Virtual Black History Arts & Writing Competition

 

African American History Month 2022

VIRTUAL Arts and Writing Competition for Students Grades 8 to 12 Sponsored annually by Connecticut People's World Committee to remember the lives and dedication of Dalzenia Henry and Virginia Henry to the youth of New Haven and to make a better future.

Teaching Black History – Making Good Trouble

"A multiracial democracy that ensures the social, economic, and political rights of all in the United States requires reconciling with American history and America’s original sin of slavery and white supremacy. In order to reconcile together as a nation, it’s critical that there are opportunities and dedicated resources for truth-telling" – Rep. Jahmaal Bowman

"We envision a just education system and an equitable society in which all people understand the history of race in the United States, and are actively committed to dismantling systemic racism and other forms of oppression. We seek to transform educational systems that perpetuate institutionalized, interpersonal, and internalized racism and anti-Blackness.” -- Students for Educational Justice

“Won’t it be wonderful when Black history. Latino history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. History.” – Maya Angelou

Express in artwork, essay, poetry, rap or song:

• Why is it important for Black History to be a required subject?

• What examples of "Making Good Trouble" have been successful toward equity and how have they affected you? 

Requirements + Digital art work, drawings, paintings, collage, prints, photographs, etc.

+ Essay, poem, rap or song – Not longer than 2 pages

Deadline Entries must be received by 5 pm on Friday, February 18, 2022 MUST INCLUDE:

Entry title, Name, address, phone, e-mail, age, school, teacher's name (where applicable)

Submission E-mail all entries to: ct-pww@pobox.com

Prizes Gift cards ($100 first place, $50 second place, $25 third place) and books

Presentation Prizes and recognition for all entries will be presented Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 4 pm at the virtual 48th Annual African American History Month Celebration hosted by the Connecticut People's World Committee.

Information e-mail to: ct-pww@pobox.com Phone messages can be left at: 203-624-8664

Art Perlo's Legacy for Justice Lives On

Many expressions of love and commitments to carry on Art Perlo's legacy have been forthcoming since his passing on December 18, 2021. In February, as part of the 48^th Annual People's World Black History Month events, the youth march for Black history will be dedicated to Art Perlo. A tribute to Art during the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration hosted by the Unions at Yale was testament to his unwavering commitment to struggles for equality of working people.

The Art Perlo Presente website, in process of being developed, will make available Art's writings and audio visual contributions for current use and study, as well as providing a space for new material to strengthen the multi-racial working class movement into the future. As well some of Art's recipes “Cooking our way to Socialism” will be included, along with photos and testimonials. The design process will take some time, but meanwhile stories, recollections or photos can be submitted to: joelle.fishman@pobox.com. The financial contributions being made in Art's honor are helping fund this exciting project.

Art was a scholar and intellectual for major change in our capitalist system. As an activist himself he encouraged others to develop their understanding of the system as well as their importance in using their knowledge to bring others into activism.  He dedicated his life to this pursuit.

A lifelong Communist beloved for his stalwart dedication, modesty, wit and wisdom, Art passed away after a year-long battle with bladder cancer.

He served as Ward 24 Co-Chair in New Haven, Connecticut and executive board member of the Yale Unions Retirees Association. Ward 24 Alder Evette Hamilton called him a “gentle giant” for his kindness, commitment, humor and broad knowledge that touched the lives of so many in the city, state and around the country.

Born in New York on November 2, 1947, son of Marxist economist Victor Perlo and artist Ellen Perlo, Art moved to New Haven in 1975 after living in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, to join his life partner Joelle Fishman, participating in her People before Profits campaigns for Congress and Mayor. They enjoyed 46 years of marriage until the time of his death. As an independent economist and activist, Art devoted his talents to the cause of the rights and equality of working class people of all races, genders and national backgrounds.

An IT worker at Yale's Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry lab for 35 years, he helped organize and was a founding member of the clerical and technical workers union Local 34 Unite Here in 1984. Although not eligible for the union with his managerial and professional job classification, he was appreciated for honoring the strikes of Local 34 and Local 35, joining his co-workers on the picket line for respect and improved wages and benefits. He was an early proponent for restructuring Yale's hiring practices to open job opportunities for Black and Latino New Haven residents.

Since the 1990's Perlo was a consistent voice to tax the rich, developing the economic basis for the legislative campaign of the Coalition to End Child Poverty in Connecticut in 2005 that helped pave the way for progressive tax reform and the child tax credit.

