People Before Profit blog

WHATS ON

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:40:00 +0000

CHICAGO April 15, Sat., 6 p.m. Freedom Seder. Join us in sharing delicious food, traditional story & draw inspiration for today’s fight for peace & justice waged by working & oppressed peoples everywhere. $10-$20 sliding scale donation. At Unity Center, 3339 S. Halsted St. RSVP & info: 773-446-9932.

OAKLAND, Calif. April 1, Sat., 10 a.m.–noon, Political Affairs Readers’ Group (monthly meeting) will discuss “Terror: Who Benefits and Why?” by Gary Tedman (Jan. 2006 issue). At Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Club, CPUSA. Info or copy of article, call the library: (510) 595-7417.

PHILADELPHIA April 8, Sat., 9:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Workshop: Fight Against Racism & Fight for Equality. At W.E.B. Du Bois Center, 4515 Baltimore Ave. Registration $10 includes reading materials & lunch. Hosted by Eastern PA & DE Dist. CPUSA. Info & RSVP e-mailor call (215) 222-8895.

ST. LOUIS April 29, Sat., 9:30 a.m. 14th annual Hershel Walker Peace & Justice Awards breakfast. Awardees include Quincy Boyd (Pres. AFSCME Local 2730), Joan Suarez (JwithJ), & PROMO (Personal Rights of Missourians). Shelby Richardson, recently back from Venezuela, will speak on tremendous changes there. At Postal Workers Union Hall, 1717 S. Broadway. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at door. Sponsored by MO/KS Friends of PWW. Info: Tony (314) 776-7732 or.

TUCSON, Ariz. April 8, Sat., 2 p.m. No Child Left Untested, presentation & discussion of Bush administration failed education policies where every child is left behind: who profits & what needs to be done? With Deb Wilmer, educator & member of our board. At Salt of the Earth Labor College, 1902 W. Irene Vista. Info: (520) 624-4789, e-mail SELC@webtv.net.

Paul Robeson exhibit to open in Oakland

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:33:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif.—– A new exhibit highlighting the life and work of legendary artist and political activist Paul Robeson is slated to open at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO), on April 8, the day before the 108th anniversary of his birth.

“Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest” is a multimedia presentation developed by the museum to honor Robeson’s contributions and legacy as a scholar, singer, actor, athlete and human rights activist. It features photos, original art, documents and artifacts on loan from the Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, and video and audio presentations about Robeson’s life, artistic and political activities.

Because of his extensive work for peace, equality, democracy and social justice, Robeson was viciously attacked by the witch-hunting congressional committees of the McCarthy era.

Museum Director Rick Moss said he hopes the display will introduce new audiences to the history of Paul Robeson as a man of integrity and principle.

“If our Constitution and Bill of Rights are worth anything,” Moss said, “then it’s worth it, as an American and a citizen, to stand up for something you believe in. We think that’s the example that Paul Robeson, probably more than any other single person, helps to create.”

Moss said he feels Robeson’s experiences can also be empowering in the face of present-day attacks on the African American community and especially on African American men. “Yes, he was a great man and an individual who stood up for his rights,” Moss said. “But the greatness of Paul Robeson exists in each of us. We need to decide that there are some things we are going to do.”

Moss said that to him, one of the most exciting items in the exhibit is a small premium card — one of a set of 50 “radio celebrities” issued in Britain in 1934. “It demonstrates just how popular Robeson was at a time in his life when he could have just coasted along with a career in film, music and radio and been OK,” Moss said.

Many items on display have been loaned by the Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, formed to celebrate the 1998 centennial of Robeson’s birth. The committee is continuing its work to popularize Robeson’s legacy. It is collecting archival materials of all types and is working on a Robeson curriculum for the public schools.

Over 160 collections in AAMLO’s archives feature diaries, publications, video and microfilm documenting the activities of African Americans in and around Oakland, the Bay Area and California. Its reference library includes some 12,000 volumes by or about African Americans.

An opening reception for the Paul Robeson exhibit will be held April 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The display can be seen Tuesdays through Saturdays, from noon to 5:30 p.m. It is slated to close July 8. The museum and library is located at 659 14th St., Oakland. For information, call (510) 637-0200.

Walkout highlights Chicano history. MOVIE REVIEW

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:28:00 +0000

On March 18, the HBO cable television network premiered “Walkout,” a film based on the 1968 protest by thousands of Mexican American students from five East Lost Angeles high schools.

On March 27, some 40,000 high school students in Southern California walked out to protest of anti-immigration legislation. “Walkout” director Edward James Olmos was right when he said the struggle for equality and civil rights is far from over.

Back in 1968, Latino students were tired of racial injustice, discrimination in the school system and lack of equal opportunities. The youth came together and led a multi-school walkout that became part of the rising Chicano movement. “Walkout” shares that historic story.

The movie shows how students organized walkouts after lobbying the school board for improved facilities, bilingual education, revised textbooks and the ability to speak Spanish in class without being reprimanded.

The youth-led movement, inspired by the civil rights movement, also demanded implemention of a curriculum that included Latin American history, and elimination of janitorial work as punishment.

“Our schools are the back of the bus,” yelled one student leader in the movie.

The walkouts were peaceful demonstrations that erupted into unnecessary acts of violence when an overzealous and aggressive racist police force beat and arrested unarmed students.

An outraged community was awakened and a fight for justice was born that first got parents involved, then community leaders, eventually forcing the school board to pay attention.

In the end the Chicano movement produced real changes, increasing Latino college enrollment by nearly 25 percent two years after the protest.

Moctesuma Esparza, who produced the film, was a college student at the time.

He was one of the main organizers of the student walkouts of that time and was arrested with 12 others — “East L.A. 13,” as they became known. All were eventually acquitted.

“I remember, growing up in the ’50s, when someone said you were ‘Mexican’ it was almost like being slapped in the face,” the 57-year-old recalled in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle.

