Support workers at Jerzees de Honduras!

Russell Athletic, a licensee of SUNY Buffalo, has announced it's plans to shut down a recently unionized factory producing collegiate apparel in Honduras as a final step in their anti-union campaign Please take action to support unionized garment workers at Jerzees de Honduras by telling Russell Athletic to keep this factory open!

http://www.unionvoi ce.org/campaign/ jerzees?rk= tpr03lMq3XZWW

Thanks,

UB Students Against Sweatshops

ACTIVIST TRAINING THIS WEEKEND!!!

ACTIVIST TRAINING!!!
SATURDAY -SEPTEMBER 20th 10:30am
95 Montrose Ave upper (off of Englewood in University Heights)
Buffalo, NY 14214-1258

Hosted by UB Students Against Sweatshops but open to anyone interested in building skills to further thier progressive causes.The training will be a way to build new skills, meet new people, and eat free food! Student and community activists are welcome! There will be a number of workshops, and you may come and go as you please.

Here is the tentative schedule (it will be finalized in the next two days) :
10:30 am - 11:00 am breakfast (bagels)/chilling/setting up
11:00 am - 11:45 am - "How to talk to People" (basics of organizing)
11:50am - 12 :15pm - Running a Student Activist Campaign (power on campus)
12:20 pm - 1pm - Political Education/What is Labor Activism
1pm -1:45 lunch (PIZZA!!)
1: 45pm - 2pm Introduction to anti-oppresion (withing movements and groups)
2 pm - 3 pm anti-oppresion from various perspectives
15 min each - working class, people of color, queer, womyn/genderqueer
3:15 pm - 3:40 pm - How to use/create media effectively
3:40pm - 4pm Buffalo community activism/Coalition for Economic Justice
4:pm - 4:30 pm -Tentatively a time for other student activist groups who are coming to present information about thier group, nobody has confirmed (besides GSEU -Graduate Student Employee Union) so if you would like some of this time contact us. (ubsas@yahoo.com)

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!

P.S. If you can't make it to the training but would like to meet cool activists there will be a party afterwards starting around 10pm at the same place.

Petition Drive

So set the date, October 15th UB's administration is going to hear from their students via petition drop.

We want the Designated Supplier Program adopted by the university NOW.

If you haven't signed a petition, either Print this one out or find a group member. contact ubsas@yahoo.com

President Simpson,

As a member of the University at Buffalo community, I ____________________, ask that you take the following actions to ensure that apparel bearing the University at Buffalo’s name is made under working conditions which respect basic human rights;

1. Make the University at Buffalo a member of the Designated Suppliers Program working group, joining over forty other universities across the nation in working towards implementing the Designated Suppliers Program which would ensure licensees of the University at Buffalo produce University apparel in factories that meet the minimum standards set out in the Program including providing a living wage and the right to organize.

2. Implement the full Designated Suppliers Program when the working group does, making a long-term commitment to licensing only sweat-free apparel for the University at Buffalo .

Signed: _____________________________

Person Number: ____________________

Date: __________

If you're not a part of the UB Community (Student, faculty, staff) but you're still in support of the DSP sign this petition:

President Simpson,

As a member of the Buffalo community, I ____________ ________, ask that you take the following actions to ensure that apparel bearing the University at Buffalo’s name is made under working conditions which respect basic human rights;

1. Make the University at Buffalo a member of the Designated Suppliers Program working group, joining over forty other universities across the nation in working towards implementing the Designated Suppliers Program which would ensure licensees of the University at Buffalo produce University apparel in factories that meet the minimum standards set out in the Program including providing a living wage and the right to organize.

2. Implement the full Designated Suppliers Program when the working group does, making a long-term commitment to licensing only sweat-free apparel for the University at Buffalo .

Signed, ____________ _________ ________

Date: __________

Monday's Action Meeting

the third monday of the month's action meeting will have dedicated active anti-oppression time.

this monday, we're going to do an 'anti-oppression 101'

we're going to discuss terms (basic, but VERY important) and give a brief introduction about privilege vs. power within organizing.

