Feature Archives

5/23: A crowd of day laborers and supporters marched through San Francisco's Mission district today to raise awareness about the recent police harassment that has plagued the workers. The procession, which featured lively music and attracted attention from onlookers as traffic was forced to yield, ended at the Mission Police Station. There the laborers and SF Day Labor Program staff chastised Captain Corrales for his department's ticketing and abuse of the immigrant workers who wait for employers on Cesar Chavez St. Corrales responded with a typical dismissal of the charges of racism and showed little interest in addressing the situation. Background | En Español

4/30: A celebratory crowd gathered at Sproul Plaza and marched through downtown Berkeley, stopping on College Ave for an animated Maypole ritual. When the police abruptly ordered the gathering to disperse, the procession continued through the streets under heavy surveillance.

A man holding a camera was arrested when an undercover cop shoved him into the police line; a second person was taken into custody moments later. Police then roughly arrested a woman who had been spinning fire. All 3 were released at 1am with court dates for misdemeanors such as "interference with police" and "mischief.

Report | Arrest Video | May Pole Video | Photos | Berkeley & its "liberal" police | More Photos | Pictures of One Arrest

In Oakland: Local unions and anti-capitalists protested at the INS building against federal government immigrant sweeps, which are resulting in hundreds of arrests. Photos

In San Francisco an anarchist/anti-capitalist march proceeded from the Mission District to meet up with a labor rally at Diane Feinstein's offices. Photos

May Day Around the World: As usual, the workers holiday has been marked by protests and riots around the world to remind the rich that class war is still on ... in Chicago, Berlin, London, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Palestine, Argentina, New Zealand, Uruguay, throughout France, throughout Spain, throughout Italy, Zurich, Bangladesh, Athens, Melbourne, throughout Arab countries, Pakistan and throughout southeast Asia, Moscow, South Korea, Turkey, Jakarta, Manila, Beijing, Sydney, Calcutta. It is also the 10-year anniversary of the Rodney King protests and riots in Los Angeles.

4/15: More than 100 day laborers and supporters held a press conference on the steps of SF police headquarters to protest recent harrassment by police, as well as the looming threat of collaboration between INS and local law enforcement. Speakers outlined the group\\\'s demands (including a request to meet with the Police Chief, who has so far failed to return calls from the SF Day Labor Program) and local musicians led songs of resistance. The crowd then marched to the INS offices, where chanting, banners, and additional speakers alerted mainstream media and onlookers to the plight of local immigrants. Video, Audio In recent weeks, the INS has arrested and deported local airport workers and raided immigrants\\\' homes. The SFPD has been moving day laborers off the street and giving them citations for minor infractions, and Department of Justice is now pushing for local police to have the same authority as the INS to arrest and deport immigrants. The Mission, in particular, has seen a growing crack-down, coinciding with the appearance of a new police captain. A community meeting was held on 4/30 for Mission residents to have an opportunity to speak-out against this injustice.

4/30: People's Park, a flashpoint in the Free Speech struggle of the 1960s, celebrated its 33rd anniversary on 4/28, with music, speakers and speeches. Video 1 | 2

4/28: A raucous and celebratory critical mass helped kick off Mayday in SF on 4/26, as hundreds of bicyclists occupied intersections, almost stormed the Bay Bridge, and demonstrated outside Abercrombie & Fitch -Report | Photos. Local spoken word and hip hop at Arise! brought people to downtown Oakland as well - Video

May Day, both International Worker’s Day and pagan rites of spring, is frequently associated with the Haymarket Martyrs, a group of five anarchists who were sentenced to death after wrongfully being found “guilty” of planting a bomb in Haymarket Square during a labor rally on May 1, 1887.

festivalsofresistance.net

Nearly one thousand union members and labor supporters marched through downtown Oakland on 3/23 to speak out against the "war on terrorism" at home and abroad. See photos Immigrant airport workers are one example of those facing the devestating domestic fall-out. On International Women\\\'s Day, the SF Day Labor Program Women\\\'s Collective held a speak-out about the on-going mistreatment of domestic workers and presented their collective as an alternative to exploitation and abuse.

3/17: A new study finds that despite minor improvements, Indonesian sport shoe factories producing for Nike and Adidas Salomon still fall pitifully short of providing safe-working conditions. Meanwhile, 700 workers in shoe factories in Maine recently lost their jobs, as the company relocated production to sweatshops in China. The Chinese laborers will earn approximately 3% of what the U.S. employees had earned.

3/12: Upwards of 1000 people marched on Taco Bell's corporate headquarters in Irvine today, culminating the Taco Bell Truth Tour, a cross-country caravan to raise awareness of ongoing abuse of workers by the fast-food chain. Afterward, members of Coalition for Immolakee Workers met with representatives from Taco Bell to discuss the farmworkers' demands. Full coverage from the LA IMC | Boycott Taco Bell.org On 3/8, a rally in SF marked the local stop on the tour. The fast food chain is notorious for its purchase of tomatoes from farms that subject pickers to vile working conditions. In a related action on 3/14, protesters contested Safeway's reliance on genetically engineered (GE) foods, which have potentially devastating effects on both consumer health and the environment.