Community-labor coalition rally

The successful campaign launched by a broad coalition of every day Georgians to stop SB469, a bill designed to kill both unions and peaceful protest and civil disobedience deserves a backward look.

.The bill would have imposed penalties on picketing a private residence (first if there is a labor dispute involved, then – to make it more “constitutional” – amended to apply to all cases); made planning as well as participating in civil disobedience that incurs a criminal trespass charge (the usual charge for this) a CONSPIRACY with very heavy fines both for individuals and organizations; and required unions to re-enroll their members annually!

This horrible legislation was defeated by a coalition of labor, Occupy Atlanta, Jobs with Justice, faith-based groups, DSA and many other community groups, most notably the local Tea Party, whose representative spoke eloquently to the media about the importance of first amendment rights.

Here is an account of how we killed the bill, by Roger Sikes, Staff Organizer, Atlanta Jobs with Justice, and a member of Metro Atlanta DSA:

February 22nd, 2012. Word got out about the frontal assault of SB469 on the people of Georgia.

February 29th, 2012. Community allies and Occupy Atlanta held a rally with about 75 in attendance at the capitol to highlight SB469, Senator Balfour (who introduced the bill) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC-they crafted the bill). .

March 2nd, 2012. Jobs with Justice exposes Senator Balfour as a Vice President of Waffle House. Seven Waffle House locations are targeted in Metro Atlanta and Snellville (Balfour’s district) with fliers informing customers that Waffle House execs are attacking Georgians’ right to free speech.  It was noted during this outreach that Georgians of all stripes — including Tea Party folks — were against this bill.

March 5th, 2012. Georgia AFL-CIO, local unions and community partners organize a rally at the GA capitol against SB469.  About 300-400 attended. The rally spontaneously marched to the closest Waffle House and held a huge picket in Balfour’s honor.  Servers inside the Waffle House were tipped heavily so they know that no community angst was directed towards them.

March 13th, 2012. 1st Mass Community Meeting was held to discuss collective strategy to stop SB469.  Over 75 folks came to this meeting and almost 40 organizations were represented.  The infrastructure for a large act of civil disobedience including bail funds and civil disobedience trainings began at this meeting.  This meeting helped to build the largest labor/community mobilization we have seen in Atlanta in years.

March 17th, 2012.  Mass mobilization with 2,000+ in attendance.  Labor came out big as well as the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and other community allies.  It was great to see an undocumented student sharing her story with thousands of trade unionists.  This is when we broke through the media bubble and took control of the narrative around SB469.  It was critical to change the perception from a “bill that would stop union thugs from targeting private residences” to “a broad coalition of Georgians standing up for our 1st amendment rights and for working families.” Community members contributed a significant amount to a bail fund and authorities started to get nervous about our plans moving forward.

March 20th, 2012. Unions and community members pack the Industrial Relations Committee meeting to give compelling testimony from union members, grandmothers, civil rights leaders, Occupy Atlanta, legal experts, the Tea Party and more.  Media coverage is amplified through the novel alliance of the Tea Party, labor and Occupy.  Collective action occurred when participants left the committee hearing with free speech stickers over their mouths .

March 26, 2012. Georgia labor organizes “Welcoming Party” for anti-worker governor Scott Walker (also backed by ALEC) who paid a visit to Georgia on this date.  Interesting that Walker came to town while the union-killing SB469 was on the agenda in this state. 

March 29th, 2012. This was the last day of the legislature and last opportunity to pass SB469.  A community prayer took place in the morning, followed by a press conference that garnered significant media attention.  The commitment from our coalition was huge. We had strong numbers from 9 am until midnight.  The legislative action was chaotic to say the least… The multiple amendments and committee meetings called to discuss SB469 revealed the cracks in the ranks of those pushing the corporate agenda.  

There was constant communication between our “inside strategy” which included lobbying our representatives and getting inside information on the status of the bills/votes and the “external strategy” that was mobilizing to commit non-violent civil disobedience if needed to garner national media attention and public backlash against the bill.  Over 45 police officers were present with zip ties in the house gallery while our internal allies were furiously organizing representatives against the bill.  

The discipline and communication between all of our forces was significant and an example of community/labor power focused on a pragmatic and unified goal: killing the bill.  The bill was never brought to the house floor before the clock struck 12 midnight, the official end of the legislative session.

We stopped this bill.  We stopped some of the most powerful political and social players including Senators Balfour, Hamrick, Cowsert and Tolleson all of whom are members of ALEC. We stopped them in Georgia!  Georgia was to be the test case for the rest of the nation.

There was much more work that went in to stopping this bill and I apologize for what I did not highlight.  We need to claim this clear victory and continue to build so that next year we can mobilize our forces to fight back against the assault on women, immigrants and the un- and underemployed in this state.  With our unified victory against SB469, we have the tools and the beginnings of a strong and broad coalition to do so.

