[111] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
FTAA, Harvard, MIT students... (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aimee L Smith)
Fri Apr 20 13:07:06 2001
Message-Id: <200104201706.NAA05744@m2-132-1.mit.edu>
To: mit-talk@MIT.EDU
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:06:17 -0400
From: Aimee L Smith <alsmith@MIT.EDU>
In MIT news, two MIT students have been denied entry into
Canada. Both US citizens, both no criminal record, both
peaceful demonstrators...
This is what a WORLD POLICE STATE looks like!
- ------- Forwarded Message
DIFFERENT WORLDS . . .
. . . SAME STRUGGLE
* * * * Rally For GLOBAL JUSTICE - Against The FTAA! * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * Support Our Harvard Neighbors' Demands * * *
* * * For A LIVING WAGE! * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * SATURDAY, APRIL 21 * * * * *
* * * * * 1 PM * * * * *
* * * * * HARVARD YARD * * * * *
Meet inside the Yard in the corner closest to the T
It may seem like worlds away, but many of the same corporations that exploit
workers and the poor around the world are based right here in the US. Some
are even right here in Boston - GE is the most profitable company in the
world, yet it still laid off local workers when it moved work from one of
its suppliers to Mexico.
Harvard is the richest educational institution in the country, yet it
refuses to pay all its workers a living wage. While Harvard's fund managers
are paid as much as $10 million per year, an increasing number of campus
workers are paid wages that are grossly inadequate. Many employees work two
or three jobs and still have trouble making ends meet.
Come join us to rally for justice at Harvard and around the world!
******************************************************************
WHAT'S THE CONNECTION? WHAT ARE THE FTAA AND THE LIVING WAGE?
While we rally in Boston, people from around the Americas will be rallying
in Quebec City, protesting at the Summit of the Americas. On the Summit's
agenda is the "Free Trade Area of the Americas" or FTAA, a trade deal that
would expand NAFTA to the entire Western Hemisphere. The FTAA threatens to
commodify our lives by turning over the control of our schools, electricity,
water, and food to corporations whose primary interest is profit.
How does free trade affect us locally? Trade agreements like NAFTA and the
FTAA push wages down and threaten regulations on the environment and worker
rights. When corporations move to countries with low labor standards where
they can pay low wages, it makes it harder for people everywhere to organize
for decent working conditions. Our economy is global - and when workers in
one country suffer, it affects everyone.
What can we do about it? The struggle for a living wage is going on all over
the world, and it's heating up right here in Boston! A living wage for
Cambridge in 2001 is $10.25 an hour, plus benefits. It would cost, even by
liberal estimates, no more than $10 million per year at Harvard - exactly
the 1998 salary of one Harvard fund manager.
Workers and students at Harvard University have been organizing for a living
wage for more than two years, while the Harvard administration refuses to
take significant action. On Wednesday, April 18, 40 students from the
Harvard Living Wage Campaign began occupying an administration building to
demand a living wage for all Harvard employees, and many more are mobilizing
to show their support.
RALLY IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE HARVARD STUDENTS
AND WORKERS OF THE LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN !
RALLY IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PROTESTS IN QUEBEC
AGAINST THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS !
* * * * SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1 PM, HARVARD YARD * * * *
******************************************************************
Sponsored by:
Boston Global Action Network, Harvard Living Wage Coalition
http://www.bostonglobalaction.org
http://www.livingwagenow.com
Same World, Same Issues, Same Struggle! No FTAA! Living Wage for All!
******************************************************************
_
- ------- End of Forwarded Message
------- End of Forwarded Message