Esparza went on to say, “How one’s ancestry could be pejorative is hard to grasp today, but there have been people who have experienced discrimination and overcame it, and that’s one of the things we were looking to do, to stand up for our rights and be treated like all other Americans.

“The free speech movement of ’64 at Berkeley, the civil rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King, what Cesar Chavez was doing in the fields and the growing women’s movement were all very vivid examples to us.

“There was a feeling we could change the world,” he concluded. “That’s what protected and motivated us.”

While some have said it’s not the best-made film, its focus on this youth-led struggle is inspirational for activists today. Young people are still under attack by reactionary policies, racism, poor education and a war going on. With united struggle, change is possible.

Family portraits. BOOKREVIEW: A Time Before Crack

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:18:00 +0000

In the mid 1980s the Americas were changing. Latin America was in an upsurge and U.S.-backed reactionaries were as popular as Adidas jump suits. The Reagan administration was funding the Contras’ attack on the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Working-class communities here in the U.S. faced historic crime waves, a new level of joblessness and poverty and an emerging drug epidemic.

What is the connection between Nicaragua, New York City and Los Angeles? Crack.

Most explanations of the crack epidemic point to the connections between the CIA-backed Contras, Colombia’s cocaine cartels and the CIA itself. This alliance led to the development of a pipeline from Colombia’s cartels directly to U.S. cities, mass purchasing of automatic weapons, and crime waves in inner cities.

Cocaine was trafficked directly into U.S. cities where a cheaper, more addictive, more dangerous drug was introduced: crack. The crack epidemic destroyed Black communities all over the U.S. and also provided funds for the Contras, U.S.-backed paramilitaries that destroyed Nicaragua’s economic infrastructure, devastating the country. The devastation and destruction created by crack would change the reality of U.S. inner cities forever.

Life before crack

Jamel Shabazz, the photographer behind “A Time Before Crack,” tells the story of what crack stole from Black Americans. We get a visual tour of some of the most devastated working-class communities in New York City before crack — a way of life most young people in New York have never even seen.

This book tells a story of what once was: a time when people smiled with pride, men held their brothers, and then there were the huge eyeglasses! Every pose, high five, and hug was a poster for Black pride. Shabazz paints a picture of a time when people struggled, survived and did so with pride. Everybody had their pose, from young women and B-boys to pool sharks and police officers. The crack epidemic silenced Black pride, power and expression. “Time” displays the smiles and solidarity later replaced with slick smirks and middle fingers.

Stand-out photos

Certain photos make a huge impact and stand out more than the rest. The first is a picture taken in the Brownsville, Brooklyn, in 1980. It depicts four young men sharing two motorbikes. The two in the front have the classic ’80s arms crossed in the “You already know” pose, and the two in the back arch into each other meeting palm to palm, with “Black Power” sprayed onto the cinder-block wall behind them. And they had helmets on: you can obviously be safe and cool.

Another picture, also taken in Brooklyn in 1980, shows a family of about 17 people all on the stoop of their house. The photo demonstrates Shabazz’s ability to catch people in a way that makes it seem like they are not even posing for him, which gives his pictures so much power and depth.

Shabazz’s ability to tell this story, to expose the hidden narrative in all his pictures, is truly a gift, allowing him to reveal the tones, attitudes and presence that would be missing from pictures of the same areas today. If you only have one idea of what Black life is like in the United States, you have lost touch with what was stolen from Black people. Shabazz shows us pictures of families, men holding babies, Guardian Angels who were not awkward and scary, and men with hands interlocked as a sign of brotherhood, compassion and solidarity. This book is a chapter in the story of American Black life, one some of us have forgotten, and one that reminds us of the importance and potential power that lies in our struggle.

Stolen lives

The communities pictured never really recovered. Shabazz focuses on Harlem, Brownsville and other communities in Brooklyn, for all the right reasons. If you walk down the same streets today, you will notice what is missing.

The thing that’s tragic about the crack epidemic is that it was not hidden; there is no super government agency attempting to cover up the facts. There were no “Black-Ops” or shady shadow deals in this story, just open imperialism and state oppression at its best. No one is trying to tell you that the CIA had nothing to do with it. Everyone knows. We all knew. Every person I talk to about this book, about the effects of crack and what it stole from the Black community, knew exactly what I was going to say.

Shabazz’s “A Time Before Crack” is a testament to what was purposefully stolen from Black people: our pride and control of our identity. It is a testament to the role that the U.S. government and the CIA played in openly supporting right-wing military groups bent on death and destruction in Latin America. It is a testament to the fact that U.S foreign policy is not that foreign at all.

Reprinted from Dynamic Magazine, a publication of the Young Communist League (www.yclusa.org)

A Time Before Crack Photographs by Jamel Shabazz Powerhouse Books, 2005 Hardcover, 144 pp., $35

CARTOON

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:07:00 +0000

Capitalisms ruthless vanguard party

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:01:00 +0000

The president may be down in the polls, but his policies are still in place and moving forward. The situation reminds me of the old Texas saying, “That rattlesnake may be hurt, but it still can bite.”

This administration cares nothing for public opinion. The only thing it understands is power. It wants to keep it and grab more. The democratic movements have to wrench some of that power out of its hands this fall, and they have to be savvy — they cannot allow racism, vote suppression, cronyism and thug-tactics to steal another election.

The only thing that can blunt Bush’s neoconservative agenda is to change Congress from GOP to Democratic control, thereby shifting the political balance of forces. That would put the working class and democratic forces on far better footing for the struggles to come after Nov. 7.

A tall order, but possible, and necessary. What is the alternative? The continuation of the Bush agenda? Let’s take a glance at what that would look like.

