Along with the Reclaim the Commons march on Monday, April 10th there is going to be another march the same day in opposition to the Sensenbrenner bill. For those who dont know the Sensenbrenner bill if it is passed will make illegal immigrants felons and not surprisingly will devastate the Mexican-American community. This immigrant rights march will be broadcast over the radio like the mass march that took place a couple weeks ago and had around 500,000 participants.

If anyone knows the time and route of the Immigrants Rights March please post it to Chicago Indymedia.

For more info on Reclaim the Commons go to www.reclaimthecommons.net/
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From the front page of La Raza.

www.laraza.com/news.php

With the success of the ‘mega-march’ and the pressure on Miller, a more extensive boycott was announced in Chicago, and at a national level a 10 city simultaneous march has been called for April 10th in Chicago, Denver, Las Cruces, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Tucson and Washington DC.
In Chicago what is called the "10th of March Movement" after the date of the successful mega-march, aims its darts at other brands of beer preferred by immigrants.

First it was Miller, but now the boycott will extend to Budweiser and Corona, as well as Pepsi Cola, Bacardí, the entertainment giant Disney and Marathon gasoline stations.

As announced by Martín Unzueta, these companies were invited by letter to explain their relationship with the controversial Republican Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, given that the commission found that they support him financially.

"Their only chance for getting out of the boycott is for them to show their opposition to Sensenbrenner’s bill," he added.

"Nobody will stop this," assured Salvador Cervantes, head of the Resurrection Project, for his part.

However, President Salvador Pedroza of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce was more conciliatory and spoke of "seeking allies" instead of companies to boycott.

"We want these companies to show, in public, their opposition to Sensenbrenner and support for the Kennedy-McCain bill," he told La Raza.

Even so, Pedroza recognized that "The message won’t get through" to the companies in question and "We have to hurry."

At least two of the companies included in the list were consulted by La Raza, seeking an official reaction, but their spokespersons were not aware of the possible boycott.

In prior statements, Pedroza had said that just by initiating a boycott at businesses in Little Village – the par excellence Mexican neighborhood in Chicago and considered to be the second commercial corridor in the city after Michigan Avenue – would leave any of these businesses "bereft of millions of dollars a week."

The call for simultaneous marches by the national coalition of immigrant rights groups, civil rights organizations, unions, and religious and entrepreneurial coalitions for April 10th has the purpose of crowning all the events that have taken.
Miguel A. Arrieta, La Raza
Maribel Hastings, La Opinion
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www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-cta15.html

Chicago bus drivers have voted to authorize a strike and scheduled a proposed walkout for April 9.

CTA strike could still happen: union chief

March 15, 2006

BY MONIFA THOMAS Transportation Reporter
responding to published reports that a threatened strike may have been averted, the head of the CTA bus drivers' union said Tuesday that a walkout could still happen as early as April if arbitration over split-shift scheduling and other issues breaks down.
A second round of arbitration on a new contract, which also might include discussions about rostering, is scheduled to wrap up July 10.
"We have not ruled out a strike in April or May or June if the interest arbitration talks break down at any point," Jefferson said.
The split-shift schedules, known as "rostering," were implemented by the CTA as part of a one-year pilot program that was supposed to end in June 2004. But despite letters from the union asking for an end to the practice, the Chicago Transit Authority still puts drivers on split shifts that the union says jeopardizes passenger safety and unfairly prevents drivers from collecting overtime.
Members of the union, which represents about 7,000 bus drivers, mechanics and other staffers, voted to authorize a strike and scheduled a proposed walkout for April 9, the same day drivers were supposed to pick their spring schedules.
On Monday, the arbitrator said the CTA agreed to cancel that meeting, and the union agreed not to strike during interest arbitration.
Arbitration continued Tuesday, with more meetings scheduled for the coming weeks.