A Global Week of Solidarity With the Unemployed Surrounding the G20 in Pittsburgh

[XXPANTHAXX]

A Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed

September 20- 25 (During the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA)

Yes to Jobs & Human Needs; No to War & Wall Street Greed

Sunday, September 20 - Rally & March for a Real Jobs Program
Building a Tent City in Pittsburgh for the Unemployed & Supporters the
weekend before the G-20 Summit
Organizing Caravans of Unemployed People and Supporters to Converge on
Pittsburgh during the week of September 19-26
Marches, Protests and Events Before and During the G20 Summit addressing
demands such as: Bring the Troops Home from Iraq & Afghanistan Now! &
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, World-Renown Political Prisoner, Journalist,
Activists and 'Voice of the Voiceless!"

In September the eyes of the world will be on Pittsburgh, where the G20
countries will meet to consider what to do about the biggest global
economic crisis since the 1930s. The heads of governments, finance
ministers and central bankers that will be in Pittsburgh for the summit
hear the concerns of bankers and corporate executives all the time. They
need to listen to the voices of the millions of people who have lost
their jobs and their homes because of the crisis. The Bail out the
People Movement, a coalition of community, labor, religious, and
grassroots activists, wants to help dramatize the crisis of joblessness,
and the need for action both in the U.S. and worldwide to the G20
summit. It is now clear that the stimulus legislation passed by the U.S.
Congress in March has done little to stop the loss of jobs. There is no
recovery for the unemployed, the underemployed and the poor; and things
are only getting worse. This is why we’re asking you to help make the
idea of a Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed from September
19 through September 26, the week of the G20 Summit, a reality.

A TENT CITY AND MARCH FOR JOBS On Sunday, Sept. 20, the tent city will
open with a rally and march for jobs. The main site for the tent city
will be next to the Monumental Baptist Church in an historic section of
the African-American community of Pittsburgh called “The Hill.” This
location is just a short walk or march from the convention center where
the G20 summit will be held, and from the rest of downtown Pittsburgh.
Unemployed people and their supporters will inhabit the tent city from
Sept 20 through Sept. 25. Additional locations for other encampments in
Pittsburgh are being considered as well. This is why we’re asking you to
help make the idea of a Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed
from September 19 through September 26, the week of the G20 Summit, a
reality.

IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE – THIS IS A WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH YOU
The Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed is also a week of solidarity
with those who have lost their homes to foreclosures and evictions;
those who have been forced to take part-time or temporary jobs because
there are no full-time jobs; workers who have seen their wages and hours
cut; autoworkers whose plants have been closed; immigrant workers who
are fighting for their rights; communities that are fighting
gentrification and budget cuts to social programs; students who are
being forced out of school because of the debt burden and rising tuition
cost; the survivors and displaced victims of the Katrina/Rita hurricanes
and the government's criminally negligent response; poor and working
people everywhere, especially in poor countries who are bearing the
cruel brunt of the economic crisis; workers everywhere fighting for the
right to organize and in the U.S. for passage of the Employee Free
Choice Act in the U.S.; All who need single payer health care; retirees
who need their healthcare & pensions safeguarded; and young people,
especially Black and Latina/o youths whom the system has condemned to a
jobless future.

IT’S TIME TO BAILOUT THE UNEMPLOYED WITH A REAL JOBS PROGRAM In the days
before and during the G20 summit, events and marches will take place to
emphasize this central point: More than just another stimulus package is
needed. It’s time for a serious, direct and massive jobs program on par
with the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. We must fight for a
real jobs program for the unemployed and underemployed that pays a
living wage performing socially meaningful work; and an income for those
unable to work. Any claim that the resources for a serious jobs program
are not available must be rejected. If governments, particularly the
U.S. government, can make available trillions of dollars for bailing out
banks and corporations as well as funding the Pentagon’s endless wars, &
Occupations, they can find the resources to bail out the unemployed and
underemployed.

THIS IS A GLOBAL CALL BECAUSE JOBLESSNESS IS A GLOBAL CRISIS Mass
unemployment is a global phenomenon. The right to a job at a living wage
must be a global demand. Instead of being pitted against each other,
unemployed and working people across the world can only improve their
conditions by working and fighting together for their common interests.
Activists and organizations everywhere are encouraged to support the
Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed and organize events in
conjunction with it.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING'S FINAL CAUSE: THE RIGHT OF ALL TO A JOB OR AN
INCOME The need and the right of everyone to either a job or a
guaranteed income is the cause that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated
the last year of his life to. The present global economic depression has
made King’s last cause even more urgent today than it was when he was
alive. Dr. King also knew that: no matter the magnitude of suffering,
governments do not respond if those who are suffering remain invisible
and silent. Even a history-making president like Obama is still not a
substitute for the mass movement for social justice. During the
depression of the 1930’s, President Franklyn Delano Roosevelt once told
labor leaders who were asking him to do more to help workers and the
poor “I agree with you, now make me do it”. FDR’s advice applies to
President Obama too. The purpose of the Global Week of Solidarity with
the Unemployed is to make sure that people who are usually ignored are
seen and heard.

ORGANIZING CARAVANS OF UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE AND SUPPORTERS TO PITTSBURGH
Over the next 10 weeks, organizing will be going on in every region of
the country to bring caravans of unemployed people and supporters to
Pittsburgh in Sept.

THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

Have your Union/Community/Religious or Student Organization.endorse -
Bail Out the People-Not the Banks!
Donate to help with organizing expenses -
Bail Out the People-Not the Banks!
Organize car/s vans/ trucks & buses from your locality to participate in
the caravans to Pittsburgh -
Bail Out the People-Not the Banks!
Have an Organizer address a meeting of your organization -
Bail Out the People Movement - Comments
Volunteer your time to work on this project -
Bail Out the People-Not the Banks!