Unions challenge Bush on war, civil liberties, economy
DEARBORN, Mich. – Almost 200 union activists filled United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 600’s hall to hear union leaders speak out against Bush’s war on Iraq. The panel included many leaders of union locals, leaders of the Michigan labor movement and leaders of international unions. It was moderated by Julie Hurwitz of the National Lawyers’ Guild.
Yale workers set to strike
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Over 5,000 Yale workers are set to strike March 3. That day, they will be joined by a community march and rally led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The one-week strike may be the first time that graduate student teachers and researchers will join service, maintenance, clerical, technical and health care workers in a simultaneous job action. The different groups of workers share an understanding that they can achieve their goals only if all work together.
AFL-CIO gears up to dump Bush in 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – In their first meeting since the 2002 elections gave Republicans control of both Houses of Congress, members of the AFL-CIO Executive Council announced a two-year campaign to “put political power back in the hands of working people” by defeating George W. Bush in the 2004 elections.
Uniform justice campaign targets Cintas
BRANFORD, Conn. – When workers at the Cintas uniform plant here began organizing several weeks ago, the company responded with illegal surveillance and pink slips for union supporters. The workers, many new immigrants, are among 17,000 being organized at 300 Cintas plants in the U.S. and Canada.
British MP speaks to labor
SAN FRANCISCO – The featured speaker at a labor breakfast at San Francisco’s longshore union hall was British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn, Feb. 17. A former public workers union leader, Corbyn is now a steering committee member of the Stop the War Coalition and a leader among Labor Party MPs opposing a war on Iraq. He spoke at the two million-strong demonstration in London as well as at Sunday’s San Francisco action.
Federal mediation demanded in Azteca strike
CHICAGO – Elected officials, trade union and community leaders joined striking workers here Feb. 3 to demand Azteca Foods accept federal mediation to end a four-month strike.
Airline employees face extortion
Talking with airline employees in America can be an unsettling experience right now. They are being pushed for salary and work-rule concessions under threat of losing their jobs.
Protecting workers from chemicals
A whole new area of occupational health is getting more attention from workers and their unions. The scientific term is Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (HP).
Rural union leader under threat in Colombia
Trade unionists in Colombia continue to face threats to their very lives as they fight an uphill battle to protect the rights of both urban and rural workers. Last week the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF) reported that Guillermo Rivera Zapata, vice president of the Colombian rural workers union SINTRAINAGRO, was suddenly deprived of the security measures, including bodyguards, previously provided by the government.
Report takes aim at sweatships
Two British organizations recently released a report that paints a grim picture of working conditions on cruise ships, tarnishing the fun, romantic image that the cruise ship industry has cultivated.
