Thousand Join Mexico to SF March for Peace in Salinas

Key in the successful U.S. labor movement was the ability of workers to hold successful strikes, with strong social punishment for scabs. The primary reason why Mexico is so much poorer than the U.S. in Canada, which are all european colonial nations, is that workers were just unable to similarly win in labor efforts in Mexico. (Also, we can't forget the Monroe doctrine and military intervention in most of central and south america). Still, it seems clear that the reason why corporations were not able to subjugate the current american middle class to the same extent as the mexican population was *the threat to withhold labor* with unions. It was probably pretty difficult for sit-down strikers in the 30s, and the UFW in the 60s/70s to achieve this during a time of unemployment when many almost needed to cross lines due to suffering.

Do you have any suggestions how in this protestant work ethic climate with neoliberals like Bush saying "they just take jobs that americans won't do" "jobs even your blacks won't do (Vicente Fox", how could we even move to a situation where workers are able to unionize and threaten to withhold labor?

The only way for justice to be achieved is for the difference between prices of goods/services sold - labor wages = profits to be reduced. Currently this profit is funneling into stock market dividends, and is enabling the California nonimmigrant upper-middle class to become wealthier and drive up the price of houses even more, so the upper-middle class is very happy with this indentured servant class arrangement.
Do you have any suggestions for tipping this balance over so that the service worker class could ever hope to withhold labor rather than using an apparent willingness to do crappy jobs with a smile as their selling point?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez
"In 1969, Chávez and members of the UFW marched through the Imperial and Coachella Valley to the border of Mexico to protest growers' use of illegal aliens as temporary replacement workers during a strike. Joining him on the march were both a Reverend Ralph Abernathy and a U.S. Senator Walter Mondale. Chávez and the UFW would often report suspected illegal aliens who served as temporary replacement workers as well as who refused to unionize to the INS.

In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to protest for, and later win, higher wages for those farm workers who were working for grape and lettuce growers. During the 1980s, Chávez led a boycott to protest the use of toxic pesticides on grapes. He again fasted to draw public attention. These strikes and boycotts generally ended with the signing of bargaining agreements.
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thank you very much Jeff for documenting the marches in Watsonville and Salinas and quickly publishing photos on Santa Cruz Indymedia / Indybay.org. great photos.

nobody can stop our movement!

Thank you Jeff,
Great pics, good coverage of a monumental event. Watsonville rocks. We marched with
Fernando, Pablo and others to the LA anti war march. Good to see all the participation.
thank you , and Beewell seth