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EE.UU: California aprueba de manera fulminante una subida sin precedentes del salario mínimo

abril 4, 2016abril 2, 2016Noticias

Una propuesta de ley de los sindicatos obliga a las instituciones a pactar
en dos semanas la mayor subida estatal de Estados Unidos

LosAngeles/EE.UU/ElPais/1 de abril de 2016/Por: Pablo Ximenez de Sandoval

Partidarios de la subida celebran la aprobación en el Capitolio. AP

15 dólares por hora: la pugna por los salarios toma fuerza en Estados Unidos

Hace solo un mes se consideraba imposible. Pero en apenas dos semanas,
California ha aprobado la subida del salario mínimo más grande de Estados
Unidos, un 50% en los próximos seis años. La subida a 15 dólares la hora es
una reivindicación de los sindicatos y del ala más izquierdista del Partido
Demócrata y es considerada un peligro para la economía y la creación de
empleo por parte de los republicanos y casi todas las organizaciones
empresariales.

California se convierte en el primer estado en adoptar los 15 dólares la
hora,

una
cantidad que ya había sido puesta en marcha por grandes ciudades como Los
Ángeles o San Francisco. Ahora, afectará a 38 millones de personas en el
estado más poblado del país y la economía más desarrollada de Estados
Unidos. Cuando Los Ángeles aprobó esta subida

el
año pasado se convirtió en el laboratorio más grande de EE UU
para ver
los efectos de la medida. Ahora todo California es el laboratorio, tras una
reacción fulminante de sus políticos e impensable hace solo un mes.

La razón de que se haya aprobado tan deprisa está en el particular sistema
de democracia directa de California, uno de los más extremos del mundo
junto con el de Suiza. Los sindicatos habían planteado dos propuestas
diferentes que se dirigían sin remedio hacia la votación en las próximas
elecciones presidenciales de noviembre. La semana pasada, los sindicatos
anunciaron que una de las propuestas ya tenía las firmas necesarias para
ser enviada a votación. Las encuestas indican un amplio apoyo popular a
esta medida. Inmediatamente, el gobernador y los líderes del Legislativo se
sentaron a negociar una propuesta de ley alternativa para evitar ser
atropellados en las urnas.

La posibilidad de renegociar una medida popular solo existe en California
desde el año pasado. Las normas de la iniciativa directa se cambiaron a
propuesta del Instituto Berggruen, de forma que los proponentes de una
iniciativa pueden retirarla si sus demandas tienen respuesta por parte de
los legisladores.

A partir de ese momento, los acontecimientos se han sucedido a toda
velocidad. El pasado lunes, 28 de marzo, la oficina del gobernador Jerry
Brown y los líderes del Legislativo anunciaban un acuerdo con los
sindicatos para matizar la propuesta. Este jueves por la mañana, el
proyecto ha sido aprobado en la Asamblea de California. Por la tarde lo ha
aprobado el Senado e inmediatamente la oficina del gobernador ha enviado un
comunicado diciendo que ratificará la ley el lunes en un acto en Los
Ángeles.

Con el acuerdo enmendado, la subida se va a realizar de forma un poco más
escalonada (en seis años en lugar de cinco) y se añaden algunas
excepciones, como dar un año más a los pequeños negocios. Además, el Estado
podrá suspender la subida en un mal año económico. A partir de 2022, el
salario mínimo quedará indexado al coste de la vida.

La votación en el Capitolio de Sacramento, la capital de California, se
realizó entre gritos de “¡sí se puede!”, el lema con el que César Chávez
movilizó a los jornaleros en los años sesenta y creó el mayor sindicato
agrario de California. Justamente, hoy es el día de recuerdo de César
Chávez en Estados Unidos.

El salario mínimo a nivel nacional

se
mantiene en 7,25 dólares la hora desde 2009, una cantidad que en las
grandes ciudades ha generalizado el problema de los trabajadores pobres, es
decir, gente que trabaja a tiempo completo 40 horas a la semana o más y
tiene que vivir de la beneficencia. Dignificar el salario mínimo es la gran
reivindicación de los sindicatos de Estados Unidos, especialmente los de
hostelería y agricultura, y de la izquierda del Partido Demócrata. En
California era hasta ahora de 10 dólares la hora, uno de los más altos del
país a nivel estatal.

Los sectores más afectados por la subida del salario mínimo son tiendas y
hostelería, que entre los dos tienen un 30% de la fuerza laboral que cobra
el salario mínimo, según un estudio de la Universidad de California en
Berkeley. En total, 5,6 millones de trabajadores se verán afectados, con
una subida media anual en sus ingresos de 3.700 dólares. El 55% de los
trabajadores afectados son latinos.

La velocidad a la que se ha resuelto este asunto ha dejado a superado las
expectativas de todos los políticos. Hasta hace pocos días, el alcalde de
Los Ángeles estaba en campaña para animar a las ciudades vecinas del
condado a que subieran el salario mínimo como ha hecho su Administración.

La medida llega además en medio del debate de primarias del Partido
Demócrata, cuyos candidatos tienen visiones distintas en este asunto. Para
Bernie Sanders, la subida en todo el país a 15 dólares es uno de sus
eslóganes de campaña. Convertir el salario mínimo en un “salario digno” es
una de sus medidas para cerrar la brecha de desigualdad en Estados Unidos.
Hillary Clinton, sin embargo, propone que la subida sea a 12 dólares la
hora y “apoya” los esfuerzos de estados y municipios para ir más allá. La
aprobación desactiva este debate en California, donde los votantes se
podían haber encontrado en la misma papeleta la elección de presidente con
el sí o no a la subida.

