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(1) Packers Captain Charles Woodson Stands with Wisconsin's Workers By Dave Zirin Edge of Sports February 20, 2011 http://www.edgeofsports.com/2011-02-20-602/index.html Already multiple members of the Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers have taken public stands against the frightening, dictatorial, anti-union rampage of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. These pro athletes have chosen to link arms with the tens of thousands of nurses, teachers, and firefighters standing as one against Governor Walker's efforts to destroy their unions and drive them into poverty. It's been remarkable to see a steady stream of players from the only non- profit, fan owned team in American sports, lend their voice to this fight. Yet none of the Packers who've spoken out, have had the profile, respect, or cultural currency of the latest member of the team to stand strong with Wisconsin's working families: Charles Woodson. Woodson is the team's defensive icon. A former Heisman trophy winner at the University of Michigan, NFL defensive player of the year, and perennial pro-bowler, his voice will evoke cheers at the capital and shockwaves in the Governor's office. The team's defensive captain is also the acknowledged emotion leader of the team, charged with pumping them up at halftime and making speeches after the game. He was the person who said during the playoffs, "The President [a Chicago Bears fan] doesn't want to watch us in the Super Bowl? We'll go see him! Say White House on three!" This much watched youtube moment, certainly takes on a different meaning right now. By the way, Charles Woodson is also one of the team's union reps. Without further preamble, here is his statement announcing his stand with Wisconsin's working families. (Aaron Rodgers? You're on deck.) STATEMENT FROM GREEN BAY PACKER CHARLES WOODSON IN SUPPORT OF WORKING FAMILIES IN WISCONSIN Last week I was proud when many of my current and former teammates announced their support for the working families fighting for their rights in Wisconsin. Today I am honored to join with them. Thousands of dedicated Wisconsin public workers provide vital services for Wisconsin citizens. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. These hard working people are under an unprecedented attack to take away their basic rights to have a voice and collectively bargain at work. It is an honor for me to play for the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers and be a part of the Green Bay and Wisconsin communities. I am also honored as a member of the NFL Players Association to stand together with working families of Wisconsin and organized labor in their fight against this attempt to hurt them by targeting unions. I hope those leading the attack will sit down with Wisconsin's public workers and discuss the problems Wisconsin faces, so that together they can truly move Wisconsin forward. Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packer cornerback and one of the team's elected representatives to the players union. ****** (2) Union Sponsored City Hall Rally http://civilservicetechnicalguild.org/ Angry at Bloomberg's and Cuomo's threatened cuts and layoffs? Maybe this is a start. Union sponsored City Hall rally, sponsored by DC 37 Local 375 Civil Service Technical Guild, Local 154, 768, 1549 and 1113. City Hall Park, Centre Street Plaza, #6 subway entrance across from the Brooklyn Bridge. Thursday, February 24, 2011 at noon, Be there if you can! (3) The Brecht Forum presents Making Sense of the Chinese Labor Movement a talk by Ellen David Friedman The Brecht Forum 451 West Street New York, New York 10014 Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 7:30 pm http://www.brechtforum.org At the same time that U.S. workers stagger unprotected under loss of wages, benefits, and jobs, weakened by the lowest rate of unionization in decades, in China, workers--many of them teenage student interns--mount tens of thousands of wildcat strikes each year, defying capital, the state and the Trade Union. The effects on workers of global capitalism's latest project--in China--are now emerging into light with the wave of automobile strikes that shook the country last summer. How can we make sense of what is happening in China? The ACFTU (All China Federation of Trade Unions) is the largest union on the planet, but one which does no collective bargaining and doesn't represent workers. The central government has embraced neoliberal economics as fiercely as any country on earth, yet behaves as the "payer of last resort" when private employers default on wages. Contradictory pressures are driving new labor conflicts; are new forms of worker self-organization coming to birth? Ellen David Friedman has been a union organizer and labor educator in Vermont since the mid-1970s, including 20 years with the National Education Association. Starting in 2003 she began working in China, and--since 2005--spends one academic term per year teaching labor studies at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and working closely with the Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions, grass-roots labor NGOs, students and scholars. She also organizes exchange study tours between U.S. and Chinese labor leaders and academics. 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