As we begin the new school year, everything begins to heat up: you’re trying to tie up the loose ends of your summer, you are assigned hundreds of pages of reading in the first week, your dorm, apartment or house needs some SERIOUS organizing…

But on the brighter side! That means the Georgetown Solidarity Committee is back in full force, and ready to make this year a memorable, meaningful experience beyond the classrooms, the bookstore, and GO Card swipe stations.

Discover the GSC in your first couple weeks (back) at Georgetown!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

SAC Fair on Copely Lawn

Monday, September 6, 2010, 9:00 PM, White-Gravenor 202
The GSC’s first meeting of the year! Find out how we:

Organize in solidarity with workers on campus, in D.C., and across the country and world!

teach English classes,
provide breakfast for campus workers,
join the protest of the School of the Americas in November,
stop Gtown t-shirts from being made in sweatshops,
throw radical dance parties!

… and so many other equally cool things.

See you there!

Questions? Comments? Hopes? email:
email hidden; JavaScript is required

Workers BBQ

Farmworker Freedom March

On April 16 – 18, 2010, the Solidarity Committee, MEChA de Georgetown, Brown University, and other bad ass community members from D.C. and Baltimore joined 300 other marchers and over 1,200 other ralliers from across the U.S. in their support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their current campaign against the Florida grocery chain, Publix.

Shout out to the incredible CIW and Student/Farmworker Alliance organizers from Immokalee who made this happen, to U.S. Coachway Inc. drivers Joe and Mauricio, and to Georgetown University for helping with the bus down to Tampa!

Sampling of the press:

“Pickers want Fla. chain to pay more for tomatoes,” AP story in New York Times, 4/16/10

“Coalition of Immokalee Workers to march at Publix headquarters,” Ft. Myers News-Press, 4/16/10

“Hundreds show up in Tampa to support tomato workers in Publix battle,” St. Petersburg Times, 4/17/10

“Farmworkers march for a penny,” Tampa Bay Tribune, 4/17/10

“Immokalee farmworkers to begin march to Lakeland,” Naples Daily News, 4/15/10

“Immokalee workers plan major push on Publix this weekend,” Broward/Palm Beach New Times, 4/15/10

“Bishop Wenski, other clergy, farmworkers to have prayer vigil at Publix HQ,” Orlando Sentinel, 4/17/10

“Tomato pickers protest Publix” Creative Loafing, 4/14/10

Audio:

“Coalition of Immokalee Workers kicks off march to Lakeland,” WMNF, 4/17/10

“Batalla por la comida justa,” Radio Bilingüe, 4/18/10

Why a Farmworker Freedom March?

Slavery yesterday and today

Modern-day slavery in Florida agriculture cannot be understood in a vacuum.  It is not separate from the past, rather its roots extend deep in the state’s history.  While the phenomenon of forced labor has taken many forms over the past four centuries in Florida agriculture, the industry has never been entirely free of the scourge of slavery. Though the extent of slavery in Florida agriculture has diminished over the centuries, one thing has remained constant: farmworkers have always been, and remain today, the state’s poorest, least powerful workers. If we are to abolishslavery once and for all in Florida agriculture, we must pull it up from the roots by addressing farmworker poverty and powerlessness.A movement with broad support

The movement to end modern-day slavery is a movement to defend one of our most fundamental human rights, and the CIW has been at the forefront of that movement for many years. But we are far from alone. Earlier this year, President Obama proclaimed January, 2010, “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month,” declaring:

“The United States was founded on the principle that all people are born with an unalienable right to freedom — an ideal that has driven the engine of American progress throughout our history. As a Nation, we have known moments of great darkness and greater light; and dim years of chattel slavery illuminated and brought to an end by President Lincoln’s actions and a painful Civil War. Yet even today, the darkness and inhumanity of enslavement exists. Millions of people worldwide are held in compelled service, as well as thousands within the United States. During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we acknowledge that forms of slavery still exist in the modern era, and we recommit ourselves to stopping the human traffickers who ply this horrific trade…” read the President’s proclamation in its entirety here

President Obama was joined by Florida’s own chief executive, Gov. Charlie Crist, in recognizing the existence of slavery in Florida’s fields today and the urgency of the fight to eradicate it. In March of last year, Gov. Crist wrote:

“I have no tolerance for slavery in any form, and I am committed to eliminating this injustice anywhere in Florida. I unconditionally support the humane and civilized treatment of all employees, including those who work in the Florida agricultural industry. Any type of abuse in the workplace is unacceptable. I support the Coalition’s Campaign for Fair Food, whereby corporate purchasers of tomatoes have agreed to contribute monies for the benefit of the tomato field workers. I commend these purchasers for their participation…” read Gov. Crist’s statement in its entirety here

Forging a solution

The CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food is designed to attack slavery at its roots — to address the poverty and powerlessness that make farm labor slavery possible today. The campaign identifies the links between the brutal farm labor conditions in US fields and the retail food giants that buy the produce grown in those fields. The high degree of consolidation in the food industry today means that multi-billion dollar brands on the retail end of the industry not only profit from farmworker exploitation, but actually play an active role in that exploitation by leveraging their volume purchasing power to demand ever-lower prices. Lower produce prices in turn create downward pressure on farmworker wages. The Campaign for Fair Food seeks to reverse that process, enlisting the resources of retail food giants to improve farmworker wages and harnessing their demand to reward growers who respect their workers’ rights.