Fuente:
internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2016/04/01/actualidad/1459464108_314770.html
tras

California aprueba de manera fulminante una subida sin precedentes del
salario mínimo

Una propuesta de ley de los sindicatos obliga a las instituciones a pactar
en dos semanas la mayor subida estatal de Estados Unidos

LosAngeles/EE.UU/ElPais/1 de abril de 2016/Por: Pablo Ximenez de Sandoval

Partidarios de la subida celebran la aprobación en el Capitolio. AP

15 dólares por hora: la pugna por los salarios toma fuerza en Estados Unidos

California se convierte en el primer estado en adoptar los 15 dólares la
hora,

El salario mínimo a nivel nacional

Fuente:
internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2016/04/01/actualidad/1459464108_314770.html

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Maestros de Chicago protestan por recortes a la educación.

abril 3, 2016mayo 18, 2021Noticias

www.laopinion.com/01-04-2016/

Maestros y estudiantes de Chicago celebraron hoy un «Día de Acción» contra los recortes a la educación

CHICAGO, Illinois- Cientos de personas, entre miembros de sindicatos laborales y estudiantes de secundarias y universidades de Chicago, marcharon hoy en el centro y en diversos puntos de la ciudad en apoyo a los cerca de los 21 mil maestros que están luchando por una renovación de contrato y también para pedir un alto en los recortes a la educación.

La Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU) celebró hoy el “Día de Acción” con una huelga en contra de los recortes a la educación, durante la cual alegaron que la ciudad va a paso lento para lograr un acuerdo con los maestros que han estado trabajando sin contrato desde que su contrato de tres años expiró en junio pasado.

Los manifestantes procedentes de diversas escuelas públicas de la ciudad, que llevaban pancartas que decían “En huelga” o “Salva a nuestras escuelas”, entre otras, pidieron además el apoyo del público en general.

“Estamos en huelga hoy no solamente por la educación porque están haciendo recortes a los programas educativos, pero también por todos los trabajadores que necesitan salarios justos y en contra de los recortes del estado”, manifestó la maestra Edith Escarpita.

La Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU) celebró hoy el "Día de Acción" con una huelga en contra de los recortes a la educación. Foto: EFE — La Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU) celebró hoy el “Día de Acción” con una huelga en contra de los recortes a la educación. Foto: EFE

Maestros y estudiantes de las primarias y secundarias de la “Ciudad del Viento” marcharon desde los barrios mayoritariamente hispanos de Pilsen y La Villita hasta el complejo de cárceles del condado Cook donde gritaron sus consignas e hicieron sus reclamos en contra de los recortes del estado a la educación.

“Subsidia a la Educación. No a las Prisiones”, decía el cartel de un manifestante frente a la cárcel.

También, en tres universidades de la ciudad se llevaron a cabo otros eventos de apoyo a los maestros y a los sindicatos que están luchando por mejoras salariales.

Igualmente hubo protestas en contra de los despidos como es el caso en la Universidad Estatal de Chicago, en donde a partir de la próxima semana la administración empezará a despedir a decenas de empleados y profesores después de la negativa del gobierno estatal de proveer con unos 27 millones a la institución académica.

Hasta hoy, el gobernador de Illinois, el republicano Bruce Rauner, rehúsa otorgar los 400 millones de dólares en ayuda a las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago a menos que los demócratas aprueben su agenda.

Varios sindicatos afiliados a la campaña “Lucha Por $15” y otras uniones de trabajadores también marcharon junto a los maestros mostrando su apoyo al “Día de Acción”.

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Chicago Strikes Again

abril 2, 2016abril 2, 2016Noticias

Labornotes/Abril 2016

It’s not a general strike—not yet, anyway. But April 1 is shaping up to be a big moment for the Chicago labor movement, and once again, teachers are leading the charge.

The Chicago Teachers Union will strike for a day against a double standard. While the city scrupulously honors its deals with the big banks, it’s threatening to unilaterally violate the teachers’ contract and slice their pay—along with the rest of the budget for city schools.

CTU won’t be alone on the picket lines. Dozens of community groups and at least eight unions have signed on to join the day of action, all victims of the slash-and-burn budgeting that’s left Chicago “broke on purpose.” They’re part of an emerging coalition that’s drawing the line between the titans of finance and the needs of the city’s working people.

Last year they forced “Mayor 1%” Rahm Emanuel into Chicago’s first-ever runoff for a sitting mayor. Later protesters disrupted the lucrative Christmas shopping season after allegations emerged that, to protect Emanuel’s reelection bid, the city had covered up video of a police officer killing African American teenager Laquan McDonald. And in March, thousands of Chicago protesters shut down a rally for spiteful billionaire turned presidential candidate Donald Trump.

This year’s Labor Notes Conference kicks off at a hub of resistance, where organized people are building the power to take on organized money.

BLAME GAME

The anger—and the organizing—in Chicago come not a moment too soon. A one-sided class war has funneled almost an entire generation of economic growth to the CEOs, the bankers, and the billionaire class.

Even retirees who worked for decades to earn their pensions are forced into a lopsided battle to stop their nest eggs from being snatched away. Politicians would rather gut public services and public sector jobs than tax the billions in profit that corporations like Boeing, Verizon, General Motors, and General Electric are raking in.

Employers are pointing fingers to make sure the rest of us don’t pick up the pitchforks. Teachers and bus drivers, they say, are bankrupting your city and taxing you out of house and home. If you don’t have a pension and good health care, why should they?

Such divide-and-conquer tactics are out front this election season. Supposedly it’s immigrants, or workers in Mexico or China, who are taking your job. But whether this tired line is coming from the boss or from a CEO con artist with a bad comb-over, the game plan is as old as the need for unions to counter bigotry with solidarity.

