Support May Day 2007 actions for worker, immigrant rights!

The San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO unanimously adopted the following resolution on March 12:

Whereas, on May Day 2006 history was made. The world watched as millions took off from work and school to march for the rights of immigrants and all workers, in the largest International Workers Day demonstrations in the United States in living memory; and

Whereas, the March 25th Coalition, based in Los Angeles, which spearheaded the massive protests for immigrant rights in the spring of 2006 [that were victorious in defeating the repressive HR 4437 Sensenbrenner bill], has joined with a broad coalition of organizations in the Latino, Black, Filipino, Labor and other communities, to form the May 1st National Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights, calling for mass demonstrations on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, in cities across the country including Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York City, San Antonio, Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco, Detroit, and many other cities demonstrating “the growing unity among US and foreign born workers”; and

Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council on April 3, 2006, in a “Resolution in Support of Immigrant Workers”—noting the AFL-CIO’s February 16, 2000 “historic resolution in support of amnesty for immigrant workers”—called for mobilizing in support of “full legalization and equal rights for undocumented immigrants” and supporting the call for the May 1, 2006 national day of protest; and

Whereas, on May 22, 2006, the San Francisco Labor Council adopted the “National Statement to Support Human and Civil Rights for All Immigrants”, issued by the National Network on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, calling for “fair and just immigration reform for all” and solid worker protections, and opposing then-current legislation which would have created new “guest worker” (transient servitude) programs; and

Whereas, on March 10, 2007, 22 organizations in the immigrant community and their allies came together in San Francisco to begin planning for a march for worker and immigrant rights in San Francisco on May 1, 2007, in conjunction with the national demonstrations; and

Whereas, federal immigration authorities including ICE have been conducting brutal raids on workplaces and people’s homes—from the arrest of 1,300 workers at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in six states on December 12, 2006, to more recent raids in the Bay Area, at the Smithfield hog processing plant in North Carolina and elsewhere—terrorizing and separating families, intimidating the workers and interfering with union organization at the workplaces, in a massive violation of civil and union rights; therefore be it

Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council endorse and encourage participation in the May Day marches and other protest activities in San Francisco and cities nationwide, behind the banner of

1) Legalization and equal rights for immigrant workers;

2) Stop the brutal raids on immigrant workers;

3) No “guest worker” programs;

4) A moratorium on deportations;

5) Uniting workers of all nationalities and races in the struggle for our rights and our future.