Specifically, through its “Fair Food” agreements [as of February, 2010, the CIW has reached agreements with seven of the world's largest retail food companies] the CIW is raising the tomato harvesting wage floor, establishing a voice for farmworkers in the agricultural industry, and enforcing the first-ever market consequences for growers that use forced labor. The power of this model was demonstrated in 2009 following sentencing in the case of U.S. vs. Navarrete. For the first time ever, a federal slavery conviction led to direct market consequences for the growers involved, triggering the zero tolerance for slavery provisions in the CIW’s agreements which caused the growers to lose business.

Publix turns its back

Yet when we asked Publix to adopt the principles of the Campaign for Fair Food, Florida’s largest supermarket chain turned its back. Instead, Publix continued to purchase tomatoes from the very farms tainted by the latest slavery prosecution. When asked why, Publix spokesperson Dwaine Stevens told the St. Augustine Record:

“… the chain does purchase tomatoes from the two farms but pays a fair market price.” (“Farmworkers protest supermarket tomatoes,” 11/24/09)

A more chilling expression of indifference is hard to imagine. Of course, there can be no “fair market price” for slavery, and there will be no end to modern-day slavery until companies like Publix stop turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in their suppliers’ fields.
Farmworker Freedom March

That is why this March and April we will be taking the movement to end farm labor slavery ever more forcefully to consumers here in Florida and across the nation. Throughout the month of March, we will be touring the state with a “Mobile Modern-day Slavery Museum.” The museum will be a mobile educational vehicle in the form of a box-truck outfitted as a replica of the trucks involved in the latest slavery prosecution and accompanied by educational displays on modern-day slavery in Florida, its roots, the reasons it continues today, and its solutions. The exhibits will be developed in consultation with leading academic authorities on slavery and labor history in Florida and will be a rigorous examination of the continuous history of slavery in Florida from its settlement to the current day.Then, from April 16-18th, farmworkers from Immokalee and their allies will take the movement to eradicate slavery to the streets on a three-day march from Tampa to Lakeland, Florida, home of Publix’s corporate headquarters. They will march with the museum in tow and behind a banner calling on Publix to support three fundamental “Farmworker Freedoms:”

• 
  Freedom from forced labor
  Freedom from abuse
• Freedom from poverty and degradation

Please join us this spring as we embark on two powerful months of education and action designed to end farm labor slavery in Florida. We can’t change the fact that slavery has been with us throughout Florida’s history, but with your help, we can make certain that it is not part of our future.

You might remember on Georgetown’s campus some high-brow theatre performed in Red Square, raising awareness and nudging Aramark (and the University) to take a stand on as a social justice institution on the use of sweatshop-in-the-fields labor by some of its own dining services company!

Check out CIW online for more updates on news and next steps for Dine with Dignity!

Interested in getting more involved with the Coalition and with Georgetown’s Student Farmworker Alliance chapter? Join us in two weeks as we take part in the CIW’s biggest mobilization in years against Publix, a Florida grocery corporation! Hop on the free bus that heads out from D.C. on April 15th, 2010!

Interested? Email georgetown.sfa (at) gmail.com

After more than 6 months of negotiations between Georgetown University and Allied International Union, which represents DPS, an agreement has finally been reached. Georgetown’s DPS officers will receive at least a $2.50 raise per hour in the three-year contract. This means that new officers will be paid a starting salary between $17.00 and $22.00 per hour, compared with a starting pay of $15.60 before the agreement.

Contract negotiations had been underway since August. The university, however, repeatedly failed to offer Georgetown DPS officers a fair wage that provided pay parity with public safety officers at other universities in DC. Although the university held firm offering DPS a measly $0.75 raise over the course of their next contract, student-worker solidarity brought that offer to a $2.50 raise.

Students gather in the rain for a rally to support DPS officers in contract negotiations.

In November, GSC presented President DeGioia with an open letter pushing for a fairer wage for DPS. GSC also held a subsequent rally and march, and educated Georgetown community members on the issue in a variety of ways.

Ensuring that Georgetown’s DPS officers are paid a fair wage that is competitive with other DC universities is one of the most important ways to increase the retention rate of qualified DPS officers. Maintaining the officers that know and understand our campus and community is central to Georgetown’s safety.

