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Progressive Action Roundtable: A forum for progressive groups in the Greater New Haven Area where actions and ideas may be publicized so that others are aware of peace, health, justice, energy, environmental and other issues for the common good.

Archive for March, 2010

Disarm Now! For Peace And Human Needs

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Events, Peace | No Comments

by Nancy Eberg, GNHPC

An international network — “For Peace and Human Needs: Disarm Now!” — has publicly launched a campaign to press U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders to initiate negotiations to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide. Negotiations on ridding the planet of nuclear weapons are scheduled for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon) at the United Nations in New York City this May.

While President Obama has raised hopes, calling for a world free of nuclear weapons, negotiations for arms reductions with Russia are going slowly. The U.S. Senate is also not moving to ratify important treaties like the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Obama’s budget in addition calls for a major increase in funding to ‘modernize’ the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.

Some 2,000 Japanese citizens, including more than 100 Hibakusha, will join U.S. activists in NYC Hundreds more will attend from Europe. Activists from Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and the U.S. are planning events around the NPT RevCon to show grassroots support for nuclear disarmament, ending the Iraq and Afghan wars, and cutting global military spending. The Greater New Haven Peace Council is actively involved in the planning.

Activists from across the world will deliver millions of petition signatures to world leaders during the first week of the NPT RevCon, convening May 3, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. On April 30 and May 1, an international conference on peace, disarmament, social justice and environmental issues will be held at Manhattan’s historic Riverside Church. Confirmed speakers include Terumi Tanaka from the Japanese Confederation of A- & H-Bomb Organizations; Socorro Gomes, President of the World Peace Council; Natalia Mironova from the Movement for Nuclear Safety in Russia; Professor Zia Mian of Princeton University; Nadine Padilla, a representative of Native American resistance to uranium mining in New Mexico; and Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima. Because of space limitations, conference attendance is limited.

Sunday, May 2, will be the International Day of Action for a Nuclear Free World. Tens of thousands of people will hold a peace festival near Times Square and march across mid-town Manhattan to the UN. Parallel events will be held in many European and Asian nations.

Locally, the Peace Council has arranged transportation to NYC, the “Bruce Martin Memorial Peace Train,” costing
$25 for adults and leaving New Haven in the morning. For reservations, see: www.stepfour.com/peacetrain, or call Henry Lowendorf at (203) 389-9547, or e-mail grnhpeacecouncil@sbcglobal.net. For information on the campaign, its various activities and to register for the conference, please see www.peaceandjusticenow.org/wordpress. For additional information about the NPT and the RevCon see: www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/2010index.html.

May Day/ International Workers’ Day, Saturday, May 1, New Haven Green

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Events, Human Rights, Workers | 1 Comment

by Paula Panzarella, May Day Celebration Committee

Come to the New Haven Green on Saturday, May 1 for the 24th annual May Day Celebration! Many peace, environmental, labor and social justice organizations will set up information tables and displays. Join in the Immigrants’ Rights March at 11 a.m. on Grand Avenue and Ferry Street, and march to the Green at noon. There will be a full day of music, poets, theater and speakers, an open mic, free vegetarian food, children’s activities and a Maypole dance.

All PAR-affiliate groups that want to be listed on the poster and web site for May Day on the Green should call (203) 843-3069 if you have not yet mailed in your registration. For further information about registration, schedule of events, setting up tables or displays and ways to volunteer, please call (203) 843-3069 or (203) 606-2456 or e-mail maydaynewhaven@yahoo.com.

In case of rain, the event will be held at United Church Parish House, 323 Temple Street (corner of Wall).

May Day Celebration Committee
P.O. Box 3371, New Haven, CT 06515
www.maydaynewhaven.org.

An Invitation From The Coalition For People

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Events, Healthcare | No Comments

by Mary Johnson

You are invited to the 28th Annual Meeting of the Coalition for People from 4:45 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 19, in the Program Room of the New Haven Free Public Library on the corner of Elm and Temple streets.

We plan to have an evening of good music, food, socializing and productive discussion. Frank Panzarella and Friends will provide the music, we will provide the pizza (you may want to supplement that fare with pot-luck contributions), and Carl Berdahl will provide the stimulus for thought. The topic will be Single Payer and the Economy.

Mr. Berdahl is a third-year student at the Yale School of Medicine and plans to take a sabbatical this upcoming year to compare how doctors in the U.S. and Canada consider cost and resource utilization when making decisions. He is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization that focuses on educating health care workers and the general public on the need for a comprehensive, high quality, equitably-accessible healthcare program for all residents of the United States.

