage worker cannot afford to pay "fair market rent" for housing in any community in America. Nor do 44 million Americans have health insurance. Every year over 1 million people lose their health insurance. Welfare assistance has been reduced, forcing people to accept jobs that do not pay a living wage or provide basic benefits, such as health insurance. In 1998, 34.5 million Americans were living in poverty, 13.5 million of them were children. Unless the unions link hands with the new immigrants and make the ranks grow stronger, our children will continue to suffer. Come join the millions throughout the world celebrating the day with pride.
For more information call Comite NO NOS VAMOS at 498-6033 and leave a message.
VICTORY AT STARBUCKS
by: Mike Rhodes
In a stunning concession to protesters just days before the launch of a national campaign, starbucks agrees to offer its customers fair trade certified coffee by the end of the year. Human rights activists say thousands of poor farmers in the developing world will be guaranteed a living wage.
Bowing to human rights activists' demands to begin guaranteeing a living wage for small coffee farmers in the developing world, Starbucks announced in April that it has signed a contract to sell Fair Trade Certified coffee as one of its brands in more than 2,000 cafes across the United States starting this fall. The announcement came just three days before the launch of a nationwide, grassroots campaign demanding that the giant retailer offer its customers the choice to buy socially responsible, Fair Trade Certified coffee. A celebration rally was held at the Tower District Starbucks in Fresno on Thursday, April 13.
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"This represents the largest purchase of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the United States," said Deborah James, Director of the Fair Trade Program at Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization that had organized the nationwide protests. "It's a huge victory for farmers in the developing world. Thousands of farming families in poor countries will see their incomes triple with this purchase."
The company's sudden decision highlights the increasing power of citizens movements to hold corporations accountable for their actions. The announcement also underscores the growing demand for products made in conditions that are not exploitative; coffee is the first product with an independent certifying system that ensures against sweatshop abuses.
"This is a major step for the corporate accountability movement," said Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange's Founding Director. "Coffee farmers are some of the most exploited workers in the world. The Fair Trade system, which guarantees farmers a living wage for their harvest, provides a real solution. With the extra earnings, coffee growers are able to invest in their families' health care, education, and community development.”
“Coffee drinkers will now have the choice of buying socially responsible, Fair Trade coffee,” Benjamin added. “But consumers should know that Starbucks coffee without the Fair Trade seal is very likely sweatshop coffee.”
The Fair Trade system guarantees a minimum price for small farmers' harvest and encourages organic and sustainable cultivation methods that are safer for communities. Fair Trade farmers are provided badly needed credit and assured a minimum of $1.26 per pound. In comparison, the world price usually hovers around $1 per pound, but most farmers earn less than 50 cents per pound since they are forced to sell to exploitative middlemen.
"We're happy that Fair Trade Certified coffee is finally becoming available in the United States," said Jorge Cueves, a manager of a Fair Trade cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico. "It will mean so much for our communities and our families. A fair price means the difference between poverty and success."
SEIU BEGINS CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE HOSPITALS
Hospitals are not safe places. In fact, more Americans die each year from 'medical mishaps' than die in auto accidents. Estimates of the number of fatalities ranges from 40,000 to 70,000 a year.
The causes of these fatal mistakes varies. Many of them are the result of poor MD training or systems that are not set to catch mistakes. But many of them are the result of cost-cutting by hospital administrators and not hiring enough Registered Nurses.
Last year, AB 394 (Kuehl) became law mandating the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to set minimum safe staffing guidelines for all acute-care hospitals. In response, the Nurses Affiance of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) prepared a 42 page set of proposals about what those guidelines should be. These are the only proposals any group has submitted so far. DHS will consider them and give its report some time next year.
In the meantime, SEIU has been working with citizens groups and Nurses around the State. In Fresno, the "Californians for Safe Hospitals" has formed specifically to work with SEIU and to support guidelines that will actually have some teeth in them and improve patient safety. Members of the group include: Rev. Bob Baker of the College Community Congregational Church; Andrea Espinoza MD- Ann Ingram RN; Lynn Jacobson, PhD, social work professor at Cal State Fresno; Rev. Bryan Jessup of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno; Jim Katzer, MD- Mimi Motts-Smith, RN, MSN, FNP, nursing instructor at UC, San Francisco in Fresno; and Gail Ward, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
As well as organizing public support for the guidelines, SEIU is also training Nurses to use existing regulations to protect patient safety. Over 75 Nurses enrolled for classes this month in Fresno and Tulare.