He helped organize many buses to marches and protests in Washington DC and New York for peace, racial justice and immigrant rights, as well as participation in countless actions and events in Connecticut including the People's World Amistad Awards which gave him a tribute this year.

He was a frequent contributor to the People's World on economic and other issues, and edited the People before Profits column following his father's death.

He gave various lectures locally and nationally, including a popular analysis “An Activist's View of Piketty's Capital in the 21^st Century” at the New Haven Free Public Library in 2014: https://www.cpusa.org/article/an-activist-view-of-piketty-s-capital-in-the-21st-century-video/

Art was deeply respected for his willingness to take on any task no matter how small in the community or the union, and for his unwavering commitment to equality, peace, environmental justice and an end to exploitation to make the world a better place. During the 2020 presidential election he led a strong voter registration and get out the vote effort in New Haven's Ward 24.

As education director of the Connecticut Communist Party he held many classes to bring forward new leaders. He served on the National Committee of the CPUSA, chaired the Economic Commission, and over the years served on the editorial board of Political Affairs, on the African American Equality Commission and on various convention committees, always upholding the working class struggle for socialism.

Art was an avid biker, hiker and rock climber, photographer, videographer and cook.

On January 1, 2023 an open house continuing the annual tradition of Art and Joelle will be held to celebrate Art's life and carry on his legacy and the movement his life exemplifies.

Contributions to carry on Art's legacy can be made at: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/art-perlo-presente-carry-it-forward/

McDonald's Workers Launch ‘Right to Recall’ Campaign for All Workers

Four victorious McDonald’s workers in a case before the National Labor Relations Board this week celebrated their victory against the owners of the Darien service plaza McDonald’s—where the four workers soon hope to return to their jobs—and launch a campaign to expand the defense of all service workers facing unfair layoffs in the pandemic. They were joined by State Legislature Labor Committee co-chairs Julie Kushner and Robyn Porter, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and others at the I-95 service plaza in Darien. They

On December 31, a decision from the NLRB ruled that Mario Franco, Rosa Franco (no relation), Pilar Mestanza and Milagros Vasquez were illegally discriminated against when the McDonald’s owner, Michell Enterprises, refused to recall them after the pandemic’s initial shutdown.

The four are leaders in the fight to improve pay, benefits and working conditions at the interstate service plazas, and to allow workers to form a union without management interference. In media interviews and rallies, they and other workers have made clear that every fast food and concession outlet across Connecticut’s interstate system is obliged to pay the Standard Wage and other benefits as subcontractors with the State of Connecticut, which owns the land under all the plazas.

“In a few weeks we hope to return to our jobs, but our fight is not over,” said Mario Franco, who worked for 26 years at the Darien plaza McDonald’s. “We will keep fighting for better jobs and a union, and for an extended Right to Recall law, to stop bad bosses from using the pandemic as an excuse to put good people out of a job.”

“Mario, Rosa, Pilar and Milagros fought for almost two years and endured a lengthy trial before their victory,” said State Senator Julie Kushner, co-chair of the Labor Committee. “Their courage and tenacity is remarkable, even heroic, but service workers need other recourses, especially when there is no clear anti-union activity, with a law that stops unscrupulous employers from using similar tactics. That’s why the ‘Right to Recall’ simply mandates that employers recall service sector workers laid-off in the pandemic according to seniority, before hiring new employees. The law, however, is only in effect until May, so we need to fight to extend it as the pandemic continues to rage.”

Only a handful of states have enacted similar Right to Recall laws, making Connecticut a national leader in the effort to protect workers from an insidious form of job termination during the worst global health emergency in a century. A lawsuit is still pending against Mitchell Enterprises for violation of the law.

 “It’s outrageous that Michell’s McDonald’s used the cover of Covid to abuse workers like Mario, Rosa, Pilar and Milagros,” said Rochelle Palache, Vice-President of 32BJ SEIU. “We stand outside the Darien service plaza to celebrate their victory and leadership in our campaign to bring a union to all 800 workers across Connecticut’s interstate plaza system. We call on the State of the Connecticut, the owners of this property, to help get their subcontractors to end their anti-worker and anti-union shenanigans, and start recognizing what it means to be all in this together.”

CT in Crisis Mental Health Symposium Calls for Increased Funding and Staffing

State legislators and Governor Lamont were called upon to urgently increase funding and services this year for the rising mental health and addiction crisis in Connecticut during COVID.

