[[link removed]]

TIDBITS – JUNE 27 – READER COMMENTS: TRUMP WORKED TO DESTROY
UNIONS; REMEMBERING TROUBLEMAKERS-FRANK EMSPAK, CONN HALLINAN; AFL-CIO
UNION ORGANIZER PROGRAM; RETHINKING THE ELECTIONS: MAGA THREAT AND
CHALLENGES FACING PROGRESSIVES AND UNION ACTIVISTS;  
[[link removed]]


 

June 27, 2024
xxxxxx
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Reader Comments: Trump Worked to Destroy Unions; Remembering
Troublemakers - Frank Emspak ,Conn Hallinan; AFL-CIO Union Organizer
Apprenticeship Program; Rethinking the Elections: MAGA Threat and
Challenges Facing Progressives and Union Activists; _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons -
June 27, 2024, xxxxxx

 

* RE: HOW DONALD TRUMP WORKED TO DESTROY AMERICA’S LABOR UNIONS
 (DANIEL MILLSTONE; BEN MAURER)
* RE: COOLING CALIFORNIA COULD HEAT UP EUROPE  (LORRAINE SUZUKI)
* THINGS COST MORE...BECAUSE  --  MEME
* PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS - GUNS  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON
* CLING ONS  --  CARTOON BY PAT BAGLEY
* RE: MISSISSIPPI GODDAMN: YOU WERE DEFINITELY INVOLVED IN THIS
 (MARIAN GORDON)
* TOM PAXTON - GOODMAN, SCHWERNER AND CHANEY
* RE: THE PASSING OF A TROUBLEMAKER  (CAROLYN TOLL OPPENHEIM; ALAN
HART; JOANNA ZELDA LEVINE; DANIEL MILLSTONE; JACK RADEY; PAUL
FRIEDMAN)
* RE: CONN HALLINAN: HE KNEW WHOSE SIDE HE WAS ON  (LINCOLN SMITH)
* RE: BRIDGERTON FINALLY GAVE US QUEER STORYLINES. FANS AREN’T
HAVING IT.  (TRACY ANN ESSOGLOU)
* CHEAP FAKE  --  CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS
* RED STATES AND HANDMAIDS  --  MEME

.
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* AFL-CIO UNION ORGANIZER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM  --  APPLICATIONS
ARE OPEN FROM 6/24/24-7/8/24

* RETHINKING THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: THE MAGA THREAT AND THE
CHALLENGES FACING PROGRESSIVES AND UNION ACTIVISTS – JOIN US FOR A
CONVERSATION WITH BILL FLETCHER  --  JULY 2  (THIRD ACT UNION)

* WEBINAR: DEBUNKING DETERRENCE THEORY AND PURSUING GLOBAL NUCLEAR
DISARMAMENT  --  JULY 9  (CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE DISARMAMENT AND COMMON
SECURITY)

 

* REGISTER FOR JULY 12-14TH LABOR EDUCATION SOUTHERN WOMEN'S SCHOOL
FOR WORKERS AT AVILA CENTER IN DURHAM, NC

.

.
 

RE: HOW DONALD TRUMP WORKED TO DESTROY AMERICA’S LABOR UNIONS
 

Thanks to xxxxxx
[[link removed]]
for sending along Lawrence Wittner
[[link removed]]'s very good essay about
Trump's anti-labor record. To my mind it raises an urgent question:
why are some union members and their families supporting Trump?

Daniel Millstone
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

Remember it was the disenfranchised middle class that were big
supporters of Hitler. And like Reagan, Trump is able to hoodwink the
middle class with xenophobia, racism and taking advantage of a
horrible democratic party that has sold out its base for corporate
profits!!!

Ben Maurer
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: COOLING CALIFORNIA COULD HEAT UP EUROPE
 

Ugghhh. Just stop it.

Lorraine Suzuki
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

THINGS COST MORE...BECAUSE  --  MEME

 

 

PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS - GUNS  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON

 

Nick Anderson
June 25, 2024
Pen Strokes [[link removed]]

 

CLING ONS  --  CARTOON BY PAT BAGLEY

 

Pat Bagley
June 21, 2024
The Salt Lake Tribune
[[link removed]]

 

RE: MISSISSIPPI GODDAMN: YOU WERE DEFINITELY INVOLVED IN THIS
 

Check out the song "Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney" by Tom Paxton.

