CR reflects on strides made this last year in workers struggles

Honoring May Day, 2022

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Dear Comrades,

This May Day, we at Critical Resistance (CR) reflect on the strides made this last year in workers struggles. We recall the Great Resignation ([link removed]) - the mass exodus of dissatisfied workers who exited employment as the contradictions of the capitalism under the pandemic intensified. We cheered on the leagues of teachers ([link removed]) , nurses ([link removed]) and other frontline workers who rejected wholesale abandonment. As the fall rolled in, it came as little surprise to see a wave of workers’ struggles bloom across the country, dubbed Striketober. We were heartened by their militancy. It has been especially rewarding to witness the Amazon workers in Staten Island achieve their union victory
([link removed]) this past month.

Amidst these fights, CR continues to forge ahead with prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition as one facet of working class struggle - in particular across jail and prison walls.
[link removed]

CR’s New York chapter (CRNYC) has joined the Dignity not Detention Campaign ([link removed]) anchored by Abolish ICE New York (NY) / New Jersey (NJ) ([link removed]) with the goal of ending ICE contracts with local jails in NY after the win this past year in NJ. ([link removed]) Many of those detained under ICE custody are often in the US to seek employment that fully supports their and their families’ livelihoods - lured into often precarious conditions within economies structured to trap them there. It is then an awful kind of malice that ICE historically conducted raids at work sites.. CRNYC will continue the fight to end all forms of detention in NY.

[link removed]

In California, our Oakland and LA chapters are entering a second year of fighting for the closure of 10 prisons as part of the CA Prison Closure campaign ([link removed]) . As part of the campaign (which has had one successful closure so far), CR has worked diligently to push back against narratives framing prison closure as economically detrimental for communities. We have been a part of uplifting a CareFirst orientation ([link removed]) to shutting down prisons, launching legislation that will benefit communities and workers across CA as central to prison closure.

This World Workers’ Day, CR celebrates past victories and grounds in lessons of battles won and lost, forging a head toward collective abolitionist horizons.

Onward,

Critical Resistance


** Announcements
------------------------------------------------------------

We're Hiring: Help CR Find a New Development Director!

CR's Development Director of eight years, Jess Heaney, transitioned out of the role in March 2022. Read Jess's reflections and goodbyes here ([link removed]) .

Help us find a good fit for a new co-director to lead our Development team! Check out and pass along thefull job description on our website ([link removed]) , and apply now!
*We are accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

NY, All out to Albany: Lobby for #DignityNotDetention Act
If you're in New York, join Abolish ICE NY/NJ and CRNYC on Wednesday, May 4 as we travel to Albany (with an option to join meetings via online) to demand legislators co-sponsor the New York Dignity Not Detention Act. Read more about the legislation and the action and RSVP here ([link removed]) .

CA, Save the Date 5/11: State Mobilization to Sacramento to CLOSE PRISONS!
If you're in CA, join CR Oakland and Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) ([link removed]) on Wednesday, May 11 for a rally at press conference outside the state capitol to demand Governor Newsom close at least 8 prisons by 2025 and adopt a final budget that reflects the values and needs of ALL Californians by investing in communities NOT prisons and policing. RSVP for the action here. ([link removed])

Call for Content: Pitch an Idea for an Article on Labor for The Abolitionist Newspaper
CR's The Abolitionist ([link removed]) Editorial Collective is wrapping up editing content for Issue 37, which features articles focused on housing justice and PIC abolition. This summer, the editorial collective will begin its work on Issue 38, which will focus on labor, workers' struggles, and PIC abolition.

If you have an idea for the focus of an article (related to labor and abolition), or a recommended author inside or outside of prison you think the editorial collective should work with, contact our Project Coordinator ([email protected]) (mailto:[email protected]) by June 30, 2022 and pitch your idea.

Critical Resistance is majority grassroots-funded. Donate today!
#SustainCR with monthly donations or a one-time gift. ([link removed])
[link removed]

Mural by Leslie “Dime” Lopez at 4400 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA, 2019.
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed] Forward this Email ([link removed])
Donate Today ([link removed])

============================================================
Copyright © 2022 Critical Resistance, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have provided your contact info to Critical Resistance.

Our mailing address is:
Critical Resistance
PO Box 22780
Oakland, CA 94609
USA
** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])