Sticking to pre-emptive war

Last month the administration released an update to its 2002 “national security strategy.” The 2002 strategy came on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when the president was riding the highest approval ratings of his administration — some 80-90 percent. It outlined a new U.S. foreign policy of unilateral and pre-emptive war — placing the U.S. as judge, jury and executioner in world affairs, implementing a shoot-first, ask-questions-later policy. The 2002 security strategy targeted Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the main enemies, along with a number of other countries including Cuba. The pre-emption and unilateralism policy laid the basis for the quagmire that is Iraq — and Afghanistan too.

The 2006 National Security Strategy — ignoring the fact that the president is in the basement public opinion-wise — reconfirms the reckless unilateral and pre-emptive war policy. “We fight our enemies abroad instead of waiting for them to arrive in our country. We seek to shape the world, not merely be shaped by it,” the president said in introducing the update.

Agenda steamrolls on

The 2006 document says, “We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran.” The Bush administration is building towards an attack on Iran. Their philosophy is: handle a problem by making it worse. This administration is not backing down an inch, and not just on foreign policy. At the Food and Drug Administration the neoconservatives and the Christian Coalition are holding the “morning after pill” hostage. The Interior Department is on overdrive processing big business permits for oil drilling on federal land. The Bush neo-con agenda steamrolls on. If its control of Congress continues, it will be emboldened to go even further.

Capitalism’s vanguard

To those on the left who say, “It’s the capitalist system that has to be fought. The Democrats also support capitalism,” I ask, “How can you defeat capitalism if you can’t defeat its vanguard — the Bush administration?”

The Bush agenda is capitalism on steroids. It is carrying out a forced march of global corporate capitalism through the barrel of the gun. Bush’s new national security strategy offers platitudes about democracy and freedom. But the basic “freedom” that it is concerned about is the freedom to exploit, otherwise known as free enterprise, “free trade” and “free markets.” This is their definition of “democracy.”

Private property is ultra-right’s ‘moral imperative’

The 2006 security update seeks to “ignite a new era of global economic growth through free markets and free trade.” The document proclaims: “The liberty to create and build or to buy, sell, and own property is fundamental to human nature and foundational to a free society.” This economic “freedom” is presented as a “moral imperative,” to be imposed by unilateral military might.

The strategy calls for reforming Iraq’s economy “based on market principles” (i.e. eliminate public ownership and control of oil and other sectors). It pledges to advance this agenda through global corporate arrangements like the Middle East Free Trade Area — launched — when, you ask? — in 2003, the same year as the invasion of Iraq.

For trade unionists, farmers, students and environmentalists around the world and in our own country, “free trade” is synonymous with a global race to the bottom for wages, working conditions, environmental protection, democratic rights and other decent hard-won living standards. Yes, some Democrats are pro-free trade. But they are also more inclined to be influenced by and responsive to the people’s movements. And that’s what the most reactionary section of the U.S. ruling class doesn’t want. Capitalism faces some major challenges, and this group wants the must ruthless, dedicated enforcers in the driver’s seat. That’s why it’s backing the GOP.

A political defeat for the Republicans — the vanguard party of 21st century capitalism — means a setback to their militarist corporate-state global project and a necessary step for the working class and allies to advance the agenda of democracy and social and economic progress.

Terrie Albano (talbano@pww.org) is editor of the People’s Weekly World.

EDITORIAL: FDA disgrace

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 06:48:00 +0000

Senators Patty Murray of Washington and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, both Democrats, are blocking confirmation of President Bush’s latest choice to head the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach. The senators acted in hopes that it will force the FDA to end its disgraceful three-year stall on a promise to make the “morning after” pill available over the counter.

Twice, prestigious advisory panels to the FDA have voted overwhelmingly to recommend that this pill, also called Plan-B, be made available without prescription. But Bush’s first choice to head the FDA, Dr. Lester Crawford, used delaying tactics to block a decision. Planned Parenthood charges that the real source of the stalling is Bush himself and his ultra-right, anti-abortion hatchet men in the White House. The administration, the group says, “has turned its back on one of the safest and most effective ways of decreasing the rate of abortion: making the emergency contraception available without a prescription.”

Dr. Susan Wood, assistant FDA commissioner for women’s health and director of the FDA Office of Women’s Health, resigned last year because of Crawford’s stalling. She said the commissioner’s decision “to limit women’s access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women’s health.”

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, says the continued blocking of Plan-B “is just another in a long line of decisions that make women’s health secondary to right-wing politics.” She adds, “This administration is determined to turn the FDA into an arm of the Republican Party.”

The administration’s stalling on Plan-B and its politicization of the FDA fit in with the across-the-board offensive targeting women’s health and reproductive rights as upheld in Roe v. Wade. Republican operatives are hoping this will energize their far-right supporters for the November elections.

All of us who support women and family values should tell our senators to insist the FDA stop pandering to the ultra-right and approve Plan-B for over-the-counter sale. Then we need to get busy and defeat the GOP in November.

THISWEEKINLABOR

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:59:00 +0000

DuPont workers find catalyst for worldwide solidarity

Cross-border bonds linking the 60,000 workers employed by DuPont Corp. were strengthened with the launch of the Global DuPont Trade Union Network in Brussels, Belgium, last week. Union representatives from that country and Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. came together under the auspices of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions to “establish efficient cooperation and practical international solidarity.”

Outsourcing of jobs was an issue of common concern. Chemical workers also raised worries about safety issues and worker and community exposure to PFOA, a Teflon-related chemical. DuPont’s support of union- busting in the U.S. was also on the table. “It bitterly fights against union representation,” said Steelworkers spokesperson Joe Drexler. The USW is the new network’s major U.S. affiliate.

DuPont is based in Wilmington, Del., and operates in over 70 countries.

FLOC victory for guest workers

The settlement of a class action suit against growers in North Carolina will prevent these employers from foisting exorbitant charges for transportation, recruiting and visa fees on the state’s temporary agricultural workers. The suit was spearheaded by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, which represents 10,000 farm workers in the Midwest and North Carolina. The suit was based on both the federal minimum wage law and the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act. It sought to force growers to pay for all visa and transportation costs for temporary workers under the H-2A guest worker program. The March 17 settlement establishes a $1.4 million fund to compensate the workers for illegal wage deductions.