Marian Gordon

TOM PAXTON - GOODMAN, SCHWERNER AND CHANEY
 

[[link removed]]

LISTEN HERE [[link removed]]  

1965 - Tom Paxton - Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney
[[link removed]]

The night air is heavy, no cool breezes blow
The sounds of the voices are worried and low
Desperately wondering and desperate to know
About Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney

Calm desperation and flickering hope
Reality grapples like a hand on the throat
For you live in the shadow of ten feet of rope
If you're Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney

The Pearl River was dragged and two bodies were found
But it was a blind alley for both men were brown
So they all shrugged their shoulders and the search it went on
For Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney

Pull out the dead bodies from the ooze of the dam
Take the bodies to Jackson all accordin' to plan
With the one broken body do the best that you can
It's the body of young James Chaney

The nation was outraged and shocked through and through
Call J. Edgar Hoover; he'll know what to do
For they've murdered two white men and a coloured boy too
Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney

James Chaney your body exploded in pain
And the beating they gave you is pounding my brain
And they murdered much more with their dark bloody chains
And the body of pity lies bleeding

The pot-bellied copper shook hands all around
And joked with the rednecks who came into town
And they swore that the murderer soon would be found
And they laughed as they spat their tobacco

Autor: Tom Paxton

 

RE: THE PASSING OF A TROUBLEMAKER

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])
 

Beautiful tribute to Frank Emspa
[[link removed]]k, an important labor activist,
journalist, historical figure written by Paul Buhle
[[link removed]], himself a prominent labor
historian, writer and activist.
A MUST READ
[[link removed]]

Carolyn Toll Oppenheim
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

I first met Frank in 1983 or '84, introduced by our mutual friend
David Noble, the late great Marxist historian of industrial
automation. At the time Frank and I were both GE workers and in the
leadership of our respective union locals, he in IUE 201 in Lynn, me
in UE 506 in Erie. A decades-long alliance of those two locals
developed from our meeting.

Alan Hart
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

The article mentions the 1967 anti Dow Chemical demonstration at U of
Wisconsin Madison. Here is a poster (on my wall at my home) showing us
all being brutally attacked.

Frank is the guy with glasses to the right of the cops baton.
REST IN POWER FRANK! 

Joanna Zelda Levine
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

Via Irene Falconer [[link removed]] comes
this 1965 image from the University of Wisconsin archives of a
demonstration against the war in Vietnam. In front? Frank Emspak
[[link removed]] of blessed memory and Jim
Hawley [[link removed]] (with the clipboard).
It was a time during which many dressed up for demonstrations.

Daniel Millstone
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

I believe the first national convention of antiwar forces took place
in 1966, or was it winter 65? Any rate, Frank emerged as the first
president of whatever it was called, "National Committee to End the
War in Vietnam"?? Something.

Jack Radey
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

I remember him representing the national committee to end the war at
the National Mobilization Committee meetings chaired by Dave Dellinger

Paul Friedman
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: CONN HALLINAN: HE KNEW WHOSE SIDE HE WAS ON
 

It all started when my friends Terry and Lenore Durant introduced me
to Ringo Hallinan .  I had been painting houses and office buildings
for many years and lived in San Francisco with my wife and new born
child.  Ringo, and his then wife, JudyAnn wanted their little house
of Derby street in Berkeley painted.   Well, it was a commute, but my
partner, Fred Stucky,  and I rarely turned down work. 

Fred and I had met at San Francisco State during the historic strike
in '67-68.

He got a job with a news dispatch service called Earth News, and
invited me to come work with him.  We would go through numerous
periodical and source material every morning and write up short news
clips designed for radio reporting.  We were perhaps the first news
organization to report on Nixon and Watergate, before he was
reelected, while the mainstream media ignored it until after his
reelection.

After a day working on Ringo's house, we would get talking.  I told
him about my leftist background - how my mother always had a copy of
the People's world hanging around the house.  And, by the  end of
the job, Ringo offered me a job on the People's World.

