Category Archives: New Year

CSWA’S 2023 Lunar New Year Celebration!

Dear Members and Friends,

Happy Year of the Rabbit! Rabbit is the symbol of luck, representing hope and prosperity. We wish you a new year of health, joy and bigger gains! We’ve had a great year of achievements, as Chinese workers led the fight against racist violence and displacement.

Stop the Racist Violence

Last year, Chinese women and other women of color home attendants set off the wave of actions against the racist 24-hour workdays, including rallies, sit-ins, testifying and legal actions. Fearless and determined, they pushed legislation with City Councilmember Christopher Marte to abolish the 24-hour shifts, and pressured the New York State Department of Labor to enforce the law and start investigating the huge amount of wage theft by home care agencies in those shifts—close to $40 million for just 300 workers. Ending the 24-hour workdays has become the top issue in society. The workers also care about the community: they did a big mobilization to rally against the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) and the Chu family’s racism and displacement.

Fight Against the Criminalization of Our Community

Jing Fong workers, young people and other people across the board have been picketing in front of MOCA, rain or shine, calling for a boycott of the museum and other Chu family’s business. They demand the big landlord and museum co-chair Jonathan Chu reopen the big Jing Fong dining hall, and the museum return the $35 million it took for supporting the City’s new jail. When Chu and MOCA colluded with the NYPD to harass the picket line and treat the whole community as criminals, they didn’t waver. Instead, they unified the whole community to march against Chu and MOCA’s racism and criminalization. As a result, they knocked off the police’s false charges, led to the investigation of the corrupt cop, and successfully delayed the racist new jail plan in Chinatown.

New Year Expectation

This year, to build on our achievements, we continue to unify people regardless of age, trade or status, to pass the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan that would protect the community against displacement, the “No More 24” Act to abolish the 24-hour workdays in New York City and the SWEAT bill that would stop wage theft in New York State.

Let’s celebrate! We invite you and your friends and family to our Lunar New Year Celebration on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at noon. The address is 350 Grand St, across the street from CSWA. If you would like to come, please fill out the required RSVP form so that we can do headcount.

Ren Quan Yang

Board president, CSWA

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with CSWA!

Chinese Staff & Workers’ Association
Invites you to a Lunar New Year Celebration

Please join us for a day of festivities with family and friends as we bring in the Year of the Rooster with exhilarating musical performances, an amazing lion dance, a lunch buffet and raffle prizes!

Sunday 2:30pm
February 26, 2017
PS 124 (40 Division Street in Chinatown, Manhattan)

For more information or to RSVP: 212-334-2333

Celebrate the Lunar New Year With Us!

CSWA’s Lunar New Year Celebration

Sunday, March 6, 2016
2:30pm-5pm
P.S.124 – Yung Wing School
(40 Division St in Chinatown, Manhattan)
CSWA New Year Party Photo

Lion Dance Performers at CSWA’s 2015 Lunar New Year Celebration

As Fearlessly as the Monkey King Defeating All Demons
Chinese Workers Gain Justice Through Struggle

Join us for a day of festivities with family and friends as we bring in the Year of the Monkey  with performances, a lion dance, lunch buffet, and raffle prizes.

Celebrate the victories and achievements of 2015 and look forward with us to uniting our community against racism and exploitation.

RSVP to cswa@cswa.org or call 212-334-2333

Celebrate the New Year with CSWA!

 Please RSVP for our annual Lunar New Year Celebration and help us usher in the Year of the Ram!

Sunday, March 15, 2:30pm
@ PS 1, Chinatown / 8 Henry St.
New York, NY 10038

Card-Content

Yr-of-Sheep-Card-front

Happy Lunar New Year! We are charging forward in 2015, breaking new ground:

Taking Back our Community

After years of condemning the racist East Village Rezoning Plan and fighting to include Latino organizations into Chinatown Working Group (CWG), we recently won a battle against developers. On January 5, 2015, CWG adopted important principles of the People’s First Plan. The plan includes 100% low-income housing on NYCHA public land and placing height limits and 55% low-income housing on private land in waterfront area, which encompasses the hotly-contested former Pathmark lot. Armed with this victory, and encouraged by the recent arrest of Assemblymember Sheldon Silver, Chinese workers are leading the fight for change and coming together with communities across the city to tell Mayor DeBlasio that our communities are not for sale.

Fearless in the Fight to End Wage Theft

In 2014, we supported East Market Restaurant workers to launch a picket line in front of the restaurant, in the heart of the Fuzhounese community, to kick off the campaign against the wage theft. Later, joined with hundreds of workers from other communities we held demonstrations monthly in front of NYS Department of Labor (DOL) to demand Governor Cuomo enforce the labor law and increase the minimum for tip-workers. The action successfully forced the Cuomo administration to convene the Wage Board to increase wages from roughly $5 to $7.50 for ALL tipped workers. Furthermore, we brought to light the need for better enforcement as well as new legislation to make enforcement possible. Currently, the DOL has a 17,000 case back-log, which is unacceptable.

Taking Back the 40-hour Workweek

Chinese women workers have made huge strides, putting time at the forefront of the debate in workers’ struggles and women’s struggles. We connected with workers in Pactiv’s Arkansas factory who are facing retaliation for organizing against 12-hour mandatory overtime shifts. On March 8, International Women’s Day, we are launching a national boycott of Costco, urging the company to stop buying Pactiv and Reynolds sweatshop products. This May, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the demand for a 40-hour workweek, the Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign will join students, faith groups and workers’ organizations across the country who are teaming up to take back control of our time.

We invite you to join us in fighting these struggles during this year of the Ram which symbolizes determination and steadfast bravery in the face of difficult opposition. We also hope you will join us at the celebration on March 15th to welcome in the Year of the Ram!