United Workers

The many pieces of fabric that made up the quilt of a collective vision of Fair Development were constructed throughout the day in the many workshops, conversations, meals shared and stories swapped. The intricacies of Fair Development became more defined as people elaborated on the three concepts of maximizing public benefits, respect for human rights and sustainability.

The Fair Development Photo Booth was one of the many places host to dozens of participants to express their vision for Fair Development. It quickly turned into a space for breaking down barriers of age and language where all could communicate a desire for a hopeful future. Check the photos out here:

While some expressed their sentiments on cardboard, still others conducted a series of short interviews. Check them out!

Finally, be sure to take a peruse through the many photos that captured the over twenty-five different workshops:

Over 150 people gathered at St. Johns Church (2640) for the first night of the Fair Development Conference. The night began with people slowly trickling in, but soon filled the church space by the time the keynote speakers hit the stage. A musical trio opened up the conference with serenading sounds of justice and peace. Soon to follow was the main event of six, that’s right six keynote speakers, weaving a collective quilt illuminating not only the plight of the poor, but the fight of the poor in fighting for Fair Development and building a movement capable of ending poverty in the face of the growing economic crisis and deprivation for the many. Although stories ranged from the struggle here at Camden Yards and the Inner Harbor to the struggle for land in Brazil, privatization of public resources in Detroit and beyond, strip-mining in Guatemala, and the growing gap between the expanding poor and rich, they told a collective story of workers coming together to globalize the struggle for human rights, hope and dignity.

See photos from the first day here:

In preparation for participants to arrive to St. Johns Church to hear the Keynote speakers, the United Workers takes a moment to come together in a Unity Circle to express love, gratitude and leadership for each other and all those that will join them today.

After months of organizing, listening and planning with communities across Baltimore, the country and Brazil, the moment has arrived: Day 1 of the Fair Development Conference!

This weekend is sure to be historic for all of us as we come together to strategize and reflect on the current economic crisis, the state of social movements and collectively create a vision for a more just world that respects the human and ecological rights of everyone, everywhere.

Be sure to check the website regularly as we will be posting content constantly throughout the weekend. You can also follow us on facebook along with following AND (your) tweeting about the conference on twitter and by using the search hashtag #fairdev.

Pick up this week’s Baltimore City Paper or go online to read their article on the United Workers upcoming Fair Development Conference. In other news, the United Workers appeared on the Marc Steiner show with the Marian Kramer of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and Sarah Weintraub of the Vermont Worker Center. The two media pieces draw connections between Fair Development, the Occupy Movements and the nature of a system built on poverty and poverty-zone development. If you missed the Steiner show you can have a listen here.

Here’s an excerpt from the City Paper article:

From February’s labor protests in Wisconsin to the 99 percenters currently camping out in New York’s Zuccotti Park, populist protest is suddenly all the rage. But movements for social change are nothing new. Take, for example, the United Workers, a Baltimore-based coalition of low-wage workers formed in 2002. In 2007, the United Workers lobbied for “living wages” at Camden Yards—and got them. Since then, the group has been campaigning on behalf of workers at the Inner Harbor, trying to institutionalize rights to health care and education.

To raise awareness of these efforts, the group has a history of putting on political events that go beyond the strictly political. In the past, that has resulted in street-side theatrical performances, a community fair, and, in true activist tradition, plenty of marches. This weekend, Oct. 28-30, UW hosts the Fair Development Conference, a gathering of grassroots organizations, political activists, community organizers, and other interested parties from as far as Brazil and as near as Baltimore . . .

The workshops, lectures, and presentations planned for the conference will take on much more than just the struggle for the soul of the harbor. And although fair development is the organizing principle behind the conference, the topic is interpreted broadly enough to include discussions on universal health care, permaculture design, and lessons drawn from the 19th-century movement to abolish slavery. One workshop will explore Johns Hopkins Hospital’s fraught relationship with the Middle East neighborhood, where it displaced hundreds of residents to build a controversial—and moribund—biotech park; another will spotlight worker-led organizations that have successfully lobbied for Taco Bell, Whole Foods, and other food-industry giants to raise wages for the people who pick their tomatoes.

