Wednesday, November 16, 2005
SWOP homepageUrgent! 100 workers still detained in deplorable conditions in Louisiana
karlos says: I received this today. We heard similar testimony everywhere we went in the gulf...
From: Tim Bell
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 7:37 AM
Legal assistance is urgently needed. It appears that more than 100 workers are incarcerated in Tensas Parish Detention Center, Louisiana.
On Monday I interviewed family members of detainee Jose Torres and 4 workers who escaped the ICE raid in New Orleans.
The 100 workers were arrested by ICE while doing demolition work in the Marriot, Hilton and Hyatt hotels in New Orleans on November 9, 2005.
The detainees fear for their safety as they have witnessed a rape. They are afraid to shower.
The Tensas facility has a history of abusive conditions.
The Tensas facility was featured in the 1998 Human Rights Watch report, UNITED STATES LOCKED AWAY: IMMIGRATION DETAINEES IN JAILS IN THE UNITED STATES. See reported abuses at:
A former Tensas corrections officer was recently sentenced for federal civil right violations relating to assaulting and causing physical bodily harm to a prisoner.
There are possible human trafficking and labor violations related to this case. The workers were brought to New Orleans by three day labor agencies from Chicago and another agency from Atlanta. They worked there from 9/10/05 to 11/9/05
The client company was First Restoration Services of Charlotte, N.C.
The workers were not allowed to leave the hotels under any conditions from 9/10 to 11/09 (need to research the curfew times in NO). Subsequently, they were allowed to leave the worksite during their off-times; however they slept and ate at the worksites. They were driven in day labor vans to do some shopping at Walmart after 10/02.
Payment of wages appears proper except for nonpayment of mandatory meetings which took place 3 times per week for 20 minutes time after work hours. Detainees' families are still waiting for last checks which should arrive in by mail next Wednesday.
Known detainees:
Jose Francisco Torres, Mexican. Birthdate: 5/19/79.
Jorge Hernandez Ochoa, Mexican, Birthdate: 07/19/07
Ramon Lopez Arriaga. Mexican
Some of the detainees are Hondurans from Waukegan, Illinois.
The families have contacted the Mexican Consulate in Chicago who has contacted the Consulate in Houston. Labor attorney Chris Williams from the Chicago Workers Legal Clinic has visited the families and workers. I have calls in to NILC, MIHRC, and Mississippi Immigrant Justice Alliance regarding this case and am waiting to hear back. Meanwhile the families are calling me every hour, very desperate to find out what has happened.
Please contact me ASAP.
Thanks,
Tim Bell
Tim Bell
Executive Director
Chicago Workers' Collaborative
2226 S. Whipple St.
Chicago, IL 60623
Tel: 773-230-0351
Fax: 773-542-5069
Send Mail to:
P.O. Box 08048
Chicago, IL 60608
District 9 run-off: Another Runoff?
While the Journal reported a landlside victory for Don Harris, SWOPblogger's admittedly unscientific webpoll has Monty Burns just ahead of Ebenezer Scrooge and Gary Coleman. Both Don Harris and Tina Cummins are tied with Saddam Hussein a little further back in the pack. Dick Cheney, the Grinch, Ann Coulter and the Devil have yet to receive a vote. You can still make a difference. We're going to try an instant runoff, and keep the polls open for a few days. Tell your friends. Get-out-the-vote!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
SWOP homepageWalmart: The High Cost of Low Price
So… [Listen to KUNM call-in show]
Walmart exploits workers.
Walmart receives billions of dollars in corporate welfare.
Walmart crushes small businesses.
Walmart devastates families.
Walmart destroys rural America.
Walmart has cheap products.
Walmart lies.
You’ve seen Walmart’s commercials.
See the movie that tells the rest of the story.
Monday, November 14, 2005
SWOP homepageGo SAGE Council!
Message from Laurie Weahkee, Director, SAGE Council: As the City of Stand With Us!
We ask our friends and allies to join us as we pay our respects to this sacred place, commemorate the years of struggle we have endured together and celebrate over 300 years of survival.
Organizations interested in endorsing this march are encouraged to contact Roberto Martinez at 260-4696 or roberto@sagecouncil.org no later than Wednesday Nov. 16th.We are asking endorsing organizations to bring members, families and friends to the march. We encourage you to bring along a banner to identify your organization. We also welcome additional volunteers, snacks and/or donations.
View our Code of Conduct.
Contact us or go to our website for additional information.
Event Details
WHEN: Sunday, November 20th, 2005
TIME: 1:00pm - 4:30pm
WHERE: The March begins at
The March will culminate with a rally at the Petroglyphs with speakers, prayers and song.