Real blame lies squarely at the feet of corporations like Walmart and trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that are steamrolling good jobs—here and abroad—and the unions that fought for them.

In February, West Virginia became the 26th so-called right-to-work state, following Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia brought only a temporary reprieve from the looming threat of open-shop conditions in the public sector, too. The Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case is delayed, not dead. Meanwhile Friedrichs-style lawsuits sprout up at the state level, as in a recent case against New York’s Public Employees Federation.

Anti-union forces are ready for open-shop America. They’re already training their sights on their next target: unions’ right to exclusively represent a bargaining unit.

RIPPLES OF RESISTANCE

But there’s a bright spot—a stubborn note of resistance in the country’s political mood, evident in the surprising momentum of underdog Bernie Sanders’ campaign for president.

Plenty of union members are also fed up with the status quo. Last fall, for example, Chrysler workers sent the Auto Workers top brass back to the bargaining table, voting no 2 to 1 on a contract that would have cemented their two-tier wage scale.

New hires started at $15.78 an hour, just over half the pay for “legacy workers.” The union had taken the hit in 2007, when two-tier was sold as a salve for the flagging automaker. But by last year, the revived company was making millions—and the second tier had ballooned to 45 percent of the workforce. Thanks to the grassroots revolt, union tops returned with an improved settlement that put most second-tier workers on a path to top pay.

The same spirit roiled Teamsters who haul cars from auto plants to dealerships, who voted down a concession-ridden agreement by 87 percent in October, and mechanics at railroad giant CSX, who in December nixed a job-killing pact by an 8-to-1 vote.

Some unions hit the picket lines to beat back concessions. Steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies endured a six-month lockout rather than let the company gut their contract. Wisconsin’s Kohler factory workers struck for a month against two-tier wages and health care cost-shifting, winning a partial victory that narrowed the gap between the tiers.

Thankfully, more unions are reaching for labor’s oldest weapon, and not just as a last resort. Chicago movers at Golan’s struck for six months to win their first contract, reaching an agreement last year. In November, a small band of IKEA workers struck for recognition.

To protest funding shortfalls, teachers in Washington state staged rolling strikes, culminating in a week-long walkout in September by Seattle educators who demanded, among other things, that kindergartners get at least a half-hour of recess. In the same spirit, teachers in Detroit staged rolling sickouts to protest mice, mold, and crumbling classrooms under their governor-appointed “emergency manager.”

Inside unions, the same spirit of resistance continues to boost reformers running for office, like the professional flight attendants who unseated a management-friendly president last fall and elected a rank and filer to replace her. Teachers and Teamsters alike are seeking out leaders who aren’t afraid to fight the boss. And unions from janitors in the Twin Cities to nurses in New York are proving that, especially when the community has our back, we can win.

THE CHICAGO MODEL

If a comeback is in the cards, some of the essential ingredients are bubbling up in Chicago.

Place the Blame on Wall Street: Since new leaders took office in 2010, the Chicago Teachers Union has told the world how Wall Street and the country’s biggest corporations have teamed up to rip off the city and drain millions from public services.Now more and more public sector unions around the country are doing the same. They’re pushing for state and local governments to renegotiate sweetheart loans that are lucrative for the banks, and proposing taxes to target corporations and the 1%.
Line Up with Those Ready to Fight the Status Quo: With union density hovering just over 11 percent, finding allies has evolved from a good idea to a necessity. Chicago is an example of what’s possible through coalitions, both inside and outside the labor movement.To their credit, these folks haven’t waited till they could convince the most timid within the House of Labor. They’re clear they’re building a coalition of those willing to upset the apple cart, even if that starts with a handful.
Every Movement Needs Infrastructure: Key unions in Chicago, most notably the Service Employees local, Healthcare Illinois-Indiana and the Teachers, created first the community-labor coalition Stand Up Chicago and then the independent political organization United Working Families.When unpredictable sparks flared up—like the Occupy movement and Black Lives Matter—these organizations were there to help meet concrete needs like space and funding, and to act as bridges to institutions and other activist networks.
You Lose More than You Win: Since winning their 2012 strike, Chicago teachers have seen 50 schools closed and thousands of educators pink-slipped. They weren’t able to unseat Emanuel. United Working Families won only three of the nine city council seats where it challenged incumbents.But the unions and community groups involved in the April 1 actions have grown even more committed to the strategy of confrontation, recognizing the historical lesson that breakthroughs usually follow a series of defeats. After all their setbacks, 88 percent of all Chicago teachers voted to authorize another strike.
Rooted in Real Power: None of this was possible without the organization and ownership of their union that rank-and-file Chicago Teachers have achieved, on a scale few other unions in recent decades have matched.The foundation is old-fashioned organizing—finding leaders in every worksite, identifying issues members care about, and moving co-workers into action. Those are the skills we highlight in our newest Labor Notes book, Secrets of a Successful Organizer, out April 1.

But building power goes beyond good tactics and technique. Unionism at its core is about taking action together.

In too many unions, officers or staff present members with: “Here’s the plan. Are you in, or are you out?” The Chicago Teachers continue to show how much better the results are when you involve everyone in the process that leads you there.

Members go to the mat because they care about what’s at stake and feel like it’s their fight. They’re part of the team steering the ship, from the shop floor to union-wide activities. The choice to be “in or out” evaporates when everyone was “in” from the beginning.

Anyone can tell when they’ve got a real say over what happens, versus just backing someone else’s plan. Chicago is proof positive of one of Labor Notes’ enduring themes—that unions need a «political revolution» too.

