Ohio State Students Spark Labor Day of Action in Columbus
4/4/01----Ohio State University students and Columbus area labor activists will come together at OSU as part of a national day of student labor action on more than 100 college campuses across the country. Whether supporting worker organizing on their campuses and in their communities or fighting for living wages and an end to sweatshops, students are organizing against corporate greed and for social and economic justice.
This year, April 4th will mark the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of our country's brave beloved hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the epic struggle for respect, dignity and economic justice of the Memphis sanitation workers' which Dr. King gave his life supporting in 1968.
To continue the legacy of solidarity in support of workers' rights local area labor, community, and student organizations will set up tables on the West Lawn of the Ohio State Student Union from 10 am to 2 pm to build relationships and inform students about specific local, national and international campaigns.
At 6:30 in the Stecker Lounge, Third Floor Ohio Union, the student activities "A Place for Community Dialogue" program will present President Mark Robertson of USWA Local 169 in Mansfield to share the experiences of the steelworker's struggle against the corporate greed of AK Steel with students and the Columbus community. The steelworkers have been locked out by AK Steel for 19 months. Students will commemorate the anniversary King's assassination with the screening of the video, "At the River I Stand," which explores King's actions in support of 1968 strike.
This action represents a strategic attempt to demonstrate and deepen the power of a student-labor-community coalition in Columbus. The local action is co-sponsored by the Columbus Network, the Organizing Committee for Jobs with Justice, CWA Local 4501, OSU Student Activities, All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party, Columbus United Students Against Sweatshops, and the Ohio Public Safety and Justice Coalition. The national campaign was organized by Jobs with Justice, United States Student Association, United Students Against Sweatshops, the Prison Moratorium Project, and the National Student Labor Alliance. This is the first time that Ohio State students have joined in the effort.
For more information, visit www.jwj.org.
Contact Ohio State students: Sheri Davis: (614) 262-2717 or 292-1031 Mary Beth Tschantz: (614) 538-1761 or 264-3553
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