North Carolina farm workers won a union in 2004 after a five-year boycott of Mt. Olive pickles. Their collective bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association marked the first time guest workers in the U.S have achieved union recognition.

FLOC received a national charter from the AFL-CIO during the federation’s executive council meeting last month.

Umpires plan strike

Minor league umpires plan to strike when the season starts next month and filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, writes Ronald Blum of The Associated Press.

The Association of Minor League Umpires, which represents about 220 umps in 16 leagues, said it filed the charge in the NRLB’s Florida region, alleging the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp. threatened to fire employees who went on strike and asked several of the unionized umps to work as replacements during any strike.

Minor league umpires unionized in 2000.

Umps say their salaries average $15,000 at Triple-A, $12,000 at Double-A, $10,000 in full-season A-ball and $5,500 in rookie leagues. George Yund, management’s lawyer, earlier this month likened minor league umpiring to an educational program rather than a lifetime career.

The union said it would not supply replacement umps to the major leagues during a strike. Minor league umps routinely fill in for major league umpires who are injured or on vacation.

USLAW video

Voices from labor in Iraq and the U.S. are heard loud and clear in a new documentary released this week by the Center for Study of Working Class Life. The 27-minute video follows the tour of six Iraqi labor leaders to 25 U.S. cities in June 2005. The tour was sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War.

“Every worker in America needs to see this film,” says Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.). More info: meetingfacetoface.org.

Shot in the arm for nurses

Organizing is the top priority for United American Nurses according to a March 15 resolution of its sixth annual Labor Assembly, BNA reports. The nurses approved a bi-weekly dues increase of $1.16 per member to fund an ambitious organizing campaign. Nearly 2 million registered nurses are unorganized in the U.S.

The dues increase will allow the union to train UAN staff nurse leaders in organizing, bargaining and leadership skills and to triple its organizing staff.

With 100,000 members, UAN is the largest of eight AFL-CIO unions representing 200,000 registered nurses which banded together last month to create a new alliance called RNs Working Together to coordinate organizing and bargaining activities. Their goals include improving patient care.

NLRB: ‘Management tool’

Union nurses have their eyes on the National Labor Relations Board. President Bush has recently filled two NLRB vacancies. The restoration of the board’s full complement has heightened expectations for decisions in a number of important pending cases. In three combined cases pending before the board, union-busting health care employers are seeking to have nurses who hold even a minimum amount of responsibility in the workplace designated as “supervisors.”

Under the National Labor Relations Act, supervisors do not have the legal protections available to other workers and can be disciplined or fired for supporting the union. With the ongoing transformation of the NLRB into an out-and-out tool of management, the board’s actions on this and other cases could create a huge obstacle to organizing nurses.

This Week in Labor is compiled by Roberta Wood (rwood@pww.org).

WORLDNOTES

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:42:00 +0000

Haiti: High child mortality rate

According to a recently released UNICEF report titled “Child Alert: Haiti,” roughly 1 of every 8 children born in Haiti are likely to die before the age of 5, the highest rate of child mortality in the Western Hemisphere.

Millions of children under 18 years of age on this small Caribbean island are at great risk. The report cites a lack of basic health care as a major problem, compounded by environmental decay, violence, poverty, malnutrition and a lack of education.

Commenting on the report, the UNICEF representative in Haiti, Adriano Gonzalez-Regueral, said, “There are few more challenging places to have a healthy childhood than Haiti. While Haiti accounts for only 2 percent of births in Latin America and the Caribbean, it accounts for 19 percent of [the region’s] deaths of children under 5.”

Haitian President-elect René Preval has made a public commitment to improve the lives of Haiti’s children.

Philippines: Human rights violations

The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, headquartered in Quezon City, recently said the Philippines is probably second only to Colombia in the number of trade unionists and workers’ rights activists killed each year. The institute is forming an international labor solidarity mission to visit the Southeast Asian archipelago in May 2006 to spotlight the problem.

A recent Counterpunch article described the Philippines as “the site of an ongoing undeclared war against peasant and union activists, progressive political dissidents and lawmakers, human rights lawyers and activists, women leaders and a wide range of print and broadcast journalists. Because of the links between the army, the regime and the death squads, political assassinations take place in an atmosphere of absolute impunity.”

Iraq: Aid agencies blocked by U.S. military

Aid agencies reported being unable to gain entry to the city of Samarra, in central Iraq, where U.S. and Iraqi troops launched major military operations March 16 “to flush out insurgents,” according to IRIN, the UN-related news agency.

“Our convoys … have been prevented from entering the city by U.S. troops and our information from inside is that families are without food, power and potable water, particularly because they cannot leave their homes,” said Abdel Hameed, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.

Muhammad al-Daraji, director of the Monitoring Net of Human Rights in Iraq, said, “U.S. and Iraqi military groups have prevented the entrance of local nongovernmental organizations as well as the media to show the reality of human rights violations inside it.” He continued, “We have been informed they are taking men for interrogation and leaving women and children alone in their homes afraid and desperate for supplies.”

Mexico: World forum to protect water

About 20,000 people marched through Mexico City March 16 in support of publicly owned water and against its privatization. The event, which was sponsored by the Mexican Coalition for Water Rights, coincided with the Fourth UN World Water Forum held at an exclusive Mexico City hotel.

Another group, Workers in Defense of the Public Character of Water, recently held a three-day protest camp to demand that water remain in public hands.

Mexico City water workers, community leaders, rural peasants, fishermen and indigenous people came together with delegates from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canada’s largest union, to draw attention to their common struggles for access to clean water and to protest privatization.

The final statement read: “We urge all governments to place the interest of humanity and the ability of our planet to sustain life well above the drive for profit and power. Keep water in public hands! Democratic management of water! Water for life, not big business!”