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Manifesto por la Paz

abril 2, 2016abril 2, 2016Noticias

El Manifiesto por la Paz que escribiera hace dos meses el Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres Presidente del Consejo Mundial de Sociedades de Educación Comparada lo colocamos hoy a disposición de investigadores, docentes y público en general . Señaló Torres que se iba a crear una Task Force for Peace Education en el Consejo Mundial ya que hay mucha gente interesada.

A continuación pueden leer la carta en ingles en el siguiente enlace:

Manifiesto por la Paz

A Peace Education Manifesto and the role of WCCES

From the desk of WCCES President Carlos Alberto Torres

Dear colleagues of societies of Comparative Education and Members of the Executive Committee.

“I am not impartial or objective; not a fixed observer of facts and happenings. I never was able to be an adherent of the traits that falsely claim impartiality or objectivity. That did not prevent me, however, from holding always a rigorously ethical position. Whoever really observes, does so from a given point of view. And this does not necessarily mean that the observer position is erroneous. It’s an error when one becomes dogmatic about one’s point of view and ignores the fact that, even one is certain about his or her point of view, it does not mean that one’s position is always ethically grounded.” (Paulo Freire)

Our age of global interdependence is being marked not only by the dialectics of the global and the local that we will discuss in Beijing, but also by the dialectics of terrorism and anti-terrorism. I am writing to you as President of WCCES but also as a victim of state terrorism in Argentina that forced me to exile. I would like to invite the WCCES to a dialogue about our moral responsibilities.

Paulo Freire taught us that domination, aggression and violence are intrinsic parts of human and social life. He argued that few human encounters are exempt from one type of oppression or another. By virtue of race, ethnicity, class and gender, people tend either to be victims or perpetrators of oppression. Thus, for Freire, sexism, racism, and class exploitation are the most salient forms of domination. Yet exploitation and domination exist on other grounds including religious beliefs, political affiliation, national origin, age, size, and physical and intellectual abilities, to name just a few. His vision was prophetic.

We are a professional organization with multiple goals including enhancing global understanding, improving access and quality of education and operation of the educational systems. Most of us are interested in developing and applying models, 2 methods, and theories for the field of comparative education to serve the betterment of children, youth and adults as well as communities and nations.

I have spent my whole academic life developing theories and analyses or conducting empirical research to promote global citizenship education working from Critical Theory in the politics of liberation. However, we cannot dialogue with violence. We cannot tolerate systematic violence against human rights and our existing civilizations, against common people in the streets, going to a market in Lebanon, returning home to Russia after vacations or massacred in restaurants, hotels and theaters like in Paris and Bamako.

Violence and terrorism are being inextricably connected with politics and religion in this globalized world. Violence that exists from Lebanon to a plane downed in the Sinai desert or to Paris, the city of which Thomas Jefferson, a strong supporter of the French Revolution argued that every citizen in the world has two capitals, their own and Paris. There is violence infecting us from Israel to Gaza, to Libya, Chad, Egypt, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Mali, Yemen, Turkey, Belgian and various regions of Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. The violence that is gaining ground in America with the tragedy of students being slaughtered in Mexico, people being the subject of street violence in Brazil and Argentina, in Central America home of many of the most violent cities in the world and gang terror, with black lives that seem no matter to some in the USA. Not to mention the violence against our environment. The list is long. Violence should stop and peace should prevail. The recent terrorist acts that shocked the globe in Lebanon, the Sinai Peninsula, Nigeria, Paris and Bamako are simply another culmination of a long list of terrorist actions against democracy, humanism, pluralism, multiculturalism and the reign of reason. These violent acts should move us deeply both professionally and in terms of human interest. I convoke all of you today to react with a unanimous voice even though I am sure there are different perspectives, and different analysis of what is going on. Hence I do not expect people to wholesale agree with my analytical and normative perspective. But we should find a minimum common denominator to protect peace in the world. As comparative educators we have no other choice.

There are many faces of globalization, but particularly two that apply to this discussion: the globalization of anti-terrorism and terrorism going global. There is a manifestation of globalization, which extends beyond markets, and to some extent is against human rights. It is globalization of the international war against terrorism. This new form of globalization has been prompted in large part by the events of September 11th 2001— which were interpreted as the globalization of the terrorist threat— and the reaction of the United States to the event. This form of globalization is represented by the anti-terrorist response, which has been militaristic in nature, resulting in two coalition wars led by the US against Muslim regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, under the auspices of the Global War Against Terror.

Islamophobia is also a theme of this globalization. Terrorism and the terrorist threat were made synonymous with Islam and Muslims, and became a global norm. Yet, the overall theme of this process was not only its military flavor, but also the emphasis on security and control of borders, people, capital, and commodities—that is, the reverse of open markets, high-paced commodity exchanges, and international understanding of “the other.” Security as a precondition of freedom is a key theme of this form of globalization.

There is another form of globalization namely the globalization of terrorism, which is well represented by the decaying Al Qaida network, with terrorist actions of many kinds and the more virulent example of ISIS and Boko Haram and their attempt to move the world to an apocalyptic war of unexpected proportions as a new Crusade. Examples of these actions include Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 300 girls from a Christian school in Nigeria, forcing them to convert to Islam and having them forcefully married to fighters. Another example is the growing consolidation of ISIS in the Middle East providing a platform, a kind of sacred fire for youth who are disaffected and marginalized with modernity and Western practices. Thousands of youths have flown to Iraq and Syria to fight for what they believe is their sacred cause of social change, leading to the establishment of a new Caliphate in the Levant and Middle East. Through a fatalistic and violently narrow interpretation, ISIS attempts to constitute and represent a global Islam, which makes them difficult to contain in a particular territory, as it has been the logic of counter-terrorism of the Obama administration. The motto of terrorism is probably best defined in the following terms: Only chaos will bring about freedom.