The bail funds are being held in reserve to be used for future acts of non-violent civil disobedience in our state. A deep thank you to all of our community members who helped to build these much-needed reserves and latent power.

Clock Strikes Midnight and the bill died

Roger Sikes is Staff Organizer with  Atlanta Jobs with Justice, and a member of Metro Atlanta DSA. Barbara Joye is a member of Atlanta DSA.

For many progressive Georgians, it was a tired old repeat of the usual losses for women’s rights, the poor and unemployed, workers, and so on. Still, when the clock struck midnight, the south wing of the capitol erupted in cheers and a huge collective sigh of relief. SB469, one of this year’s most controversial pieces of legislation, a bill that would severely limit the rights of Georgians to protest and picket, a bill that would make it even more difficult for struggling Georgia labor unions to collect dues, and a bill that would have criminalized the act of merely planning peaceful civil disobedience, quietly died without ever receiving a vote on the House floor.

That moment marked the culmination of a long, tedious, emotionally trying, and often distressing battle by a broad coalition to defend free speech and workers’ rights in our state. While labor unions were the obvious target of the bill, they were

Christine Frazer speaks at Thursday morning's rally

joined by Occupy Atlanta, several church groups, and even the Tea Party, an odd and unlikely, but ultimately successful coalition.

At a rally Thursday morning, Debbie Dooley, leader of the Georgia Tea Party Patriots, declared that the Georgia State Capitol belongs to the people of Georgia, leading a chant that set the tone for the rest of the day: “We own the dome!” Charles Fleming, president of the Georgia AFL-CIO, several members of the clergy, and Christine Frazer, currently under threat of eviction from her home, which houses four generations of her family, were among the speakers at a rally of over 100 people of all ages, religions, and ethnicities. Rev. Joseph Lowery was slated to speak at the event, but was delayed by health issues. His presence and spirit could still be felt in the air, however. The scene was electrifying and the rally ended with several occupiers and union members of all ages, including your faithful narrator, singing union anthems (“Solidarity Forever!”) and protest songs.

Throughout the day, and into the night, union members, Occupy Atlanta members, and other opponents of SB469 maintained a noticeable presence in the capitol, especially in the House gallery. As the hours ticked by, our numbers increase, the tension heightened, and several coalition members threatened imminent civil disobedience.

Around 7pm, SB469 went back to the rules committee, yet again. There the bill was stripped of all provisions restricting protesting and picketing and language that would have made ‘conspiracy to commit criminal trespass’ an aggravated misdemeanor, or a criminal act at all, was completely removed, leaving a watered down bill with only the portion that would make collecting dues from their members a bigger hassle for certain labor unions. Many of the bill’s opponents saw this as some sort of last-minute trick or diversion, standing by in stunned disbelief that the committee would totally strip the bill of its teeth. Still, tensions remained high throughout the building and, with only hours left in the session, rumors as to what may happen with the bill and who was pissed about the latest changes (apparently the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the bill’s sponsor Sen. Don Balfour were fairly livid) were rampant.

As time drew on, bystanders kept a near-constant eye on the clocks. “55 minutes left.” “30 minutes left.” “8 minutes left.” When the clock struck midnight, House Speaker David Ralston allowed votes on more legislation, much to our distress. Many presumed this would simply go down as another chapter in Georgia’s forever ethically challenged lawmaking process – a ‘good old boy’ system for the 21^st century. However, a few minutes past midnight, Mr. Ralston banged the 2012 legislative session to and end. Before his gavel even struck the desk, cheers erupted from all over. Many on our side could be heard saying, “Well that’s all the damage they can do to us this year!” And it’s true. They certainly did some damage, but at least SB469 is dead, so no matter what damage they did, or continue to do, at least we can still assemble to speak against it. For now.

The anti-SB469 coalition jumped up and down, hugged, cheered, patted each other on the back, smiled, laughed, let out a HUGE sigh of relief, and for the first time in days, breathed. The battle was over. And against all odds, we won. We actually won!!

As we left the building, a group of Occupiers gathered outside the Mitchell St. entrance, dancing, cheering, singing, and celebrating. This presented a stark contrast to the legislators and lobbyists filing, almost fleeing, from the building,

Attendees sing and chant union slogans after the rally

rushing to their cars to go home, crawl into their beds, and resume their boring, mundane lives tomorrow. Not us, however. We earned our right to celebrate. This was no small feat for us. This was a major victory for Occupy Atlanta, for the Unions, and for all freedom-loving Georgians. Maybe those people walking out of the building thought we were crazy. We probably are. But who’s really out of their minds? After all, freedom and liberty are something we should cherish and celebrate, not just something we insert into speeches to get people to vote for us, all the while sponsoring legislation to dismantle it at every turn.

