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By jwjnational, on August 16th, 2011
 Today, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and others including Jobs with Justice made public an authoritative report condemning the Secure Communities deportation program and recommending its termination.
The report includes testimony from former District Attorney of New York Robert Morgenthau, heads of law enforcement, and victims of Secure Communities like Isaura in Los Angeles whose 911 call for help resulted in her deportation proceedings.
In contrast to the DHS appointed taskforce which has failed to enlist the voices of affected communities, scholars, or critics on the subject, this report constitutes a real deliberative and representative review of the program.
The report recommends that the Secure Communities be terminated, that the current OIG investigation of S-Comm be expanded to all ICE Access programs, that the Department of Justice begin its own investigation into the mysterious role of the FBI in Secure Communities, and that states not be compelled to share biometric data with ICE.
The following statement can be attributed to the National Community Advisory Commission
“This report confirms what immigrant communities have long known.
Continue reading Authoritative National Report Condemns Secure Communities Program
By Chris Hicks, on April 12th, 2011
 By Hanan Nicola Bumpus
Inspired by the recent activity by citizens in Wisconsin, the UMass Amherst community gathered on Tuesday April 5th in solidarity along, with over 222 campuses, for a national teach-in. These students and other community members came together in order to learn about issues that are relevant to them, and how to organize, fight back, and take back their rights.
Issues that were addressed included the recent economic crisis, the targeting of workers unions by politicians, and the ever increasing tuition and fees that students are facing. Local celebrities, such as Communications professor Sut Jhally, Michael Thelwell, who is the founding chair of the Afro-American department, Dan Clawson from the Sociology department, Gerald Friedman and David Kotz from the economics department, and former SGA president Malcolm Chu, among others, came out to address these issues and inform the student body.
Melissa Urban, a senior at UMass and an organizer with CEPA, spoke about a very salient issue for her, student debt. “[Many students] are leaving school with mortgage-sized student loans but no hope of finding a job… We need to have our voices heard”.
Students walked away with
Continue reading UMass Amherst Community Solidarity with Workers – Participates in National Teach-In
By Chris Hicks, on April 8th, 2011
 On Monday, April 4th, over 200 students from University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver participated in a walkout and rally in support of labor and education. The action was in conjunction with the April 4th “We Are One” National Day of Action that SLAP, Jobs with Justice, and United States Student Association all actively participated in as a response to the recent attack on workers and students across the country.
In Colorado, two anti-worker bills earlier this February:
Senate Bill 12, by Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, would have prohibited public entities from collectively bargaining with a labor union, or an employee association from acting as a bargaining agent for public employees.
Senate Bill 38, by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, would have prohibited an employee organization from being officially recognized as the exclusive representative of state employees, barred the state from negotiating with an employee organization to create an employee partnership agreement, and terminated any existing partnership agreements.
At a time when workers’ rights are under attack around the country, many students
Continue reading 200+ Denver Students Stage Walkout for Labor & Education
By Chris Hicks, on March 30th, 2011
By Curtis Hierro
March 19th through the 22nd, students from around the country gathered in D.C. for the United States Students Association’s 42nd annual Grassroots Legislative Conference. Over 400 students were able to attend workshops, hear speakers and march on the capital for National Student Lobby Day. This conference was more important than ever as campuses across the country are being forced to confront budget cuts that threaten our educational system and the very stability of America’s working class.
The Student Labor Action Project (a joint project between USSA and Jobs with Justice) gave workshops on media techniques, fundraising tactics and the importance of building ties between students and labor.
Labor was well represented throughout the four day event. The first woman Secretary-Treasurer for the Wisconsin state AFL-CIO, Stephanie Bloomingdale, ignited the crowd on the conference’s opening night, speaking of the importance of students partnering with labor to take on the corporate-political power structure. Stephanie dismantled the “ideology” behind Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on labor unions, identifying him as nothing more than a corporate sponsored puppet. Stephanie’s speech was great in articulating the integral role of labor unions in our democracy, as she said: “Collective bargaining is not only a
Continue reading USSA’s Legislative Conference Focuses in on Labor
By Chris Hicks, on March 25th, 2011
National Teach-in on Debt, Austerity and How People Are Fighting Back Tuesday, April 5th, 2011, at 2:00 PM
Wall Street Banks, American corporations and their political allies have declared a one-sided war on the American people. This war is being waged at our schools and colleges, on public employee unions, in our workplaces and in our communities.
Today, Americans are working harder and earning less while corporate profits soar. Homeowners, consumers and students are seeing their wealth being stripped away by banks. Our government plunges into debt waging trillion dollar wars. Meanwhile, our infrastructure erodes, climate change proceeds unchecked, our schools, daycare centers, senior facilities, clinics, parks and emergency services are all starved while corporations and elites get billions in tax breaks!