I became the Labor Reporter there, and for a couple of years operated
on my own, with advice and guidance from Ringo, the copy editor. And
then Billy Allen moved to the Bay Area...Billy had been District
Organizer for the CP in Detroit, but more than that, he had been a
 key organizer of the Bakers Union in Detroit during the historic
strike for recognition, and which lead Jimmy Hoffa holding up the
unloading of a train loaded with fresh fruit for the city's bakeries,
leaving it in the sun to rot. He had earned the respect of Labor
Leaders like Reuther of the Auto workers and, especially, Jimmy Hoffa
of the Teamsters. As a result, he had carte blanche and respect from
the Labor Movement in the Bay Area.  Where previously I had to rely
on "comrades" in various unions, we were suddenly given carte blanche
in the halls of labor leadership - Chuck Mack, head of Teamster Local
70 and president of the Joint Council of Teamsters, Harry Bridges of
the ILWU, Dick Groulx, head of the powerful Alameda County Central
Labor Council.  When there was national labor news, like a auto
strike, Billy would get on the horn to Detroit and speak with the UAW
leaders directly.

So, we would file our stories with Ringo who would go through them,
make technical corrections - he was good at that - and smile.

However, there were things about Ringo I didn't like.  After six
months on the job --having found a house to live in with my wife and
child -- I discovered that the rest of the staff was getting medical
insurance.  Now, Ringo was suppose to be our shop steward, but he
never told me this.  So they reluctantly gave me family coverage.  
Ringo was not perfect.

I stayed with the paper for about three more years, and went on to
publish newspapers for several unions, including a paper I created for
Teamsters Local 85 in San Francisco, thanks to a comrade, Jack
Weintraub, who had been kicked out of the Teamster in the fifties
during the "Commi scare", and then readmitted and became VP of the
Local. 

I later went on to work as a banquet waiter, getting into the Culinary
Local in San Francesco, again thanks to older comrades, and finally
was hired by the Alameda County Central Labor Council Secretary
Treasurer Owen Marron who had taken Richard Groulx's place after he
retired.  i produced their paper, the East Bay Labor Journal which
went on to win a number of awards, and acted as Assistant to the
Secretary where I stayed until Marron retired. 

And so I report all this because, it all started on that fateful day,
talking with Ringo in front of the little house we had just painted
bright blue (Judy Anne's choice) and being offere3d a job on the
People's world. So thank you Ringo.   

Lincoln Smith

 

RE: BRIDGERTON FINALLY GAVE US QUEER STORYLINES. FANS AREN’T HAVING
IT.

(posting on xxxxxx Culture
[[link removed]])
 

How incredibly disappointing: provincial, archaic, social luddites.

Tracy Ann Essoglou
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

CHEAP FAKE  --  CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS

 

Rob Rogers
June 21, 2024
robrogers.com [[link removed]]

 

RED STATES AND HANDMAIDS  --  MEME

 

 

AFL-CIO UNION ORGANIZER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM  --  APPLICATIONS ARE
OPEN FROM 6/24/24-7/8/24

 

Our colleagues at the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute are relaunching
their Union Organizer Apprenticeship Program due to the increased
demand for union organizers. (Yay!) Below is a short announcement
suitable for sharing that includes a link to the new website. _Note
that the application deadline is July 8 for the inaugural training in
August._ Please help spread the word to students and others you know
who might be interested. 

Research, Recruitment and Training
National AFL-CIO

Union Organizer Apprenticeship Program - Apply by July 8

The AFL-CIO Organizing Institute (OI) is rising to meet the increased
demand in union organizers by connecting passionate, social- and
economic-justice-minded activists to careers as union organizers
through our Union Organizer Apprenticeship Program. For the first time
in many years, we are re-launching this high demand, paid training and
placement program. Ideal candidates are looking for full-time,
permanent work in a career where they can really make a difference for
working people. Applications are open from 6/24/24-7/8/24 for the
August 7-9th training in Nashville, TN. For more information or to
apply, visit our website: [link removed]

 

RETHINKING THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: THE MAGA THREAT AND THE CHALLENGES
FACING PROGRESSIVES AND UNION ACTIVISTS– JOIN US FOR A CONVERSATION
WITH BILL FLETCHER  --  JULY 2  (THIRD ACT UNION)

 

[[link removed]]

Click here [[link removed]]  

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a longtime socialist, trade unionist,
international solidarity activist and writer.  He has worked for
several labor unions and served on the senior staff at the AFL-CIO.

