CIW/SFA in Solidarity

Israeli Apartheid Week NYC closing panel featuring members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA)

If you are in NYC this week, please come check out "Prospects for a More Coherent Left: An Intergenerational Movement Discussion from the Grassroots!" at the Brecht Forum on Thursday night...

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a 2,500 member community-based worker organization of Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida, continues to be an inspirational example of successful struggle and solidarity within the US Left. A little over a year ago, on the eve of their victory over McDonald's, I posted a translation of their adherence speech to the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.

Last month, CIW member Romeo Ramirez and Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) member Melody Gonzalez traveled all the way from Immokalee, Florida to New York City to show their solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle by participating in NYC's Israeli Apartheid Week activities. Check out the above video of that week's incredible closing panel featuring Romeo and Melody of the CIW/SFA as well as representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. It is powerful to say the least.

And now this month, the SFA has endorsed the principles of Movement for Justice in El Barrio's International Declaration in Defense of El Barrio and are joining their network of supporters... So, in the spirit of solidarity, please take a moment to sign and circulate the CIW's National Petition to End Sweatshops and Slavery in the Fields!