Botswana: Labor unions join opposition

The labor secretary of the Botswana National Front, the country’s main opposition party, invited trade unions with affiliate to the party, saying the move would facilitate cooperation and promote mutual interests.

At an address to the national congress of the Botswana Wholesale, Furniture and Retail Workers Union, Labor Secretary Gabatsoswe Lebitsa said the ruling Botswana Democratic Party was “in cahoots” with big business. Botswana, he said, is exploited by foreign interests with little regard for, or benefit to, the people.

According to The Reporter (Mmegi) in Gaborone, Lebitsa said the BDP “only takes care of the interests of capital and places the majority of citizens last.”

The southern African country has a population of about 1.5 million and is rich in minerals, particularly diamonds.

World Notes are compiled by Pamella Saffer (psaffer@pww.org).

Cuban medics prepare to leave Pakistan

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:35:00 +0000

Members of Cuba’s Henry Reeve Brigade are returning from medical work in Pakistan where they arrived six months ago, six days after the Oct. 8 earthquake. Formed last year, the brigade provides disaster relief anywhere in the world. Henry Reeve was a U.S. volunteer killed in Cuba’s first war for independence.

The brigade will transfer responsibility for 32 fully equipped field hospitals to 450 Pakistani army doctors whom the Cubans are training to operate the equipment.

Cuba was initially limited to sending 50 doctors, until a telephone call from Cuban President Fidel Castro to Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president, opened the doors. Six months later, the two countries are about to establish diplomatic relations, Cuba has invited Musharraf to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement set for September in Havana, and 1,000 young Pakistanis are eligible to study medicine free in Cuba.

What happened in between?

Numbers tell some of the story: 75,000 Pakistanis dead, over 120,000 wounded, and 3.3 million homeless. Volunteering in Pakistan were 2,465 Cuban health workers, 1,430 of them experienced physicians who combined have worked in 40 countries.

They cared for over 1 million people (nearly half of them women), performed 12,400 operations, hospitalized 12,000 patients, saw 440,000 people in tents or in the rubble, and provided 432,118 physiotherapy treatments for 76,183 persons.

They worked in 44 locations, operating 32 of the 44 field hospitals in Pakistan, dispensing 234.5 tons of medicines and supplies, and utilizing 275.5 tons of durable equipment, which was left behind. Some 900 Pakistani medical students and army doctors worked beside them.

What the Cubans did in Pakistan is also revealed in anecdotes and testimonials. A couple of Cuban doctors, for example, won friends when the jeep carrying them stopped, unable to negotiate a steep mountain road. The women doctors went the rest of the way on foot, uphill, with heavy packs.

One reporter was struck by how easily the Cubans acclimated to their surroundings. “I’m awestruck watching young Dr. Noa asking an elderly man about ... his pain in Urdu.” The doctor shrugged off praise: “I’ve lived here for a couple of months already. ... It’s not easy, but I like it. It’s like camping and I’m a trooper!”

In her diary, Pakistani reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy writes, “The stench of dead bodies still lingers. ... Families huddle close together. ... The tent I was sharing was freezing cold. My fingers and toes were numb as I struggled to sleep. In the tent behind me a baby wailed. No photograph, television news piece can do justice to what these people are going through.”

The Cubans demonstrated cultural sensitivity in the face of religious, language and educational differences. Many Pakistani women do not accept medical care from men. Lives were saved because half of the Cuban doctors were women.

“The Cuban doctors are incredible,” reports Dr. Italo Subbaro from Baltimore. “I found a woman with a fractured femur. I called Juan Carlos. ... They operated on her. Now I go to see her and find her looking at the river and the mountain with a smile. ... Thank God that the Cuban doctors are here.”

Army Chief of Staff Major General Nadeem confessed, “We never dreamt that the Cubans would come to this part of the world. ... What I saw during my tour is an expression of the professionalism, commitment and determination of every one of you.” A colleague, Colonel Atif Shafique, agreed: “Cuba is now in my blood and in my sentiments.”

The world, all too familiar with U.S. military planes shuttling Pakistani men to the infamous U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, can now, for example, observe Cuban planes bringing Pakistani children to Cuba for rehabilitation, prostheses and extra care.

Cuba’s approach to medicine places human interests first. In Castro’s words, “We train [doctors] with the most modern educational technology, with the ethics necessary for them to have as the precept of their future duty to human beings, and for them to have as their essential purpose the spreading of health.”

Efforts to overturn Belarus elections fail

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:32:00 +0000

After several days of tolerating illegal and increasingly violent protests against the results of the country’s recent presidential elections, the Belarusian government put a stop to them during the early morning hours of March 25.

According to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, security forces held back until then in order to avoid the possibility of a violent clash with protesters, who numbered several thousand. The protesters were challenging the March 19 re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko to a third term.

However, when opposition leader and former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin called on demonstrators to take over power by force and urged them to proceed toward a government building, police intervened. Several policemen and demonstrators were injured, and some of the more violent demonstrators, including Kozulin, were arrested. The protest was quickly dispersed.

While Western governments and media sources have focused on and denounced the dispersal of the demonstrators, Belarusian authorities said the call to “take power by force” was a clear provocation. Even former presidential candidate Alexander Milinkevich, whom most of the demonstrators were there to support, said Kozulin had staged a provocation and that he would no longer work with him.

The March 25 incident has been cited in the Western media as emblematic of a lack of democracy in Belarus. However, government spokesmen pointed out that during demonstrations in other, Western European cities, people engaged in far less provocative behavior were met with the “use of water-jets, tear-gas grenades, batons and other special equipment.” They suggested the European Union and United States not use a double standard when judging Belarus.

Those who were arrested were taken to a courthouse in the Lenin District of Minsk and promptly tried, The New York Times reported. The highest estimate of those sentenced to jail was 115 people, with the maximum sentence being 15 days in jail.