However, more progress can still be made within DPS concerning opportunities for career advancement, and cutbacks on investigative positions. Hopefully these issues will be raised in the next round of contract negotiations in 2013.

To read more about the deets on this incredible victory: http://usas.org/2009/11/18/details-of-the-historic-victory-by-honduran-factory-workers/

Honduran Workers present their story & demands to the President's Office at Georgetown Solidarity

After a hard-fought struggle, workers and students declared victory last week over the multinational Russell Corporation. United Students Against Sweatshops announced Tuesday that the company would re-open Jerzees de Honduras, the factory Russell closed in 2008 following workers’ efforts to organize. The site will now be called Jerzees Nuevo Día – Jerzees New Day. Russell also agreed to rehire 1,200 workers and officially recognize their union, SITRAJERZEESH.

The victory is truly monumental, coming on the heels of the largest boycott in the history of modern student activism. Georgetown was one of the first schools to sever its contract with Russell back in February, a move that the university made only after public pressure from students and workers (see picture on right). Over the past year, nearly a hundred schools followed suit – refusing to do business with a serial exploiter.

And so the tradition of struggle continues, building more power and momentum each year. In 1999, Georgetown students held a sit-in in the president’s office, forcing the university to affiliate with the Workers’ Rights Consortium. Ten years later, workers and students used that leverage to take on one of the largest apparel companies in the world. It is clear that university administrators and corporate executives can no longer act with impunity. They are accountable to a powerful international network of worker organizers and student activists. Victory over Russell is just further proof that this kind of shared struggle works. It is truly something to celebrate!!

Stay tuned for details on our victory celebration, coming early next semester. For more info on the agreement, click here.

As concerned students of Georgetown, we find the recent, untenable hate crimes to be a symptom of a pervasive, historically rooted, and dangerous climate on campus. These are not isolated incidents, and we call on the responsibility of the University to address these issues with every available avenue. We would like to bring to your attention some of the severe underlying problems that have been undermining the safety of students as well as neglecting the well-being of Department of Public Security Officers.

Especially given the recent crimes, it is evident that campus security forces do not have all the resources and support they need to keep this campus safe. DPS Officers are among the lowest-paid campus police in Washington, D.C. Moreover, DPS is chronically understaffed. SafeRides, escort services, and other safety systems are frequently understaffed and unable to provide sufficient services. These issues hinder the retention of employees and undervalue long-term officers with the experiential knowledge of Georgetown, which is essential to the trust needed between DPS and the community. This “revolving door” leaves the Georgetown community vulnerable to future incident.

Finally, this situation undermines our Catholic Jesuit values of social justice and Cura Personalis. Georgetown claims to address and care for all of the aspects of its students, cultivating and nurturing the heart, spirit, and body as well as the intellect. We must expand this understanding not only to the well-being of all of the person, but to the institution itself: We cannot have a safe, thriving University campus without caring for all of its interdependent members. If one group is neglected and abandoned, the entire community suffers the consequential injury to the common good.

Even in hard economic times, we must not compromise the respect, security and well-being of those charged with keeping us safe.

Therefore, we demand that the DPS Officers receive a raise of $4 over a three year period.

Join GSC this week to collect signatures around campus condemning Aramark’s refusal to meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers! If you were lucky enough to be at MEChA de Georgetown’s kick ass Latino Welcome Dinner last night, you heard Gerardo of the CIW speak on the importance of students working as allies.

GSC is participating in the national Week of Action with other groups across the country by doing a petition drive all week, and then presenting many signatures to our Dining Director, Andrew Linquist, on Friday, in addition to integrating popular education skits and artwork. The goal is for local Aramarks to report student activity around this issue to put on the heat for them to sit down with the CIW, as so many other companies have done, and work on raising wages and improve working conditions for the men and women who provide our food.

Download the attached Petition and get your dorm, your work, your classes to fill in the blanks!

Questions? Email us at email hidden; JavaScript is required

Under the terms of the agreement, farmworkers will receive an additional penny per pound of tomatoes they pick – a cost absorbed by Compass. In an unprecedented move, East Coast committed to working with Compass and the CIW to ensure workers get their raise. Click here for a full-length photo report of the historic press conference.

Now the heat is on for companies like Aramark and Sodexo who have yet to come to the table with farmworkers. As the Dine With Dignity campaign continues, students across the country are gearing up for a week of action October 5-9th. Our message is clear: Compass has spoken; Aramark and Sodexo: you’re next!

For details on how to get involved in actions here on campus, email us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. A representative from the CIW will also be speaking at the Latino Welcome Dinner this Friday, October 2nd. Be sure to stop by MEChA’s table in red square for a ticket!