12/2-3 LA Binational Conference To Cancel NAFTA and Unite Workers Of Mexico and the US
BINATIONAL CONFERENCE PROGRAM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1
• RECEPTION FOR INTERNATIONAL GUEST SPEAKERS / Meet and Greet (7 pm to 9 pm)
[Doubletree Hotel, 2 Civic Plaza Dr. Carson, CA]
* * * * *
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2
[Saturday plenary sessions and workshops all at California State University-Dominguez Hills, Loker Student Union, 3rd Floor, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson, CA]
• REGISTRATION & SIGN-UP FOR WORKSHOPS (9 am to 9:30 am)
• MORNING PLENARY SESSION
(9:30 am to 11 am)
* Chairpersons opening session:
- Nativo Lopez, Senior Adviser, Hermandad Mexicana-La Original
- Ivonne Heinze Balcazar, Director, Department of Modern Languages, CSU-Dominguez Hills; Women’s Caucus Rep, Dominguez Hills chapter of the California Faculty Association, Carson, CA
* Welcoming remarks
- Claudia Mendoza, Executive Board, Dominguez Hills chapter of the California Faculty Association, Carson, CA
* Keynote Speakers
* Rusty Hicks, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (On the fight against NAFTA and for labor rights)
* Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, FLOC, AFL-CIO, Toledo, OH (On the fight against union-busting of FLOC in North Carolina and the JR Reynolds “Vuse” Boycott)
* Ivonne Heinze Balcazar, Director, Department of Modern Languages, CSU-Dominguez Hills; Exec. Bd., CFA CSUDH, Carson, CA (On language & culture in the era of NAFTA)
* Al Rojas, Second Vice Pres., Sacramento LCLAA, AFL-CIO; Founding member and organizer, United Farm Workers (In support of Conference’s main demands)
* Carmen Mata, Representative, Alianza de Organizaciones and SINDJA farmworkers’ union, San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico (On the struggle of the San Quintin farmworkers)
* Victor Enrique Favela Rocha, International Representative, National Telephone Workers Union of the Mexican Republic and UNT, Mexico (On the fight against NAFTA and Privatizations in Mexico)
* Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, Immigration attorney; Director, Community Empowerment (On the fight against deportations and the Wall of Shame, and for Papers for All and a Clean DREAM act)
* Maria Rivera, Asamblea Popular de Tijuana, Mexico (On behalf of the Mexican BinationaL Conference Mexico Organizing Committee)
* Scott Houldieson, Vice President, UAW 551, Chicago; Convener, Workers Solidarity Action Network (On the struggle against NAFTA and for trade union rights in the US)
PLUS
- Greetings from San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico, farmworker leaders via skype, and
- Greetings from Binational Conference Organizing Committee, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, via skype
* * * * * * * * * * * *
• FIRST SESSION OF WORKSHOPS
(11:15 am to 12:45 pm)
Three concurrent workshops
1) The Fight to Cancel NAFTA, CAFTA and all bilateral “free trade” agreements — and cross-border organizing: Next steps
* Luis Carlos Haro, OPT Tijuana, Coordinator, Bina
* William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara
• Alan Benjamin, Representation, San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
* Yesenia Portillo, LA CISPES
* Juan José Bocanegra, El Comité, Seattle, WA
* * *
2) The Fight Against the Privatization of Public Education in the U.S. and Mexico
* Rosemary Lee, Tri-National Coalition Against Privatization of Education, United Teachers of Los Angeles
* Leonor Marisela Ortega Domínguez, Professor, UABC, Mexicali, Mexico
* Michael Dominguez, UTLA Substitute Teacher
* Junnie Verceles, UTLA chair Unjustly Housed Teachers Committee
* Dean Murakami, President, Los Rios College Federation of Teachers AFT 2279; Vice President, Sacramento Central Labor Council
* * *
3) The Fight Against the Wall of Shame & Deportations, for a Clean Dream Act, and in defense of Temporary Protective Status for Central American and Caribbean refugees
* Melina Juarez, PhD candidate Political Science; Raza Graduate Student Association, University of New Mexico
* Angela Sanbrano, CARECEN; Central American refugee and anti-CAFTA organizer
* Xochilt Sanchez, LA CISPES
* Sergio Trujillo, DACA recipient, Hermandad Mexicana
* Carlos Arango, CASA Aztlan, Chicago
• LUNCH (12:45 pm to 2 pm)
• SECOND SESSION OF WORKSHOPS
(2 pm to 3:30 pm)
Three concurrent workshops
4) The Struggle for Women’s Rights in the Era of NAFTA
* Maria Rosa Ibarra, UFCW, Los Angeles
* María Rivera, Asamblea Popular de Tijuana, Mexico
* Rose Rangel Vergara, Exec. Bd., National LCLAA; President, California State LCLAA (AFL-CIO)
* Rosario Ramirez, SEIU United Service Workers West, Sacramento, CA
* Carmen Mata, Alianza de Organizaciones, San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico
* * *
5) The Struggle for Labor Rights and Unionization on Both Sides of the Border (fight against the labor “reform” and union-busting in Mexico; & the fight to stop “right to work”, Janus and ICE in the U.S.)