Bill is the former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar
with the Institute for Policy Studies.  He is the co-author (with
Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the
Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941”;
the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided:
The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice
[[link removed]]“; and the
author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ – And Twenty other myths
about unions
[[link removed]].” Fletcher
is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on
television, radio, and the Web.

 

WEBINAR: DEBUNKING DETERRENCE THEORY AND PURSUING GLOBAL NUCLEAR
DISARMAMENT  --  JULY 9  (CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE DISARMAMENT AND COMMON
SECURITY)

Please join us: Webinar, July 9 on Debunking Deterrence Theory And
Pursuing Global Nuclear Disarmament

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR, AND SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR OUR SPEAKERS,
HERE 
[[link removed]]

For too long, deterrence theory has been used as the legitimizing
foundation for US and global nuclear weapons policy. Deterrence is
rarely examined, let alone questioned, but it is often waved around
like some verbal magic wand to justify extremely dangerous and
exorbitant policies that threaten life on Earth.

Our speakers will examine the very frightening flaws of deterrence
theory that have too often brought humanity to the brink of
extinction, and offer practical strategies and tactics to replace it,
and to advance the cause of global nuclear disarmament.

Featuring our speakers:

* TADATOSHI (TAD) AKIBA, former Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan
 
* PROFESSOR ELAINE SCARRY, Harvard University, author of
Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing between Democracy and Doom
 
* JACKIE CABASSO, Western States Legal Foundation, United for Peace
and Justice, Mayors for Peace
 
* EMMA CLAIRE FOLEY, Defuse Nuclear War and Roots Action
 

Moderators: 

* JOSEPH GERSON, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common
Security 

and 

* KEVIN MARTIN, Peace Action Education Fund

INITIATED BY: Peace Action and Campaign for Peace, Disarmament &
Common Security

CO-SPONSORS:  Americans for Democratic Action Foundation of Southern
California, Basel Peace Office, Bombshelltoe Policy x Arts, Chicago
Area Peace Action. Gensuikyo, International Peace Bureau (IPB),
Massachusetts Peace Action, New Hampshire Peace Action, Nuclear
Abolition Now, NuclearBan.US, Pax Christi New York State, Peace Action
Maine, Peace Action of San Mateo County, Peace Action Wisconsin,
Physicians for Social Responsibility, United for Peace and Justice,
Western States Legal Foundation, World BEYOND War 

Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security
[[link removed]]  
4 Washburn Street
Watertown, MA 02472

 

REGISTER FOR JULY 12-14TH LABOR EDUCATION SOUTHERN WOMEN'S SCHOOL FOR
WORKERS AT AVILA CENTER IN DURHAM, NC

 

DOWNLOAD 2024 WOMEN’S SUMMER SCHOOL INFORMATION PAGE
[[link removed]] (Go
to File menu and select Download.)

TO REGISTER USE THIS LINK. [[link removed]]

The UALE Women’s Southern Summer School Committee and IBEW Local 553
is hosting this year’s school at the Avila Center for Community
Leadership.

PROGRAM: This year’s program includes a great set of education and
skills-building workshops that will support all attendees in their own
activist and leadership journey. Whether you are a first-time attendee
and new to the movement or a long-time activist who may have attended
in the past, there is something for everyone. Workshops will include
union skills, organizing, leadership, women’s voices in our
democracy, wellness, and so much more.

In addition to the great programming, there will be Fun! Networking!
Music and Community Building!

LODGING: There are two options for lodging on campus. Single Room
Cabins – Each have a single bed. There is 1 full bath for every 3
rooms. There are 12 total and will be a first come first served.
Shared Room Cabins – Each have one single bed and one double bed.
There is 1 full bath between 2 rooms. If you choose this option,
please indicate who you will be rooming with or if you are open to a
roommate assignment on the registration form.

WHAT ARE THE WOMEN’S SUMMER SCHOOLS?

Every year, UALE sponsors 4 regional “women’s schools”. These
residential programs typically last between 4 and 5 days, and include
classes and workshops on a variety of labor-related topics. Women from
all over the country and beyond learn the skills and knowledge needed
to play leadership roles in their organizations. Visitors from labor
unions and workers’ organizations in other countries frequently
participate. One of the most valuable aspects of the schools is the
chance to meet and network with other labor women from around your
region and beyond.