SEIU has also polled over 8,000 Registered Nurses in the Central Valley to find out about their problems and in order to give evidence to support the need for regulations. Nurses, most of whom are non-union in the Valley, are also being asked whether they want to organize at their hospital and many are saying "Yes!".
For more information call
Local 535, SEIU: (559) 275-1404
A Letter of Apology to Elian Gonzalez from Michael Moore
Dear Elian,
Please forgive me for writing to you in English. Three semesters of Spanish, and I can't remember a thing!
Also, please forgive us Americans for standing back and allowing the child abuse you are now experiencing. Normally, in this country, we arrest adults who put children through trauma and exploitation. Normally, we arrest adults like the Mayor of Miami who call for violence and incite a riot. Normally, in this country, we arrest terrorists and either jail or deport them.
Unfortunately for you, we are doing none of this. I apologize. I can only imagine what you are going through. You do not deserve this treatment.
You are being told that your mother died trying to bring you to freedom. I am so sorry to have to tell you, that's not true. The Cuban court granted your father custody of you, and your mother decided to kidnap you. She placed your life in horrible jeopardy by putting you in a leaky, overcrowded raft that eventually sank, killing everyone except you and two others. History is filled with many people who risked their lives escaping to another country because, had they stayed, they would have been imprisoned or killed.
That's not what happened in the case of your mother. Her life was not in jeopardy. Her son -- you -- was in no danger. The worst that could be said is that, in Cuba, you were in jeopardy of receiving free health care whenever you needed it, an excellent education in one of the few countries that has 100% literacy, and a better chance of your baby brother being born and making it to his first birthday than if he had been born in Washington, DC.
The truth is your mother and her boyfriend snatched you and put you on that death boat because they simply wanted to make more money. I can understand why they wanted a better life. Cuba is a poor country. America, from 90 miles away, looks like a rich country. The majority of people who have sailed to this country in the past have come for the same reason. Often, they have come because they did not like living in a country, such as Cuba, where you cannot freely elect your president and your basic rights are limited. I can understand that.
But your mother placed you in a situation where you were certain to die on the open seas (as most of the rest did) and that is unconscionable. It was the ultimate form of child abuse, and I see now why the Cuban judge did not give your mother custody. Now you are with "relatives" in Miami. Normally, in this country, when we say, "I'm going to stay with the relatives," we mean brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.
You are with a "great-uncle" and a "second cousin." It's not that they aren't blood-related, but, let's face it, in our country they and the third cousins-once removed are usually not sitting at the Thanksgiving table and are only rarely heard from when they need bail money or part of the inheritance. But in our country, no "relative" replaces the parent. A brother, cousin or "great-uncle" who holds a child against the will of the parent is committing a major crime.
Yours,
Michael Moore
<MMFlint@aol.com>
For a copy of the complete letter please visit
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
CONFLICT AT KFCF
Most readers of the L/CA have come to depend on the healthy
functioning of KFCF--the FM station found at 88.1 This station is our lifeline
to progressive and labor news, unmediated by a corporate agenda. For this
reason, the current "cold war" between two segments of the station's
current governing Board has been very disconcerting. To help clarify what is
going on, we have asked a leader of each faction to write a brief rationale of
their position. But first, some historical perspective. The station was
established by the Fresno Free College Foundation specifically to transmit the
programming of Berkeley's KPFA, a Pacifica station with a long history of
free-speech, anti-war, community-based radio. From early on, KFCF has aired a
little FRESNO-originated programming--mostly weekend music and local government
meetings, but also a few hours monthly of local public affairs. Over the years,
several groups have approached the station management with ideas for additional
local programming; but KPFA programming was given higher priority. Then, last
summer, came "the troubles" at KPFA, culminating in a prolonged
shut-down of programming. The KFCF management did a magnificent job of finding
alternative programs (including some local voices); but the vulnerability, still
present, of KPFA to the vicissitudes of the current Pacifica management led the
Board to call community meetings to chart an alternative course for the station
should KPFA as we know it cease to function.
