BREAKING BREAD

Gloria Steinem shouts "No Navy base" with villagers

The latest news from Jeju Island by way of Regina Pyon at SPARK is:

Yang Yoon-Mo was hospitalized for medical check up and to recover. It will take quite a long time to recover to "eat" actually, but he can talk and sit. Talked on phone just now and conveyed all your warm messages and wishes. On June 4, Bishop Kang U-il of Jeju Catholic Diocese, who is also chair of Korean Bishops' Conference, will visit him to the hospital.

Other reports are:

Sung-Hee Choi delivered thanks so much to everyone for their international solidarity and support. Her health is not good because of low blood sugar and low blood pressure. That's why she stopped her fasting yesterday on 14th day.

I went back to Bath Iron Works (BIW) again on Wednesday and was able to hand out 10 flyers. As one worker passed by he asked, "How is your friend?" I told him that Yang was released from jail and had stopped his hunger strike. I was very moved that he asked and it made me certain that there was quite a discussion happening inside the bowels of BIW. One woman, who on Tuesday had taken my leaflet and had given me a kind word as she took it, waved to me yesterday as she left work. Another called out to me as the 15-passenger van he was in with other workers was locked in traffic in the far lane. He said, "Can I please have one of those papers?" I weaved my way through the rumbling cars to hand him one and watched him begin to read the contents of the leaflet to the others in the van.

In the moments following the opening of the BIW gate at 3:30 pm, when the workers pour out of the shipyard and rush toward the street where I was standing, a wave of love washed over me. It was a transformative moment as I felt such affinity for these people who work hard to feed their families. It is not their fault that our nation's priorities are in my opinion so far out of whack. Of course many of them feel good about the work they do and that is understandable. But in the end they are human beings, my brothers and sisters, and I feel no ill will toward them. As I stood there I hoped that they could feel this respect I have for them. Far too often workers and peace activists are divided from one another. I feel no such division from them.

I want to frequently return to BIW for these afternoon vigils where I raise serious questions on my signs and hand out information. My hope is that over time the walls that separate us can fall.

Today I will head to the state capital in Augusta to join union members from across the state for a rally to oppose our governor's proposal to create a "right to work" law that would allow people to reap union benefits without paying union dues. It's one of the right-wing strategies being pushed nationwide to defund the unions who often put big money into campaigns to defeat Republican candidates in state and national elections.

I am a member of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) and support the rights of all workers to organize.

Solidarity forever. Solidarity with workers and solidarity with people who struggle to save their land and their way of life from the expansion of militarism. It is all the same to me.