We must repudiate all acts of terror being made in the name of politics, religious fundamentalism, or any other of the multiple reasons why human rights are violated in the whole world. On the one hand, to invoke the name of God to conduct indiscriminate killings and barbarian beheadings is blasphemous. On the other, states need to be held responsible for violent retribution through military campaigns and exclusionary domestic policies. Furthermore, people throughout the world must maintain tolerance and mutual respect with those who are different rather than placing blame on the whole. Yet, we are reaching a point in which the world democratic system should act, and do so forcefully and efficiently.

If the intention of a religious fundamentalist project is to build a Global Caliphate to oppress, dominate, and exploit, and to build their dream at any cost with blatant disregard for the dreams of others, and for human lives, this project should be democratically but also forcefully confronted and stopped. Terrorists from any sign should be hunted, captured, prosecuted, and must pay their dues to justice.

As a Critical Theorist I understand some of the roots of ISIS and other contentious groups’ dissatisfaction with the world as it exists today. First and foremost is the imperialism and colonialism of Western powers that for centuries have parceled out human societies, and remaking them into countries out of their own image. Imperial projects attempted to magically integrate and exploit diverse groups within imagined polities and assumed the system would work properly; or least to protect their imperial strategic interests.

Second, the workings of predatory capitalism that is undermining some of the most central ethical mythical components of civilizations and its new incarnation in neoliberalism that Freire characterized as the new Evil of our times. Third, male chauvinism, which has not only affected the process of liberation of women for centuries, but also perpetuates the homophobic ideology that discriminates the non-heterosexual. And last, there is the celebratory logo-centrism and exploitation of resources and people of the European civilizations and Global North condemning the rest of the world, particularly the Global South to subordinate positions. Thus, producing the culture of silence that has been forced upon the subaltern.

To explain the roots of today’s dissatisfaction with modernity, we have theories, and profess them in our classrooms. Alas, we cannot legitimate and argue that the barbarism and horror of the past justifies the barbarism and horror of the present. There is no logical and ethical justification other than religion fundamentalism and fundamentalist nationalism for the acts of terror we have witnessed.

A great conversation about education for peace at WCCES “Peaceful!and!just!societies!are!a!necessary!precondition!for!sustainable development;!many!conflicts! are!driven!by!poverty,!hunger!and!hopelessness.” “It!was!acknowledged!that!strong!institutions, based!on!the!rule!of!law,!and!not on rule!by law,!are!essential!for!building!peaceful!societies!where!people!live!free!from fear!and!want.!A!culture!of!justice!needs!to!be!created,!and!upheld,!to!empower!all!people, including!the!most!marginalised.”

The UN Assembly in 2015 formulated a consensus built by all nations of the globe. As a UNESCO associated NGO, we need to relate more closely our work to UN models of peace education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education, recognizing the importance of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda with 17 goals and 169 targets and implementing its symbolic five dimensions including people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.

Therefore I propose to WCCES to begin the great conversation about education for peace in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. To carry out this conversation, I hope we may reach out to our societies and our modest international structure as well as our standing committees bringing our work more closely aligned to the politics of U.N. and UNESCO. What follow are some key principles for discussion.

First, although France’s violent retribution is already in motion, we must not resort to the failures of the past. We must use this opportunity for a better world with alternative approaches to conflict resolution and peace. Though war might be inevitable (it is after all one of the responsibilities of the Nation-States as defined by Western political philosophy), we must organize against and stop the perpetual visions of foreign policy and economies that thrive on war. We must pressure governments to seek political and diplomatic solutions to global problems. But if ideologies like Nazism in its time, cannot be persuaded to give up its global ambitions, the world democracies should organize a reasonable response avoiding as much as possible civilian casualties.

Second, we must build global solidarity movements that are founded on the premises to counter racism, Islamophobia and extremist ideologies. Groups need to be established to educate communities about mutual respect, empathy, various privileges, histories of marginalized groups, and community and socially responsible entrepreneurship.

Third, we should host an Angicos-type World Social Forum conference in North Africa and Southwest Asia that brings together various scholars, civil society organizations, youth leaders and activists, and other people to address and organically and inclusively create new peaceful ideologies and social policies that resonate with indigenous structures and beliefs that challenge violence.

Fourth, pressure all governments and the U.N. to conduct war crimes procedures for those responsible for atrocities on all sides of the political spectrum.

Fifth, build spaces for disenfranchised and marginalized youth throughout the world. To listen to their grievances, empower them to participate in society, provide tools for conflict resolution, and have them contributing to addressing social issues. Make sure that we use the power of reason and education to prevent further radicalization of youth following radical religious and nationalistic perspectives giving meaning to lives that find no meaning otherwise. But most of the important, intense conversations about violent interpretations of Islam should take place through the world, conducted by Islamic scholars who should answer these radical interpretations responsible as well for the internecine wars between Islamic faith groups.

Sixth, challenge governments’ adoption of neoliberal based policies. Seek out economic alternatives that are more inclusive and less socially and environmentally destructive.

Seventh, to convey to UNESCO that they need to double its efforts to bring dialogue about conflict and peace in the world system inside our governments, community organizations, social movements, political parties, and world citizens. We need to feature in our mass media more dialogue about peace, global citizenship, and education for sustainable development. We should offer our services to promote peace at any cost. Only in this way we may be able to promote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Peace is a treasure of humanity and we should preserve it at any cost.

Eight, to seek these goals, we should immediately begin an institutional conversation among ourselves of how we can help in the promotion of world peace. This dialogue should take a central role in the World Congress that we will hold in Beijing. I suggest that our Standing Committees take the lead and among them propose an agenda for dialogue on peace within WCCES and to be discussed in our Beijing Congress as well.

