Workers comp cut is gift to bosses
Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger slashed the California workers’ compensation law to gain the support of employers and insurance carriers. It was nothing new for Republican politicians to attack a system, which is difficult to understand, and at the same time a system that is so important to the lives of workers, their families and friends.
Nurses strike St. Louis hospital: This is all labors fight
ST. LOUIS (PAI) — With the St. John’s Hospital nurses strike stretching on for weeks, the St. Louis labor community turned out in force to demonstrate solidarity behind these angels of mercy standing up for their right to be their patients’ advocates — and to tell the hospital it will not break their union.
Big lies, little lies, & statistics
There’s a retirement crisis facing older workers. The bosses tell us they can’t meet pension obligations because there are too many retirees and not enough active workers. They use the same argument to explain why they have to gut or privatize Social Security.
N.Y. drug laws slightly reformed
NEW YORK — In what is seen to be a small, forced step forward, Gov. George Pataki signed into law Dec. 14 a bill that slightly modifies the state’s notorious Rockefeller Drug Laws (RDL), which impose harsh penalties on people caught with specific amounts of illegal substances.
WORLD NOTES
Haiti: Paychecks for death squad killers / Bangladesh: Protest fatal factory fire / Mexico: 10 convicted in slayings / Canada: Public child care coming / Sierra Leone: General strike ends
Venezuela and Cuba announce economic pact
At ceremonies in Havana, Dec. 14, presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela signed agreements calling for closer integration of their nations’ economies and announced new cooperative ventures in health care, education, and social services.
Calif. governor unveils Bush-like proposals
Labor and people’s organizations are expressing outrage over the proposals made by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the “State of the State” address he delivered Jan. 5, and the budget he introduced Jan. 10.
Neighborhood rallies against developers greed
NewsAnalysis NEW HAVEN, Conn. — This city’s communities have had enough of real estate developers coming into their neighborhoods, taking over their property and leaving them with little or no voice in the matter.
Tsunami warning system could have saved lives
It is now estimated that more than 150,000 people were killed in the Dec. 26 South Asian tsunami, and the numbers are still rising. Though nothing can stop such a natural disaster, there is substantial evidence that tens of thousands of lives could have been spared had a tsunami warning system been in place.
Google News puts PWW on top
Online news hounds clicked with fury to the People’s Weekly World web site last Friday, Jan. 7, to read Tim Wheeler’s story “Memo reveals Bush OK’d torture,” which appeared as the top U.S. news story on Google News. The People’s Weekly World is one of 4,500 news sources for the widely used search engine.