To read the full article, go to http://citypaper.com

If work just ain’t fair
at the Harborplace
Who ya gonna call?
POVERTY BUSTERS!..

That’s right! For decades, the Inner Harbor has been haunted by labor and human rights abuses including: poverty wages, disrespect, sexual harassment, lack of healthcare, denying education opportunities, wage theft, unsafe work environments, and general exploitation for the sake of profit.

That’s why, Harbor workers, members and community artists have been preparing for a battle between between the “Poverty Busters” and the ghouls and goblins of Poverty-zone Development. On final day of the Fair Development Conference, Sunday, October 30^th, United Workers will lead a march from the Baltimore Development Corporation down to the Inner Harbor featuring “Poverty Busters” lighting up their proton packs and blasting these abuses out of this dimension, replacing them with our shared fair development principles of Human Rights, Sustainability, and maximizing public benefits.  During the march, harbor workers and community leaders from throughout the country will share how our struggles are connected and demonstrate that we have the strength and community power to save our Harbor from these monstrous abuses!

The march will feature participants from the Fair Development Conference, Harbor Workers, and allies from throughout the city and will feature Baltimore’s own Barrage Band Orchestra!

Check out the flickr photoset to see a preview of the Haunted Harbor in the making.

ACTION DETAILS

What: The Haunted Harbor March! A Terrifying Tale of Poverty Zone Development

When: Sun October 30^th 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Gather at Charles St. & Lombard St.

The Media Mobilizing Project recently followed Tavis Smiley and Cornel West on a national Poverty Tour to make visible the plight and fight of the poor in the U.S. Last week, the Tavis Smiley show aired a five part series created by the Media Mobilizing Project encapsulating the stories, lessons, and struggles shared along this eye-opening journey. Ending on a truly inspiring note, the last segment focuses on groups and communities organizing to build a movement to end poverty. It includes interviews and discussion with The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida, Domestic Workers United in New York, Direct Action Welfare Group in West Virginia and Iraq Veterans Against the War, The Vermont Workers Center, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and yours truly, the United Workers. Need a dose of inspiration? Check it out.

Watch The Poverty Tour Part 5 on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.

To learn more about the Media Mobilizing Project go here or come to their Saturday workshop at the Fair Development Conference.

To watch the rest of the videos in this series, go to http://www.pbs.org

The Sun has invited participants at the Occupy Baltimore protest in the Inner Harbor to contribute articles about their experience, views and goals. This entry is written by Clayton Conn, a photo/multimedia freelance journalist from Baltimore.

 Members of the United Workers, a Baltimore based human rights organization leading the fight for fair development — which respects human rights, maximizes public benefits and is sustainable — gave a workshop on Tuesday at the site of Occupy Baltimore.

The organization which is in the midst of a campaign for Fair Development in the Inner Harbor, spoke on the themes of jobs, privatization and economic human rights.

As critics continue to ask questions on the specific demands and goals of the Occupy Protests, the United Workers are among many groups locally and nationally providing concrete answers and strategies for solutions. In developing these answers, they will be hosting a Fair Development Conference at the end of this month (Fri. Oct 28-Sun. Oct. 30), with participants attending from around the world. The goals of this conference are to increase greater understanding of these challenging times, connect various fronts of struggle, share movement-building strategies and develop a collective vision for “fair development.”

Audio of the United Workers event is available here.

Did you know that the UN led a human rights investigation into the state of housing in America?  Learn all about it at the Fair Development Conference, at the dinner, panel, and film screening presented by the The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. The documentary More Than A Roof follows the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing on her journey through the areas of the US hit hardest by the housing crisis. More than a Roof is ending a month-long national film tour in Baltimore at the Fair Development Conference! So, don’t miss this exciting opportunity.

Watch the trailer to get a sneak peek of some of the voices and stories that you will hear at Saturday evening’s special event.

