Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice.

Fight to Defend Education and Jobs on March 4!

The Network to Fight for Economic Justice calls on all its members and supporters at schools and colleges across the country to protest and rally for jobs and education rights on March 4. In the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, workers and students are struggling more than ever to stop cutbacks and layoffs and to keep fair wages, affordable tuition and the right to an education.

On March 4, students and workers will take a stand to say no more to bailouts and big bonuses for bankers as campus employees and students are made to pay for the budget crisis. Campus workers, professors, teachers and graduate students across the country face massive budget cuts, furloughs, layoffs and shortened hours. Students face tuition and fee hikes that are driving them out of school, hindering access to a quality education, denying their hopes and dreams.

In the face of this dire situation of economic crisis created by the rich, the bankers, and the politicians, workers and students are fighting back. Three examples are: (1) the student and worker strikes at the massive University of California system last November; (2) the University of Alabama bus drivers fight for a union contract with a livable wage; and (3) the Garfield High School parents’ group and the United Teachers union of Los Angeles fighting privatization of the education system. There is hope in the struggle!

On March 4, the fight continues, as a nationwide movement led by coalitions of campus union workers like Teamsters, AFSCME and SEIU, professors’ associations and graduate employee organizations (NEA, AFT, GEO), students groups like SDS and MEChA and Black student unions, parents organizations, and community members plan to take action chanting, “Chop from the Top!” and “They say Cut Back, We say Fight Back!” and “Education Is a Right!”

March 4 will be a turning point in the struggle against education cutbacks. Politicians and the wealthy people who tell them what to do will have to think twice about making cutbacks that slice education budgets. The movement must demand more taxes on the corporations and the rich. Students and workers are sick of being told there is money for war and there’s no money for jobs, housing, health care and education.

Please write to the Network at info@wesayfightback.com if you want more information and to sign up for the Network email list. Send us photos and reports on the March 4 protests. We will publish them on our web site.