Usually there will be a brief reading passed out the week before at the action meeting (and also posted on this blog). But this week, we're going to keep it simple. We're going to discuss Lilla Watson's quote "If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together," as an introduction to the inter-sectionality of oppression and how systematic oppression affects us all regardless of privilege. This one sentence speaks volumes about the way USAS runs as an organization and the way we organize as students and as global citizens.





ok, i lied. there is still a little more reading. just a reminder to keep the discussion (monday's meeting and all further discussions of oppression) on point and to be respectful.

please keep this in mind at all times:

***taken from Buffalo Class Action/Colin O'Malley (a UBSAS alum)***

Some Excellent Basic Guidelines:

* just because you understand one kind of oppression doesn't mean you will automatically understand another.

just because you are a woman doesn't mean you understand the experience of racism. just because you are a gay man don't think you can map your experiences onto the oppression of the disabled. just because you are woman do not think you can know the shit a lesbian has to put up with. do not generalize your experiences to the experiences of others. listen to what those other oppressed groups are saying. don't put your words in their mouths.

* do not rank oppressions.

ranking oppressions is a losing game for the oppressed. standing up to all oppressions is the only way to win. sitting there saying one oppression is worse than another is only reinforcing oppression all around. help all your brothers and sisters. not just the ones like you.

* do not make a person who is part of two oppressed groups choose one oppression or the other.

do not put women of color in a position of criticizing sexism by agreeing with you but giving a pass on racism by not criticizing you - don't be racist. do not justify your indifference to heteronormativity by pointing out you work against ableism. do not ignore queer issues that are important to your sister just because you're straight. consider that people do experience more than one oppression at a time. listen to what these people have to say - it can teach you a lot about the nature of oppression.

* look for how your oppressed community oppresses other groups, and try to stop it.

really, what good is an anti-homophobia group that is sexist? what good is an anti-sexism group that is racist? with oppressed groups oppressing each other, is it any wonder there is so little progress from the oppressors? oppressions are interlocking and mutually reinforcing - if oppressed people cannot work together, what makes you think the oppressors will work with you? help each other.

Plans for the Semester

this year:

action meetings: Mondays at 5pm
ground floor of capen, near the cafe, under the stairs

planning meetings: Tuesdays at 6pm
10th floor of clemens in the 'atrium' (or whatever)

Coalition for Economic Justice general membership meetings:
every third Wednesday of the month at 9am
at the Tri-Maine center WNY-COSH office
corner of Rodney & Main St.

join our listserv by sending an e-mail to:
ubsas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

thanks for visiting our blogspot!


<3 UBSAS!

Labour Day in Niagara Falls

Today, a few members and alumni of UBSAS headed off to Niagara Falls, Ontario for a huge Labor Day march put on by UNITE HERE. We met some Canada-based ex-USASers/current organizers. It was super sunny and beautiful this afternoon. Over 500 people attended the march through the tourist district of Niagara Falls- We specifically stopped at one Sherton Hotel that UNITE HERE has represented for 40 years. Recently though, under new management, the owners have been attempting to cut the union contract that workers have.

I think we made a good impression through out the city. Check out the pics!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2185441&l=a6342&id=15716250

GENERAL INTEREST MEETING! COME ONE, COME ALL!

United Students Against Sweatshops Principles of Unity

The USAS Principles of Unity

*We work in solidarity with working people's struggles. In order to best accomplish this and in recognition of the interconnections between local and global struggles, we strive to build relationships with other progressive movements and cooperate in coalition with other groups struggling for justice within all communities campus, local, regional, and international. 

*We struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and other forms of oppression within our society, within our organizations, and within ourselves. Not only are we collectively confronting these prejudices as inherent defects of the global economy which creates sweatshops, but we also recognize the need for individuals to confront the prejudices they have internalized as the result of living and learning in a flawed and oppressive society.

*We are working in coalition to build a grassroots student movement that challenges corporate power and that fights for economic justice. This coalition is loosely defined, thus we strive to act in coordination with one another to mobilize resources and build a national network while reserving the autonomy of individuals and campuses. We do not impose a single ideological position, practice, or approach; rather, we aim to support one another in a spirit of respect for difference, shared purpose and hope. 

*We strive to act democratically. With the understanding that we live and learn in a state of imperfect government, we attempt to achieve truer democracy in making decisions which affect our collective work. Furthermore, we strive to empower one another as individuals and as a collective through trust, patience, and an open spirit.