Nine, as members of the WCCES community, it is our duty to help educators complicate their understanding of diversity, and subsequently create a more inclusive learning environment for all students. Helping educators to expand student identities toward a more global and interconnected framework is essential in deconstructing the marginalizing and divisive discourses that often permeate our educational institutions. Nobody is free of fear.

Nobody is free if we cannot meet, enjoy a coffee or a meal in a restaurant, congregate in a public place to enjoy music, a movie or theater, going to the 6 market, and gather together to deliberate about the human condition, knowledge, the arts, or business in peace. What happened most recently in Nigeria, Lebanon, France, Mali and the Sinai Peninsula could happen anywhere else, and more often than we may expect.

We cannot remain silent facing these civilizational crises. We cannot remain neutral at a moment of moral crisis. We cannot remain unmoved by carnage, violence, and blood baths of civilians. We cannot simply go on with business as usual in our profession. If we do so, we are accomplices to barbarism.

Yours in peace,

Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres

Distinguished Professor of Education UNESCO Chair in Global Learning and Global Citizenship Education

Director of the Paulo Freire Institute

President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES)

Graduate School of Education and Information Studies University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA)

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2016 Labor Notes Conference, April 1-3 in Chicago

abril 1, 2016abril 1, 2016Noticias

Labor Notes Conferences are the biggest gatherings out there of grassroots union activists, worker center leaders, and all-around troublemakers. Don’t miss a weekend of inspiration, education, and agitation.

Join thousands of union members, officers, and labor activists who are on the front lines in our workplaces and our communities, organizing new workers and agitating together. Meet troublemakers from around the country and around the world.
More than 100 meetings and workshops include creative organizing tactics, beating apathy, running for local union office, winning contract campaigns, bargaining over technology, understanding the economy, life after “right to work,” and reviving the strike.
Organize with others in your union, industry, or campaign. Face-to-face meetings to share tactics and swap notes are the heart of the Labor Notes Conference. Join an existing industry, union, or caucus meeting—or contact us to set one up.

WE’LL BE THERE!

“The Labor Notes Conference is where union members come together to strategize. Last time we had really productive conversations on how labor and the community are tied together, how to fight privatization, and how unions can connect to wider issues affecting members, like Black Lives Matter. I’ll be there to talk about what’s next.”

—Tammie Vinson, Chicago Teachers Union

“Everyone says the Labor Notes Conference is a can’t-miss event! I’m excited to meet brothers and sisters who are organizing and mobilizing to build power in their workplaces. We need a stronger network across the country to take on corporations like AT&T, and I hear Labor Notes is the place to share information on what everybody’s doing locally.”

—Manny Hartman, Communications Workers Local 3122, Miami

“I went last year for the first time and learned so much. When I met workers who are organizing in my home country, Brazil, I realized we’re not an island—because of globalization, we’re all facing similar problems. The best part was seeing how motivated everyone was to fight for their rights. I’ll definitely be there.”

—Jorge Lopez, Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center

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EE.UU: Academics Assail N.C. Law That Limits Protections for LGBT People

abril 1, 2016mayo 17, 2021Noticias

TheChronicleOfHigherEducation/28 de marzo de 2016/Por: Andy Thomason

Resumen: Una nueva polémica se ha desatado en las universidades de Carolina del Norte, en relación a una ley denominada HB2, la cual viola la enmienda 14 de la Constitución de Estados Unidos, al negar algunos derechos de los homosexuales y transgénero. Sin embargo, la semana pasada los legisladores de Carolina del Norte se reunieron en la sección espacial para aprobar la legislación de amplio alcance, en donde las empresas no pueden tomar medidas legales ante la discriminación en la contratación de personas homosexuales o transgénero. La HB2 fue motivada por una ordenanza aprobada en la ciudad más poblada del estado, Charlotte. El gobernador McCroy ha tratado de desacreditar las críticas de la ley, diciendo, por ejemplo, que no elimina las protecciones para los residentes de Carolina del Norte. Los críticos han dicho que las garantías son claramente falsas. La demanda presentada ante el tribunal federal fue realizada por unos empleados transgénero y homosexuales en la Universidad de Carolina del Norte en Chapel Hill. La demanda en contra de la HB2 fue motivada el trato que en ella se expresa para las personas transgénero y homosexuales, al despojarlas de la protección otorgada por la Ciudad de la Ordenanza de Charlotte, la cual se opone a que cualquier gobierno local adopte medidas para proteger a las personas contra la discriminación. Por tanto, esta ley hará más difícil para el campus atraer a los mejores profesores, estudiantes y personal en general. La comunidad deplora la negación a cualquier persona a la protección de la ley debido a su orientación sexual o identidad de género.

Organized opposition to a controversial new law in North Carolina is taking shape, and university students and faculty and staff members are playing a leading role.

On Monday, three individuals, all of whom work for or attend North Carolina colleges, and two advocacy groups sued the state over the law, known as House Bill 2, alleging it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by denying gay and transgender people equal rights.

Last week, North Carolina lawmakers gathered in special section to pass the sweeping legislation, which, among other things, forbids cities and counties from passing ordinances that extend protections to gay and transgender people. As a consequence, critics of the law say, cities like Greensboro or Raleigh cannot take legal steps to, say, prevent businesses from discriminating against gay customers or employees.

House Bill 2 was prompted by an ordinance passed in the state’s most populous city, Charlotte, that allowed transgender people to choose the public restroom consistent with their gender identity, rather than their gender at birth. After the bill was passed and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory, Charlotte’s mayor, Jennifer Roberts, called it “literally the most anti-LGBT legislation in the country.”