Your participation on April 19 will make this event an enjoyable experience. Please call Mary at (203) 387-7858 by April 12, if you plan to attend. Knowing how many are coming will help us when we order the pizza.

7th Anniversary Of Iraq War – Demonstration In D.C.

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Peace | No Comments

by Chris Garaffa, ANSWER CT

Nearly 100 people from Connecticut traveled to DC for the March 20th National March on Washington. Organizers across the state spent the past months mobilizing – having meetings, leafleting, doing outreach on the street and at local events, phone banking and more. Students at the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University held events and raised funds to get students to the march.

They joined 10,000 others who had traveled from as far away as Maine, Florida and Illinois. Rallies of 5,000 each were also held in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The two buses organized by ANSWER CT made pickups in New London, New Haven and at UConn’s Storrs Campus and at CCSU in New Britain. People traveled from across the state to get on the buses.

Many of the passengers were students new to the anti-war movement. Their anger at budget cuts and tuition increases that are happening while the war costs $1.2 billion every 2 days inspired them to come to D.C. One UConn student for whom March 20th was his first demonstration said, “My tuition is about to go up again but there’s all this money for the war. We have to do something to stop this.”

Workers and other long-time activists also traveled to D.C. with the students. As the buses returned to Connecticut, it was clear that there is continued and growing momentum to build an anti-war movement at campuses, workplaces and in our communities.
ANSWER Coalition CT (203) 606-0319, ct@answercoalition.org

Overview Of Public Hearing On Death Penalty Reform Bill (HB-5445)

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Death Penalty | No Comments

by Ben Jones, Exec. Dir. Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP)

On March 10, the Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on a bill that proposed reforms to Connecticut’s death penalty. A long list of reforms are included in the bill: limiting habeas petitions, establishing a death penalty authorization committee, allowing discrimination as a basis for challenging death sentences, increasing training and resources for capital cases, re-establishing proportionality review of death sentences, and instituting new measures to limit wrongful convictions in capital cases.

Few testifying at the hearing favored the bill, at least as a whole. The Public Defender’s Office opposed the provision to limit appeals and questioned them as unconstitutional. Although Chief State Attorney Kevin Kane favored the habeas reforms, he opposed the other reforms in the bill on the grounds that they would further prolong the legal process. Dr. William Petit testified against the provision in the bill that a victim’s impact statement be read after, rather than before, a jury has reached a verdict.

Both an exoneree and a victim’s family member testified against the bill, both arguing that the way to reform the death penalty is to do away with it. Jeffrey Deskovic spent 16 years in jail for a rape and murder he did not commit. He said in his testimony that “There is no ‘fixing’ the death penalty, other than abolishing it altogether, because no matter how many reforms are passed aimed at preventing wrongful convictions, in the end the system is operated by human beings, and human beings make mistakes.” Pamela Joiner, whose son Jumar was murdered in 2008, said that the bill to reform the death penalty “will not help me…. I don’t want more money going toward a death penalty we don’t use… I want those resources to go toward investigating my son’s murder.”

Youth Rights Media Job Opening

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in General | 1 Comment

The following is an excerpt from newhaven.craigslist.org/npo/1643988275.html

Youth Rights Media, a New Haven, CT-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth, seeks an Executive Director.

Youth Rights Media (YRM) builds youth power and leadership by engaging young people in video production and community organizing, equipping youth with the tools, skills and strategies to know, protect, and advance their rights for the purpose of affecting change within themselves and their communities.

For eight years, YRM’s youth media has produced award-winning films that have been distributed nationally. Members of YRM’s organizing initiatives have then used these films locally to launch awareness and action campaigns that have resulted in tangible changes in Connecticut’s justice and education systems. YRM currently has four full-time staff members who work with a core group of approximately 50 youth annually.

The Executive Director must be a visionary and engaging leader, an experienced manager, and deeply committed to young people’s growth and development. YRM is a small, lean organization where all staff play a direct, hands-on role. The Executive Director must excel at balancing multiple tasks, including internal management of the staff and programs, external relationships with key stakeholders, collaborators, and allies, and the demands of working in a fluid, fast-paced youth-centered environment. The Executive Director will be responsible for ensuring that the organization is fiscally and programmatically sound, and must work to strategically advance YRM’s purpose and goals. The Executive Director position is a full-time, salaried position with benefits.

The ideal candidate will posses business and financial management skills; youth development, criminal justice and education policy expertise; and experience leading and managing staff. The ideal candidate will also have a demonstrated commitment to social justice efforts. In addition, the ideal candidate will be:

• Familiar with youth media production, specifically as it relates to issues impacting young people in urban settings;
• Experienced in managing, developing, and leading youth programs that integrate youth development theory, and principles of youth organizing.

