Rallies in Lower Manhattan in Support of Workers' & Women's Rights by

Thousands take to the streets of lower Manhattan to protest GOP assault on the rights of workers and women.

By Kellabeck

Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest on Vimeo

Watch original on Vimeo...

Part One...

Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.
Three days of footage (Feb 15-17) from the Madison, WI protest against the SB11 budget repair bill. Mgwisni@gmail.com

Part Two...

Wisconsin "Budget Repair Bill" Protest Pt 2 from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.
Two days of footage (Feb 18-19) from Madison, WI protest against the SB11 "budget repair bill." Thanks to Michael-Bryan Byers-Dent for the song inspiration. Mgwisni@gmail.com

Two Pols City Councilmember Mark-Viverito and Assemblyman Espaillat, 35 Others Arrested At Manhattan Immigration Protest - 1010WINS.com

Read original...

Two New York politicians and more than two dozen others have been arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at a protest for immigration reform.

City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito and State Assembly member Adriano Espaillat were among 35 issued disorderly conduct summonses on Monday for blocking the road in front of Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan.

The protesters said they were aiming to escalate pressure on President Obama to enact "just and humane'' immigration reform. They are also calling for the administration to stop Arizona's controversial immigration law.

It's the second of three protests planned on the issue. Last week, 16 people were given disorderly conduct summonses.

Residents Plan to Protest Brooklyn Wal-Mart By R.M. Schneiderman - Metropolis - WSJ

Read original...

Wal-Mart has yet to officially announce that it is considering the Gateway II shopping center in East New York for its first New York City store, but protests are beginning already.

Citing what it claims is a history of employee abuses and discriminatory practices, a New York community group and roughly 100 East New York residents plan to protest Wal-Mart’s reported plans this afternoon near Spring Creek Towers, a large low and middle income housing complex formerly known as Starrett City, in Brooklyn.

“We’re not opposed to development,” said Jonathan Westin, an organizer for New York Communities for Change, a city-based non-profit. “We just want stores that will pay people fair wages and treat the community the way it should be treated.”

As The Journal reported in April, Wal-Mart has been looking for potential sites for stores across the five boroughs, saying that its presence would would bring jobs and tax revenue.

The Gateway shopping center is reportedly one of them.

Last year, the city approved development of Gateway, which is owned by Related Cos., the company that also developed the Times Warner Center in Midtown.

But in presenting its plan to the City Council, Related did not say that Wal-Mart might become one of its tenants. Bringing in Wal-Mart is a potential political liability for Related, the City Council already approved the company’s development plan, and thus would not be able to block it.

“Wal-Mart is trying to come in the back door,” said Westin.

If Wal-Mart does indeed attempt to move to East New York, many pundits expect a heated battle between the City Council and unions, which spoiled the retailer’s previous efforts to bring stores to Queen and Staten Island.

For years unions have thwarted the retailer’s the much-needed expansion plans into cities.

In April, Mayor Bloomberg came out in favor of the discount retailer’s plan to come to New York.

“People that live in this city are going outside the city to shop at Wal-Marts,” he said. “So, if they’re going to shop at Wal-Marts, they might as well live here, they might as well have the jobs here and the tax revenues here.”

That argument seemed to work in Chicago where city officials had resisted Wal-Mart’s overtures until 2009, when in the throes of the recession, officials suddenly became receptive to them.

On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said that its same-store sales declined by 1.1% as consumers continued to struggle with unemployment and high gas prices.

Earlier this month, the company said it was donating $2 billion in food and money to national food banks over the next five years.

7online.com: Rally held against school budget cuts 3/19/08

Read original...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Teachers and principals protested on the steps of City Hall Wednesday, angry about school budget cuts.

But officials say the economic reality is that every agency has to deal with cuts right now.

Education reporter Art McFarland has the story.

An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 demonstrators turned out in the rain to speak their minds about $180 million in budget cuts this year and millions more to come next year. They hope to derail any further school cuts.

A coalition of teachers and principals are confident in their case against school budget cuts.

