As TWU Local 100 is in transition the MTA sinks to new low and puts NYC students at Risk!

Listen to Building Bridges on WBAI 99.5FM this Monday and every Monday at 7:00PM for all your community & labor news and updates on the MTA service cuts.

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
**************************************
Day of Outrage
NYC Student Rally at MTA Headquarters
Protesting Metrocard Cutbacks
With
New York City High School Students:
Jordan Orvam, Kyle Maer, Francine Prince, Sherana Woods

More than a thousand students from across NYC protested against a
proposal passed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Board in favor of serious budget cuts taking place next year. Among
the most critical effects of these budget cuts is the discontinuation
of a program which provides free subway and bus MetroCards for
more than 500,000 city students. This outrageous plan will hit poor
families the hardest and will affect many students ability to attend
school and obtain the free education that they deserve
**************
NYS Governor’s Budget Attacks School Children
With
Alan B. Lubin , Exec. Vice Pres., NYS United Teachers
and
Geri D. Palast, Executive Director, Campaign for Fiscal Equity

Governor Paterson unilaterally withheld $750 million in scheduled
payments to schools and local governments. The impact of these cuts
on education statewide from kindergarten to college level will be
devastating, especially in the poorer districts. A coalition of teachers’
unions and local school officials countered with a lawsuit against
Paterson arguing that his decision violated New York’s Constitution.
Paterson argues cut back while a broad coalition urges among
other things tax the rich.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
To Download or listen to this 27:46 minute program,

Pacifica Station only can go to Audioport - Menu Option
“Weekly Program Section" dated 12-26-09
http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=30197&nav=&

all others go to http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/38411
or
http://www.archive.org/details/BuildingBridgesNewYorkCutsKidsSchoolAidAndTransportation


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Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI,
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Our website is www.buildingbridgesradio.org

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=========================================
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TBOU Action Alert-Taking Back Public Transit Thursday October 15, 2009

ATTENTION :IF ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE RECENT SUBWAY BOOTH CLOSINGS?
NEW YORKERS FOR SAFE TRANSIT(NYfST) Invites you to a Policy Discussion on:
Date: Thursday October 15, 2009
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Place: North Star Fund (Mid-Town Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor (Between 36 & 37) street

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is working with other organizations to keep Mass Transit Safe for all New Yorkers. One such organization that is raising the correct questions on behalf of the million of riders of our mass transit system is NYfST:

Why where over 100 Subway booths closed without a public hearing ?
What kinds of violence do you see on NYC’s public transit system?
How can communities intervene? Respond?
What should the MTA do to curb/eliminate sexual harassment, assaults and hate violence?
What should perpetrator accountability look like?
Why are booths being closed in some communities and not others ?
Why are some booths being re-opened ?

New Yorkers for Safe Transit invites you to join us as we begin to explore ways transit riders and workers can work together to change mass transit policy in NYC:

So please join NYfST this Thursday October 15 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM in Mid-Town Manhattan at the North Star Fund located 520 8th ave 22nd fl.(bet.36st and 37st)

This event is being hosted by the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement www.tbou.org

Action Alert-TBOU and NYfST Join Forces to Keep Subway Booths Open Wednesday July 8,2009 4:30PM to 6:00PM at the 14 Street Union Square Station

TAKE BACK OUR UNION (TBOU) JOINS NEW YORKERS FOR SAFE TRANSIT
Transit Workers and Riders Come Together To Keep Subway Booths Open
On Wednesady July 8, 2009 At The 14 street Union Square Station 4:30PM to 6:00PM

In an effort to prevent the MTA from shutting down over 150 subway booths in this fall, Take Back Our Union (TBOU), a rank and file movement within the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) local 100, has become a member of New Yorkers for Safe Transit (NYfST) – the only NYC Coalition dedicated to eliminating harassment and assaults, particularly gender or discrimination based, on New York City's public transit system.

On Wednesday, July 8th, NYfST will kick off their Keep Booths Open campaign by leafleting and educating transit riders, at the Union Square Station, about the MTA's plan to shut down subway booths in the fall.

On March 25th, 2009, the MTA Board voted 12-1 to adopt a budget which increased fares, reduces service and lays off workers. .Part of the plan to reduce service includes laying off over 800 Station Agent in July, and closing down subway booths in September. Despite receiving bailout money from state officials to stem service cuts and fare increases, the MTA still plans to close down over 150 subway booth beginning this fall. Closures are expected to happen at the West Village, East Harlem, and numerous other subway stations city-wide. “Studies show that 10% of riders have been assaulted in the subways. Women, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people already experience violence on a daily basis. If these booths are closed who will step in when a rider is being attacked,” says Doyin Ola, coordinator of NYfST. “This will severely limit access for people living with disabilities and the elderly,” says Christine Williams, a station agent, “every day I provide assistance so that these folks are able get into the station. When there's no one in the booth, how will people who need assistance be able to access the subway?”

