Questions about May 1st demostration

[SimonBolivar]

As many of you know, there will be a big demostration all across the US on May 1st to oppose the anti-immigrant laws.
Does anybody here is involve with any group ?
Just wanted to get some general information so I can participate...

Thanks

[Janus]

Look in the Events and Propaganda forum, there might be some info. there.

There will be demonstrations in most major cities so you should ask around in your local area to see if there are any.

[Poum_1936]

Also check your local indy media sites.

[SimonBolivar]

Thanks for the info. I am in New York City.. anybody from NYC here ?

[Janus]

I think that there is gonna be a major demonstration there. Of course, it will center around the immigration debate.

[which doctor]

Most May Day celebrations in large American cities will focus on the immigration debate.

[Janus]

Most May Day celebrations in large American cities will focus on the immigration debate.
Of course.

By the way this thread should be moved to Events and Propaganda.

Here's an article about it.

Originally posted by AP
Masses of illegal immigrants and their supporters around the USA plan to boycott workplaces, stores and schools on Monday, but the move is dividing some pro-immigration activists and business owners.

Organizers of the May Day walkout call it el gran paro - "the big stop" - and "a day without immigrants." Building on huge marches staged in recent weeks, the boycotts and rallies in many cities will demonstrate immigrants' economic importance as Congress debates legislation, says Armando Navarro of the California-based National Alliance for Human Rights.


"It was one thing to march," Navarro says. "Now we're going to hit 'em where it hurts - in the pocketbooks."


The boycott's "size and impact remain to be seen," says Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Movement USA. That group's slogan: "No work, no school, no shopping, no commerce."


'Substantial' participation


Gutierrez says he expects "substantial" worker absences, from Georgia poultry-processing plants to West Coast construction sites. David Jones, president of the Arizona Contractors Association, says builders there expect some no-shows and a work slowdown.


As many as 12 million illegal immigrants are in the USA, and they make up about 5% of the workforce, the Pew Hispanic Center says.


Raul Murillo, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Hermandad Mexicana immigrant organization, says he's among those acting to oppose a bill passed by the House of Representatives in December that would make illegal immigrants felons. The Senate is still considering an immigration bill.


Businesses with largely immigrant workforces are preparing for Monday in varying ways:


• Cargill, the No. 2 U.S. beef producer and No. 3 pork producer, is closing seven meat-processing plants with 14,000 employees in Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado. "We share a lot of the same concerns many of our employees have," spokesman Mark Klein says. "The immigration process is broken, and we need true solutions to it."


• Tyson Foods is discouraging workers from missing shifts, spokesman Gary Mickelson says. "We don't want our team members to jeopardize their good employment records and incomes by taking unauthorized time away from work," he says.


• All Las Vegas casinos are asking workers to stay on the job, sign petitions to lawmakers and attend a downtown "celebration of immigration" at 6 p.m., says Yvette Monet of MGM Mirage.


• The 17 Spanish-language radio stations owned by Clear Channel Communications will broadcast music without comment from disc jockeys. "Words are my life, but sometimes silence makes a bigger point," morning host Alex Lucas says.

Many Hispanic-owned businesses will be closed. Salvador Pedroza Moreno, owner of Economy Roofing in Chicago, says he'll give his seven workers the day off with pay to attend a march. In Tucson, Ricardo Cazares is shutting Alejandro's Tortilla Factory & Bakery, which has 55 workers. "There are sales that I know will be lost, but if we want something, we have to pay a price for it," he says.


Rallies are scheduled in many cities. Jessica Aranda of the March 10 Movement, a Chicago coalition that drew 100,000 to a march last month, says Monday will draw a bigger crowd. "Our community is coming into our own and realizing our own power," she says.


In nine New York City neighborhoods, "human chains" of Hispanic store owners, workers and customers will link hands for about 20 minutes, says Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.


"Some business owners couldn't afford to shut down their businesses all day," she says. "This is an alternative action for people who wanted to join something."

A question of timing

Navarro of the National Alliance for Human Rights says he expects Monday's economic action to get Congress' attention. "Timing is everything in politics, and the timing is with us right now," he says. But others who favor laws that support immigration rights say the walkouts could spark a backlash.

Encouraging children to skip school "just adds fuel to the argument that we don't care about our children's education," says Jose Lagos, a community organizer with Honduran Unity in Miami.

Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles says her group urges workers to get permission from their bosses before taking the day off. If undocumented workers walk out and get fired, "there's very little that they can do," she says.

Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, says his 100,000-member organization opposes worker absenteeism and school walkouts, "but we don't want people to consume anything on that day."

Last month, announcements by Spanish-radio disc jockeys helped build crowds at rallies. Now, the top-rated Renan Almendarez Coello (known as El Cucuy, "the boogeyman") opposes walkouts. "We came here to work and not to say 'don't work,' " he said last week.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, who has said he'd order priests not to obey laws against helping illegal immigrants, is cautious about Monday's boycott and instead is promoting a 4 p.m. rally - after school hours. That event could cut crowds at the boycott organizers' noon rally at City Hall.

"If both events go well, that would be great," says Mike Garcia, president of a Service Employees International Union local in Los Angeles, which is neutral on the boycott. "It shows there are differences in strategies, but everybody's fighting for the same thing."

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Thanks for the info. I am in New York City.. anybody from NYC here ?

I am. I think it's more of a strike rather than a demonstration. Maybe both?

