Friendshipment protests blockade of Cuba
WASHINGTON – Two yellow school buses, part of the 13th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba, brought protesters to a rally outside the U.S. Treasury building July 8. The protesters vowed to deliver the buses plus tons more humanitarian aid to Cuba, in defiance of the 42-year blockade of that island nation.
Resident physician workweek a killer
Imagine that your boss stopped you and said, “We are now increasing your workweek to 80 hours and, sometimes, to 120 hours. Sometimes you will have to work 36 hours straight. And lest I forget – you’ll only be paid for 40 hours.”
International notes
Bolivian Indian second for presidency/Toronto city workers continue strike/China pledges to support Palestinians/Italian unions plan strikes/Two S. Korean unionists freed/Egyptian child labor criticized
They stop at nothing
Health care, U.S.-style, increasingly has to do with markets and money. The suffering of the poor and excluded are back-burner items. The pharmaceutical industry, which is presently on a roll, provides ample evidence of what happens when profits come first and human needs second.
Cleveland parent: School vouchers are a sham
I deeply regret the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the use of public tax dollars to pay the tuition at private and religious K-8 schools within the City of Cleveland. Voucher programs are an example of poor education policy, and irresponsible economic policy.
Protest demands liberty for Mumia
PHILADELPHIA – As the temperature soared, 300 people rallied at City Hall here July 4, calling for freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The crowd then marched to the Liberty Bell to protest Secretary of State Colin Powell receiving the Liberty Bell Award. At the rally, the first annual Liberation Award was presented to four recipients.
Immigrants testify for the right to drive
HARTFORD, Conn. – Labor, community and civil liberties organizations are joining with immigrants in a heated battle to support their right to drivers’ licenses in Connecticut.
Cross the border: Save a half a million
PITTSBURGH – Retired workers reporting the results of their RxExpress bus trips to Canada shone a spotlight on naked profiteering by prescription drug corporations.
Bush intervention a threat to all labor
The use of the Sept. 11 tragedy against organized labor hit a new stage when Tom Ridge, head of Homeland Security, phoned James Spinosa, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to tell him that President Bush was watching its contract negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) very closely.
Public education on NEAs election agenda
DALLAS – Have the Bush years caused you to become a little bit cynical about American democracy and concern for other human beings? Are you starting to think that nobody cares? If so, it’s too bad that you weren’t able to attend the National Education Association’s (NEA) 2002 Representative Assembly, July 2-5, here. It would have fixed you right up!