Transportation will be provided back to
Click HERE for a MAP and to VOLUNTEER
karlos says: SWOP endorses the March to Honor Petroglyphs. Calls to members will start today!
Friday, November 11, 2005
SWOP homepageGulf Coast Justice and Solidarity Tour
karlos says: Look out for more on this tour at SWOPblogger. Check out Southwest Workers' Union's post!Tour stops:
*Southern Echo, Jackson, Mississippi
*Common Ground Collective, Algiers, La
*Community Labor United, New Orleans, La
*People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, New Orleans, La
*First Baptist Church, Gulfport, Mississippi
*United Houma Nation, Louisiana Bayou
*Tour organized by Southwest Workers' Union, San Antonio, Tx
*And co-convened by Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Project South, local orgs...pics from SWU:
top: Group photo in Gulfport, Mississippi.
2nd from top: Laura (Air America Radio), Emory (Project South), and Gary (Legacy Equality Leadership and Oranizing) help unload boxes at Common Ground Collective.
2nd from bottom: Hollis (Southern Echo), Jose Bravo (Just Transition Alliance), Miguel (SWOP), and Naro (SWU) take a picture in front of Houma Nation Elder's house where they fixed the porch and installed a new ramp.
Bottom: Miguel and Jose, working on ramp.
Participating Orgs:
Amy Stapleton
Methodist Federation for Social Action
(o) 202.546.8806
(c) 202.577.8712
amy@mfsaweb.org
Angela Winfrey-Bowman
People’s Institute for Survival & Beyond
330 Tall
Congers, GA 30013
(c) 504.858.0620
angelawinf@aol.com
Angelo Kinyua
Mulika Communication Trust
64081
(o) +25 47.22.87.5989
angelokinyua@yahoo.com 
Ansje Miller
Environmental Justice & Climate Change Initiative
(o) 510.444.3041 x315
miller@rprogress.org
Arnoldo Garcia
National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
(o) 510.465.1984 x305
agarcia@nnirr.org
Audrey Hollis
(h) 314.869.3592
(o) 314.644.0466 x12
(c) 314.435.0414
Audrey@stl-jwj.org
Bill Chandler
(c) 888.204.3355
bcmobilize@bellsouth.net
United
4400 Highway 1
(c) 985.637.3826
bdr@unitedhoumanation.org
Che Lopez
Southwest Workers Union & COMPA
(o) 210.299.2666
chelopez@igc.org
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Indigenous Environmental Network
(o) 218.751.4967
(c) 218.760.1370
ienoil@igc.org
People’s Hurricane Fund & Relief Coalition & Oversight Committee
(c) 504.236.4703
curtismuhammad@hotmail.com
Diane Shamis
UP (United Progressive) for Democracy
(o)845.661.3754
Ippn.diane@earthlink.net
(o) 228.547.9493
Emery Wright
Project South
(o) 404.622.0602
emery@projectsouth.org
Southwest Workers
(o) 210.299.2666
genaro@igc.org
Hollis Watkins
Southern Echo
(o) 601.982.6400
holliswa@bellsouth.net
James (Jim) Hayes
People’s Institute
(c) 504.296.1339
Southwest Workers
(o) 210.299.2666
jillj@igc.org
SouthWest Organizing Project
(o) 505.247.8832
Karlos@swop.net
(o) 662.334.1122
k.moore@msworkerscenter.org
Saving OurSevles Coalition
907
Brown1133@bellsouth.net
Laura Flanders
Air
(o) 917.714.7571
(c) 212.343.2353
lflanders@aol.com
Little Rock
(o) 228.864.1255
leejadamsjr@aol.com
Malik Rahim
Commonground Collective
(o) 504.268.6897
commongroundrelief@gmail.com
Manuel Pino
Indigenous Environmental Network
(c) 480.388.9719
Manny.pino@sccmail.maricopa.edu
Jennifer Altman Foundation
(o) 415.561.2188
mrosen@jaf.org
Grassroots Global Justice
(o) 323.924.1895
michael@ggjalliance.org
Miguel Roman
SouthWest Organizing Project - Pajarito Mesa
(o) 505.247.8832
Southern Echo
(o) 601.982.6400
mike@southernecho.org
Peter Knowlton
UE (United Electrical Workers) District 2
Taunten, MA 02780
(c) 774.264.0110
uedistrict2@mindspring.com
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
(o) 212.812.4326
pwillgerodt@rockpa.org
Interfaith Disaster Task Force
(o) 228.229.8552
ravila@cableone.net
Project South
(o) 404.622.0602
shields@scottandsonholdings.com
Steve Hollis
AFGE & St. Louis Jobs with Justice
(h) 314.869.3592
(o) 314.539.6347
(c) 314.435.9179
steven.hollis@stl.usda.gov
Tufara Waller Muhammad
New Market, TN
(o) 865.335.2443
Tufara@highlandercenter.org
(o) 601.968.5182
(c) 228.234.1697
Mira_eme@yahoo.com
Vivian Felts
Saving OurSelves Coalition
(c) 251.404.4053
felts_vivian@yahoo.com
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
SWOP homepageMarch in Homage of Petroglyphs
karlos says: March in Homage of Petroglyphs: November 20, 2005 - 1 to 4:30 pm. Thanks to all our sisters and brothers at SAGE Council for all the work continue to do in this important struggle. You all are warriors!Pasted below is the latest from the Column of the Americas.