Oil Co-Op Offering Increased Savings On Electricity

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Energy | No Comments

by Meredith Willson, Citizen’s Oil Co-op

Citizen’s Oil Co-op, Inc. announces that it has recently partnered with Starion Energy to provide electrical power for less to Connecticut residents. Consumers signing up through the Co-op by phone or on-line will receive additional savings to Starion’s already reduced rates. Through this partnership, CL&P and UI customers would save approximately 10% of the generation rate on their monthly bill. This is another way that the Citizen’s Oil Co-op is working to help consumers save on the high cost of utilities.

“The great part about the electricity is, it’s a free enrollment,” Mark Hutson, Co-op President commented. “CL&P will still handle billing and service, the consumer just pays a lower price per kilowatt. And people can enroll whether they join the Co-op or not. Go to www.oilco-op.com and sign up today!”

Established in 1981 through the Connecticut Citizens’ Action Group, the Oil Co-op was founded initially to help consumers battle the high price of home heating oil. Incorporated in 1992, Citizens Oil Co-op Inc. has been saving thousands of consumers hundreds of dollars each year. Citizen’s Oil Co-op works with participating oil companies throughout Connecticut to provide members with a full service arrangement, saving consumers 20-25 cents per gallon compared to the state average.

To get in touch with Citizen’s Oil Co-op, Inc. visit www.oilco-op.com or call 860-561-6011 for further information.

Looking For Shared Office Space

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in General | No Comments

by Megan Wulff, megawulff@gmail.com

I’m a prospective Yale law student for this coming fall, and my partner, who is part of a progressive web development organization, is looking for inexpensive (and small) shared office space with other like-minded progressive individuals, basically just room for a desk. Do you have any idea where we could find such a space? Thanks so much for your time!

Fight The Hike Update

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Fight the Hike | No Comments

by Frank Panzarella

Fight the Hike has been working on energy reform issues for 4 years now and our work has included developing bills as well as grassroots education campaigns to develop public opinion and understanding of the issues facing Connecticut.

There are a number of energy bills worth supporting. Our focus is on HR 5505, a bill that would create a Connecticut electric authority, which would enable the state to create new energy generation under state auspices, end-run the current buying process and buy directly from generators, and promote renewables, among other important pieces.

H.B. No. 5505, An Act Concerning Electric Rate Relief, would mandate the creation of a discount electric and natural gas rate for low-income customers to help struggling families keep up with their bills.

It would also create a new agency, a power authority called the Connecticut Electric Authority that would be tasked with ensuring that Connecticut’s electric rates go down. It would have the power to create new generation under state auspices and be able to bond monies for this purpose.

In addition, this bill would ensure that Connecticut has reliable electric service, including contracting with new power plants or existing power plants.

The Connecticut Electric Authority would be the agency responsible for making sure that State buildings are leading the way in adopting new technologies

This bill would also create a windfall profits tax to tax generation companies that take advantage of the efficiencies and poor design of the regional energy market. The proceeds of the tax would go directly back to ratepayers, with the goal that we will finally stop having the highest rates in the Continental United States.

Other bills that Fight the Hike would like passed are: H.B. No. 5507, An Act Concerning Consumer Protections In The Retail Electricity Market; H.B. No. 5508, An Act Establishing The Division Of Electricity Policy And Procurement; and H.B. No. 5362, An Act Concerning Renewable Energy.

The next Fight the Hike meeting is Thursday, April 15 at 6 p.m., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church St., 2nd floor. For more information, call (203) 562-2798 or e-mail paulapanzarelle@yahoo.com.

United Action To Create Jobs And Newsmaker Awards Celebration

Mar 31

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Events, Human Rights | No Comments

by Joelle Fishman, People’s World

“A Call for United Action to Create Jobs for All with Equality and Peace” is the theme for this year’s People’s World/Mundo Popular Newsmaker Awards and May Day Celebration to be held on Sunday, April 25 at 4 p.m. at the NH Peoples Center, 37 Howe St.

The event is held one week early due to the international peace march at the UN on the first Sunday in May.

Organizations receiving Newsmaker Awards have led in the struggle for jobs and for relief in the economic crisis.

International Association of Machinists Local 1746-A in Cheshire will receive an award to highlight the successful court fight they led to stop the profitable Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, from moving jobs abroad in the middle of their union contract. The contract includes language requiring the company to meet with the union and consider other options before moving
machinery and jobs. The court ruled that the company violated this agreement, and must stop their plans at least during the contract which expires in December, 2010.

The Greater Hartford Labor Council will receive an award in recognition of their broad outreach and involvement of organized workers in the struggle for health care jobs, and workers’ rights.

