thepeoplesrecord: Cambodian workers on hunger strike against Walmart & H&MFebruary 28, 2013 Self-organized garment workers at a Walmart and H&M supplier factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, have been camping in front of their shuttered factory for almost two months to prevent their bosses from taking out the sewing machinery. Now the workers have escalated to blocking roads, and will launch a hunger strike February 27—all to push Walmart and H&M to pay them the back wages they are owed. Their cause is drawing support from workers at another Walmart subcontractor on the other side of the world. “We decided to go on hunger strike to show that we not just any workers,” said one of the leaders, Sorn Sothy, 26, who works in the warehousing part of the Cambodian factory. “We are strong, committed, and united.” The workers were informed in September that their factory, Kingsland Garment Co., Ltd., would temporarily close until January. Under Cambodian labor law, they would be paid 50 percent of their wages during this time, and brought back to work in January. But in December, the paychecks stopped coming. The company union told the workers that the company was bankrupt and the owner had fled the country. The garment workers are owed around $200,000 collectively—less than what Walmart makes in profits every six minutes. Since their boss-run union wouldn’t fight back, 200 workers organized themselves and began protesting outside the factory gates January 1. In the middle of the night January 3, they noticed company staff attempting to remove the sewing machines from the factory. “We decided to start sleeping outside of the factory to prevent management from taking the machinery out,” said Yorn Sok Leng, 30, who has worked at the factory for two years. With the help of a worker center, the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC), the workers occupied the outside of the factory—setting up tarps, a sleeping area, and a kitchen. Source
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thepeoplesrecord:

Cambodian workers on hunger strike against Walmart & H&M
February 28, 2013

Self-organized garment workers at a Walmart and H&M supplier factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, have been camping in front of their shuttered factory for almost two months to prevent their bosses from taking out the sewing machinery.

Now the workers have escalated to blocking roads, and will launch a hunger strike February 27—all to push Walmart and H&M to pay them the back wages they are owed. Their cause is drawing support from workers at another Walmart subcontractor on the other side of the world.

“We decided to go on hunger strike to show that we not just any workers,” said one of the leaders, Sorn Sothy, 26, who works in the warehousing part of the Cambodian factory. “We are strong, committed, and united.”

The workers were informed in September that their factory, Kingsland Garment Co., Ltd., would temporarily close until January. Under Cambodian labor law, they would be paid 50 percent of their wages during this time, and brought back to work in January.

But in December, the paychecks stopped coming. The company union told the workers that the company was bankrupt and the owner had fled the country.

The garment workers are owed around $200,000 collectively—less than what Walmart makes in profits every six minutes.

Since their boss-run union wouldn’t fight back, 200 workers organized themselves and began protesting outside the factory gates January 1. In the middle of the night January 3, they noticed company staff attempting to remove the sewing machines from the factory.

“We decided to start sleeping outside of the factory to prevent management from taking the machinery out,” said Yorn Sok Leng, 30, who has worked at the factory for two years.

With the help of a worker center, the Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC), the workers occupied the outside of the factory—setting up tarps, a sleeping area, and a kitchen.

Source

(via avoca2)

Source: thepeoplesrecord

melaniecervantes:   “Water for All”, Melanie Cervantes, 14” x 18” 4-color screen print, Arches 88 archival cotton paper, Printed in San Leandro, 2013   “Water for all” is a poster derived from a piece I designed in 2008 when I traveled with fifteen other artists to Ecatepec, Mexico to participate in El Festival de Nuevos Vientos. Access to water and the threat of privatization of the natural resource were pressing issues for several communities in Ecatepec, as they are increasingly worldwide. Water is a critical and necessary element for all life and yet corporations try to create a commodity out of it by bottling it and making us believe this is better and by buying up public systems. We have to articulate our opposition to the corporate control of resources that should exists and be access for the common good. The fight for water is the fight for life.
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melaniecervantes:

 

“Water for All”, Melanie Cervantes, 14” x 18”
4-color screen print, Arches 88 archival cotton paper, Printed in San Leandro, 2013
 

