St. Louis janitors win raise
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Representing 3,000 janitors in the area, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 50 held a press conference here Feb. 26 to announce an “historic” agreement with 10 independent cleaning companies.
Health care myths
Although Denzel Washington and John Q have gone far in exposing many of the myths about health care, a majority of Congress, too many physicians and many Americans still believe that the U.S., despite being the only industrialized nation without a universal health care plan, does provide adequate health care for its people.
Public supports bus strike
Transport Workers Union Local 100 bus operators and maintainers in Queens, NY have been working over 15 months without a contract.
World urges end to Israeli occupation
WASHINGTON – With the toll of dead and wounded Palestinians and Israelis rising, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told Israel March 12, “You must end the illegal occupation” of Palestine.
Teamsters prepare for UPS contract
IRVING, Tx. – Teamsters are holding mass rallies all over the United States as they prepare to represent over 200,000 members in negotiations with the UPS delivery company. Around 1,500 of them rallied outside the Sheraton Hotel here March 10. Negotiations were scheduled to begin in the hotel a week later.
Labor issues get attention on campus
Graduate assistants at the University of Michigan went on strike March 11 to protest a lack of progress in contract talks, and University of Illinois graduate employees plan to strike next month – their second walkout this school year.
Dear George Love letters of Enrons Ken Lay
AUSTIN, Tx. – “George, Linda and I are incredibly proud of you and Laura,” Enron CEO Ken Lay scrawled at the bottom of a letter he wrote to then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, Nov. 11, 1998. For the entire article, click on the headline. To see OpenSecret's special page on Enron's campaign contributions, click here.
International Notes
Human rights campaign in South Africa/Australian minister nixes Kyoto agreement/Russia: U.S. troops could deepen conflicts/Paris strikers win over McDonald’s
Media coverage of war and peace
In the second half of the last century the American public has been able to exert decisive blows to the plans of those who involve us in armed conflicts. There is every indication that if the civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and the attempts to cover them up, continue, there will be a influential movement to end the conflict. For the entire article, click on the headline. To see the survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism quoted in the article, click here.
Bush threatens use of nuclear weapons
A story in the March 10 edition of The Los Angeles Times revealed that the Pentagon has drawn up a list of seven countries who are prime targets for U.S. nuclear weapons in the event of undefined “surprising military developments.” For the entire article, click on the headline. To read the L.A.Times article that first highlighted this issue, click here.
