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May 1st is International Workers' Day, a day to celebrate resistance to capitalism. Working and poor people now face layoffs, massive social cutbacks (especially in health care and education), evictions and homelessness, police repression and endless war. This May Day many people will seek to unify the struggles against capital’s wars here and around the world. Actions are planned for the day and evening in San Francisco and Berkeley.

May 1st MAYDAY EVENTS Mass Demonstration 12 noon - 1 pm, Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley SF March From 24th and Mission to Dolores Park 1 pm, 24th and Mission San Francisco San Francisco May Day Skillshare and Community Gathering 2 pm - 7 pm , Dolores Park (20th and Dolores) San Francisco Protest against massive teacher layoffs and the war budget 3:30pm at MLK Park in downtown Berkeley Claremont Worker Support Rally 4pm rally Holiday Inn 1800 Powell St, car caravan to 4:30pm rally at Claremont Street Scholars Records and Hip Hop on the Mic 5-7, Lower Sproul UC Berkeley May Day March 7PM--Gather at Berkeley BART, Center & Shattuck

4/7: Anti-War demonstrators arrived around 5AM at the port of Oakland to picket American President Lines (APL) and Stevedoring Services of America (SSA). APL receives millions of taxpayer dollars every year for shipping military cargo through the Department of Defense Maritime Security Program (MSP). SSA was awarded a $4.8 million contract for a year's operation of the Port of Umm Qasr in Iraq.

The picket line was successful in provoking the ILWU into sending many of its workers home for the day. After approximately 30 minutes, the Oakland Police Department moved in to disperse the demonstrators, using concussion grenades , wooden bullets, and beanbags full of metal shot. Scores of people, including six onlooking workers, suffered injuries and Jack Heyman (Business Agent, ILWU Local 10) was arrested with over 35 other protesters and port workers.

Strong anti-war sentiments by longshoremen combined with disgust at OPD violence kept large portions of the Oakland docks shut down for most of the day.

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3/27: Mayor Willie Brown has officially terminated city funding to the Day Labor Program. Despite the fact that La Raza Centro Legal has had demonstrated success in running the Program for the last three years, the contract was awarded to Volunteers of America (VOA). VOA, the only other bidder and an organization with no connection to the day labor community, has entirely failed to address the needs of the workers at its Oakland program, where it has been collaborating with the police in their harrassment of the workers. La Raza Centro Legal is filing an appeal of the decision on the basis of extreme bias within the Technical Review Committee process. One member of the six-person committee stated in a letter of complaint to the Mayor’s office, “I have been a member of dozens of technical review panels for Department of Health Services, and Department of Public Health. I have never been a part of one that has been even close to being so blatantly biased and ‘rigged’.” The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund is also filing a lawsuit in Federal Court on behalf of La Raza Centro Legal against the Mayor and the City of San Francisco for violation of the agency’s First Amendment Rights to protest.

In addition, members of the Day Labor Program attended yesterday's Police Commission Hearing to ask for the immediate dismissal of Captain Greg Corrales from his current position as captain of Mission Police Station. Captain Corrales, who was recently indicted in connection with the SFPD cover-up scandal and remains under investigation, has spearheaded a campaign of repression against workers on Cesar Chavez Street. Details | SF Bay Guardian article

2/16:The labor contingent stretched many blocks from its gathering point before feeding into the main march. Dozens of union banners were carried amidst the hundreds of thousands of working class people who showed up to say "no to war" in San Francisco, along with the millions worldwide over the weekend.
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Madera is a small county in the middle of the Central Valley with chronic double digit unemployment and massive poverty. But now, homecare workers are organizing to improve their lives. The workers, there are currently over 1,000 of them, receive minimum wage and no benefits. Service Employee International Union Local 250 has been at the forefront of the struggle to bring better wages and benefits for homecare workers in Madera and throughout the State of California. Unionized homecare workers in San Francisco, Yolo, Contra Costa, and Sacramento earn at least $9.50 an hour with benefits. More

12/13: Upwards of 100 members of the Communications Workers of America Local 9415 demonstrated against 3000 planned layoffs by Southern Bell Corporation (SBC). The company claims there is a "surplus" of workers and that the division is unprofitable. Workers, on the other hand, talk of the compulsory overtime they've endured, which would indicate that there aren't enough workers to go around. In 2001, SBC's CEO Edward E. Whitacre made $5,866,667, while Rayford Wilkens, CEO of PacBell, was paid $1,282,000. Photos and Video

12/5: Approximately sixty day laborers and supporters gathered on the steps of City Hall for a press conference to protest continued harrassment by San Francisco City Government. A senior attorney from Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) announced the lawsuit that the organization is filing on the program's behalf. The suit maintains that the City of San Francisco violated the workers' and the program's First Amendment right to protest without suffering retaliation. The Planning Department's continued stalling of the process for permitting the Day Labor Program's move to its new Cesar Chavez Street location is one example of such treatment. With the fifth postponement of the long awaited hearing, it has become clear that the delay is tied to the Mayor's current plan to re-allocate funding to run the program, which until recently was held by La Raza Centro Legal. Speakers also included laborers, supportive neighbors, and La Raza Centro Legal director Anamaria Loya. Background