BARACK OBAMA'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECHDemoratic National Convetion Denver Colorado 08/28/2008

In case you missed it in it's entirety we present Senator Obama's acceptance speech Democratic National Committee Convention.

Here is the transcript

THAKS TO JOKIMO FOR THE SUGGESTION!

WILL_I_AM JOHN LEGEND AND THE AGAPE CHOIRPERFORM "YES WE CAN"

Somehow in a live setting with a partisan crowd of 75,000 people in attendance, this song that swept the Internet a few short months ago has added power. Will.I.Am and John Legend pull this off by including the voices of the Agape Choir and those of the assembled crowd, It is a live remake that is informed by the now famous original of "Yes We Can."

An interesting side note this song inspired by the New Hampshire concession speech by Senator Obama has garnered a staggering 9,250,000 hits on YouTube. 

Senator Biden in his acceptance speech made a reference to his childhood and how his parents told him how to deal with defeat. "Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware. With a dad who fell on hard economic times, but who always told me: "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Get up." video and transcript

All I have to say is Yes We Can! if we make it our personal responsibility to get out there and work hard and not expect that it will be some other person who will shoulder our weight. Yes We Can! If we make concrete statements to those we work with and folks in our communities about what is at stake in this election. Yes We Can! If we join with others in our towns and cites across this nation and say it is time we put aside our divisions. Yes We Can! If we don't let the stupidity of race hated and economic divisions blind us to our common interest. Yes We Can! if we move to unite this country and move forward, not look back at our differences. Yes We Can! if we work in our common self interest to create good jobs, provide health care and make it possible for our children to be given a world class 21st century education. The time is now - we can do this great work. Yes We Can! if we use every day in the next few months to learn the issues and make sense out of them for our families and our neighbors. Ladies and gentleman Yes We Can! take our country back!

OBAMA "I BELIEVE IN UNIONS"

From our friends over @ Joe's Union Review" Senator Obama Explains why he believes in unions.

Trumka on the Race... issue

"I’m not one for quoting dead philosophers, but back in the 1700s, Edmund Burke said: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

"Well, there’s no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism -- and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.

"It’s our special responsibility because we know, better than anyone else, how racism is used to divide working people.

"We’ve seen how companies set worker against worker -- how they throw whites a few extra crumbs off the table -- and how it’s black and Latino workers who get the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs. "

Richard Trumka Secretary-Treasurer AFL-CIO


See Also:

August 4, 2008
Majority of Americans Say Racism Against Blacks Widespread

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds most Americans saying racism is widespread against blacks in the United States. This includes a slim majority of whites (51%), a slightly higher 59% of Hispanics, and the vast majority of blacks (78%).

Analysis: Impact of Personal Characteristics on Candidate Support

Union Plus Offers Tools to Address Debt, Build Credit

The nation’s slumping economy, rising joblessness and tightening credit crunch have hit millions of working families, and those who are riding out the storm have put worries about the economy at the top of their anxiety list.
Where can union families go for advice to help shield them from credit disasters or help pull them from stormy economic seas? Click on over to Union Plus. Along with its credit education advice and debt management sections, Union Plus now offers a downloadable Smart Credit Strategies PowerPoint presentation with audio that union members can view on their own and union leaders can show at local meetings. -- M O R E --

ROLL THE UNION ON!Join The Labor Heritage/Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus!

The Labor Heritage/Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus! WEB PAGE

Sing out for peace and justice with our dynamic chorus!

Fall Session 2008

San Francisco Community College, 

Phelan Campus
Thursdays, 6:30-9:30pm, starting on August 21, 2008

Room 216, Creative Arts Building
Chorus members earn 1 credit in Labor Studies (LABR 98A, CRN 77220; 98B, CRN 77221; or 98C 78518) or Music (MUS 48A, CRN 75697; MUS 48B, CRN 76213; or MUS 48C, CRN 77971). To enroll: (415) 452-0600 or www.ccsf.org. New students must go to City College to register.

Or, Laney College, Oakland
Every other Saturday, beginning on August 23, 2008
(August 23, September 6 & 20, October 4 & 18, November 1, 15, & 22, December 6)

12:30pm, 900 Fallon St, Room A152
Labor Studies 214 (code 46480). Register in the first class or in advance at Admissions & Records (Room A-109), by phone at (510) 208-7225, or online at www.PeraltaColleges.org.

The chorus repertoire consists of songs about work from a variety of cultures, including gospel, folk, South African, and Norteño. Conductor Pat Wynne is a voice teacher, a composer, a performer, and a member of Locals 6 & 1000 of the American Federation of Musicians. Everyone is welcome.

For information: (415) 550-4380 or 239-3641 (SF);
(510) 464-3210 (Oakland); or (415) 648-3457 (Pat Wynne)

“If you really want to roll the union along, come and join the union in song!”
–Walter Johnson, Secretary Treasurer, emeritus, SF Labor Council

A call to action from the Courage Campaign

GET ON THE CALL!

A Courage Campaign/CREDO Mobile Conversation: Join Tuesday's conference call with Controller John Chiang and Rep. Hilda Solis

Watch the video featuring SEIU Local 1000 members directly affected by the Governor's wage cuts

Controller Chiang and Rep. Hilda Solis will be joining Courage Campaign and CREDO Mobile members for a conference call, Tuesday, August 5, from 6-7 p.m.

