Eyewitness to terror: U.S. links to Colombian death squads
Plumbers and Fitters Local 393 members voted to send two members to Colombia with a Witness for Peace/Global Exchange labor delegation in January. I was one of them. We went so we could see first-hand the effects $1.3 billion of U.S. aid had on Colombian trade unionists. Known as Plan Colombia, the U.S. sends “counter-narcotics and anti-terrorist aid” to this strife-torn nation of 40 million people. This is what I saw and heard. For the entire article, click on the headline. To visit the South By AFL-CIO, which passed a resolution condemning terror against Colombian labor, click here.
Labor councils condemn violence against unions
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Labor Council passed a strongly worded resolution condemning the destruction of the headquarters of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in Nablus, Palestine, by Israeli F-16 fighter planes.
AFL-CIO launches major organizing effort
NEW ORLEANS – As has been the case ever since a team led by John Sweeney, Richard Trumka and Linda Chavez-Thompson assumed the leadership of the AFL-CIO in October 1995, organizing the unorganized was high on the agenda at the recent meeting of the AFL-CIO Executive Council.
Unionists celebrate Intl Womens Day
CHICAGO – The Chicago Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) held its 23rd annual Florence Criley Awards Dinner here March 3 in celebration of International Women’s Day.
American Indians blast Bush energy plan
WASHINGTON – Backed up by Native American leaders from across the country, Alaska’s Gwich’in people assailed the Bush administration Feb. 11 for scheming to turn over to greedy oil companies their ancestral lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
S. Korea rail workers strike
SEOUL, South Korea – Rail and power workers here ended a two-day strike Feb. 27.
Arizona state workers rally to defend raises
TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona (UA) employees and other state workers are fighting back against an all-out attack by Gov. Jane Hull and right wingers in the state legislature.
The recession: It aint over yet
The Bushies are having a helluva time getting things straight. On the one hand, they tell us the economy is recovering – that we are, as Lawrence Lindsey, chief White House economic advisor, said recently, at a stage where the economy is “beginning to begin its recovery.”
Chicago students decry tuition hikes
CHICAGO – With the famed Chicago “hawk” whipping across campus, a coalition of university and high school students, faculty and staff protested at the University of Illinois campus here Feb. 20.
Chicagoans demand housing, justice
CHICAGO – A coalition of neighborhood groups, civil rights, tenant and religious organizations has developed their own State of the City analysis demanding that the city council address problems ranging from lack of affordable housing to police brutality.