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
BY ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ & PATRISIA GONZALES
NOVEMBER 7, 2005
A HOMAGE TO THE PETROGLYPHS
Pacha Mama bleeds. Her veins are wide open. Yet, she is not bleeding. She is hemorrhaging. How long before the gush becomes a trickle? . before the trickle dries up?
Not a day goes by that Abya Yala does not speak to us.. that she does not plead with us. . that she does not call out to us and warns us.. she quakes, she churns and she howls. And she always reclaims.
Turtle Island is in peril. Its places of worship are being defiled & desecrated daily. Spiritual bulldozers have paved the way for the mechanical ones. The gods of greed are coming. They continue coming. They bring with them more civilization, now called growth & development.
The bulldozers. They not only scar, but they destroy the sacred. They also destroy memory as they compel us to forget. Just what is it precisely that they want us to forget? And what instead do they want us to honor, to remember?
Forget the bulldozers. Drive a knife through our sacred mother. Not through her guts, but through her back. The knife always goes through the back. If not, use a drill or perhaps a stake.
Oil, gas, uranium, coal, water. Animals, plants & medicines. Power stations, telescopes & real estate. Now it is roads. For progress and to link up with civilization.
In New Mexico - as throughout the continent -- they pay homage to many conquistadores, settlers, land thieves, murderers, rapists & slavers. They honor the so-called bringers of civilization. They build statues to them and many monuments. And they name their buildings after them.
In New Mexico, in the Land of Enchantment, they exploit Indians. They're great for tourism. Great for museums and as relics. They are great to be seen. behind displays. Just don't let them come alive and most of all, don't let them speak.
In New Mexico, there's been a ten-year struggle against real estate and road developers to keep the sacred petroglyphs (north of Albuquerque) intact. After all these years, the developers have won in the courtroom. But what have they won? To build their roads, they still need to consult with the Pueblos, yet as Laurie Weahkee of the Sage Council says, they will not sign off. They will have to build their roads without the blessing of the Pueblos. The Pueblo governors have told the city: "We will not take part in our own desecration."
All these years, the Pueblos - in unison -- have spoken clearly and unambiguously. And yet the developers and their political allies have disingenuously wondered out loud that they don't know what it is that the Pueblos really think. One has to wonder what it is that they do not understand? Perhaps they need to learn the languages that have been on this continent for thousands upon thousands of years. Or perhaps, they should simply take the time to view the close to 20,000 messages inscribed at the 17-mile National Petroglyph Monument. They too speak clearly.
To the north, the Gwich'in Nation has made similar pleas over the proposed oil drilling at ANWR (the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge). The U.S. Senate has now given their approval. or the death sentence to not just the Gwich'in way of life, but to the planet itself.
But what does it matter? There's not that many of them, right? There's really not that many indigenous peoples left anywhere on the continent, right?
To the south, Indigenous nations speak. They call out to all their relations. To all our relations -- for a continental cultural uprising.
In New Mexico, native peoples have been uprising since the arrival of those that have been trying to do this thing called civilization (they forgot to civilize themselves before attempting to take on this project).
Laurie Weahkee says of the struggle over the petroglyphs: "I still think we had the better case.... We are now turning the struggle over to our ancestors. We've done the best that we could. It is [now] they who will have to make the decisions."
We also pay homage and remember the spirit of Bill Weahkee of Cochiti, who first took us to the petroglyphs some ten years ago and explained their importance and sacredness to the Pueblos. He too did speak clearly. His spirit still does.
* The Sage Council, invites everyone on Nov. 20 to come pay homage to the petroglyphs. For info on this march and prayer: sage@sagecouncil.org -- www.sagecouncil.org or 505-260-4696.
© Column of the Americas 2005
We can be reached at: 608-238-3161 or XColumn@aol.com or Column of the Americas, PO BOX 5093 Madison WI 53705. Our bilingual columns are posted at: http://hometown.aol.com/xcolumn/myhomepage/
Saturday, November 05, 2005
SWOP homepageStreets of Mar del Plata, Argentina - Friday, November 4, 2005
