Burger King Rallies Kick Off Student Labor Week of Action

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/01/burger-king-rallies-kick-off-student-labor-week-of-action/

by James Parks, Apr 1, 2008

College students from California to New York to Florida this week are raising their voices demanding justice for workers on campuses and in their communities. Yesterday, students at more than 20 universities rallied at Burger King restaurants where they delivered a strong message to the “exploitation king” that slavery in our nation’s tomato fields will not go unnoticed nor unchallenged.

The rallies kicked off the ninth annual week of action, sponsored by the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO and several unions. The actions take place March 28–April 4 between the anniversaries of César Chávez’s birth and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuAVXUY6F5E&eurl=http://www.nationalmecha.org/

In advance of the national action week, members of the Latino student group, MEChA, last week gathered at Sacramento State University and took part in the rally in support of the Blue Diamond workers in their struggle to join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

SLAP Coordinator Carlos Jiminez told the students the week of action is about solidarity (see video above):

Solidarity means I see my struggle on campus…in my community…at the workplace is connected to your struggle and to a bigger struggle for justice.

In other actions this week, Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) members will speak to classes at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and students at Wichita State University will carry buckets of tomatoes across campus to illustrate their solidarity with the workers.

Students at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, will spotlight the need for a decent life for campus workers by releasing their proposal for a living wage for those workers. Meanwhile, students at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., will celebrate the life of César Chávez with a campus-wide dinner and fundraiser.

FULL story at link.