“Water for all” is a poster derived from a piece I designed in 2008 when I traveled with fifteen other artists to Ecatepec, Mexico to participate in El Festival de Nuevos Vientos. Access to water and the threat of privatization of the natural resource were pressing issues for several communities in Ecatepec, as they are increasingly worldwide. Water is a critical and necessary element for all life and yet corporations try to create a commodity out of it by bottling it and making us believe this is better and by buying up public systems. We have to articulate our opposition to the corporate control of resources that should exists and be access for the common good. The fight for water is the fight for life.

brb2012: creative time SAYS YOU SHOULD KNOW:  Image: A rubber stamp made by Immigrant Movement International. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL ARTnews: From Black Power to Migrants’ Power: As ’60s activist art enters museums, a new generation is creating an iconography of protest for today … More recently Immigrant Movement produced a rubber stamp to stamp currency with the notice that immigrants pay taxes, too. The image, and the idea behind it, are partly behind a performative event that the group will stage at “How Much Do I Owe You?”, an exhibition organized by No Longer Empty at the Clock Tower in Long Island City on Saturday, February 16, at 2 p.m….
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brb2012:

creative time SAYS YOU SHOULD KNOW: 

Image: A rubber stamp made by Immigrant Movement International. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL

ARTnews:

From Black Power to Migrants’ Power: As ’60s activist art enters museums, a new generation is creating an iconography of protest for today

…

More recently Immigrant Movement produced a rubber stamp to stamp currency with the notice that immigrants pay taxes, too. The image, and the idea behind it, are partly behind a performative event that the group will stage at “How Much Do I Owe You?”, an exhibition organized by No Longer Empty at the Clock Tower in Long Island City on Saturday, February 16, at 2 p.m….

Source: creativetime

5lowershop at moco gallery, oakland

5lowershop soundsystem presents:

an intimate night of auditory bewilderment at one of oakland’s coolest new art galleries…

FEATURING all live sets from: :

*LA tron 
*onslaught ocelot 
*prion 
*victor vankmen 
*heartworm 

PLUS… we will end the evening with a 5 way monster jam…

*THRILL to the gooey synth jams.

*BUG OUT to the phat beats.

*PREPARE for the midi drift(!!!) 
:
there will be beverages and snacks, art to see, experience and purchase, and musical tomfoolery from some of the bay’s brightest… 

this is an EARLY show… we’ll prolly start around 9pm, so don’t sleeeeep(!!!) 


come chase the chill away… by chillin’…

check out some sounds here:
http://soundcloud.com/camillatron
http://myshiteatstapes.com/
http://www.soundcloud.com/heartworm
http://www.katabatik.org/prion/

Thank You Victor! You are the shittiest of them all. 

Unko-raoke mixtape #1

Recorded live @ MOCO
Oakland, CA
11/16/12

We setup a table of effects processors and noise pedals, projected the karaoke program on a projector, and fired up the bubble machine.

This was the 1st shit-karaoke aka noise karaoke.

This is a mixtape of performances from that night, chopped and pooped by victor vankmen.

Big ups to MOCO gallery and Cheryl for keeping it shitty.

Source: SoundCloud / MSET

Draft Horse: Feline Bureau & War Chicken

FELINE BUREAU is a soundscape project by Laurie Buenafe (voice, movement, found objects, electronics). Her life path has been inspired by folk arts, nature, butoh and healing thru dance and music. In the past year she has played with John Givens as Zu Zed duo, as well as groups Earspray, Radio Free Clear Light and Eurostache. Currently she is studying at CIIS Sound Healing program with Silvia Nakkach, and continues to take vocal workshops from Kitka and Theresa Wong. She enjoys doing lighting and sound operations for small theatre productions, and composing IDM (interspecies dance music).

Sounds:
https://soundcloud.com/felinebureau

Videos:
http://www.bayimproviser.com/artistdetail.asp?artist_id=197

WAR CHCKEN War chicken is a blues band with some punk influences. Our original songs were written in 2009. Most of our songs are about being from the backwoods. We have one country gospel song about Mendicino with some harmonica. Zappa and Nicole are both from the backwoods; Zappa’s from Mendicino and Nicole’s from Newhampshire. We are Hicks that share thep same birthday. Nicole plays flute, piano and vocals and Zappa plays harmonica and does vocals. We also have a drummer named Nick who is from the Bay and is also a great sound engineer.