弗洛伊德之死引发了全国性的反警察暴力示威。其规模之大，让不少人思考为何示威会在这个节点爆发。要深入了解，就必须看这个制度为何和如何使用暴力。

要知道，这个制度用种种方式每天向我们社区施加暴力——工资盗窃、长时间工作、高房租等。这些经济暴力是慢性的，它持久地蚕食我们的健康和破坏我们的社会关系，让我们成为只想着为生计奔波而出卖劳动力的奴隶。而这个制度所保护的人群——大地产商和无良老板——则在这些经济暴力和剥削中得益。在纽约州，每年有十亿美元的血汗钱从工人手里被偷走。最离谱的例子是家庭护理，她们被迫做24小时工作日，只得13小时工资。而纽约市政府则通过减税等优惠政策鼓励大地产商入侵社区大建豪华高楼，抬高地税和租金，逼迁工人、住客和小商户。警察作为这个制度的一部分来保护有钱人的财产和打压有色族裔，是这个制度性种族歧视和暴力的最直观的体现。

新冠疫情则让这个制度的暴力和种族歧视得到集中体现：很多小商户和住户因失去收入而交不起租金，被迫关门或面临逼迁；必要行业的工人如护理面临感染的风险继续上班，而政府和公司却没有提供足够的防疫用品；有色族裔人士因交不起贵租而被迫聚居，导致疫情期间无法自我隔离，从而使得感染率和死亡率更高。与此同时，大财团和顶尖1%的富豪则获得政府数以千亿的肥厚补贴。美国政府就算如何鼓吹其制度的优越性，也掩盖不了感染和死亡人数远超其他国家这一屈辱的事实。但是，疫情感染和死亡人数只是数字。美国政府劫贫济富的行为虽然是很多人的切身体会，但政府长期以来的慢性暴力已让很多人对此麻木。

而弗洛伊德之死被录了下来，则让人直面这个制度的暴力，从而触发了人们对这个制度的愤恨并上街游行。可以说，弗洛伊德之死是人们对制度性种族歧视和暴力的宣泄窗口。

所以，在我们关注和反对警察暴力和种族歧视时，应该联系到我们每天面对的经济暴力，为了自己和社区的未来而觉醒和组织起来。要真正地解决问题，就要谴责政府勾结大地产商和无良老板，并团结各族裔，要求市长和州长设立援助金保障工人和小商户的生计，全面减租减地税，停止给予大地产商津贴和优惠，并通过【华埠工作组土改方案】来反对逼迁，通过【防工资盗窃法案】来消灭工资盗窃现象。

华人职工会 宁子舜

最近一些工友，對反警察暴力示威不甚了解，他們不明白為什麼這麼多年青人冒着疫情帶來的危險，持續在全美國示威達兩个星期之久，目前還在繼續著。若要明白，必須要了解事情的前因后果。

受害者，大多數是因為輕信政府誤導，不從事或不具備条件进行恰当的隔離和戴口罩。當中黑人，西裔和低收入社群佔比例最多。這了反映政府一向草管人命的态度，只关心如何為大地產商謀利，用種種方法提高地產稅，加租金來奪取勞苦大眾的血汗錢，令紐約低收入階層居住和工作條件比其他城市都差。而華人和其他亞裔人，對白思豪、川普和州長葛謨長久以來已不信任，獨排眾議，勤帶口罩，保護了自己，也保護他人。疫情結果不但令黑裔和西裔的生命損失慘重，也令他们對政府彻底失去了信心。年輕人更是如此。在經濟方面，他們也受害最深。故此，他們不再信任這些政客，行動起來泣喊，將這个社會的不人道，特別是對黑人的歧視、壓迫和剝削，公諸於世。只有這樣，才可以防止疫情過后，警察为了保護房地產利益和压迫低收入社區而使用警察暴力。

這些遊行雖然沒有長遠的目標去改變這个食人的制度，但我们仍應給予支持及持正面態度。華人在美國社會，絕大多數是低下層，時時受到歧視，被剝削，身體被摧殘（君不見，很多華人婦女被迫做24小時工作日，只得12小時工資，導致健康受到影響），也長久以來遭受到警察暴力和种族歧視，但大多數不敢抗拒，死忍。所以這一系列示威遊行運動對我們也很切身。我們多年來的抗爭對象，諸如白思豪和葛謨，已被暴露，政治上已經破產。這个運動對我們反逼迁，反貴租和爭取通過保护社区的【華埠工作小組土改方案】也很有幫助。

華人職工會 林崧

近日，反警察暴力示威在全美国高涨，很多人对视频里白人警察残忍杀害黑人弗洛伊德表示强烈愤慨。

美国政府长期以来用种族歧视分裂工人。一方面，政府允许无良老板压榨包括华人在内的移民，迫使他们长时间工作和不按法律付给他们足够的工资，另一方面让黑人找不到工作，要不在街上被警察骚扰甚至打死，要不进监狱成为廉价的监狱劳工。这样做是想各族裔工人互相仇视，不能团结去争取权益，以致工人的工作环境和居住環境越来越差，无良老板和富豪通过剥削工人而赚的钱越来越多。