There is ample evidence that the Belarusian opposition is manipulated by foreign powers. Money from the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy has been distributed to opposition forces, for example, and anti-government messages, paid for by the European Union, have been beamed into the country via radio.

Western European and U.S. interference in Belarus is motivated by two factors, critics say. The first is strategic: it’s part of an ongoing campaign to install pro-Western governments in countries traditionally close to Russia. The second reason is that the Lukashenko government, which includes Communists, has maintained a socialist orientation, thereby blocking privatization and the wholesale plunder of the country by Western businesses.

For the moment, those business interests appear to have suffered a setback.

Midwest gears up for YCL Convention

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:24:00 +0000

ST. LOUIS — On March 25-26 the Young Communist League hosted its first Midwest Regional Conference at Teamsters Hall here. YCL members and friends, old and new, came from all over the Midwest to discuss a draft action plan to be voted on at the group’s national convention on May 27-29 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Quincy Boyd, president of AFSCME Local 2730, greeted the audience. “This is a revolution we are all in,” he said. “If there is anything I can do, just let me know.”

The conference heard panel presentations on the three main points of the action plan: peace, jobs and education. Presenters included a number of the YCL’s friends and allies, such as a member of Veterans for Peace.

Discussion revolved around how these issues affect youth, the different ways their voices can be heard, and how to take action on specific struggles. Student-labor solidarity was an important theme.

Skill-building sessions focused on how to counter military recruitment, build coalitions, raise funds and conduct orientation programs for new members. On the first evening, conference-goers attended a fundraising concert for the People’s Weekly World.

Another important theme of the conference was the 2006 elections and how the YCL can mobilize the youth vote and otherwise participate in electoral politics. At the meeting’s conclusion, many were eager to put their words into practice and help canvass for progressive candidates, like state Rep. John Bowman, who closed the meeting. The YCL helped Bowman get elected in 2004 during its Midwest elections project.

This directly related back to discussions on how to build the YCL and bring a strong delegation from the Midwest to the May convention.

One participant, Kristen Gann, 19, is a student at the University of Missouri–Columbia studying film and journalism. “I think you learn the most by meeting people, different clubs, and sharing ideas and experiences that people bring to it,” she told the World.

Asad Ali, 28, came all the way from western Pennsylvania and was excited to take part in the conference. “I look forward to taking this all back to my club,” he said. “It’s great to meet national staff, PWW writers and people to help build strong relationships.”

About the draft action plan, Ali said, “You can’t really disagree with it.” He said he is interested in how “different groups will utilize the action plan in their communities, to make changes in their part of the country.”

Konrad Cukla is a high school student and a leader of the Milwaukee YCL club.

Pepe Lozano contributed to this story. For more information, visit www.yclusa.org/convention.

Detroiters battle over water issues

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:05:00 +0000

DETROIT — Chanting “No layoffs, no cuts, Detroit won’t go to the back of the bus,” Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) workers braved cold winds March 21 to protest the city’s plan to lay off 5 percent of the workforce beginning the week of April 10.

Adding to the anger of the workers, members of AFSCME Locals 2920 and 207, was Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s “State of the City” speech last week in which he said the city must make further cuts and look at privatizing any and all city services.

Detroit has been hard hit by a huge loss of jobs, Bush budget cuts and a declining tax base, all of which have left the city reeling and susceptible to “quick fixes” from those wanting to make profits off of the city’s resources. Many fear the city’s public water supply will go the direction of health care in our country, where access and quality depend on the size of your pocketbook.

Michael Mulholland, AFSCME 207 secretary treasurer, said his members have been working without a contract since last June. The threat to lay off workers is an attempt to force concessions including a one-year wage reduction, a two-year wage freeze and more employee contributions for their health care, Mulholland said. “We must stand up to being downsized and the way to do that is to link the concerns of the community with those of the workers,” he added.

Mulholland said cutting Water and Sewage employees would mean fewer meter readers, more estimated bills, and more water running in the streets than in homes due to water main breaks caused by lack of maintenance. He said the city has already begun using private contractors to fix water main breaks and is ending up spending three times what it would cost city employees to do the job.

Sylvia Orduro, who works with Michigan Welfare Rights, said she joined the rally because she realizes water rates must be kept affordable. Her organization has proposed a detailed plan to help low-income city residents pay their bills. The same plan has worked in other areas of the country, she said, but as of now, the city is sitting on it. In 2005, 45,000 Detroiters had their water turned off, she said.

Another marcher, Andrew Sawyer, has three children and has been a member of Local 207 for nine years. Because of previous cuts at the Water Department, he no longer gets overtime and his family’s bills are going up. “If I lost this job, I don’t what I’d do,” he said. It doesn’t make sense for the city to threaten workers with layoffs because the water budget for 2006 is already funded from rate increases enacted in 2005, he said. “The money is already there.”

Mulholland and other workers think DWSD Director Victor Mercado was brought in to privatize the system. Mercado previously worked for several large private water companies including United Water and Thames North America. Complaints against both companies have included staff reductions and slowness to make repairs. In Jersey City, N.J., United Water diverted $1.2 million worth of the city’s water to other communities without notifying, or paying, the city. Both companies are quickly buying up public water supplies in the U.S. and around the world.

Venezuelas quest to empower the poor

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 05:15:00 +0000

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Nearly 100 students and community activists attended “Forum Venezuela” here March 7 at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The forum, organized by the Columbia Peace Coalition, Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Columbia Young Communist League (YCL), shed light on the tremendous changes taking place in Venezuela.

Participants discussed Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the building of “21st century socialism,” medical, educational and social “missions” and the need for political unity in the region.

The idea of political change echoed around the room. Students from Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico and Cuba shared their perspectives on 21st century socialism.

Cesar Valdivia, a student from Mexico, said, “We [Mexicans] have lived under this system for a long time. It’s not working. Maybe its time we tried something different.” Valdivia spoke against Nafta and how it has impoverished Mexicans, forcing undocumented immigrants into the U.S. to work low-wage jobs with the constant fear of deportation.