“Austerity” policies falsely suggest that spending on social needs is the reason why governments– at all levels– are facing massive budget short falls. NO! Our debt and deficit problems are a direct result of corporate tax breaks and extortionist bank practices that have lead to a scandalous and unprecedented transfer of wealth– from hardworking Americans to the richest segments of US society.
The courageous actions by the citizens in Wisconsin are an inspiring defense of the core values
Continue reading A Call to Learn, A Call to Escalate Action
By Caleen Carter, on December 7th, 2010
 On November 18th, a group of students from University of Illinois-Chicago and University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign gathered at the Board of Trustees meeting in Chicago to voice their concern with the rapidly growing cost of tuition. After being denied a one-on-one meeting, a student stood up at the end of the Board of Trustees meeting and yelled, “Our concerns haven’t been addressed!” As other students started to chant “Tuition freeze now!” security guards rushed towards the bandanna-covered students to quiet them down. As the students refused to budge, the security guards got physical—pushing a student outside.
All over the nation, students are being denied an education because they can’t afford tuition costs. Student debt has surpassed all other forms of debt, but the Pell Grant will be underfunded by $5.5 billion in the coming year—denying hundreds of thousands of students a right to an education. As Pell Grants are targeted towards students from low-income families, underfunding is another way to discriminate against students.
A recent college graduate, I entered the working world in one of the
Continue reading Pell Grant Underfunded as Tuition Costs Continue to Rise
By Chris Hicks, on November 19th, 2010
 During this post-election “Lame Duck” session of Congress, the U.S. Student Association and the Student Labor Action Project launched their “Students vs Lame Duck” campaign set on passing the DREAM Act.
The first step was ensuring both the House and Senate voted on the legislation. Following Senator Harry Reid’s announcement on Wednesday, it looks like the DREAM Act will finally come up for a stand-alone vote after Thanksgiving. Now it’s time to hold our elected representatives accountable!
 The DREAM Act will allow children who were brought to the United States as minors, who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, graduated from high school, and are of good moral character the opportunity to earn citizenship through at least two years of college or military service. Every year, 65,000 students are denied the right to an education based on the status of their documentation.
In the past 24 hours, four students (known as DREAMers) have risked deportation and been arrested
Continue reading Undocumented and Unafraid: Students Speak out for their DREAMs
By Chris Hicks, on October 8th, 2010
 The Pell Grant will be underfunded by $5.5 billion next year. Tuition is going up 8% every year for a national average. Student debt is now the largest form of debt in the United States, surpassing credit card debt. 65,000 students are denied the right to an education every year based on their documentation status.
These somber facts and figures led to students walking out of classes and holding more than 75 rallies in 25 states yesterday, as higher education faces the largest crisis it has ever come up against. Students declared a National Day of Action to Defend Higher Education, organized in part by the Student Labor Action Project.
At Wichita State University, students created a guillotine with debt as the blade coming down on their heads. “Debt is cutting us off from the jobs we used to dream of having, like being a teacher,” said Aaron Rivers, a student at Wichita State. “It forces us into the corporate sector to find a higher paying job to pay off loans… and we don’t even know if these jobs exist.”
At the
Continue reading Budget Cuts Don’t Heal: Defend Higher Education Day of Action
By jwjnational, on October 6th, 2010
Tomorrow, Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) activists will participate in a national day of action to beat back state budget cuts to higher education. The October 7 Day of Action to Defend Higher Education is a follow up to walk-outs last March. Students will join with teachers and other public sector workers to demand state legislators stop cutting funds to public higher education.
List of SLAP actions. List of all actions.
Consider the story of Margaret Bastar, a SLAP student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando:
I worked hard while in high school to earn a 4.7 GPA, and an IB diploma that promised me 100% tuition and books for 4 years. I received 2 semesters of coverage on books before that changed, and every semester I study there seems to be less money, and I pay more. I don’t qualify for the Pell Grant, though I work hard and my mother doesn’t have the money to give me for school. I’ve exhausted every option I have in student loans. I have three jobs right now. In addition to being a student, I’m a Leasing Agent for Campus
Continue reading Tomorrow: National Day of Action to Defend Higher Education
By Maria Escobar, on April 26th, 2010
 The past two months have been unprecedented, filled with victories and actions that have proven to be successful in bringing real change to our communities.
The first victory for working class people was the passage of the Student Aid reform. This bill will take away subsidies given to loan companies and invest them into programs such as the Pell grant and community colleges. “Students across the country were able to see their amazing direct-action organizing payoff with comprehensive student aid reform becoming the law of the land,” said USSA President Gregory Cendana. “This is especially critical for working class students and families who have struggled the most in affording their education.”
The second victory was the agreement reached between for the Coalition of Immokalee workers, the Student Farmworker Alliance, and giant food service provider Aramark. Marc Rodriguez of the Student Farmworker Alliance said:
Aramark becomes the 8th major food corporation to agree to work with the CIW to improve wages and root out modern-day slavery in its tomato supply chain. This is a huge step forward for our campaign, because it means that the
Continue reading Student Labor Week of Action Builds on Successes
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