After the screening, we’ll hear from some of the very same grassroots groups featured in the film. Max Rameau, Co-founder of the Take Back the Land Movement, Kendall Jackman from Picture the Homeless, Frank Sindaco from Northeast Pennsylvania Organizing Center  and others will discuss the U.S. housing crisis and how communities are demanding their human right to housing.

Dinner starts at 5pm on Saturday, October 29th!

Then after the panel, don’t miss the costume dance party from 7 – 10PM!

Like cities across the country, Baltimore has joined the Occupy Movement to highlight the growing inequality in this country and to rally the 99% to call for economic human rights for all. In Baltimore, the occupiers have chosen McKeldin Square at the Inner Harbor, the site where, on October 25, 2008, low-wage workers declared the Inner Harbor a “Human Rights Zone.” On the one week mark of the occupation, United Workers did a teach-in about the Human Rights Zone Campaign, connecting the Occupy Movement to the fight for Fair Development. Below is a video of Luis Larin with the United Workers speaking with those gathered before the General Assembly.

To see the video posted on Huffington Post, go here.

Participate in making the Fair Development Conference possible! We are looking for volunteers to help with everything from set-up to childcare to planning Sunday’s action. Pitch in for a few hours, or the whole weekend.

This summer, members of the Media Mobilizing Project (MMP) joined PBS broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor, Dr. Cornel West along a US Poverty Tour that made stops in 18 cities across 11 states.

Starting today, October 10th and running through Friday, October 14th PBS’ Tavis Smiley will broadcast the results of this journey, a 5 part documentary called “Understanding Our Struggles and Changing Our Conditions:  A Poverty Tour Documentary.”

The United Workers took part in this tour and this 5 part documentary by sharing our stories of the human cost of Poverty-zone development on low-wage workers at the Inner Harbor and how this connects to the growing ranks of the poor across the country.

As an organization committed to building a movement led by the poor united across color lines, MMP sees media and communications as a vital tool in exposing the hidden stories of poverty and developing movement leaders. This groundbreaking documentary will show viewers the real-life effects of the ever widening divide between the rich and the poor in this country–and more importantly, how different organizations and individuals across the nation are fighting back.

Although the Tavis Smiley Show does not air in Baltimore, you can watch it online. It does air in Washington D.C. and eight other major cities. To see if the Smiley Show is airing in your area, go here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We are excited to announce the featured speakers who will address the conference Friday evening. Our guests represent diverse perspectives in the movement for economic human rights for all, and we are proud that these three inspiring leaders will be joining us to share key lessons and analysis for building power.

Marian Kramer has been an organizer and leader in poor people’s movements, including the welfare rights movement since 1966. She is the former chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. She lives in Detroit, Michigan, where she continues to fight for human rights and an end to poverty.

Janaina Stronzake is a leader of Movimento Sem Terra (MST), or the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers‘ Movement. The MST has led more than 2,500 occupations of large estates in Brazil, leading to the settlement of around 370,000 families on the land. Janaina’s work focuses on the struggle of landless women.

Jan Rehmann teaches philosophy and social theories at Union Theological Seminary and at the Free University in Berlin. He is co-editor of the Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism (HKWM), and his most recent books are Theories of Ideology and Critique of Postmodernist Nietzscheanism.

FOOD FOR… DINNER!

We wouldn’t let you go hungry while you’re listening to our great speakers. Community dinner will be served at 7pm on Friday evening for all conference participants. (That’s one reason why it’s so important to register now.) And we’ve got a treat in store – the dinner will be made by United Workers members, many of whom are cooks in downtown restaurants. Why go to dinner in the Inner Harbor when the food can come to you?

SPREAD THE WORD

Please spread the word about the conference! We are dedicated to making this a grassroots conference, and we need your help to encourage members of your community to participate. Please forward this e-mail widely, or click here to invite friends on Facebook.

DETAILS

Friday Oct. 28, 2011: Dinner, welcome, and keynote

Saturday October 29: Workshops and discussions, film screening and dinner, and dance party.

Sunday October 30: Action event – check your e-mail for more updates on our action soon!

Questions or comments? Please e-mail us at conference@unitedworkers.org