* Carlos Taboada, Retired UTR Teacher, Richmond, CA
* David Huerta, SEIU, Justice for Janitors
* Chloe Osmer, Organizing Director,, LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
* Fátima García, Secretary, Sacramento LCLAA; member, SEIU USWW
* Maquiladora worker, Cd. Juarez, Chihuaha, Mexico
* * *
6) The Fight for Quality Public Healthcare on both sides of the border (halting and reversing the privatization of IMSS and ISSSTE in Mexico; defense of Medicaid and fight for single payer in the U.S.)
* Karen Bernal, Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party; community activist, Sacramento, CA
* Desiree Rojas, President, Sacramento LCLAA (AFL-CIO)
* Jerry Levinsky, member, SEIU 509; Steering Committee, Labor Fightback Network, Amherst, MA
* Leonardo Olivares Marin, OPT Tijuana
* * * * * * * * * *
• THIRD SESSION OF WORKSHOPS
(3:45 pm to 5:15 pm)
Three concurrent workshops
7) The Nuts and Bolts of Organizing Boycotts, Nationally and Internationally: The Driscoll’s Boycott and the “Vuse” JR Reynolds Boycott
* Baldemar Velasquez, President, FLOC, AFL-CIO
* Al Rojas, Vice President, LCLAA Sacramento chapter
* María Cervantes, Rep., Fresno Boycott Committee
* Francisco Chavez Romero, Unión del Barrio, San Diego, CA
* Juan Martinez, Farmworker, San Quintin, México
* * *
8) The Youth Struggle in the Era of NAFTA & “Free Trade”
* Erick Campana, Student, UABC - Mexicali, Mexico
* Fernando Buitimea, Students in Defense of Public Education, Tijuana, Mexico
* Emiliano Raya Aguilar, MIR, México
* Student activists from CSU Fullerton
* * *
9) NAFTA, the Environment, & Workers’ Health and Safety
* Roman Ortiz - Movimiento en Defensa del Parque Benito Juárez - Tijuana
* Susana Prieto Terrazas, Attorney, organizer, Maquiladora Workers, Ciudad Juarez, México
* Diana Arangure, Mexicali Resiste!
* Steve Zeltzer, CWA Pacific Media Workers Guild, Chair, Human Rights Committee
* * * * * * * * * *
• SATURDAY EVENING PLENARY SESSION
(5:30 pm to 7 pm)
[Second set of keynote speakers, interspersed with Reports from the 9 Workshops, focused on action proposals emanating from workshops. Each workshop will select a note-taker who will present the conclusions of the workshop; Discussion and Implementation of Workshop Decisions will be Sunday, Dec. 3]
* Second Plenary Session chairpersons
* Desiree Rojas, Pres., Sacramento LCLAA, AFL-CIO
* Alan Benjamin, Representative, San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO
* Keynote Speakers:
* Stan Santos, Exec. Bd and representative, Fresno Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
* Olga Miranda, President, SEIU Local 87, San Francisco
* Dean Murakami, President, Los Rios College Federation of Teachers AFT 2279; Vice President, Sacramento Central Labor Council
* William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology and Global and International Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara
* Susana Prieto Terrazas, Attorney, organizer, maquiladora workers, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
* Steve Zeltzer, United Public Workers for Action; Workers Solidarity Action Network, San Francisco
* Jim Lafferty, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild-Los Angeles
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3
* Action Plan Plenary Session (9:30 am to 1 pm)
[Union Hall of United Steelworkers of America, 1200 E. 220th Street -
Carson, Calif.]
— Implementation of Action Campaigns from 9 Workshops: Next steps — and excerpts from written messages to conference from:
- Canada
- Haiti
- Peru
- Ecuador
- Chile
- Brazil
* Closing Comments by Conference Co-Chairpersons
* * * * *
ORGANIZATIONAL ENDORSEMENTS
Initial Conference Call issued by 100 prominent unionists & activists in Mexico and the U.S. (for full list, see attachment or go to www.binationalcampaign.org)
Organizational endorsements (partial list): Hermandad Mexicana-La Original; Sacramento LCLAA (AFL-CIO); Asociaciones de Organizaciones por la Justicia Social (San Quintin); Farm Labor Organizing Committee, (FLOC, AFL-CIO); Sindicato Nacional de Jornaleros Agrícolas (SINDJA), México; Sacramento Labor Council (AFL-CIO); San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME); Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT); Sindicato Nacional de Telefonistas de la República Mexicana; California State Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA-AFL-CIO); California Faculty Association CSU Dominguez Hills; Comité Promotor Mexicano de la Conferencia Binacional (sede Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas); Department of Modern Languages, CSU Dominguez Hills; UAW Local 551; Labor Fightback Network; OPT Tijuana; The Organizer; SEIU 1000; Fresno Central Labor Council; Haiti Liberté; Asociación de Padres por una Educación de Calidad, Tijuana; Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste de México; Workers Solidarity Action Network; Coordinadora Nacional de Petroleros Mexicanos, Villahermosa, Tabasco; Comisión Promotora de la Nueva Central de Trabajadores Sur Sureste de México.
* * * * *
INITIAL ENDORSERS OF THE BINATIONAL CONFERENCE IN THE UNITED STATES:
• Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO), Toledo, OH; • Alan Benjamin, Member, Continuations Committee, Mumbai Conference Against War & Exploitation, Delegate, SF Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; • Eduardo Rosario, President, New York City Labor Council for, Latin American Advancement (AFL-CIO), Brooklyn, NY; • Nativo Lopez, Senior Advisor, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional “La Original”, Los Angeles, CA; • Chris Silvera, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 808 International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Long Island City, NY; • Nancy Wohlforth, Sec.- retary-Treasurer Emerita, OPEIU, Washington, DC; • Al Rojas, LCLAA-Sacramento AFL-CIO, Sacramento, CA; • Saladin Muhammad, Southern Workers Assembly, Rocky Mount, NC; • Colia Clark, National Coordinator, Judicial Violence Symposium, Harlem, NY; • William I. Robinson, Professor of Global and International Studies, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA; • Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center, New York, NY; • Erin McKee, President, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Mt. Pleasant, SC; • Joe Lombardo, Co-Coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Delmar, NY; • Itzel Medina, Immigrant rights organizer, San Francisco, CA; • Clarence Thomas, Past Secretary-Treasurer (retired), ILWU Local 10, Co-chair, Million Worker March Movement, Oakland, CA; • Rodrigo Toscano, Labor Institute / United Steelworkers, National Projector Director for Health, Safety, and Environment, New Orleans, LA; • Donna Dewitt, President Emeritus, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Swansea, SC; • Katherine Black, Co-Convener, US Labor Against the War, Philadelphia, PA; • David Swanson, Director of World Beyond War, Campaign Coordinator of RootsAction.org, Charlottesville, VA; • Nnamdi Lumumba, State Organizer, Ujima People’s Progress Party, Baltimore, MD; • Gene Bruskin, Co-Founder, USLAW; trade unionist, Silver Spring, MD; • Jim Lafferty, Executive Director Emeritus, National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles, CA; • Mary Prophet, Member, USLAW Nat’l Steering Committee, Delegate, Alameda County Labor Committee, Berkeley, CA; • Ralph Schoenman, Taking Aim, Vallejo, CA; • Mya Shone, Taking Aim, Vallejo, CA; • Allan Fisher, AFT 2121 delegate to , San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; • Traven Leyshon, President, Green Mountain Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Montpelier, VT; • Julia John, Ujima People’s Progress Party, Baltimore, MD; • Laurence H. Shoup, UAW 1981 ret., Oakland, CA; • Melina Juárez, Ph.D Candidate, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; • Dennis Gallie, UAW 249 retired member, Kansas City, MO; • Rodger Scott, Past President, AFT 2121, Current Executive Board Member & Delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, CA; • Jerry Levinsky, Steering Committee, Labor Fightback Network, Member, SEIU 509, Amherst, MA; • Haldon C. Sutton, Executive Board Member at Large, SW Florida UAW Retired Workers Council (for id only), North Port, FL; • Larry Duncan, CWA 14408 (Retired), Chicago, IL; • James M. Wallrabenstein, Social Justice Activist, Spokane, WA; • Lindsay Curtis, Editorial Board, The Organizer Newspaper, Sacramento, CA; • Elizabeth C Wright, Social justice activist, San Francisco, CA; • Steve Early, Member, Richmond Progressive Alliance, and Pacific Media Workers Guild/ News Guild/CWA, Richmond, CA; • Thomas Bias, National Secretary, Labor Fightback Network, Flanders, NJ; • Gayle McLaughlin, Former Mayor of Richmond, CA and Candidate for Lt. Governor of California 2018, Richmond, CA; • Timothy Stinson, Socialist Organizer, Albany, OR; • Don Bryant, Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, President, Cleveland, OH; • C.T. Weber, Peace and Freedom Party of California, Legislative Committee Chair, Sacramento, CA; • Rolando Revilla Jr., FLOC, Toledo, OH; • Julian Kunnie, First Nations Enforcement Agency, Tucson, AZ; • Mark Weber, Social justice activist, Cleveland, OH; • Dan Kaplan , Executive Secretary, AFT Local 1943, the San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, San Mateo, CA ; • Michael Carano, Teamsters Local 348, retired, Tallmadge, OH; • Carol E Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council, Brick, NJ; • Jeffrey Segal, National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320, Louisville, KY; • David Walters, Member, IBEW 1245 (retired), San Francisco, CA; • Millie Phillips, Steering Committee, Labor Fightback Network, Oakland, CA; • Todd Jelen, Member, American Federation of Musicians (AFL-CIO), Brook Park, OH; • Sarah-Emily Carter, Administration Assistant, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Swansea, SC; • Mary Findley, Vice Chair, Lorain County Forward, Amherst, OH; • Cindy Fanderys, Peace Action (retiree), Cleveland, OH; • Cindy Sheehan, Executive Director, Cindy Sheehan Soapbox, Vacaville, CA; • Bill Shields, Member, AFT 2121, San Francisco, CA; • Barry Hermanson, SF Green Party, San Francisco, CA. • Jeff Mackler, Socialist Action.