Governor McCrory has sought to debunk criticism of the law, saying, for instance, that it does not remove protections for any North Carolina residents. Critics have said assurances like that are patently false.

Organized Opposition

The three individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court, are Joaquín Carcaño, a transgender employee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Payton Grey McGarry, a transgender student at UNC’s Greensboro campus; and Angela Gilmore, a lesbian who is a professor and an associate dean at North Carolina Central University School of Law. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and the nonprofit group Equality North Carolina are also plaintiffs.

“H.B. 2 was motivated by an intent to treat LGBT people differently, and worse, than other people,” the lawsuit reads, in part, “including by stripping them of the protections afforded by the City of Charlotte’s Ordinance and precluding any local government from taking action to protect LGBT people against discrimination.”

Also on Monday, more than 50 Chapel Hill faculty members released a statement on Facebook condemning the law. (The statement clarified that professors were not speaking for the university.)

“The recently passed House Bill 2 makes it impossible for UNC-Chapel Hill and its surrounding communities to protect valued faculty, staff, and students from discrimination simply because of who they are,” the statement reads, adding that the law will make it difficult for the campus to attract the best professors, students, and staff.

According to the organization Campus Pride, Duke University was the first institution to issue a statement on the law, saying, “We deplore any effort to deny any person the protection of the law because of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Here is a partial collection of university statements.

On Saturday, the president of the NCAA, Mark Emmert, said he had spoken with Governor McCrory, and told him the association was committed to fostering an “inclusive” environment at sporting events. He added that he did not threaten to cancel any events scheduled to take place in North Carolina.

Fuente: http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/academics-assail-n-c-law-that-limits-protections-for-lgbt-people/109842

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Bernie Sanders: ¿Hacia un movimiento de masas sin precedentes en EEUU?

marzo 31, 2016Giorgos Mitralias

Yorgos Mitralias/ Publicado por el CADTM

Una interrogación planea a partir de ahora sobre los Estados Unidos de América, y por consiguiente sobre el mundo entero: ¿El sobresalto popular sin precedentes provocado por la campaña de Bernie Sanders podrá transformarse en un movimiento popular organizado que va a sacudir el corazón de la superpotencia imperialista y cambiar el curso de la historia?

Sin duda esta interrogación va a sorprender al lector: ¿Un movimiento popular en EEUU? ¿Y además “organizado”? ¿Que va a sacudir el corazón de la superpotencia imperialista? ¿Pero es posible que tales acontecimientos históricos se produzcan en EEUU y que nadie diga una palabra en Europa? Es absolutamente normal que el lector se muestre incrédulo. No es su culpa si falta tan cruelmente la información: Es víctima de una auténtica campaña de desinformación bien organizada a nivel planetario. Por cierto, no es casualidad que incluso los más entendidos, aquellos que profundizan en las informaciones, no hayan podido enterarse de que un senador americano un poco “excéntrico”, que se presenta como “socialista”, llamado Bernie Sanders, dé sorpresas una detrás de otra y dificulte un poco el camino de Hillary Clinton hacia la “nominación” del Partido Demócrata y hacia… la Casa Blanca. Y punto…

¿Qué diríais entonces si os dijera que des hace meses, este mismo Bernie Sanders no para de proclamar que “esta campaña no es para que Bernie Sanders sea elegido presidente. Es para que se cree en este país un movimiento político popular” . Y como él mismo explica cada día, el objetivo principal -si no exclusivo- de su campaña es extraer de la marginalidad de la vida política y social a los trabajadores y las trabajadoras, jóvenes, minorías nacionales y sexuales oprimidas, a las mujeres, a los agricultores pobres y medios, para que todos y todas juntas tomen consciencia de su enorme fuerza para tomar las riendas de su destino formando parte del “proceso político” ¡y creando un “movimiento de masas” que hará posible la “revolución política” predicada por el senador de Vermont!

Es evidente que todo esto no tiene nada que ver con la imagen simplista, incluso de los más informados de entre nosotros, que limitan el “fenómeno Sanders” a sus sucesivas victorias electorales siempre “imprevisibles” y a la progresión geométrica de su popularidad, la cual hace un año no superaba el 3%, mientras que ¡hoy alcanza el 40-47%! Así que hay que hablar claro: No se trata de ver a Bernie Sanders en la Casa Blanca, una eventualidad totalmente irrealista (porque bastaría una de esas…. balas asesinas que jalonan las tradiciones políticas americanas para que tal “milagro” fuera evitado in extremis), sino de la perspectiva de ver despertarse a la sociedad norteamericana y que se convierta en realidad el movimiento de masas de sus ciudadanos oprimidos y hasta ahora mudos y atomizados.

Evidentemente, la creación de tal movimiento popular organizado constituye una empresa gigantesca y terriblemente difícil. A propósito, su éxito no depende solamente de la buena voluntad y disposición de Bernie Sanders, como él mismo no para de repetir cuando advierte cotidianamente a sus seguidores de no creer en los diversos “salvadores”, sino solamente en sus propias fuerzas: “Estas elecciones no son para Bernie Sanders. Podéis tener el mejor presidente de la historia del mundo -alguien valiente, inteligente y audaz-. Esa persona no estará en condiciones de gestionar con éxito las grandes crisis a las que nos enfrentamos si no hay un movimiento político de masas -una revolución política- en este país” .