Ultimately, while SB469 was quietly laid to rest, several anti-woman, anti-worker, and anti-poor bills did survive the final days of the legislative session and are en route to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk, where he eagerly waits to sign them into law, no doubt. Among them:

• SB954, the so-called “fetal pain” bill, anti-abortion legislation which severely restricts a woman’s right to have an abortion after 20-weeks, giving Georgia some of the most strict abortion regulations in the nation. Supporters claim it will ‘save’ about 1,000 fetuses each year, but opponents see it as yet another blow in the Republican war against women. In fact, the Senate and House Democratic women each led separate walkouts and chants of “Women will remember in November” after the subsequents votes. Rest assured ladies, it’s not only women who will remember.
• New measures to require drug testing of applicants for TANF benefits. Applicants would likely have to pay for drug testing fees out of their own pockets, which is asking quite a lot of someone who already needs financial assistance. Similar legislation has been under attack in Florida and is considered to be unconstitutional. Furthermore, less than 2% of applicants tested in Florida tested positive for drug use, proving the measures to be extremely costly with little or no payoff, especially considering TANF is paid for by Federal Block Grants, not state funds.
• HB347, which reduces unemployment benefits for workers facing an already harsh labor market. The law would drop unemployment benefits from the current 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 14 to 20 weeks. It also increases the tax for unemployment insurance. Unfortunately, the state legislators deemed it necessary to correct their own mismanagement of federal unemployment funds on the backs of those who can least afford it, poor and unemployed Georgians.

So, while SB469 was a resounding, and refreshing, win for Georgia progressives, protesters, and workers, our work is far from over. In fact, it’s just started. This is perhaps the first major legislative victory for Occupy Atlanta, and certainly the biggest for Georgia labor unions in quite some time. But this is just the beginning. We have kicked off the American Spring or, if you will, the Atlanta Spring, with a stunning come-from-behind victory. Let us not put down our guard yet. There is still work to be done, and let us not be fooled – we are no more free today than we were yesterday. If anything, we are less free. Certainly our wives, sisters, and daughters are.

We must keep fighting this battle until every man, women, and child is guaranteed the freedom, the justice, the peace, and the equality we all deserve. Let us not rest until we are all safe from these tyrants’ rule. We own the dome, and let us make sure that they never forget that!

Since 2001 ** Your Key To Community

MARCH 31, 2011 – AUSTIN -- The Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee today passed SB 469, legislation authored by Texas State Senator Jane Nelson to protect drivers from excessive administrative fees collected on delinquent tolls by the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). The bill now goes to the full Senate.

“I fully recognize that toll authorities need tools at their disposal to deal with toll violations and delinquent collections.  However, I have heard from more than 160 constituents who have seen relatively small unpaid toll bills balloon into invoices totaling hundreds — in some cases thousands — of dollars,” said Senator Nelson, R-Flower Mound.

At the March 23 committee hearing, a  Fort Worth woman testified she was charged $826 in fees for $23 worth of tolls.

Key provisions of Senate Bill 469 would:

•limit NTTA to one $25 invoice fee regardless of how many missed tolls for drivers who pay within 30 days of receiving notice;

•create a sliding scale of fees up to $225 on second notice for drivers who have multiple toll transactions;

•authorize NTTA to include an additional fee for collection agencies to pursue the most flagrant violators; and

•require one unpaid invoice and three unpaid notices of non-payment before the process would move through the court system.

CURRENT ISSUE OF THE FRISCO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

HOMEPAGE OF THE FRISCO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

Since 2001 ** Your Key to Community

MARCH 31, 2011 – AUSTIN -- The Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee today passed SB 469, legislation authored by Texas State Senator Jane Nelson to protect drivers from excessive administrative fees collected on delinquent tolls by the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). The bill now goes to the full Senate.

“I fully recognize that toll authorities need tools at their disposal to deal with toll violations and delinquent collections.  However, I have heard from more than 160 constituents who have seen relatively small unpaid toll bills balloon into invoices totaling hundreds — in some cases thousands — of dollars,” said Senator Nelson, R-Flower Mound.

At the March 23 committee hearing, a  Fort Worth woman testified she was charged $826 in fees for $23 worth of tolls.

Key provisions of Senate Bill 469 would:

•limit NTTA to one $25 invoice fee regardless of how many missed tolls for drivers who pay within 30 days of receiving notice;

•create a sliding scale of fees up to $225 on second notice for drivers who have multiple toll transactions;

•authorize NTTA to include an additional fee for collection agencies to pursue the most flagrant violators; and

•require one unpaid invoice and three unpaid notices of non-payment before the process would move through the court system.

CURRENT ISSUE OF THE FRISCO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

HOMEPAGE OF THE FRISCO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER