Students Against Sweatshops

Agenda for the Week of Action, 12-18 February

*all week* - Bradford, Treehouse cafe resource centre, letter writing/postcards

Sunday 11th February

Brighton - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. Cowley Club, London Road, 5pm (more details: 07904431959)

Huddersfield - No Sweat fundraiser, Bar 120, New Street. With Tracey Curtis, James “Bar” Bowen and Mark Whyatt. 8pm

Monday 12th February

Norwich - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. UEA Arts 01.02, 6.30pm (more details: 07876663659)

Plymouth - Starbucks demonstration (3 day event: more info soon)

Sheffield - A night of swing, soul and slaves: slave auction fundraiser, 7pm, Trippets Wine Bar, 89 Trippet Lane

Bradford - intro to No Sweat, 8pm, Treehouse Cafe. *all day* - Mock Sweatshop, Richmond Building

Tuesday 13th February

Nottingham - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. 7pm, International Community Centre, Mansfield Road, Notts (07779328418)

Cambridge - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. 1pm, Bowett Room, Queens College

Plymouth - Starbucks demo (more details soon)

Sheffield - Direct action planning meeting, 7pm, The Gallery, upstairs in the SU

Bradford - JustChurch evening on sweatshops, 8pm, 2 Ashgrove

Wednesday 14th February

York - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. G020, Goodricke College, York Uni, 6.15pm (07814896517)

Plymouth - Starbucks Demo (more info shortly)

Sheffield - No Sweat @ People & Planet’s weekly meeting, 8pm, Satpal Ram, upstairs in the SU

Bradford - Primark demo & flyering city centre (details TBC)

Thursday 15th February

Manchester - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. Basement, Dover Street Building opp. Student Union, 1pm (07946460778)

Sheffield - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. Arts Tower, lecture theatre 2, Western Bank, 7pm (07961040618)

Bradford - clothing swapshop and customising workshops. Get a new wardrobe on the cheap! Bring your old clothes! 2.30pm, Treehouse Cafe Basement.

Friday 16th February

London - Hand in petitions, Mexican Embassy, 12pm

Sheffield - Campus event (TBC)

Bradford - Night of film & music to raise money for No Sweat. Treehouse Cafe, 7pm

Saturday 17th February

London - The Battle for Oaxaca: lawyer Andreas Aullet discusses the situation in Oaxaca plus new footage of the struggle. 2pm, SOAS, off Russell Square (07815490837)

Norwich - Day of action (07876663659)

Campus week of action against sweatshops, 12-18 February

To all student activists and campaigning groups:

The anti-sweatshop campaigns No Sweat and Students Against Sweatshops are holding our second annual campus week of action against sweatshops.
And we�re inviting you to join in!

The week of action will be from 12 � 18 February 2007.

Our themes are:
 International solidarity with sweatshop workers and their unions;
 Ethical merchandising on campus;
 Living wage campaigning on campus to end the scandal of low pay among cleaners, security, catering and other campus workers.

During this week we will be organising a UK-wide speaker tour with an activist from Oaxaca, Mexico (where enormous workers’ struggles have taken place over wages and against corrupt government). We have a number of films dealing with the Oaxaca events and - if you book a film theatre or class room with the right equipment - we can fix a meeting/film show on your campus.

We are also putting out an open appeal to bands and DJs: why not play one night during this week for the anti-sweatshop cause? Several bands and DJs have already agreed to play a Rock Against Sweatshops evening.
Why not run a benefit evening in your union, and turn over the profits to the anti-sweatshop movement? Use the event to give the issue a high profile…

During the week we will be targeting a number of firms with lousy records of sweatshop employment, including Apple, who make iPods in Chinese sweatshops, Asda/WalMart, Top Shop and Tesco. We may well also be running actions against JJB Sports who have been in dispute with the GMB union (No Sweat has been helping the anti-low-pay action by picketing their stores), and who have recently victimised a shop steward.