Out of that turmoil, it became clear that there was a substantial desire by local groups to have a voice on KFCF, and to create a valley-based "community radio station" not so dependent on KPFA. A programming committee was established to set criteria for potential programmers, then to screen and recommend programs for inclusion in the KFCF mix. While this process was approved by the Board, since the return of KPFA to the airwaves, the concept of including significantly more local programming has not been addressed. Instead, the election of a new governing Board in December has created a more visible rift between the two factions on the Board, one urging a pro-active embrace of new local programming, the other maintaining that the station's listenership is founded on loyalty to KPFA programming.
Behind the animosity that has emerged, there is a desire on all sides that this station that we love and depend on will thrive. There has been a proposal for a new election. This would provide an opportunity for a greater number of eligible voters to participate and indicate the direction they want the station to take.
The Community Alliance invited both sides in this conflict to submit an article articulating their vision for the future of the radio station. The Community Radio Coalition sent us their mission statement, which clearly states their position. It starts on the next column of this page. Unfortunately, the FFCF/KFCF board majority did not submit an article for this month’s newsletter but we have been told that they will have a statement prepared for the June newsletter. We look forward to printing their vision for the future of KFCF at that time.
THE COMMUNITY RADIO COALITION
Mission Statement
Community radio is operated by the community through a democratically elected board. Community radio has its decision making guided by diverse, representative and unfettered input from the community. Community radio is not beholden to any person, group or business such that its dependency on any of these alone determines its service to the community. Community radio has a responsibility to provide insightful, provocative and critical public affairs programming unrestrained by influences that inhibit local, national and international commercial/corporate media.
The Relationship Between KFCF and KPFA
At no time will the Community Radio Coalition jeopardize our connection with KPFA, nor will KPFA programming be replaced by community based programming without input by the community. We currently have a contract with KPFA which limits local programming, and we intend to honor that contract. Our financial health is dependent upon continued broadcasting of KPFA, since our basic income comes from KPFA subscribers who live in our signal range. We appreciate, enjoy and are educated by KPFA programming. The ratio of KPFA to local programming is to be determined by the community, through its representative board members and democratic processes. Those who portray the Community Radio Coalition as willing to undermine our community’s relationship to KPFA are lying.
The History of KFCF and the Fresno Free College Foundation.
KFCF (88.1FM) began broadcasting out of the home of Rand Stover in 1975, and remains in the same location today. Essentially, the station re-broadcasts the signal relayed to it by KPFA, Berkeley. The station is owned and operated by the Fresno Free College Foundation (FFCF), started to protect academic freedom and free speech at California State University at Fresno in the late 60's.
Throughout its 25 year history, the FFCF board has experienced tension between those who wanted to have increased local access and programming, and those who wanted to retain exclusive control and essentially rebroadcast KPFA. The underlying contest was between an open, inclusive process, or control by the few who have now been running the station for more than 20 years, namely Rychard Withers and Rand Stover. (In writing this statement, the Community Radio Coalition members debated the need to name individuals. We decided it was unavoidable, but to avoid personalizing the issues.)
In the last three years, the FFCF board (which included Withers, Stover, and four current members of the CRC) developed a plan to democratize station decision-making, increase local programming, purchase a building, involve volunteers, and move the station out of Rand Stover’s house and into a publically accessible space. While there was friction on the board over the particulars of these various decisions, the board consensus was that community access to a community resource was both desirable and inevitable.
In June of 1999, KPFA went off the air. The board and KFCF listeners awoke to the possibility of losing the KPFA signal. In response to the crisis at KPFA, the board called for a community meeting. In an unanticipated and wonderful show of support, more than 350 people attended, filling the meeting room of the First Congregational Church to speak about the importance of KPFA in their lives. Many spoke eloquently of the need to hear the voices of the Valley on our station as well. For many people who were there, it was an inspired event, the moment they fully realized the intensity of local support for a progressive political agenda. 75 people attended a subsequent volunteers’ meeting to offer their skills and time to work for KFCF, including many who have engineering and technical expertise.