在此当中，警察是政府压制工人反抗的工具。弗洛伊德的死是导火索，引出长期以来广大民众对政府劫贫济富的不满。

而当反抗者中有人通过掠夺商店来发泄对这个制度的不满时，政府立刻利用这个机会来转移视线，谴责示威。试问，当纽约州每年十亿的血汗钱从工人手里被偷走、地產商入侵少数族裔社区，起豪华高楼，抬高地税和租金，逼迁工人、住客和小商户时，葛谟州长和白思豪市长有没有这样谴责无良老板和大地产商并把他们绳之于法？为何他们对这些大得多、每天对劳苦大众掠夺和剥削不发声？这些政客究竟维护谁的利益，这里已经很清楚了。

我们应该反对警察暴力的同時，反对将黑人和移民罪犯化，並且要求白思豪市长和葛谟州长停止损害大眾的权益，改正错误，真正地反对歧视、贵租、逼迁和工资盗窃，支持立法去保证所有工人得到平等的权利。这样才有利各族裔团结起来制止警察暴力和停止无良老板和大地产商的掠夺，共同建设和保护我们的社区。

华人职工会 宁子舜
212-334-2333

On New Year’s Day, Governor Cuomo vetoed the SWEAT (Securing Wages Earned Against Theft) bill, a real stab in the back to all workers in NY. After six years of discussion and vetting of the bill by the State Senate and Assembly, which finally passed the bill last summer, Cuomo waited until the last moment to shoot it down.

By vetoing SWEAT, Cuomo encourages more wage theft, which the U.S. Labor Department estimates to be $1 billion per year in NYS. Cuomo shows his real colors: he is more concerned about protecting the property and assets of law-breaking employers than upholding the rights of workers to their wages for work they have already performed.

Workers are disappointed and furious that the Governor aids and abets criminal bosses, and leaves out in the cold workers and employers that comply with the law. By vetoing SWEAT, Cuomo remains an accomplice to criminals who steal wages from workers. For instance, he created a system in which home care workers working 24-hour shifts are paid for only 12 or 13 of those hours.

For promoting these sweatshop conditions like long hours and wage theft, workers demand that Cuomo resign. He is not fit to lead New York.

In the last few months, hundreds of workers and advocates have rallied and picketed in front of Gov. Cuomo’s N.Y. City office to urge the governor to sign SWEAT. Many of the workers spoke about winning decisions in court to the tune of $700,000, $1 million, $1.8 million–but being left with nothing but a piece of paper from court.

Without SWEAT, workers try to claim their unpaid wages, but weak laws make it easy for employers to hide and transfer their assets. Workers spend years navigating legal processes and often end up settling for a small fraction of what they are owed or end up with a judgment or order that they cannot collect on.

SWEAT would strengthen the labor law by allowing workers who have been robbed of wages to put a lien on employers’ property and freeze their assets until their claim is resolved.
We ask everyone to join us in speaking out against the Governor and demanding his resignation until he rights his wrong. We need a leader who is capable of protecting the rights of working people in this state.

Join us in upcoming protests to hold Governor Cuomo to his words that he will enact protections soon and ensure the protections are the real protections provided by the SWEAT bill A486/S2844. Please call Cuomo’s office at (518) 474-8390 to let him know that New Yorkers want an end to wage theft now!

Says Efren Caballero de Jesus, “I worked at Indus Valley for nine years. I did delivery and packing and other things. I was paid $3 an hour, and no overtime pay. In 2008 my co-workers and I went to the Labor Department to complain. The boss continued to steal our wages. We decided to sue the boss in court. We won a decision of $700,000. The boss supposedly sold the business, changing the name from Indus Valley to Manhattan Valley, but we know that it’s the same boss; they just want to avoid paying us. That’s not just. That’s why we want Gov. Cuomo to sign SWEAT.”

On January 1st, Governor Cuomo heartlessly vetoed the SWEAT bill, showing he would rather aid and abet criminal bosses who refuse to follow the labor law, than workers. The SWEAT bill gives critically needed tools to workers and the Department of Labor to stop bosses from transferring and hiding their assets and leaving workers who corageously fight against wage theft with nothing. With this act, Cuomo is essentially undermining businesses that comply with the law and instead promoting criminal enterprises. Under his leadership wage theft has balloned to $1 billion each year. That is $1 billion dollars of workers’ SWEAT! With his veto Cuomo shows he is an accomplice to wage theft and thus a criminal himself. How can we have in office, one who protects the few over the interests of the many?

Join us again in front of Cuomo’s office, on March 2nd, to protest Cuomo’s senseless attack on working people’s lives. Demand Cuomo right his wrong and pass the SWEAT bill instead of watering it down! Don’t let Cuomo continue enabling this abuse, lets unite to put an end to wage theft.