What you and your group can do…
We are asking campaigning groups to pledge to do two things during the week of 12-18 February:
 Set up a meeting to discuss the scandal of sweatshops. We�ve enclosed a copy of our film, �The case for solidarity� (18 minutes, DVD) in case you fancy running a screening, or using it to start a discussion at a meeting;
 Set up a protest, picket or street action outside one of these notorious sweatshop stores. Collect petition signatures.

We will be providing speakers for meetings, and leaflets and other downloads to help your work (see the No Sweat site for downloads). Link up with as many other groups locally as you can, plan your own activities, and join this national initiative.

If you want more information, or want to book a speaker, you can
Phone Heather 07969 597 251
Or email us: admin@nosweat.org.uk
Or visit our site again for the latest info.

Let us know what you�re doing and we�ll publicise your actions.
Send us photos and reports and we�ll tell everyone what you�ve been up to.

Oaxaca Solidarity social

Come and support the workers and students of Oaxaca fighting back against police repression, by coming to the Oaxaca Solidarity social on Saturday night..

Saturday 16th December, 8pm-2pm; Latin American food and music (and some English bands), bar. �5 suggested donation.

Rampart Social Centre 15-17 Rampart St
off Commercial Rd E1 - nearest tube Whitechapel

Solidarity with the Purdue Student Hunger Strike!

Students at Purdue University in Indiana are about to enter their 19th day of hunger strike! The 15 participants are continuing their fight for clothing carrying their university logo to be made according to the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP).

The DSP stipulates that university logoed clothing must be made in factories:
1) Where workers have a democratic union or are free to form one
2) Where workers can bargain toward a living wage
3) Where Purdue’s already established Code of Conduct is followed

You can see a picture of the occupied building here: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ahanna/hs/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/dsc04238.JPG

Mark, one of the participants in the hunger strike sent us this message this morning:

“We’d like to say that the support we’re getting from everyone is amazing. It’s the key reason that we’ve been able to keep it up”

They will be meeting with the university admin tomorrow (december 6th) and taking along a rally of supporters in the hope of forcing the university to sign the DSP.

For the most up to date info check out www.perduehungerstrike.org and sign the online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/nosweat/petition.html and for any Facebook users, join the group at http://leedsac.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2220276342.

Please send messages of solidarity to purdue_ole@yahoo.com as they are very much appreciated!

Thousands of janitors on strike in Houston, Texas

Houston USA: Justice for Janitors campaign needs your active support NOW.

Thousands of migrant cleaners are on strike in Houston, the 4th most important city in the US - and Bush territory. The cleaners, many of whom are undocumented migrants from Mexico, clean the majority of Houston’s office buildings. They receive the lowest wages and benefits of any major city in the U.S — only $4,16 per hour and no health insurance coverage while cleaning the most important oil companies’ headquarters in the world and the most important global real-estate corporations.

(more…)

New anti-sweatshop DVD

Students Against Sweatshops and No Sweat are producing a new DVD putting “The Case for Solidarity” with workers’ struggles against exploitation and privatisation.

The film, which is about 15 minutes long, also outlines our role in supporting trade unions and intervening in the anti-capitalist movement.

You can get a copy of the film on DVD - email admin@nosweat.org.uk - or download it on the No Sweat website. You need to register in order to download it.

Chilean police and students clash

(From BBC)

Chilean police have fired water cannon and clashed with high school students who were protesting in the capital, Santiago, over education reforms.
More than 100 were detained after rocks were thrown at police, officials said.

Huge protests in May and June had led the government to meet most of the students’ demands, including scrapping a college entrance exam fee.

But the students say they are angry at the slow pace of President Michelle Bachelet’s promised reforms.

Mugabe regime attacks trade unionists

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, says trade union leaders, who say they were severely assaulted by police after trying to stage a protest over wages, had defied authority and deserved the beating.

A Harare magistrate has ordered a probe into charges that a dozen leaders of the main Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) were tortured and “excessively and brutally” assaulted in detention after police stopped their September 13 demonstration.