Chicago National Conference
7/24/05 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
    
Stop The Union Busting!
It Is Time To Take Back Our Unions!

Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson rm. 3416, just west of the Red Line Wilson
Ave. stop; about 7 blocks West of the Outer Drive (Lake Shore
Drive) exit at Wilson Ave and it is one block from train
Chicago, Illinois

http://www.mapquest.com

THE GROWING CRISIS in the AFL-CIO leadership is a reflection of their
complete failure to defend and organize workers in the United States. On
Sunday July 24, 2005 in Chicago, the national Labor Action Coalition and
other organizations and unionists invite you and your organization to
join us at a national labor conference. We're coming together to discuss
and plan common actions against the attacks we face - from privatization
and cutting benefits to the destruction of our pensions, the growing
racism on the job and in the communities and the dismantling of our
public education and healthcare systems. There is a war at home as well
as a war abroad.

This rank and file labor conference will also look at how working people
have in the past, and can do so again, go on the offensive in this
country. While the the AFL-CIO misleaders shuffle chairs on the sinking
Titanic, promoting organizational solutions for their own career and
political-alliance interests, they refuse to mobilize their own members,
the families and communities, to stop the barrage of attacks coming from
Corporate America, Bush and Congress. These union ?leaders' give the
corporate controlled politicians our dues money without a vote by the
rank and file and these politicians then vote against us. This
conference is one step further in the effort to bring labor/union
activists together to learn from each other and learn from our past as
well as planning to work together after the conference.

We can't look to union misleaders and politicians to do what working
people need to do ourselves, to mobilize in favor of our own lives. The
working class does have the power to effectively fight corporate
America, Bush and Congress, to gain the political power we need for our
agenda, our needs, and our future. To do that we need to develop a
common awareness of which our real enemies are and how to learn from
each other and our past. We also need to discuss how to fight the
political power of Corporate America and their two parties.

We need to build support for a national march and rally of millions of
workers against this government, both for its war abroad and to defeat
the war at home on working, unemployed and homeless people. Working
people in this country, along with workers and soldiers overseas, have
the power to defeat the union busters and shut the war machine down. We
just have to exercise that power, such as ILWU longshore workers do when
close the docks in San Francisco.

On July 24, trade unionists and community activists from around the
country will speak about their own experiences, view films and videos,
and caucus together. We are building a national network of workers,
unemployed, homeless and ex-incarcerated that will back each other up in
fighting for jobs for all, for justice on those jobs, for the right to
unionize, for true democracy within our unions and for a better life for
all. Why do we include unemployed, homeless, and incarcerated along with
workers on this flyer? Because we are all of us, including you reading
this, one paycheck or one ?reprimand', or one complaint, eviction or
repossession, away from being unemployed, homeless and incarcerated.

The AFL-CIO national officials continue to shameful support for the
bosses' war in Iraq that has killed over 100, 000 Iraqis and is killing
and wounding tens of thousands of US troops who are being used as cannon
fodder for Haliburton, Chevron, Bechtel. The AFL-CIO has also has gone
along with the reactionary and racist Patriot Act and other repressive
legislation. These measures are destroying what democratic rights we
have remaining, and allowing immigrants and people of color, especially
Muslim and Arab people, to do what has always been done wholesale in
Asian, Black, Latino, Native American communities - to be rounded up and
incarcerated without any rights. We must stop the growing racist attacks
on the jobs and in our communities. We want to reach activists and
concerned rank and file attending the AFL-CIO convention that begins on
July 25th in Chicago.

The time is sorely overdue for the members to let the AFL-CIO know that
we are fed up with their corporate unionism. We will also be
demonstrating at the opening of the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago on
Monday, July 25, 2005 at the Drake Hotel to demand a democratic and
fighting working class movement, one led by our unions with true leaders
and our own political party. We also demand direct election of all
officials and an end to support to the sell-out political parties of the
bosses.