During this time, what most of the board did not realize was that Rychard Withers and Rand Stover really wanted to retain control over the station. This was particularly apparent in the Fall of last year, after KPFA survived but the move toward democratizing KFCF continued to gain strength and adherents. Rych was involved in writing a flyer distributed at the FFCF annual banquet which accused other board members of wanting to eliminate KPFA programming, an untruth he continues to maintain is the CRC agenda. A few months later, Rych and Rand called for a meeting of the Foundation members and for a new election of the board. They kept their electoral strategy to themselves, and informed none of the other board members of their intent to run an alternate slate, and to gather proxy votes so they could take control of the station. At an election held in November, they did exactly that, putting four of their supporters on the board, and removing several of the previous members. Doug Noll, who had been the President of the board for several years, resigned on the spot. The election was entirely legal, but the use of proxies to swing the election outcome shocked the other members of the board, the people present for the election, and the many people who had believed in the changes the board had been working so hard to make.
This new majority, made up of Rychard Withers, Rand Stover, Alex Vavoulis, Deborah Speer, Robert Munce, and Bruce Kennedy has been in constant conflict with the now minority board members, Dixie Salazar, Kent Stratford, Catherine Campbell and Sari Dworkin. The majority’s decisions have made what was previously obscure apparent: Rand Stover and Rych Withers have been defacto owners of KFCF for all these years, and now, with the help of their friends, they want to continue the privatization of a community resource.
In reaction to the previous direction of the board, the new majority has reversed all efforts to make the station accessible. They no longer speak of buying a building, or moving the station from Rand Stover’s home. They no longer talk about bringing in volunteers. Committees formed by the previous board to review program proposals have disappeared, and Rand Stover is now the self-appointed program director. They have increased local programming, but only by putting their friends on the air. They see no need for a community advisory board. They resist all efforts to discuss their conflicts of interest, in spite of their roles as programmers, engineers, and possessors of the station and its equipment. This board majority treats our community radio station as their private property.
In response to the November election, several people, including the four minority board members (Dixie Salazar, Kent Stratford, Catherine Campbell and Sari Dworkin), formed the Community Radio Coalition. At the first few meetings, a total of about 40 people came, many of them people who had spoken at the community meeting, or who had participated in prior board meetings, and had supported the democratic objectives of the previous board. Many were people shocked by the tactics used at the November election. Our first decision was to try to get the board to hold a new election. After the board majority voted this idea down three times, we gathered 130 signatures in support of a new election, a number which mandates a new election under non-profit law. This is our mission statement, and our call for your vote at the election.
The Community Radio Coalition Candidates for the Board.
The Community Radio Coalition is now putting together a slate of eleven people who would share the objectives of openness, democracy and community input in KFCF.
The Goals of the Community Radio Coalition.
The Fresno Free College Foundation owns a broadcast signal that stretches from Merced to Bakersfield, the high Sierra to the coast range. It is the only significant progressive political and cultural information source in the entire Valley. Unlike KPFA, KFCF is independently owned and operated, not beholden to Pacifica or anyone else. Such a resource should seek maximum involvement from the community it serves, and provide maximum service to that community.
To that end, we promote the democratic election of the board members by the subscribers and a board free of conflicts of interest. While community radio inevitably generates argument and debate between various and interests over programming, we believe the best way to resolve these inevitable, healthy disputes is through open, democratic processes. This means the board is elected by the entire membership; board meetings are open to the public and are broadcast live; there are regular community meetings and a community advisory board. The board would create program policy and criteria based on community input.
Our more practical objectives are to house the station in a building which would contain a large meeting room, and space for other community groups. We will create an internship program for people who want to learn broadcasting, and we will make maximum use of the many, many people who have volunteered to assist us, including a broad base of people with radio technical skills to build a new station, and keep it running. The ways in which these projects will be funded would be decided in open forum by the board, but some ideas are to augment our KPFA income with community fund-raisers, grant proposals, and underwriting by small, supportive local businesses. CRC will always reject corporate and government financing to maintain our independent voice.
The Community Radio Coalition believes that Valley listeners are a wellspring of talent, intellect and insight. Valley arts, politics, society, cultures and peoples are subjects worthy of exploration on the air, for all to hear. Community-based programming will inform Valley residents of our grass-roots political efforts, the rich array of cultures of our area, and the events that can bring us together. Through inclusion of diverse people as volunteers, apprentices, office helpers, engineers, technicians, and programmers, we will give voice to the people of the Valley.
