Hunger strikers win card check at University of Miami!

The parties agreed to conduct an impartial process to verify whether a
majority of employees are interested in collective bargaining representation by
the SEIU. At least 60 percent of the workers must vote in favor of unionizing by
August 1, 2006 for UNICCO to recognize the union. Under terms of the agreement,
a card-check verification process will be conducted by a neutral third party,
the American Arbitration Association.
***
The dispute at Miami has become a focal point for labor activists and
political leaders nationwide who want to help low-income workers at colleges,
especially at institutions that outsource work to companies. The dispute at
Miami follows major student activism on behalf of janitors at Washington University in St. Louis and helped encourage
activists at the University of Virginia, among other campuses.
At an
impromptu celebratory gathering after the agreement was released, several
janitors said they were excited to vote to join SEIU. Most make less than
$11,000 a year for a full eight hours of work each day and do not have health
insurance.
Throughout the school year, students had worked
hard to support the janitors, joining in rallies and participating in hunger
strikes. “Student support was instrumental,” said Asher. “They shared a vision
with the janitors on how to make this university a just place.”

This is so inspirational, and sucjh a huge victory. I'm at a loss for words. Congratulations to all the people who fought so hard for so long for this.

I don't have any pictures from yesterday's rally, but it was amazing, completely filling Union Square. Favorite chant, other than the perennial "Bush, escucha, estamos en la lucha!" was "No somos cero. No somos cien. Somos milliones, cuenta nos bien!" (Apologies for lack of accents.)

While paper-writing this weekend i took intermittent Buffy breaks, finishing season 2 and beginning season 3. Season 3 remains my favorite. It's epic in a way that even season 2 never was for me. It's the moment where high school assumes a mythic quality but also feels far more "lived in" than in the previous two seasons, partially because of Oz and the increasing prominence of the supporting cast (Jonathan, Amy, Schneider, Harmony, Larry, et al.) I'll freely admit that part of the reason I love the third season is the huge freaking revolt at the end, but there's such a wealth of storylines and so many incredible episodes. That said, rewatching "Becoming, Pt. 2," the season 2 finale, I found the episode far more moving than I have the last couple of times I've seen it. Not only does it set up "Anne," which is easily the show's best season premiere ever, but it's somethig of a perfect climax for the orgy of pathos that is season 2, and the buffy-joyce scenes are pretty priceless.