INITIAL ENDORSERS OF THE BINATIONAL CONFERENCE IN MEXICO:
• Luis Carlos Haro, OPT Tijuana, Coordinador Campaña Binacional en México; • Alianza de Organizaciones Nacional Estatal y Municipal por la Justicia Social, San Quintin, Baja California; • Sindicato Independiente Nacional de Jornaleros Agrícolas (SINDJA); • Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste, A.C; • Fidel Sanchez, Secretario General, Alianza, San Quintin, BC; • Bonifacio Martínez Cruz, Dirigente, Alianza, San Quintin, BC; • Lorenzo Rodriguez Jimenez, Secretario General, SINDJA; • Venustiano Cruz Hernández, Dirigente, Alianza, San Quintin, BC; • Octavio Angel Lopez, Dirigente, Alianza, San Quintin, BC; • Fernando Serrano Monroy, Secretario General del Sindicato Único Independiente de los Colegios de Bachilleres de Chiapas SUITCOBACH; • Fernanda Justo, OPT Jalisco; • Mario Roldán Robledo, Dirigente del Consejo Central de Lucha de la Sección 40 SNTE – CNTE; • Muriel Gómez, Dirigente del Consejo Central de Lucha de la Sección 40 SNTE – CNTE; • Daniel Gómez Mesa, Nueva Central de Trabajadores Sindicalista de la Sección 7 del SNTE- CNTE, región Frontera Comalapa; • Daniel Martínez Velasco, Comisión promotora de la Nueva Central de Trabajadores sur sureste de México; • Raúl Drouvalliet Patiño, Coordinadora Nacional de Petroleros Mexicanos, Villahermosa, Tabasco; • Mario Díaz Ortega, Coordinadora en Defensa de PEMEX, Minatitlán, Veracruz; • José Raúl Calleja Lacorti, Coordinadora Estatal Democrática de la Sección 50 de SNTSA; • Susana Prieto Terrazas, Asociación Obrer@s Maquiler@s de Ciudad Juárez y Movimiento de Resistencia Civil del Estado de Chihuahua; • Fredy Rodríguez Méndez, sindicalista Sección 7 SNTE- CNTE; • Roger Cerda Medina, Secretario de Organización de la Delegación D-IV 9 Jubilados y Pensionados; • Carlos Misael Palma López, CORCI México; • Melquiades Velueta Velueta, Coordinadora Democrática de la Salud, Sección 50, SNTSA, región Palenque, Chiapas; • Russel Aguilar Brindis, Secretario General Delegacional Escuelas Secundarias Técnicas, Sección VII SNTE-CNTE; • Gilberto Montes Vázquez, OPT Chiapas; • Wilner Metelus, Presidente del Comité Ciudadano de Defensa de los Naturalizados y Afroamexicanos; • Hugo Castro Vázquez, Coordinador de la organización Ángeles sin Fronteras en Baja California; • Mónica Acosta Zamora, National Political Campaign for the Freedom of Ramsey Muñíz; • Unión General de Obreros y Campesinos de México Bandera Roja; • Guillermo Almeyra, escritor y periodista; • Sara Fernández, Grupo Gestor Águilas de Baja California, Tijuana; • Cirilo Gómez, profesor Tecate; • Asociación de Padres por una Educación de Calidad, Tijuana; • Ubaldo Rosas Valladeres, Jornalero Agrícola San Quintín; • Alejandra Rivera Arvizu, OPT Tijuana; • María Rivera, OPT Tijuana; • Joaquín Torres, OPT Tijuana; • Christian Santana, Estudiantes en Defensa de la Educación Pública; • Juan Carlos Vargas, CORCI México; • Jesús Casillas Arredondo, OPT Mexicali; • Carlos Rosales, Profesor de UABC; • Manuel Hernández, Profesor de preparatoria, BC; • Abril Angélica Rodríguez Martínez, activista en el movimiento feminista y en defensa del agua, Mexicali, Baja California; • Juan Antonio Avalos Rojas, STUNAM; • Eduardo Félix, Estudiante San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora; • Erick Omar Jimenez Campaña, estudiante UABC; • Liliana Plumeda, OPT Mexicali; • Marco Morales, Activista de Mexicali Resiste; • Teresa Saavedra Talavera, Partido Popular Socialista de México; • Laura Benítez, Movimiento Ateo Feminista Internacional; • Emiliano Raya Aguilar, Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria; • Ismael Ruiz, Asistente de Investigación.
(Note: All titles & organizations for individuals are listed for identification only.)
