ALYSABETH ALEXANDER /// Organizing the Resistance Against the Privatization of Cities

Alysabeth Alexander and I recorded this conversation a few hours before the Service Employees International Union (in which she has important responsibilities) filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco, Google and Apple for deliberately ignoring the environmental impact that the tech industry buses (aka google buses) have on the Californian city in their daily use. The environmental aspect of the buses is the one that has been chosen for the lawsuit, yet the main political consequence of their very function is the rampant gentrification that accompany their routes. In this conversation, Alysabeth describes the various actions that the SEIU 1021 has been undertaking in the recent years to resists against the systematic evictions that occur through this economic process, as well as the other forms of privatization of cities like Detroit or San Francisco.

Alysabeth Alexander is the vice-president of politics at the Service Employees International Union 1021 in San Francisco.

WEBSITE:

– http://seiu1021.prometheuslabor.com/

REFERENCE ARTICLES:

– “Lawsuit Filed To Block Google Buses, Private Shuttles From San Francisco Muni Bus Stops,” on San Francisco CBS Local (May 1, 2014)
– Julia Carrie Wong, “What the Media Gets Wrong About San Francisco’s Gentrification Battles,” on The Nation (March 24, 2014)
– John Coté, “S.F. to Charge Operators of Tech Commuter Buses,” on SFGate (January 6, 2014)
– “Anti-Eviction Protesters Block Google Bus in the Mission,” on SFist (December 9, 2013)

PREPARATORY ARTICLE ON THE FUNAMBULIST:

– “Gentrifying Fortresses: A Case Study” (May 1, 2014)