Community Radio Coalition Supporters
The following people are strong supporters of the Community Radio Coalition.
Alan Arbour • Elfie Ballis • Sue Beever • Gerry & Zay Guffy Bill • Ellie Bluestein • Evo Bluestein • Jemmy Bluestein • Cindy Calvert • Dennis Caeton • Catherine Campbell • Robin Crockett • Jack Daniel • Sari Dworkin • Bob Fisher • Don Fischer • Greg Fletcher • Linda Halk • Gunner Jensen • Cynthia & Don Loweberg • Tonee Mello • Patience Milrod • Doug Noll • Joel Pickford • Aline Reed • Don Rhoads • Alex Rosell • Dixie Salazar • Nancy Schultz • Kent Stratford • Larry Taylor • Pat Wolk
LOCAL ACTIVISTS PUSH AMNESTY PLAN
On April 10 activists from several unions and immigrants attended a training on immigration policies conducted by Northern California Immigrant Rights attorney Mark Silverman. These activists are boning up on laws effecting immigrant workers as they prepare to address local groups in support of the AFL-CIO new policy calling for general amnesty for immigrant workers.
The group which is the Immigrants Rights Project of the Community Alliance plans to make presentations to local unions, community groups and churches about the need to protect immigrant workers’ rights as a first step in the effort to help them unionize and improve wages and working conditions for all workers in the San Joaquin valley.
This project coincides with the historic shift in the AFL-CIO position away from employer sanctions and in support of a general amnesty.
AFL-CIO executive vice president Linda Chavez-Thompson will tour the country to meet with immigrant workers, union organizers, and community organizers. The Western Regional forum will take place on June 10 in Los Angeles. For information, call (213) 387-1974.
The San Joaquin valley with hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers, low wages, and high poverty levels, is an important organizing arena. The group hopes to win support from at least 20 local labor, community and religious groups for the amnesty proposal. After this, local politicians will be approached to join the effort.
If you are interested in helping out with this project or your organization would like to schedule a speaker call Pam Whalen at 226-0477 or Gloria Hernandez at 268-2261.
AIDS FOUNDATION EVENTS
The Central California AIDS Foundation is a community based,
501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, governed by a volunteer Board of
Directors and managed by salaried staff. There are currently six locations for
services in the Central San Joaquin Valley including; the Central Valley AIDS
Team, Van Ness House and San Joaquin Exchange Works in Fresno, the Living with
AIDS Management Program in Merced, and the Mountain Area AIDS Service and
Support in Oakhurst serving Eastern Madera County and Mariposa County. Last, but
not least, South Valley AIDS Networks provides services for Tulare County. The
foundation is planning the following events.
CELEBRATION OF LIFE DINNER
Saturday • May 6, 2000
645 E. Calle Ave, Tulare
6:00 p.m.
CVAT OPEN HOUSE
Tuesday • May 9, 2000
CVAT 416 W. McKinley, Fresno
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
THE 5TH ANNUAL BIG DEAL ART SALE
Saturday • May 20, 2000
First Congregational Church, 2131 N. Van Ness Blvd., Fresno
Preview 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Art Sale 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
A chance to buy art work from local famous artist at a affordable price.
RUMMAGE SALE
Saturday • June 3, 2000
416 W. McKinley
7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Donations are appreciated to make this a success
For more information please call:
Gail N. Swanson, Coordinator of Volunteer Services
Central Valley AIDS Team (CVAT): (559) 264-2437
AIDS has been a part of our lives now for two decades. During that time, many of us have had to learn how to live with pain, loss, and death. Although none of these conditions is new to the human race, all of us try to keep them from becoming a part of our own lives and all of us eventually fail in doing so, for they are a natural part of our lives. Whether it is the death of a parent, a child, or the end of a love affair, the movement of close friends to a new city, we all must live with loss. We all need the support of other people to do that. A touch, a shoulder to lean on, help with everyday tasks; willingness to listen, the simple gift of time and the ability to "be there" for another are all ways in which we can provide support.
