Frank talks about the anarchist roots of May Day, the unionization of workers in Nepal and Indonesia, the history of old-time union support for American imperialism, and the anti-Chinese backlash from the U.S. spy plane incident. She also discusses labor solidarity across borders and contrasts it with the Bush Administration's "internationalism". She discusses also the views of anarchists today toward unions.
Frank was a panelist last Thursday at UCI's Labor Studies conference. She is the author of Purchasing Power: Consumer Organizing, Gender, and the Seattle Labor Movement, 1919-1929 (1994) and of Buy American : The Untold Story Of Economic Nationalism (1999). Her forthcoming book is Three Strikes, written with people's historian Howard Zinn and Robin D. G. Kelly; she focuses on the 1937 Woolworth strike in Detroit where the workers won all their demands.
Here's the Making Contact description of "Class Action":
In 1886 in the United States there were more than 1400 strikes involving half-a-million workers. It was a time of intense organizing for workers rights. Events of that year gave rise to the annual May Day. On this program we take a look at the history of May Day, its relevance today, and how workers are organizing across borders and cultural lines to promote solidarity.
FEATURING:
Howard Zinn, Boston University Professor
Emeritus and author of A People's History of the
United States
Ajamu Dillahunt, Black Workers for Justice
Alyce Gawdy Wright, North Carolina
Occupational Health and Safety Project
Armando Carbajal, Latino Workers Association
of North Carolina
Maria Isabel Garcia Lopez, worker in Duro
factory, Mexico
Martha Ojeda, Coalition for Justice in the
Maquiladoras
Daisy Pitkin, Campaign for Labor Rights
URL: Dana Frank to hold prestigious Oregon post: www.ucsc.edu/currents/00-01/02-19/frank.html
National Radio Project: www.radioproject.org
Local anarchists are also planning a May Day action starting 3 p.m. in Los Angeles; for more info., see www.angelfire.com/ca7/cac2001 or call 323-402-1223 ex. 1484). The site gives a short history of May Day.
In addition: "A Call for Legalization: March and Cultural Performances" will take palce at 6 p.m. with a march at Wilshire Blvd. and Vermont Ave. (MTA Station) in Los Angeles. The rally will be at MacArthur Park, sponsored by a multi-ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network, MIWON (CHIRLA, KIWA, PWC). Info.: 213 353-1781 or 213 738-9050.
On Friday, Alternative News features an interview with Florida farmworkers who pick tomatoes etc. for Taco Bell, whose corporate headquarters is in Irvine. Alternative News airs 5-6 p.m. on KUCI, 88.9 fm, and is Web cast simultaneously on kuci.org.
Next week, KUCI begins its fund drive. Thank you for your listening support.
dan
Daniel C. Tsang
Host, Subversity, now Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m.
Host, Alternative News, now Fridays, 5-6 p.m.
KUCI, 88.9 FM and Web-cast live
selected shows available as RealAudio files
URL: http://kuci.org/~dtsang/
E-mail: dtsang@kuci.org
Daniel Tsang, KUCI, PO Box 4362, Irvine CA 92616
also check out:
Home Page: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang
especially:
WWW News Resource Page
http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang/netnews1.htm
Alliance Working for Asian Rights and Empowerment
http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang/aware.htm
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