Uncategorized – Page 3 – Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism

RENT STRIKE IN OAKLAND IN THE COVID TIMES

A Photoessay © by David Bacon
Capital & Main, 7/20/20

OAKLAND, CA 7/9/20 – Tenants and supporters demonstrated at an Oakland apartment complex where tenants are mounting a rent strike against Mosser Capital, one of several apartment complexes where rent strikes are taking place. During the COVID-19 crisis the landlord is insisting on bringing investors to inspect the apartments despite the danger of contagion. Mosser bought over 20 buildings in Oakland in 2016, according to the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). Mosser received a Paycheck Protection Program loan between $2 million and $5 million during the pandemic.

OAKLAND, CA – 9JULY20 – Tenants and supporters demonstrate at an Oakland apartment complex where tenants are mounting a rent strike against Mosser Capital, one of several apartment complexes where the strike is going on. The tenants are organized by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). During the COVID-19 crisis the landlord is insisting on bringing investors into the apartments despite the danger of contagion.Copyright David Bacon

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment organized tenants from buildings across Oakland to come to the apartment house, to confront speculators brought by Mosser Capital, the building’s owners. Tenants, especially seniors, expressed fear that letting strangers into their homes during the pandemic would put them at risk for contamination from the coronavirus. They also believed that the investor tour might result in evictions and rent hikes.

Sabeena Shah (r) is a striker in the building and Sharena Diamond Thomas (l) is a striker in another building.Copyright David Bacon

For the complete photoessay Click Here…

Airline Food Service Workers Arrested at SFO

AIRLINE FOOD WORKERS DEMONSTRATE AND GET ARRESTED AT SFO
Photographs by David Bacon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 26NOVEMBER19 – Workers who prepare food for airlines and their supporters picket Terminal 2 and are arrested with their supporters in a civil disobedience action at San Francisco International Airport. Workers are protesting the failure of the companies who run the flight kitchens to agree on a fair contract with their union, Unitehere Local 2. Low wages force many workers to work an additional job besides their job in the airline food kitchens.

To see the complete set of photographs, click HERE.

Farmworkers Rise Up Against Trump and Labor Exploitation

By David Bacon,
Truthout August 10, 2019
Link to Truthout Article

BELLINGHAM, WA – 4AUGUST19 – Farm workers and their supporters march to protest the H2-A guestworker program and the death of Honesto Silva, on the anniversary of his death twho years earlier. They also protested recent federal regulations making it more difficult to protect the rights of H-2A and resident farm workers. The march was organized by Community2Community and the new union for Washington farm workers, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. © 2019 David Bacon

Washington State today is ground zero in the effort to hold back the massive use of agricultural guest workers by U.S. growers, and to ensure that farmworkers, both those living here and those coming under the H-2A visa program, have their rights respected. For a second year, on August 4 workers and their supporters marched 14 miles in 90-degree heat through berry fields just below the Canadian border, protesting what they charge is widespread abuse of agricultural labor.

“Farmworker families have been living and working in local fields since the early 1950s,” according to Rosalinda Guillen, director of Community to Community, a farm worker organizing and advocacy group in Whatcom County. “But we’ve seen a big increase in growers’ use of the H-2A guest worker program in the last few years, and it’s had a huge impact on working conditions in the fields. We’ve had to feed guest workers who come to us hungry, fight to get them paid their wages, and help them deal with extreme work requirements. At the same time, our local workers find they’re not being hired for jobs they’ve done for many seasons.”

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Link to Full Truthout Article