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) was founded in 2008 by small group of Station workers inside of TWU Local 100 and has grown into a union wide rank and file movement. In addition to building networks of activists in every division inside of the largest transportation union in the country – TWU Local 100, TBOU also led the fight against the MTA to stop fare hikes and service cuts. After winning a substantial number of slots in the recent delegates’ election, TBOU appears poised to take over the leadership role of Local 100 in 2010.

NYfST was founded in 2007 by several New York City groups working on and organizing around transportation safety issues, after working with Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, to publish a report that indicated alarmingly high number of riders had been harassed or assaulted on the New York subways. The Coalition collaborated with the Manhattan Borough President office and got the MTA to put up 2,000 safety awareness posters in some 300 subway cars. In 2009, this program was replicated and now includes safety public service announcements throughout the subway system.

The Coalition, which consists of Girls for Gender Equity, Hollaback NYC, National Organization of Women – NYC, RightRides for Women's Safety, and Take Back Our Union, is calling for the MTA to re-open all previously closed token booth, and maintain current staffing especially on the off hours. They will be leafleting to educate riders at the Union Square station from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, on Wednesday, July 8th please come and join us as we build a coalition to keep subway booths. For this and all your labor news visit our website http://www.takebackourunion.org/ and our blog at http://www.tbou.org/

TBOU Coalition Building-New Yorkers for a Safe Transit meeting Wednesday July 1

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is working with other organizations to keep Mass Transit Safe New Yorkers for Safe Transit is such an organization and raising the correct questions riders:

What kinds of violence do you see on NYC’s public transit system?
How can communities intervene? Respond?
What should the MTA do to curb/eliminate sexual harassment, assaults and hate violence?
What should perpetrator accountability look like?

New Yorkers for Safe Transit invites you to our next general meeting to:

· Learn about and evaluate how communities outside NYC address violence in public transit.
· Share your insights on how to pressure the MTA on this very issue.

Wednesday, July 1st @ 5:30 – 7p.
Location: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (b/w Bank & Bethune streets), Manhattan.
For more info or to RSVP, email newyorkersforsafetransit@gmail.com
or call (718) 522.0822

New Yorkers for Safe Transit (NYfST) is a collection of organizations and advocates dedicated to eliminating harassment and assaults—particularly gender or discrimination based—on public transportation in New York City. The coalition focuses on raising public awareness, community building, and facilitating changes that ensure New Yorkers can get from one location to another safely and securely. For more information please call (718) 522-0822 or email newyorkersforsafetransit@gmail.com.
Check us out at http://nyersforsafetransit.wordpress.com/.

TBOU Media Alert-Take Back Our Union Members to be live on WBAI Tonight 99.5 FM 7-8PM

Tonight Monday June 22, from 7-8PM: Building Bridges Three (3)Topics:
1) Peoples’ Voices on the International Economic Crisis--
2) Bloomberg Gotta Go: Workers Protest 2600 School Layoffs at City Hall Rally
3) Oh No! They’re Not Thinking Of Closing Subway Booths Again?

Oh No! They’re Not Thinking Of Closing Subway Booths Again? with:
Marvin Holland, Founder, Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement
Christine Williams, Chair Woman’s Initiative Committee,TBOU
Maurice Jenkins, Vice Presidential Candidate Stations, TBOU

The MTA has received bailout money from Albany but still plans to close over 150 subway booths even as subway crime is on the rise. There was an attempted murder and robbery of transit employees on May 9, 2009, and just two weeks later, on May 24, a woman was trapped and robbed in the Hi-exit wheel at the Halsey Street station. Despite these serious incidents, the MTA has already begun to stop staffing many subway booths around the city.Join us on WBAI tonight as we build a coalition of Transit workers,riders and activists to keep mass transit safe and then at our Labor Round Table this Wednesday June 24 at the North Star Fund 520 8th avenue on the 22nd floor in (mid-town Manhattan) from 5PM to 7PM.


Peoples’ Voices on the International Economic Crisis. Jana Silverman, Coordinator of Campaigns of Social Watch, an NGO network monitoring poverty eradication & gender equality, headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay .
Gemma Adaba, Representative,UN, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), NY
Milena Kadieva, Legal Advisor& Project Coordinator, Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, Plavdiv, Bulgaria
Beverly Keene, Latin American Coordinator, Jubilee South Network, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Responses to the current global economic crisis have been inadequate and fail to fully address the myriad of related global crises, such as food security and climate change. An international coalition of ‘working’ people directly impacted by these crises, and civil society organizations, met in a public forum Saturday to deliver this message to world leaders in advance of this week’s UN Conference on the economic crisis being organized by Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, the current President of the UN General Assembly (and a Sandinista liberation theology priest)

Bloomberg Gotta Go: Workers Protest 2600 School Layoffs at City Hall Rally More than a thousand members of Board of Education Employees, Local 372, DC37 representing 26,000 NYC school workers, rallied at City Hall to stop the proposed layoffs of 2,600 school employees, including drug counselors, school aides, family counselors and hall monitors. They cheered union speakers and elected officials from the City government including Comptroller Bill Thompson, while jeering the Mayor, calling on him and the City Council to "Cut waste, not jobs!" by eliminating costly private contracts.

Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash
Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at http://www.wbai.org/ Our website is http://www.buildingbridgesradio.org/

TBOU Action Update-Wednesday June 24 ,2009 Labor Round Table Topic "Keeping Mass Transit Safe"

This Wednesday, June 24th, the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement will bring together transit riders, workers, advocates and activists to build a coalition to keep mass transit safe.The MTA has received bailout money from the legislation in Albany to stop the service cuts but still plans to close over 100 subway booths this summer, despite lingering safety concerns. On May 9, 2009, there was an attempted murder and robbery of two transit employees at the Winthrop street station on the 2 line. Just two weeks later a woman was trapped inside of an exit wheel and robbed at the Hasley street station on the L line. Despite these highly serious incidents (as well the many crimes that go unreported), and the fact that 2/3 of transit riders want the subway booths open, the MTA is already begun the process of closing them. Help us keep Mass Transit safe for all New Yorkers by joining us :

Date: Wednesday, June 24

Time: 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

Location: North Star Fund (Midtown Manhattan)

520 8th avenue 22nd floor(bet 36 and 37) street

Directions: A, C, or E train to 34 street

This round table will be sponsored by the TBOU Women's Initiative Committee and TBOU Stations Division. To find out more about TBOU visit our website at www.takebackourunion.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Update-Tomorrow June 7 ,2009 Protest the Foreclosed Home Auction

The Bail Out the People Movement and the Take Back Our Union Movement :

Protest the Foreclosed Home Auction!

Sunday, 11:00 am
In front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel
109 E 42 Street
Between Park and Lexington in Manhattan

* No more foreclosed home auctions!
* No more foreclosures and evictions!
* Demand a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions!

The Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) is at it again – with another foreclosure auction called to help real estate players profit off of people who have lost their homes.

Just 2 weeks ago, a Detroit homeowner died while resisting a foreclosure eviction after a five-hour shootout with the police. The banks, the recipients collectively of over $12 trillion in government handouts, are literally getting away with murder. They and mortgage firms are foreclosing homes at the rate of 15,000 a day – and with the help of firms like REDC, turning around and selling those homes to someone else.

Foreclosure auctions are advertised in the media as a chance for aspiring homeowners to get good deals. “Putting people in homes they otherwise couldn’t afford” – that was the same mantra behind the subprime mortgages cooked up by predatory lenders.

In reality, foreclosure auctions are bonanzas for these very lenders – the same home mortgage industries and real estate players that are kicking families into the street. Even individuals who manage to scrape together enough savings to bid on a home at one of these auctions can be outbid in a heartbeat by a real estate investor with millions in capital.

These foreclosure auctions are in direct violation of the laws signed by President Barack Obama – the Helping Families Save Their Home Act and the Making Home Affordable Program – which require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Chase Home Finance, CitiMortgage and Countrywide, among others, to modify mortgages.

The mortgage of the Detroit homeowner who died resisting eviction was owned by Chase Bank, which had a duty under federal law to work out a solution that should have prevented the bailiff from attempting to evict him in the first place.

The Bail Out the People Movement calls for an immediate moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Not one more person or family should be kicked out of their home or lose their life because of the out-of-control greed of the banks and real estate companies. And on Sunday, we will be in front of the Grand Hyatt to let the REDC know it is not welcome here.

The New York houses that will be sold to the highest bidder on Sunday are the homes of poor and working people who lived in places like Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Newark, Long Island, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania, who were forced out of their homes by Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan-Chase and other banks.

In the biggest economic crisis since the depression of the 30s, these auctions should not be taking place; they are a symptom of the cruel and criminal mass eviction campaign that will continue to grow until people unite and say ‘No More!’

The only force that will stop foreclosures is mass grassroots mobilization. Join us on June 7 to demand an end to the auction!

* We call upon the City of New York to stop the June 7 auction and we demand an immediate stop to call foreclosures and evictions.

* We call upon the Grand Hyatt and the Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) to cancel the auction, set up to allow financial predators to profit from throwing people out on the street.
for more information go to http://www.bailoutpeople.org/

TBOU Action Alert-Taking Back Public Transit Monday June 8, 2009

RightRides for Women's Safety is a founding member of New Yorkers for Safe Transit - the only coalition dedicated to eliminating sexual assault and hate violence, particularly gender- or discrimination-based, within NYC’s public transit system. The coalition is urging the MTA to take greater responsibility to increase riders' safety by implementing better protocols to address violence, by training employees to be appropriate first responders, by installing upgraded or repairing broken emergency equipment, and by pursuing related policy changes.Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is fully aware of the danger and violence that takes place on our mass transit system and looks forward to working with community groups and riders to make mass transit more safe.

Please join us for this important safety forum and help spread the word!

Taking Back Public Transit: Confronting Violence on Board
DATE: Monday, June 8th, 2009
TIME: 7 PM – 9PM LOCATION: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (btwn. Bank & Bethune)
COST: Free, donations appreciated
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