[BattleOfTheCowshed]

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?...y=2006mayday_gs (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006mayday_gs)

Yep, its a General Strike. If you can, ditch work/classes, if thats not possible for you then try not to buy stuff. There will also be demos nationwide. If you can make it out to the demo:

NYC: Go to Union Square (14th St., Manhattan) at 4:00 PM

Heres a list of May Day 2006 events nationwide, check it:

http://www.infoshop.org/wiki/index.php/May...York_City.2C_NY (http://www.infoshop.org/wiki/index.php/May_Day_2006#New_York_City.2C_NY)

[Martin Blank]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2006, 12:14 AM
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?...y=2006mayday_gs (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006mayday_gs)

Yep, its a General Strike. If you can, ditch work/classes, if thats not possible for you then try not to buy stuff. There will also be demos nationwide. If you can make it out to the demo:

NYC: Go to Union Square (14th St., Manhattan) at 4:00 PM

Heres a list of May Day 2006 events nationwide, check it:

http://www.infoshop.org/wiki/index.php/May...York_City.2C_NY (http://www.infoshop.org/wiki/index.php/May_Day_2006#New_York_City.2C_NY)
This list is not complete. You can also check http://www.nohr4437.org/ for information about events.

Miles

[VermontLeft]

i would love to show up to some of this stuff, but unfortunately I live in hickstown USA and am nowhere near any major population centers.

i was thinking of hitching a ride into NY but my bf&#39;s car broke down so that plan&#39;s fucked... <_<

anyways, for those of you who can actually get out there, do. leftism shouldn&#39;t just be internet, its also gotta be on the streets&#33;&#33; :o :angry: :o

[Jimmie Higgins]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2006, 05:14 AM
Yep, its a General Strike. If you can, ditch work/classes, if thats not possible for you then try not to buy stuff. There will also be demos nationwide.
Let&#39;s set the bar a bit higher here comrade. It&#39;s a general strike and should be considered the "Seattle 99" of this decade. If you are afraid of reprocussions at work, call in sick... radicals should know that a boycott isn&#39;t going to cut it on Monday, we need to make this as much of a general strike as possible and argue with other people who support immigrant rights that they need to leave their work or call in sick (and organize their coworkers or costudents to do the same). Even the mainstream press (while still criticizing the marchers) are saying that these could potentially be the largest protests in the US since the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s.

Furthermore this is a movement of workers who are beginning to get a taste of their own potential power. It is the first time May Day will be noticed by the ruling class of the US since the first May Day in Chicago&#33;

I haven&#39;t been posting on this website for a couple of weeks because I have been busy going to coalition meetings and organizing for May 1st - I went to a march of a few 1000 people and handed out 2000 fliers for a may 1st organizational meeting in 20 minutes. People were literally grabbing the fliers out of my hands - it was like in "10 days that shook the world" where he describes barefoot soldiers grabbing Bolshivik papers like starving men would grab for food.

In contrast, the last anti-war demonstration I went to I almost had to hit people over the head with a club and argue with them for 15 minutes to get involved with organizing a protest.

It would also really help the movement if ethnicities other than latino came in solidarity. In Los ANgeles, there is some black-latino animosity so I am trying to convince black radicals to march in solidarity and highlight the mutual intrests of black and latino (and white and asian and so on) workers; for example latinos are upset by the racial profiling by la migra as well as the LAPD - a bracero program is second-class citizenship like jim-crow - full and unconditional amnesty means blacks and latino workers can organize together and fight for better wages and jobs rather than having to compete with eachother for the lowest the boss can offer.

If you are anywhere near one of the major protests planned and you consider yourself as someone who wants to see the workers movement move forward, you should get your ass and everyone around you to these marches.

[Tekun]

I&#39;ll be at the march in LA or Santa Ana
Anyone else?? Maybe we can meet up?




However, I was thinking of wearing a handkerchief over my face for security reasons...the fact is that I&#39;ve been informed that the police, INS, Minute Men, and several Nazi groups will be taking photos and filming the protests...which they&#39;ll use later to go after those who show up

What&#39;d u guys think, good idea or no?

[Jimmie Higgins]

Wear it if you want. I&#39;ve had cops take my photo before, I think it&#39;s only intimidation tactics and I&#39;d be suprized if there was actually film in the cameras. Besides, the protest in LA is going to be so big that I wouldn&#39;t worry - it&#39;s always good to enter and leave protests with groups of people.

In Los Angeles and San Francisco, there have been rumors of la migra rounding up people and threatening them not to protest on May1, but these rumors have not been confirmed.

the best way to neutralize harassment by la migra or the minutemen is to build this movement so that our side is confident and the facists are too scared and demoralized to react in any meaningful way

that said, the minutemen are planning a national "tour" starting May 2nd and we need to help the movement organize counterprotests against the reactionaries.

[Tekun]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2006, 11:01 AM
Wear it if you want. I&#39;ve had cops take my photo before, I think it&#39;s only intimidation tactics and I&#39;d be suprized if there was actually film in the cameras. Besides, the protest in LA is going to be so big that I wouldn&#39;t worry - it&#39;s always good to enter and leave protests with groups of people.

In Los Angeles and San Francisco, there have been rumors of la migra rounding up people and threatening them not to protest on May1, but these rumors have not been confirmed.

the best way to neutralize harassment by la migra or the minutemen is to build this movement so that our side is confident and the facists are too scared and demoralized to react in any meaningful way

that said, the minutemen are planning a national "tour" starting May 2nd and we need to help the movement organize counterprotests against the reactionaries.
Well said bro...
Yeah, the fact is that I go to school in the city of Riverside, where the neo Nazi groups are rampant
So, just to be on the cautious side, I think it&#39;d be wise to cover my face

Have fun at whatever protest your gonna show up to bro




BTW, for anyone looking for info regarding the protests herez a link

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/





If anyone&#39;s in the LA area, PM me and maybe we can meet up