The forum opened with the award-winning film “The Revolution will not be Televised,” which documents the attempted right-wing coup against Chávez in 2002.

Following the film, Tony Pecinovsky of the Missouri/Kansas Communist Party, who traveled to Venezuela in 2005, gave a brief presentation about Chávez’s policies, which include free health care and education, subsidized food programs and land redistribution.

With the help of Cuban medical personnel, he said, 75 percent of Venezuelans receive free health care, and currently thousands of Venezuelan students are training in Cuba to become doctors and will provide free health care upon return.

Millions of Venezuelans have learned to read and write within the past few years, and those previously excluded from education because of poverty are seeking higher education for free — another aspect of Chávez’s 21st century socialism.

“Chávez realizes that if you want to get rid of poverty, you need to empower the poor,” Pecinovsky said.

Kaveh Razani, chair of the St. Louis YCL, spoke about his visit to Venezuela during the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students. Razani, along with 700 other youth from the U.S., joined over 17,000 youth from 130 different nations to discuss the struggles against war, corporate globalization, attacks on workers’ rights, racism, sexism and homophobia.

“International youth solidarity was a major part of the festival,” said Razani. “The Venezuelans were very excited to see U.S. youth at the festival. They see us fighting in the ‘heart of the beast,’ and know that the policies of the Bush administration are not the policies of the American people.”

OBITUARY: Elsie Dickerson, 88, CPUSA leader

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 05:13:00 +0000

Elsie Dickerson, longtime chairperson of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware district of the Communist Party USA, passed away Feb. 21 after a long illness. She was 88.

Her extraordinary life as a communist leader and trade unionist was celebrated at a memorial service at Philadelphia’s Mount Carmel Baptist Church Feb. 28.

Jarvis Tyner, CPUSA executive vice chair, spoke about Dickerson’s caring manner, brilliant mind and understanding of Marxism-Leninism. Tyner met her in 1960, when he was a young worker. “I wanted to know how to end racism and poverty and Elsie was willing to spend time with young people and answer their questions. She was a teacher and a mentor. Yet when it came to the class struggle, she was a fierce and determined fighter,” Tyner said.

Rita Perna, district secretary, who knew Dickerson since she was a teenager, described Dickerson’s guidance. “Elsie’s most valuable contribution was her understanding of the need for unity,” Perna said.

“Elsie J. Dickerson has left us a lasting, loving, living legacy,” the Rev. Dr. Albert Campbell said. Dickerson was a deeply religious woman who loved her church and saw a strong connection between her religious and political beliefs.

Born in Virginia on Dec. 12, 1917, Dickerson moved to Philadelphia with her family in 1936. She got a job in a celluloid gasket factory that produced parts for Campbell Soup and Swift. Most of the workers were young African American women from the South, just like her. The hours were long and the pay low. Like her father, Dickerson liked sports, especially baseball. She also enjoyed playing softball. During the 1940s she began reading the Daily Worker, distributed in her neighborhood. She saw a petition inside against the “Whites only” clause in Major League Baseball. She became a part of that struggle and joined the CPUSA.

During World War II, Dickerson began organizing the workers in her factory. Local 186 of the Food, Tobacco and Allied Workers of America was born. Dickerson even won over her boss to unionism and organized a second factory he owned. She was elected president of her union and continued to be re-elected during the McCarthy period. She often said that it was because she was a communist, not despite it, that the workers kept electing her.

Dickerson retired in 1967 to chair the CPUSA’s Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware district. In the 1960s she also chaired the Independent Citizens Committee, which organized a massive voter registration campaign to defeat ultra-conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Dickerson was a leader in mobilizing 40,000 Philadelphians to attend the 1963 March on Washington, the largest delegation in the country. She was involved in the struggles against apartheid, police brutality and all forms of racial oppression. Dickerson served on the CPUSA national board and national committee.

Dickerson was part of a close-knit family. She had four sisters and one brother. When her parents became disabled, she cared for them. She helped raise and educate her nephews and nieces. Niece Robyn Oliver said, “She was a loving mother and teacher to me. I hope I made her proud. I will miss her.”

Soon after her 80th birthday, Dickerson suffered a stroke. “Our district sorely missed Elsie since she became ill. We pledge to carry on her legacy,” Perna said.

Long live March Madness

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 04:58:00 +0000

George Mason beats perennial power North Carolina? Wichita State beats Tennessee, Bradley beats Kansas, who would have thought?

Talk about the perfect assignment — being asked to write about the number one sporting event (OK, I might be a little biased) taking place in our country: March Madness, the NCAA college basketball tournaments pitting 64 men’s and women’s basketball teams (in separate tourneys) that take almost three weeks to complete. The tourneys’ one-loss-and-you’re-out format only adds to the excitement and chaos.

I’ve spent parts of my adult life in Maine, New Jersey and New York. At each stop, I picked local teams to root for (I have soft spots for the University of Maine Black Bears and the Peacocks of St Peter’s College.) But I grew up in Indiana and I’ll always be loyal to the Hoosiers of Indiana University.

Why does someone like myself become so wired that staying up till 12:30 a.m. to watch a game (like I did March 16 to cheer on my Hoosiers), and then another hour calling friends to talk about it, seem normal?

Well … it’s all about the games. Every Division I conference (and there are over 300 men’s and women’s Division I programs) has a season-ending tourney and the 30 winners automatically gain entry into the NCAA tourney. The 34 other NCAA competitors are picked at-large and mainly come from the “power,” i.e. big, conferences like the “Big 10.”

Many of the 30 conference winners come from small conferences, and seldom get national television exposure or the chance to have that once in a lifetime experience of going up against the best. While I have favorite teams I root for, there is nothing like a relatively unknown or unranked team ending the season of a major college power.