Titled “Connecticut in Crisis,” the half day symposium was organized by the Recovery for All coalition and SEIU District 1199NE. Panelists shared experiences and called for the expansion of mental health and addiction staffing and services for youth and adults.

The context of the symposium was the fact that “Residents in Connecticut agree on the crucial importance of providing robust mental health and addiction services to everyone no matter where they live, what they look like, or how much money they have. But as the global pandemic continues to ravage our state – thereby exacerbating Connecticut’s extreme racial, economic, and gender inequities – thousands of people in our communities are struggling through an unprecedented mental health crisis.”

The broad variety of organizations came together to envision the best possible system to save lives, guarantee equity and take on the challenge of mental health and addiction services for youth and adults. Panelists discussed how the staffing crises in the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Children and Families have hollowed out critical services especially for Black and brown communities.

Speakers highlighted he critical role public sector mental health services play in advancing racial equity, because Black and brown serviced recipients depend on them as a crucial safety net and because Black and brown workers depend on them as a crucial pathway to economic stability.

The conference called upon Governor Lamont to meet the urgency of the moment by committing to end contraction and instead expand staffing for the continuum of mental health services to children and adults available to all, irregardless of zip code or economic status.

Speakers included President Pro Tem Martin Looney, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, Middletown City Councilman and DCF worker Darnell Ford, and providers, recipients, and advocates of mental health services, including SEIU 1199NE, Unidad Latina en Acción, New Britain Racial Justice Coalition, Transitions Clinic, Disability Rights Connecticut, Keep the Promise, CT Justice Alliance, National Association of Social Workers, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and CT Legal Rights Project.

I-95 Service Plaza Workers Win Case Against McDonald's

 

Owner George Michell ordered to return workers to their jobs and provide compensation

 

On December 30, an administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board found that a local McDonald’s used pandemic layoffs as a “scheme” to rid itself of four workers fighting for better conditions and a union across Connecticut’s interstate service plazas. The ruling comes almost a full year after a lengthy trial seeking restitution for Mario Franco, Rosa Franco (unrelated), Pilar Mestanza, and Milagros Vasquez, who were never recalled to their jobs at the Northbound Darien plaza on I-95 after the pandemic’s March 2020 shutdown.

 

In her 47-page decision, Administrative Law Judge Donna N. Dawson systematically repudiated the “almost complete unreliability” of McDonald’s witnesses at the January trial, detailing evidence of management’s animus toward unionization and monitoring of workers, at times with the email support of McDonald’s corporate PR and government relations teams. In conclusion, Judge Lawson ordered the McDonald’s owner, Michell Enterprises, to reinstate the workers within 14 days and compensate them for back wages and other losses (calculations are pending).

 

“This decision lays bare the way that McDonald’s and other fast food outlets have used the pandemic as cover to attack fair pay, basic benefits, and workers’ protected right to form a union,” said Rochelle Palache, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, which filed the NLRB charges and represented the workers’ at trial alongside the government. “We are proud and thrilled that Mario, Rosa, Pilar and Milagros now join other McDonald’s workers who have won restitution in the service plaza campaign, and we enter the New Year determined to win better conditions and a union for them and all their coworkers, as a part of the national campaign for $15 and a Union.”

 

In 2021, two other sets of McDonald’s service plaza workers in Connecticut also won restitution. An October settlement with Michell Enterprises, owned by local McDonald’s magnate George Michell, cumulatively awarded Itamar Contreras, Andrea Hernandez and Besly Paul over $30,000 in back pay, and another in March with Golden Hawk LLC, owned by Roger Facey, gave thousands more to Yadira Martinez and Azucena Santiago.

More recently, Santiago was also honored at the People’s World Amistad Awards and received proclamations from the New Haven Board of Alders, the Connecticut General Assembly and the office of Senator Richard Blumenthal. These individual victories are compounded by the hundreds of thousands of dollars in higher wages and back pay that McDonald’s workers on I-95 have won since the start of the campaign.

 

Though Michell’s McDonalds may yet appeal, the ruling closes out the year on a satisfying note for Mario Franco, who worked at the Darien service plaza McDonald’s for over twenty years. “After all the struggles we’ve gone through, I’m so glad that the justice we’ve always desired is finally starting to arrive, and I believe together we can make this New Year the one where we win new union membership for all.”