You guys know how teachers in Texas can’t actually protest because they’ll lose their pensions and get fired? Legitimately, my mother is a teacher here in Texas, they cannot protest without facing severe repercussions, and that is an actual law.
Hear me out… What if the kids protested for them. Kids face repercussions too, of course, but if they walked out of class, all of them together, and just sat either on school grounds or off school grounds and just protested, not only would that prevent teachers from losing their jobs and their retirement, it might give them the strength and push they need to take the risk on their job. We still, however, cannot blame a person for being scared of losing their job in the face of something like that. Their job and all their retirement.
All the kids would have to do is get into contact with each other, Facebook, here, in person, texts, calls, Twitter, however the hell you have to get a hold of people, and plan a day for everyone to just walk out. If you can get a few schools to do it, other schools will probably follow along, especially if it’s on thw news. Just choose a day and help your teachers get the pay they deserve.
I want to be this much of a bad ass when I’m 77 years old:
“I’m 77-and-a-half years old and I hate the destruction of democracy in this province,” this woman says while being escorted out by two security guards.”
“Ester Reiter lived through discrimination as a Jew in Cold War America, marched to protest the Vietnam War with two babies in tow, and visited a mass grave in a southern Poland forest where her grandparents, aunts and uncles were likely murdered in the Holocaust.
When she woke up on Wednesday morning, the 77-year-old didn’t hesitate to stand up for what she says is another great injustice — the Ontario government passing legislation that a judge ruled violates the Constitution.
[…]
“How I honour my identity as a Jew is to get my ass out and protect everybody, to protect the rights and freedoms of everybody and really try to struggle against any injustice,” she said.”
Chicago’s tourism sector is booming, with a record 55,000,000 visitors
to the city last year, and revenue up this year by 10.4% to $1.45B: but
workers aren’t seeing those gains.
Housekeepers continue to suffer a 40% higher injury rate than any other
service sector workers, and hotel staff face seasonal layoffs in which
they lose their health coverage for the winter – as one worker said,
“Hotels may slow down in the wintertime, but I still need my diabetes
medication when I’m laid off. They work us like dogs when it’s busy and
then kick us to the curb in the winter.”
UNITE HERE Local 1 has led a walkout of over 6,000 housekeepers, cooks,
doormen, bartenders, servers and dishwashers from 26 hotels, with
round-the-clock picket lines in a vote that was authorized by 97% of the
membership. They’ve been out for a week.
If possible, don’t stay there. Don’t eat there. LET THE HOTEL KNOW YOU ARE CHOOSING NOT TO DO BUSINESS THERE BECAUSE YOU RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF STRIKING WORKERS.
Me, I’d call up and start the process of making a reservation and then ask if the strike’s been settled. And regretfully back out if they admit it’s not.
Or make one and call back to cancel, saying you just heard about the strike.
(I am not petty enough to do it if I weren’t actually planning to go to Chicago, mind. Plus if enough people did, it’d lose impact because the fact it was all just drama would be obvious, given the numbers. Businesses know, on average, how many reservations get made in a given month or week and via what channel: on line, phone, resellers like Expedia, etc. But I’d enjoy the hell out of it if I were legit going there.)
Also, there’s no obvious place to donate to a strike fund, so funds are sufficient for strike benefits. But if this drags on I’d keep an eye on it, for those of you who can afford to donate and are moved to do so.
“Next Tuesday, McDonald’s workers at restaurants in 10 cities will walk off the job at lunch, waging the first-ever nationwide strike to combat sexual harassment.”
“I’m from Basra. In the seventies we were the economic capital of Iraq. It was beautiful once. The only city with two rivers. We had one million people but ten million palm trees. In those days everyone was optimistic. Our oil reserves were better than the Saudis. We assumed the oil would be invested, and that our lives would keep getting better. But our leaders failed us. It was war after war. Without all the fighting, things could have really been great. But the palm trees are gone now. There’s no potable water. We have a shortage of electricity. Healthcare is very poor, and cancer is everywhere because the Americans used radioactive bombs. Our whole land is contaminated. The food that comes from the soil is poison. But please visit, you’ll be welcome. The people are friendly. You’ll be met with hospitality. We understand that governments are the warmongers. You’re victims just like us.” (Cairo, Egypt)
べんきょうしなければならない 