San Francisco Labor Council Endorses May Day “A Day Without Workers”

For Immediate Release:
May Day United

Contact: info@maydayunited.org

April 13, 2011

San Francisco Labor Council Endorses May Day “A Day Without Workers”
Supports the rights of affiliates to engage in work stoppages and urges the AFL-CIO to endorse the call
San Francisco, CA—The San Francisco Labor Council announced yesterday that it will endorse the below resolution regarding “A Day Without Workers” on International Workers’ Day, May 1, 2011. The original call for “A Day Without Workers” was released by May Day United, a national network of over fifty worker centers, grassroots community organizations, and labor unions working together to build increased coordination, participation, and power on May Day all around the country.

May Day United hopes that other Labor Councils, unions, worker centers, student governments, or other bodies will endorse the resolution. “The SF Labor Council’s endorsement is a very important development,” says Karl Kramer, a member of the Labor Coucil for Latin American Advancement who submitted the resolution, and of SF Living Wage Coalition, an endorsing organization of May Day United. “We hope that others will follow in responding to the most recent attacks on workers by endorsing ‘A Day Without Workers’ and supporting those who choose not to go to work and spend May Day 2011 in the streets.”

Resolution to Endorse "A Day Without Workers" on May 1, 2011, International Workers' Day
submitted by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
WHEREAS the attack of Governor Scott Walker on Wisconsin's public workers and their labor unions is an attack on every U.S. working family;

WHEREAS union membership enables working people to bargain collectively and obtain fair wages and working conditions;

WHEREAS solidarity on the job is how working people assert our fundamental and inalienable right to freedom of association;

WHEREAS immigrant workers continue to be scapegoated and discriminated against in Arizona and across the United States to the detriment of every worker;

WHEREAS everyone who works deserves equal rights on the job;

WHEREAS corporate interests and the politicians they control are spreading their assaults from Arizona and Wisconsin to states around the country;

WHEREAS unchecked corporate power in the United States has robbed working families of economic security and peace of mind;

WHEREAS isolated efforts at reform have failed to stem the growing tide of corporate power and the harm it causes to hard-working men and women across the nation;

WHEREAS the most powerful tool working people possess to improve our wages and working conditions and defend our dignity against attack is a General Strike of all workers;

WHEREAS May 1st is International Workers Day, a day honoring the remarkable struggles and sacrifices of working people around the world;

WHEREAS a call is growing for a national mass action on May 1st, 2011 under the banner of "A Day Without Workers" including no work, shopping, or school-related activities on May Day;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council endorses "A Day Without Workers" on May Day 2011 and supports the right of affiliates to engage in work stoppages, sick-outs, and any other solidarity actions on May Day;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council will endorse and mobilize for the May Day 2011 march from 24th and Mission Streets at 12 p.m. to a rally at the Civic Center on May 1;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council will write to the AFL-CIO urging it to endorse "A Day Without Workers" and to support the call of avoiding work, shopping, and school-related activities on May Day 2011.


To learn more about May Day United, visit www.maydayunited.org

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