[Hpn] KWRU Plans on Protesting the Inauguration of President Bush in DC on January 20 on January 20

[Tom Boland]

CIRCULATE PLEASE

FWD        Thu, 04 Jan 2001
REPLY TO:: Kensington Welfare Rights Union <kwru@libertynet.org>

KWRU PLANS ON PROTESTING THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT BUSH
IN DC ON HANUARY 20

The Kensington Welfare Rights Union is organizing a
delegation to attend the protests of the Presidential
Inauguration in Washington DC on January 20.

Buses are leaving the KWRU office in Philadelphia (2825
North 5th Street) at 6:30 am on January 20th.  Or, you can
join us in DC.  Exact location we are meeting will be
announced closer to the date.  If you are interesting in
joining us, please call our office at 215/203-1945 or email
us at <kwru@libertynet.org>.

KWRU members will be participating in the protests as human
rights monitors.  We want the world to know that
President-Elect Bush, as well as Wisconsin Gov. Tommy
Thompson (who Bush has named to head the Department of
Health and Human Services) are human rights violators.
Thompson's shredding of the social safety net in the name of
"welfare reform" in Wisconsin was the model for the national
"welfare reform" law of 1996.  Bush whole-heartedly supports
these policies, which are among the most regressive laws of
this century.

Since January of 1996, over 2.1 million families (6 million
individual recipients) were forced off of welfare.  One
third of those who left welfare are unable to find work, and
report no earnings at all.  The average yearly earnings of
people who left welfare range from $2,980 to $13,444, well
below the poverty level.  Half say they worried that food
would not last until the end of the month, or report
skipping meals in the last year.

Welfare reform also affects the wages of already low paying
jobs. Among the lowest third of jobs in the labor force,
welfare reform is projected to cut average wages by 11.9%,
from an average of $7.19/hour before workfare to $5.47 after
workfare.

America has the highest poverty rate and the largest
disparity between rich and poor of any industrialized
nation.  All of this is happening amidst a booming economy
and unparalleled abundance in our country.

The United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 1948.  This document guarantees the human rights
due to every human being, including food, housing, and
living wage jobs.  Welfare reform violates articles 23, 25
and 26 of the UDHR.  (Follow this link to find out more:
http://www.kwru.org/ehrc/wahr.html)

For information about the economic human rights petition we
have filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights against the United States government for violations
against the poor, see http://www.kwru.org/updates/12-11-00.html


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CONTACT INFO:

Kensington Welfare Rights Union
NUHHCE, ASFCME, AFL-CIO
PO Box 50678
Philadelphia, PA 19132-9720
Phone: 215/203-1945
Fax:   215/203-1950
email: <kwru@libertynet.org>
web:   <http://www.kwru.org>
To subscribe to KWRU-ANNOUNCE, send blank email to:
<kwru-announce-subscribe@topica.com>

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