The Rouge Forum www page is updated—featuring articles from Robert Fisk, Juan Cole, and others addressing the failing oil wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
This week, a salute to the Detroit school workers who have been on strike for six days, defying the state law. Their courageous job action demonstrates that the law is nothing but a reflection of political reality, which shrivels in the face of mass solidarity and direct action. The judges have simply refused to take note that the strike is a strike, proving that the only illegal strike is a strike that loses.
After attempting to open schools today, Tuesday, despite the Detroit teachers’ clear promise to strike, not scab, the Detroit Public Schools administration has closed the schools for Wednesday. The attempt to open schools on Tuesday was a reckless maneuver to test the strength of the strike. It resulted in thousands of kids being warehoused, at a ratio of about 1 adult to 150 kids, as subs did not often scab, and there were only about 500 administrators and others available.
Rouge Forum members filed Department of Human Services complaints against DPS, for illegally opening unlicensed day care centers with no certified adult supervision. A small child wandered out of one school and was found, blocks away, by a picket captain at another school, drawing considerable attention on tv. Administrators refused to let reporters into school buildings. It was, above all, the mass action of strikers that forced DPS to officially shut down for Wednesday.
The strikers have considerable community sympathy and support, although many of them rightly distrust the DFT, their union.
More updates as things develop…
SAVE THE DATE. The Rouge Forum is planning our conference for the first weekend in March, in beautiful downtown Detroit. All will be welcome. Details to follow.
The strike and civil uprisings continue in Oaxaca. We recommend you check The Narco News Bulletin online for updates.
Last, Substance News in Chicago needs your support. As RF readers know, we can function at very low cost because we operate online for the most part. However, it is vital that those who connect social change and education have a print newspaper that can circulate in homes where people are not online, and which can be left in lounges, etc. Substance fills that void.
Subs are just 16 dollars a year, but many people could send more…to…
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Chicago, IL 60641-1440
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