Lo que es muy alentador es que ya hay miles de seguidores que sienten la urgencia de tal movimiento independiente y se ponen a ello no sólo en la teoría sino también en la práctica. Así asistimos desde hace meses a la radicalización espectacular de sus partidarios y al aumento continuo del número de quienes se declaran decididos a abandonar el Partido Demócrata (la prensa da cuenta de varias decenas de miles) o que no van a votar a Hillary Clinton ni a otro candidato del “establishment” en el caso de que Bernie Sanders no esté presente en la confrontación final de las elecciones presidenciales. Según un sondeo reciente, ¡representan actualmente un tercio (33%) de los partidarios de Sanders, mientras que no superaban el 14% hace tres meses!

Lo que es aún más importante es que actualmente se multiplican las redes y las estructuras organizativas de toda condición de los partidarios de Sanders que quieren seguir, coordinarse y actuar de manera independiente, incluso después de las elecciones presidenciales. De modo que por fuera de las estructuras organizativas (más o menos “clásicas” en las campañas electorales, pero que en este caso a menudo tienen congresos nacionales con elecciones de delegados de base) reagrupando a todos aquellos que están “con Bernie” como las “Mujeres”, los “Jóvenes”, los “trabajadores”, los “veteranos”, los “Africanos”, los “Latinos”, los “Socialistas” o los “Judíos con Bernie”, los seguidores de Sanders se encuentran también en numerosas organizaciones radicales como por ejemplo “Revuelta contra la Plutocracia” o “Movement4Bernie”. Tanto éstas como las organizaciones preexistentes de extrema izquierda o ecosocialistas, los sindicatos obreros, los movimientos sociales como por ejemplo el potente “Fight for $15” (Lucha por el salario mínimo de 15 dólares) y redes sociales locales de ciudadanos ¡declaran abiertamente que ambicionan dar una continuidad organizativa y movimentista a la campaña de Bernie Sanders!

Según todos los sondeos y otras encuestas sobre su campaña (y las hay por decenas), Bernie Sanders está apoyado por una gran mayoría de ciudadanos de menos de 50 años, ¡y este apoyo se acerca o incluso sobrepasa el 80% en la franja de edad entre 18 y 35 años! Cabe destacar que este apoyo no es pasivo, sino entusiasta y activo. Sin estos jóvenes activistas, la campaña de Bernie Sanders habría sido prácticamente imposible, ya que ha arrancado sin un duro y ha sido casi totalmente ignorado por los medios americanos…

Tras los jóvenes, el segundo gran pilar de la campaña de Bernie Sanders son los trabajadores. Se trata principalmente de “trabajadores blancos” que, en la mayoría de los casos, desconfían de unas burocracias sindicales que han optado o por apoyar a Hillary Clinton, o por permanecer neutrales. No obstante hay que remarcar que muy recientemente, se ha visto crecer espectacularmente la parte de los trabajadores “Latinos” que se han pasado al bando de Sanders, mientras que se asiste a un principio -muy alentador- de emancipación de los trabajadores afroamericanos del “establishment” del Partido Demócrata en el norte industrial del país.

Como afirma la prestigiosa revista americana de izquierdas The Nation (¡fundada en 1865!) en una larga y detallada encuesta centrada en el Estado de Florida, la campaña de Bernie Sanders tiene tres pilares: el movimiento Occupy Wall Street, el ala izquierda del movimiento sindical y los “Progressive Democrats” . Por tanto, no es casualidad que estos “tres pilares” y sus activistas ¡trabajen ya por la transformación de la campaña electoral en movimiento radical de masas independiente del Partido Demócrata! Según el reportaje de The Nation (con un título y un subtítulo evocadores “Vencedora o vencida, la campaña de Sanders está construyendo un movimiento en Florida – Cuando Sanders dice que no se trata de la elección de un presidente, lo piensa realmente, como sus seguidores”), ¡este movimiento está incluso preparándose para presentar a sus propios candidatos a las diversas elecciones locales que se avecinan!…

En general, lo que impresiona al ciudadano de izquierdas europeo acostumbrado desde hace siglos a los mítines -electorales y otros- rutinarios, esqueléticos, indoloros e incoloros de su propia Izquierda, es el extraordinario entusiasmo de los participantes en los mítines de Bernie Sanders, que ¡se cuentan a menudo por decenas de miles! ¡Y hay que tener en cuenta que este Sanders de 74 años (!) ha dado cientos, hasta 4-5 al día, recorriéndose los EEUU de una punta a otra! Se trata, sin duda, de una auténtica explosión popular que combina la combatividad con una emoción debida al hecho de que la gente tiene el sentimiento de participar en un acontecimiento esperado desde hace largo tiempo de dimensiones “históricas”. Y todo esto sin demagogia ni consignas fáciles, sino con un Bernie Sanders dirigiéndose al instinto de clase y a la inteligencia de los participantes y siempre martilleando que no hay que creer en los “salvadores”, sino sólo en la fuerza colectiva de “los de abajo”. |1|

Traduccion: Fatima Martin

Notas

|1| Como siempre es preferible juzgar, aquí van dos enlaces de los discursos de Bernie Sanders. El primero es el vídeo, de una duración de 5,5 minutos, de su rueda de prensa en el Senado americano, a finales de julio de 2015, y dedicada por completo a la crisis de la deuda griega, a la tragedia del pueblo griego, y a sus verdugos, entre los cuales se encuentra el FMI (ver también nuestro artículo de noviembre pasado : http://cadtm.org/Bernie-Sanders-el-Sr-Voutsis-y-el). El segundo vídeo, de una duración de 15 minutos, es de un discurso electoral, como tantos otros, que aclara el contenido y la forma de la campaña de Bernie Sanders. Los dos vídeos están en inglés con subtítulos griegos:

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EE.UU: California aprueba de manera fulminante una subida sin precedentes del salario mínimo

Maestros de Chicago protestan por recortes a la educación.