CSWA Year of the Snake Party [Saturday #Culture]

Happy Year of the Snake! We hope you will join us on Sunday, March 3rd at 2pm to kick off the Year of the Snake at our Lunar New Year’s Celebration. Our progress in the past year reflects not only how workers are exposing injustice but also how we are surging forward to make more gains for working people:

8 Henry St. New York, NY 10038
Sunday, March 3 (2:00pm – 5:00pm)
at the corner of Henry and Catherine Streets
F train to East Broadway or B/D to Grand Street

Justice Will Be Served! – We beat back attacks from the Saigon Grill boss who sued CSWA in an attempt to intimidate workers. We also exposed the collusion between Yes Car sweatshop boss and federal agents to silence workers from speaking out. We have celebrated many victories, but most importantly the recent decision that workers can go after Domino’s Corporation for its franchise’s wrongdoings. This decision is laying the groundwork for legislative change to hold corporations accountable, and to not use subcontracting, bankruptcy or transferring assets to avoid responsibility.

Ain’t I A Woman?! – CSWA assisted workers from a Pactiv factory owned by Reynold’s Group. The corporation kept increasing the workload and did not care about people’s health. They forced some of the workers to work overtime and fired the group of workers who fought for their rights. We are bringing together factory workers and office workers to put forward “No Mandatory Overtime” as a common demand for all workers, especially women. Also, we helped to form a student network in many universities across the region.

Anti-Displacement – People First Plan, a rezoning plan made by and for the working people in Chinatown and the Lower East Side, was adopted by the community; and its principles were adopted by the Chinatown Working Group. In addition, we spearheaded an effort to build 100% low-income housing on SPURA (Seward Park Urban Rezoning Area), which was blocked by Councilmember Margaret Chin and Mayor Mike Bloomberg but had overwhelming support in the community.

Finally, after 30 years, we officially opened our own space for workers at 345 Grand St.

This was only possible due to the support of our members in the form of monetary donations and volunteer time, and from very generous support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. In the coming year, we need your support more than ever to continue to develop this space for working people and their families in the Chinese community.

Come find out how you can organize and be a part of these different activities.

And if you haven’t already, make a tax-deductible donation to CSWA to help build this home for workers. You can use our secure website or send a check to Chinese Staff & Workers’ Center P.O. Box 130401 New York, NY 10013-0995.

Mar201302

ernesto

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