The Asociacion de trabajadores de New Haven, the new workers’ center organized by Unidad Latina en Accion, will receive an award for their groundbreaking mobilization of immigrant workers at their worksites and for the march on Washington on March 21.

The event will kick off organizing for May Day events including an immigrant rights march in New Haven that will coordinate with marches across the country bringing together immigrant organizations with labor unions.

The program will include music and a home made buffet. Donation is $5 or what you can afford. A collection will be taken for the People’s World/Mundo Popular in CT. For information, call 203-624-8664.

TO ALL PAR READERS

Mar 4

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in General | No Comments

Millions are affected by the destruction of the earthquake in Haiti. Tens of thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands have been injured. Here are some of the many organizations providing medical aid and relief.

Haiti Marycare Inc., www.haitimarycare.org, (203) 675-4770.
Haiti Marycare Inc.
55 King Street
Danbury, CT  06811

Haitian Ministries for the Diocese of Norwich,www.haitianministries.org, (860) 848-2237, Ext. 206. To donate, call (860) 638-1018.Or mail your gift to: Haitian Ministries, 1595 Norwich-New London Turnpike, Uncasville, CT  06382. Donors can also give at any Citizens Bank to: Earthquake Relief for Haitian Ministries account # 2231-994385.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oral History Project For Former Winchester Workers Launched

Mar 4

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Workers | No Comments

By Dorothy Johnson, GNH Labor History Association

I can’t count the number of people I have met who lived in the Newhallville area or worked at the former Winchester plant. My father was living in Birmingham, Alabama when plant managers headed to the South in hopes of recruiting potential workers to locate to New Haven, CT. Great numbers of people headed north for a better future for themselves and their families. Some of the workers who migrated to the North stayed at the former YMCA which was then located on Howe Street in walking distance to the plant.

Winchester has such a rich history. I remember when my family lived on Bassett Street and I would walk down to the plant, which at that time had factories on both sides of Winchester Avenue. This historic facility was a city inside a larger city. At noon you could hear the whistle blowing all over New Haven. Those were the good days.

Many positive changes did occur throughout the decades. The Greater New Haven Labor History Association is launching an oral history project for former Winchester workers to share their experiences while employed there. Victory Lodge 609 members stood up and fought back against the company numerous times. It certainly was an active journey the workers experienced. Now is the time you can share your untold story with others. The Winchester Plant may be gone, but the history is alive!

Interviews will kick off in the middle of March 2010. The committee has already contacted some former workers who are eager to tell the story. Please join us in this history event.

For more information about this project, please contact Dorothy Johnson or Lula White, (203) 281-0665, Mary Johnson (203) 387-7858, or e-mail laborhistory@gmail.com.

From Death Row To Freedom Tour And A New Challenge Grant

Mar 4

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Death Penalty | No Comments

By Ben Jones, Director, CNADP

The CT Network to Abolish the Death Penalty (CNADP) is partnering with the national organization Witness to Innocence to organize a statewide speaking tour in Connecticut featuring individuals who spent time on death row before being found innocent. The May 2-7 tour, entitled From Death Row to Freedom, highlights one of the most troubling aspects of capital punishment: its history of deadly errors and inability to protect the innocent from risk of execution.

One of the speakers in the tour will be Randy Steidl. His story illustrates the tragic mistakes that occur too often in death penalty cases. His story can be found at Witness to Innocence’s website, part of which appears below:

When questioned about the 1986 murders of newlyweds Dyke and Karen Rhoads, Randy assumed the police were questioning many people in the area. He did not know either of the victims but cooperated with the police and gave a corroborated alibi for the night of the murders. It was a shock when he and a friend were arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.

An investigation by Illinois State police proved that local law enforcement and prosecutors had framed Randy and co-defendant Herbert Whitlock. The real person responsible was Karen Rhoads’ employer, a man whose major campaign contributions to the governor’s office made this case “too politically sensitive.” The governor ordered the investigation against him to cease. In 2003, federal judge Michael McCuskey overturned Randy’s conviction and ordered a new trial…. The state reinvestigated the case, tested DNA evidence, and found no link to Randy. State Attorney General Lisa Madigan did not appeal the ruling and Edgar County prosecutors did not retry the case.

Lastly, I am pleased to report that the CNADP has received a challenge grant from the Unitarian-Universalist Fund for a Just Society to fund a speaking tour in the fall of 2011 featuring victims’ families and exonerees. Because of this grant, any contributions made now to the CNADP will be DOUBLED! To support our grassroots organizing efforts please visit http://www.cnadp.org/join.php today.

Thank you!