Green Party candidate slate banner at West Indian Day Parade

.@NYGovCuomo. Labor Day $15 hr min wage, full employment through 100% clean energy by 2030. http://t.co/6is8CeZMCN pic.twitter.com/qUi2BJdlVx

— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) September 1, 2014

Global Supermarket in Jackson Heights reopens, but union workers were not rehired

HAPPENING NOW : Protest at Global Supermarket in Jackson Heights ; owner fired all workers before Christmas. pic.twitter.com/lvLNyU96wK

— Bold Progress NYC (@boldprogressnyc) January 30, 2014

About 2 dozen union members, neighborhood residents, and members of Occupy Queens stood outside the new Global Supermarket at 75-07 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens, to protest this morning the new supermarket owner, who refused to rehire former supermarket employees. The supermarket changed hands after the former owner, then operating under the name of Trade Fair, fired all of its employees and shut down right before Christmas in an ultimate act of union-busting against its employees.

Union employees at Trade Fair had been demanding better working conditions, and the supermarket had become the site of many demonstrations last year. Some of last year's demonstrations had even attracted mayoral candidates, including former Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who spoke at one protest last April :

Because the labor problems have dragged on from the previous owner to the successive owner at the Jackson Heights location, it was important to former Trade Fair employees that Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens) showed up this morning in a sign of solidarity with the former employees.

Some activists, including Congressman Crowley, distributed flyers, informing the community about the corrupt actions of the new supermarket owner. Other activists collected signatures on a petition, demanding that Global Supermarket rehire the former Trade Fair workers. Some of the former Trade Fair employees had been members of a local service union, Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW.

During this morning's protest, few neighbors walked in Global Supermarket. If local residents continue to express their disapproval with the new owner, perhaps the new owner will make the commercially-responsible decision : to rehire the former Trade Fair employees ? Otherwise, the store may fail anew -- and end up closed, for good.

Black Friday Mic Check at Maryland Walmart

From Occupy Wall Street :

According to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, 1,000 protests occurred at Walmart stores across 46 states, with hundreds of workers walking off the job in an unprecedented decentralized, open-source strike at the retail giant.

David Tovar, the Vice President for Communications, spoke with Carol Costello from CNN on Tuesday, November 20, before the Black Friday actions took place across the nation.

Line Clogging Demonstration At Golden Farm (Nov. 21)

On the busy day before Thanksgiving, activists demonstrated for union rights at Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

The owner of a YouTube channel called Matt H. posted this video yesterday of a direct action demonstration in support of employees, who want to unionise at the Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

On November 21, I stopped by a picket being held outside the Golden Farm grocery store on Church Ave and 4th St. The group was picketing in support of workers rights and union benefits. Their demands were : fair pay and compensation for when they made below minimum wage ; holidays off ; and personal days off. The majority of the time was spent with a picket outside the store. About 12 Minutes were spent inside the store doing what was called a "line clog." It was hilarious...

Among the activists, who took part in this demonstration, were members of OccuEvolve.

The History and Effects of Trade Unions in the United States (Google Affiliate Ad)

Chicago Teachers Union Closer To Going On Strike

From The Chicago Tribune :

The Chicago Teachers Union filed a 10-day strike notice on Wednesday in an attempt to put additional pressure on Chicago Public Schools negotiators in ongoing contract talks.

At a packed news conference Wednesday, CTU president Karen Lewis accused CPS leaders and the mayor of engaging in a "smear campaign" against teachers, raising the possibility for the city's first teachers' strike in 25 years. ...

Read more : Chicago Teachers Union files 10-day strike notice

Occupy Saks 5th Avenue A7

#OccupySaks

On Tuesday, August 7th, over 100 people in New York City, representing Occupy Wall Street, Dos Paises Una Voz (2 places one voice), Yo Soy 132 (Mexico's student movement) and other Labor Activists will occupy Saks Fifth Avenue, in protest of Carlos Slim, who has been designated "the 1% of the 1%."

RSVP at the Facebook Invite : OccupySaks 5th Avenue

Slim is the world's richest man, the largest stakeholder in Saks Fifth Avenue, and has been accused of overcharging impoverished Mexicans by over $129 billion as owner of Mexico's largest phone company. What better way to protest predatory greed by taking over his Fifth Avenue store?

If you're going to be in the NYC area on Tuesday, August 7, meet at Est 50th St. and Fifth Avenue at 4:30 PM.

Use the hash tag : #OccupySaks

Sean Hoare Karen Silkwood

Whistle-Blower in Phone-Hacking Case Reportedly Found Dead

Sean Hoare, a former News of the World journalist who claimed that Andy Coulson, the tabloid’s former editor, knew about and encouraged phone hacking, was found dead on Monday, The Guardian reports.

Meanwhile, Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American labor union activist and chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, United States. Silkwood's job was making plutonium pellets for nuclear reactor fuel rods. She died under mysterious circumstances after investigating claims of irregularities and wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plant.