* Western Summer Institute on Union Women
[[link removed]]
* Midwest School for Women Workers
[[link removed][0]=68.ARBfohMOqfFxYa3j1AxQdWBPrOJBBrd1KtshOOnWu5fkxE-ve8kcVnZhqmcZf5jB9tPeId_BNczbsT_Ds_i2gpyCoxEikKvbLfMs5xO_w1SgCfUKo3rSUkyR3YsSZd6rYHnYPBycFsDnYgurs_8cRbcVLouBJlTQC-ve9gl14hU9NnpXCUgW5wy6nMKsJ1rmuJufMWW1u9xlFDo5EsIAXO-whT4Ok-EjJ3BIzSN25yqBn-5m_88lL26yq-NvMwZvvb-zSuo-Abc6Kwpz4mQV2lmhQlIFH3wVrxmzkdGHTOZHO8TbmlMMn_C8yvH1VJe8wLZ3mk8TCraMChRGnOjm2fs-WP_QmW70HYPa_8maxDvNZi4qPVXjr5PqbdPggEXd1X0GaMkCSKo-2d307rPTpXS81Yt6zs2hKYpHBys8C85ETQ24ZQKnUyC45mlPKMHtKqacwvaU36Z_Xx1cHtFYrw6awzg63pBhj9R5NlsySfB0peCQiFH4pHJvVQ]
* Northeast School for Women in Unions and Worker Organizations
[[link removed]]
* Southern Women Worker Summer School
[[link removed]]

HISTORY OF THE WOMEN’S SUMMER SCHOOLS

The Union Women’s Summer Schools began in the Northeast Region in
the late 1970s and expanded to the Midwest, Western and Southern
Districts of the United States. Their conception was rooted in the 
traditions of early worker education as exemplified by the Bryn Mawr
summer schools for Women Workers of the 1920’s and the Works
Progress Administration
[[link removed]] worker
education programs of the 1930’s. Courses of study were tailored to
the needs and interests of working people. Barbara Wertheimer,
[[link removed]] Director
of Cornell’ Institute of Women and Work, introduced the idea to
colleagues in the University and College Labor Education Association
(precursor to the UALE). Encouraged by the the rising feminist
movement and the founding of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the
UCLEA launched its first school in 1975 at the University of
Connecticut. Designed by a committee of labor educators, the
residential schools bring together women workers, officers and staff
of unions and workers organizations to strengthen their knowledge of
the labor movement and develop skills which will enable them to become
more active and influential in their organizations. The schools are a
place where women workers can share experiences and give one another
support. As Gloria Johnson
[[link removed]],
past President of CLUW
[[link removed]] and
frequent speaker at the schools’ graduations ceremonies pointed out,
“We have to create “old girls” networks to be able to support
each other and advance.” The schools contribute to this objective,
as evidenced by the record of participants. Since 1975, the schools
have educated thousands, many of whom have become leaders of their
unions.

CURRENT WOMEN’S SCHOOLS

Current labor women summer schools are coordinated by the UALE
Women’s Committee and rotate in location as they are hosted by
university labor education programs in each region. Scholarships are
available.  Classes are supplemented with networking opportunities.
Often participants engage in demonstrations relating to  local labor
struggles.

United Association for Labor Education [http:// [link removed]]

* Reader Comments
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
* 2024 Elections
[[link removed]]
* Joe Biden
[[link removed]]
* MAGA
[[link removed]]
* Republican Party
[[link removed]]
* Fascism
[[link removed]]
* Andrew Goodman
[[link removed]]
* Michael Schwerner
[[link removed]]
* James Chaney
[[link removed]]
* civil rights movement
[[link removed]]
* 1960s
[[link removed]]
* Tom Paxton
[[link removed]]
* Troublemakers
[[link removed]]
* Frank Emspak
[[link removed]]
* Conn Hallinan
[[link removed]]
* AFL-CIO
[[link removed]]
* Labor Organizing
[[link removed]]
* Third Act
[[link removed]]
* Deterrence Theory
[[link removed]]
* Nuclear Disarmament
[[link removed]]
* nuclear weapons
[[link removed]]
* women workers
[[link removed]]
* Labor education
[[link removed]]
* Cartoons
[[link removed]]
* resources
[[link removed]]
* Announcements
[[link removed]]

*
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*
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*
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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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