The Democrats have helped push the corporate agenda including the
deregulation of the airlines, Tele-communication as well as other
industries and the AFL-CIO's own hero Bill Clinton helped push through
NAFTA. Workers need their own party that will not stab them in the back
once they take office. The Labor Action Coalition (LAC) www.
laboraction. org was established to rebuild the trade union movement on
the basis of one-member, one-vote democracy, against labor management
collaboration and privatization, and for the political independence of
working people from the corporate political parties. We need a national
network of workers and unions that challenge the bosses, fights business
unionism and our so-called representatives in government. Our members
have different points of views but we joining together on the basis of
working class unity in struggle.

9:00 AM Conference starts with introduction and short statements
 
Half of the morning  program would be short statements from the participants 
no longer than 5 minutes each and the other half of the morning session 
would be open to discussion. We would also ask speakers to write up their 
presentations so we can put those on a web page. These could be from various 
struggles around the country and internationally. These could include Detroit News, 
Decatur, UAW Cat and fight on pensions and give backs, AFSCME and SEIU democracy 
battles, injured workers and labor management collaboration, international labor 
and AFL-CIO role including war on Iraq, racism on the job and failure of unions 
to fight racist harassment on the job, anti-privatization campaigns including 
attack on social security, pensions and education, use of bankruptcy laws to 
terminate pensions.

12:00 Lunch

1:00 PM Session titled "Hour Of Power"

History and lessons of how workers can fightback with presentations 
of 30 minutes and 30 minute discussion on the lessons of history 
including 30's and past struggles.

2:00 PM Where do we go now and the future of labor

We would outline some proposals of what has to be done in the light of the 
crisis. Points discussed is the development of a national labor action network

4:00 PM Conference ends

Partial list of participants and endorsers for Chicago July 24, 2005 Labor 
Conference LAC, AFSCME 3506 Rafeeq Palel, Teamster UPS Chicago, Tim Kaminski, 
UAW 110 Chrysler Member, Mike Griffin, UBC, War Zone Foundation, Kim Scipes,
Labor Educator on AFL-CIO and International politics Barb Ingals, CWA
ITU Detroit (invited) Alfredo Pena, AFSME154 Steward Jeffrey Blankfort,
Former Editor Of Middle East Labor Bulletin (invited), Earl Silbar,
AFSCME 3506 Chicago Community Colleges, Steve Zeltzer, IUOE 39 Labor
Action Coalition, Sue Smith, Injured AFSCME District Council 31 member
and employee,, Larry Soloman, UAW-CAT751 Retired Past President, David
Johnson, UBC44, Giselle Quesada, CWA 9410 Steward, Todd M. Jordan Future
of Union.com organizational director and member UAW 292, Mary Ann Ring,
CUE UCSF Steward & N. Cal Chair (invited), Harry Kelber Labor Educator

Please endorse and support our national conference www.laboraction.org
Three workshop/discussion sessions are planned: 
Current struggles and lessons; lessons from past workers'
struggles; AFL-CIO convention on July 25th: What we face, and what can
we do? We call on all workers, unemployed, homeless, and community
activists throughout the country and other labor organizations to join
us in Chicago on July 24th and July 25th. If you want to endorse and
participate in this conference please contact us at
laboraction@yahoo.com 

Contacts:
Chicago, Ill 773-935-5255
Decatur, Ill 217-428-6372
Champaign, Ill 217-356-8247
St. Louis, MO 314-895-2762
New York 212-864-7595
San Francisco (415) 867-0628
East Bay 510-531-0416
Los Angeles Area 714-595-3627

WE WANT OUR UNIONS BACK!
RANK AND FILE PICKET AT AFL-CIO CONVENTION

Protest At AFL-CIO Convention

Monday July 25, 2005 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
NAVY PIER
Chicago, Il

http://www.mapquest.com

The rank and file who pay the dues to unions within the AFL-CIO have been totally left out 
of the so called "debate" within the trade unions. It is time that we have a democratic labor 
movement where the membership has a union that decides the agenda instead of the present situation 
of top down "corporate style" management.

The labor-management collaboration supported by both sides of the "debate" in the AFL-CIO has 
destroyed lives and we aim to let working people we will not be silent about this.

Sponsored by
Labor Action Coalition
www.laboraction.org
laboractionnow@yahoo.com

For Press Information Contact
773-935-5255 or (415)867-0628
To Endorse
Contact
laboractionnow@yahoo.com