"I'm old enough to have been around when teachers bought their own paper, and I really don't want to go back," teacher Virginia Pruitt said. "It can get pretty tough when you start cutting school bugets."

At some schools, programs like a math intervention class at P.S. 321 are being scaled back. The mid-year cuts have meant individual school budget losses in the thousands.

"What it's meant this year is fewer supplies," P.S. 321 principal Liz Phillips said. "We didn't buy new furniture that we were going to buy, and it has meant that we've had to cancel some math intervention services."

Public opposition has been building for weeks. At a Brooklyn hearing in February, there was concern over how budget cuts would affect class sizes.

An expected delay in state aid to city schools is expected to slow down the creation of more classroom space. After their City Hall meeting, the mayor and the new governor were asked about school budget issues.

"I think the world that the teachers, the schools in New York City, knew, has changed," Governor David Paterson said.

"We are cutting against a budget," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "The total monies going to education will still go up. They might not go up as much as they would've gone up, but as the governor said, we live in a very different wold today than we did six months ago."

Teachers' union president Randi Weingarten said the cuts are a matter of choice.

"Are we going to make a choice that, as kids have to go through higher and higher standards, that we try to give them the quality teachers and lower class size and the other services they need?" she said. "Or are we going to say, 'Oh no, times are too tight?' Kids are going to lose."

And both Bloomberg and Paterson link the need for school budget cuts to the sagging economy. But there will be a lot more protests and many more questions regarding the cuts in the weeks and months to come.

(Copyright ©2008 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

PROTEST VIGIL at Senator Schumer's Residence - November 6 at 6 pm

TUESDAY, NOV 6th, 6:00 pm

PROTEST VIGIL at Senator Schumer's residence: 9 Prospect Park West (corner of President Street in Park Slope)

o Protest Schumer's support of Michael Mukasey - who will support Bush's continued use of torture.

o Protest Schumer's increasing support of military action against Iran and Bush's attempt to launch a new war.

o Protest Schumer's continuing support of funding for the war against Iraq.

Senator Schumer, abandoning his own party and angering many of his constituents, has announed that he will support the nomination of Mukasey. This, despite Mukasey's repeated refusal to state, categorically, his opposition to waterboarding, a form of torture. Mukasey also stated his belief that President Bush has the right to ignore laws passed by Congress in his capacity of Commander-In-Chief, thus showing that he would continue the drift toward authoritarian rule which has become a hallmark of the Bush Administration.

Futhermore, Schumer, originally one of the strongest supporters of the war in Iraq , has been supportive of the increasing bellicose plans of Bush and Cheney to foment a new and even more dangerous war against Iran. He voted in favor of the Kyl-Lieberman bill which many experts beliee Bush can use as justification to launch a new war and he refused to join 30 other Democrats in supporting the Webb bill which warns the President that he has no authority from Congress to take military action against Iran.

Now is the time for Brooklynites to express their anger and concern for Schumer's increasingly pro-war and anti-democratic positions. The election of November 2006 demonstrated clearly that Americans want to end the war in Iraq and reverse the disastrous course of the Bush Administration. Charles Schumer is ignoring the will of those voters and is serving, instead, the interests of George Bush which is to pursue the war, launch new ones and undermine our democratic rights.

** Please attend the protest vigil this Tuesday, November 6th at 6pm outside Schumer's residence at 9 Prospect Pk West.

** Please contact all your friends, family and colleague so that hundreds will gather to protest the Senator from New York who ignores the will of his constituents.

** Call Charles Schumer to tell him he must change his position and oppose Mukasey as nothing short of our constitution and democracy are at stake. Call now Congressional switchboard, ask for Congressman Schumer's office: (800) 828-0498 or direct: (202) 224-6542

For more information on the vigil, please call Brooklyn For Peace at (718) 624-5921

If you are outside the NYC Metro area, please contact all your friends, family and colleagues to put together a midday vigil outside one of Schumer's district offices in your area.

Thank you!

Frances Anderson

New York State Coordinator

Progressive Democrats of America