AFL-CIO urges stronger state and local councils
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Key to dramatically ratcheting up labor’s power is improving the performance of state and local labor organizations, said a statement from the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting here March 2. The role of the federation’s 51 state and 543 local central labor councils (CLCs) has been an important part of the discussions about strengthening the labor movement.
Kentuckians propose single-payer plan
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — “They have outsourced the jobs, but they did not outsource the diseases and the conditions from which the people suffer,” said Dr. Syed Quadri at a Feb. 2 health care forum here sponsored by the Kentucky Long Term Policy Research Center. The center held hearings in 15 Kentucky area development districts on the problems of people with little or no insurance.
Lies, the U.S. budget, and democracy
When “Wanted: An Honest Budget” is Business Week’s headline, you know something is wrong. “White House budget writers of both parties have a long history of fiscal gimmickry,” Business Week complained after the new Bush plan was issued. “But [past trickery] hid mere billions of dollars. Bush’s new spending plan will mask trillions, [largely skipping over] the costs of Bush’s own top priorities, including Iraq, restructuring Social Security, and taming the Alternative Minimum Tax.”
WORLDNOTES
Lebanon: Thousands rally for democracy and peace, Canada: Help for Wal-Mart workers, France: Massive protest vs. gov’t ‘reforms,’ Turkey: Protest attack on Labor Party headquarters, Guatemala: Protest passage of CAFTA, Zambia: Public workers protest wage freeze
Momentum builds for world youth festival
An “invasion” is about to engulf Caracas, Venezuela. An estimated 20,000 progressive and radical youth will be pouring into the Venezuelan capital Aug. 7-15. The occasion? The 16th World Festival of Youth and Students.
CPUSA condemns anti-Semitism
In January 2005, some 500 prominent Russians calling themselves “Orthodox Christian patriots” signed a letter calling on the Russian prosecutor general to launch proceedings to ban all religious and ethnic Jewish organizations as “extremist.” Among the signatories to the letter were six members of the Russian parliament from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF).
Ousted Haitian leaders continue hunger strike
United Nations forces have moved deposed and jailed Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who launched a hunger strike three weeks ago to force the Haitian government to guarantee his safety, to a UN-run hospital in Port-au-Prince as a result of his deteriorating health.
Vietnams victims of Agent Orange to appeal ruling
Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, the highly toxic defoliant used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War, have vowed to appeal the March 10 ruling by a U.S. federal judge dismissing their lawsuit against Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and 35 other companies that manufactured the poison.
In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience
“In Motion: The African-American Migration Exper-ience” is a ground-breaking exhibition of the population movements that have created the African American people. The multimedia event, which opened at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem Feb. 2, places center stage the seminal role migration has played in shaping the African-American experience.
How long will DeLays Teflon coating last?
HOUSTON — As the scandals mount against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), a key legislative ally of President Bush, many people are wondering when the congressman will be indicted. At this point, it appears the Teflon coating provided by big money, which shielded Ronald Reagan and others during that administration, is providing immunity from prosecution just as effectively for DeLay.