Controller John Chiang is a hero for refusing to comply with the devastating Executive Order Governor Schwarzenegger signed last Thursday.

To thank him for his courage, we are teaming up with CREDO Mobile to host a special conference call with Controller Chiang and our good friend Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Los Angeles), the lead author of a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger condemning the wage cuts signed by 27 California members of Congress.

After Controller Chiang and Rep. Solis speak for a few minutes there will be an opportunity to ask questions (as usual, we will be using a mix of questions submitted in advance and live questions from those who join the call). To increase the chances of your question being asked, please submit a question for Controller Chiang and Rep. Solis in the form field below.

Space is limited, so please fill out the form below to RSVP ASAP. We will contact you via email with the conference call dial-in information.

We look forward to having you on the call!

[UPDATE]: SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker will also be joining the call and taking questions

SEIU just sued the Governor over the wage cuts. Yvonne Walker will give us an update on the legal fight and how their members just like Controller Chiang are fighting back.

THE LABOR MOVEMENT THE FOLKS THAT BROUGHT YOU...

Using a classic style the poster above, is a reminder of all of the benefits that the labor movement has brought us. Through our sacrifices and struggles working folks have created a better world for everyone. It is easy to forget the child miners at the turn of the last century. It is so simple to forget a time when grown men and women risked life and limb every time they entered their factory, sweatshop, or mine. It is sad to remember that many of these things continue to this day -- with a billion dollar industry designed to take back what we have won.

Sometimes it is only through art that we can convey the essence of powerful ideas. Art can cut through the fast talk and.. slick mental gymnastics. Art can cut through the details that often hide the facts. Though they have their place -- all of the speeches, white papers and emails sometimes pale in comparison to the directness of the artist. Through art we can rip through the meaningless clutter that surrounds us in talk radio and talking head media. We are caught in an invisible web, tracked and then catered to. Our desires form patterns, they scream from the world wide shopping mall. 

But the artist who can create a catchy song, a powerful photograph, a well designed poster these works can grip and inspire us all to do things thought impossible. Art can focus our thinking like no other human activity. It can help us cut through to the core of our beliefs. Will the Circle be Unbroken, Which Side Are You On,  Keep  Your Eyes On Prize? Unlike the web that traps you in isolation, these works pull you in and ask you to come and be with your brothers and sisters making this a more just world.

An inspired artist has handed us a memory tool of where we have been and where we have to go. The quote by Frederick Douglass the famous abolitionist, ties it all together, "Power Conceedes Nothing Without a Demand." This beautiful poster belongs in your break room on the job, or in a well trafficked place in your home.

It is distributed by RLM ARTS As they say:

"The social gains of humanity did not invent themselves and will not defend themselves. Only organized people can do that."

Full range of bright colors. Laser print.
Item Number: 513
Artist: Ricardo Levins Morales
Size: 17 X 22
Price:$ 18.95

SEIU Local 1000 Fights Wage Cuts Unviels Multy Pronged Response

Sacramento, CA
Representing more than 95,000 of the states 200,000 public employees SEIU Local 1000 California''s largest public employee union vowed to Fight Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's cutbacks on many fronts:
- Filing a lawsuit
- Rolling out a massive media campaign
and much -M O R E-

SEIU is urging their members and supporters to contact the governor's office. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Email Form. Main phone number 916-445-2841
Use this link for statewide contact information

---

See Also: Union sues to reverse state layoffs
LA Times
Labor union challenges Schwarzenegger layoff order
Associated Press
SEIU files suit to block pay cut for state workers
Sacramento Business Journal

Impact of Budget Delay on Paychecks . New California Web Site

Photograph Copyright David Bacon

08/01/2008 - Sacramento, CA
In an effort to explain the the impact of his recent move to cut California State Employee minimum wages and to lay off temporary workers to meet budget shortfalls governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has posted a new web site: DPA Impact of Budget Delay on Paychecks

From the site:
"July 31, 2008 - The Governor today issued an Executive Order terminating the services of many temporary state employees. The Order also directs DPA and the Department of Finance to work with the State Controller to comply with a California Supreme Court ruling to pay minimum wage to certain state employees in the absence of a budget.

Does this Executive Order affect me?

"Your Personnel Office will issue you a notice terminating your services if you are one of the temporary employees affected by this Order. You should talk with your personnel office if you have questions about your employment status.

"Regarding minimum wage payments, employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act would be subject to the minimum wage requirements of the Supreme Court's ruling. We will provide more updates on this page at a later date.

"Please be assured that these actions in no way reflect your value to the State and the importance of the work you do. We greatly appreciate your public service and sincerely regret that budget circumstances and legal requirements compel us to take these steps"

... That last paragraph sounds a little disingenuous to me, but I guess I have picked up a little of the cynicism of the day.

- More -

See also The LA Times Report Schwarzenegger makes layoffs, orders pay cuts for California state workers

Stop Arnold from Slashing CA State Workers' Wages

Produced by:
CourageCampaign
pssst! This video!

Imagine trying to pay your bills on $6.55 an hour. Now imagine what will happen to over 200,000 vital service workers forced to live on poverty-level wages.

On Monday, July 28, the Courage Campaign delivered the signatures of 28,016 outraged Californians to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it's not over. Arnold is still threatening to slash worker pay.

So take action today: www.couragecampaign.org

See: The History of the California minimum Wage

See: Fraying At the Edges From Calitics