Over the years there have been some outstanding upsets. In 1996 Princeton shocked UCLA 43-41. In 2001, tiny Hampton University upset Iowa State. One of my favorites was in 1998 when the coach’s son heaved a half-court toss as time expired and Valparaiso beat Mississippi 70-69.

Businesses complain that during March Madness employees spend too much work time collecting money for office pools, filling out brackets, and — when the boss isn’t looking — watching live game video on their computer screens. Yes, I’ve been guilty of all three, but I don’t buy the lost productivity line that gets peddled. Multitasking keeps one’s mind sharp, right?

Several other reasons make this tourney magical. Although all levels of sports, from youth leagues through professional, are influenced by commercialization and an over-emphasis on winning, the degree to which they are tends to be lower on the college level as compared to the professional. Watch a college sporting event and you’ll see lots of emotion, drama and tears, from both winners and losers. You’ll see pep bands, parents and fans of all ages cheering.

In addition, on the college level there is more of an attempt to keep the lid on unsportsmanlike conduct and fans can be shown the exit for racist, derogatory and boorish actions towards athletes, officials and other fans. College sports have also approved a series of recommendations on principles of diversity and inclusion that limit the use of Native American mascots, nicknames and imagery. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer for several professional teams to do likewise.

While many teams, including some of my favorites, have already been eliminated, plenty of good games remain. That’s another great thing about this tournament: if your favorite team loses, you can always start rooting for someone else!

Male supremacy is not just womens problem

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 04:41:00 +0000

The oppression of women and the male supremacist ideology that justifies it arose from and has been a part of all class-divided societies. Today it is bound up with capitalist exploitation and the drive for maximum corporate profits.

Capitalism and the capitalist ruling class are the source of male supremacist ideology, not the working class and working-class men. But just like racism, the capitalist class daily injects this destructive ideology into working-class life and culture, in a variety of ways both open and subtle.

It is insidious and influences both men and women. Even the most progressive-minded men, including class-conscious men, are not immune from male supremacy and often exhibit a blind spot when it comes to women’s equality.

As with racism, if we are not fighting male supremacy and constantly strengthening our defenses against it, we are likely being influenced by it.

Unity of the working class is fundamental for economic, social and political advancement, for defeating the ultra-right and corporate exploitation and for winning socialism. Men must fight against male supremacy and for women’s equality because it is morally and humanly right and because it is essential for building working-class unity to win. It is in the self-interest of working-class men.

The role of male supremacy is akin to that of racism. It is destructive of working-class unity and diverts attention from the corporate exploiters. Some men may be fooled into thinking they are benefiting from women’s inequality, but in fact their rights and economic status are being undermined.

Male supremacy is used to justify the gap between men and women in wages, benefits and working and living conditions. If women are paid 71 cents for every dollar a man makes doing the same job, immense extra profits flow to the corporations. Additional profits are gained because men’s wages and benefits are pulled down as well. Equal pay for equal work is fundamental in creating equality for women, and in improving everyone’s living standards.

In the current stage of capitalist globalization, the economic status of women is being eroded. Outsourcing and technological displacement has a special impact on women. The jobs being created are either low-wage unskilled and part-time jobs or highly skilled technical jobs. There are large numbers of women, including racially oppressed and immigrant women, in part-time, nonunion, low-wage service sector jobs. So, winning struggles for union representation, against outsourcing, for well paying jobs, health care, secure retirement — all these require special attention to fighting for the rights and needs of women, on the job and off. An attack on women’s rights can only mean that the entire class will be affected, including men.

It is vital to fight to preserve and expand affirmative action in hiring and promotion, access to the trades and opening the doors fully to scientific and technological training for women. Affirmative action strengthens unity of the whole class.

Male supremacy dehumanizes women in the eyes of men and therefore demobilizes both from fighting for women’s equality and the working class generally. For example, male supremacy is used effectively by the ultra-right to attack women’s reproductive rights. Along with other “wedge issues,” the attack on reproductive rights has been used to divide working-class voters, allowing the ultra-right to advance its overall agenda. The intrusion of the state into women’s reproductive decisions affects men as well as women. While obviously it is a special question for women, it is not just a women’s issue.

If individual rights are undermined for women, they are undermined for men. This drive will not stop with outlawing the right of women to make individual reproductive choices. It is part of a general attack on democracy and the Constitution. The ultra-right wants women to be “barefoot and pregnant.” But they also have dreams of unrestrained corporate rule and unbridled racism that will turn life back for us all. The fight for reproductive rights is a front line issue in the defense of democracy.

Part of the fight against male supremacy is combating misogyny — women-hating, treating women as objects — in culture. Dehumanization of women justifies super-exploitation, and it dehumanizes men too, spurring violence against women. Thankfully, many young artists, including male artists, are speaking out against it.

In the political sphere the fight is for increasing the number of women elected officials and fighting for women’s leadership in trade unions and other mass organizations and coalitions. A diverse leadership fully reflecting the working class is essential for unity.

Women are one of the core constituencies of the all-people’s front against the corporate ultra-right, along with labor and racially and nationally oppressed peoples. Women hold up half the world and half the struggle.

The fight against male supremacy is a fight of the whole working class. Men have a special responsibility to give leadership to the fight, to help men understand its source and purpose and to help expose all its ugly expressions.

Working-class men have the responsibility to lead by personal and moral example in a way that effectively influences other men. We want to collectively reject it from our consciousness as alien to men, the working class and humanity.

The defeat of the ultra-right in November, and the rejection of male supremacist wedge issues, will have a big effect on the atmosphere in our country. It will help to blunt the attack on women and our working class generally. A strong united working-class movement conscious of women’s equality is essential.

John Bachtell (jbachtell@cpusa.org) is district organizer of the Communist Party of Illinois.

CARTOON

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 04:36:00 +0000

Union drive crashes the party

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:33:00 +0000

CHICAGO — Shirley Brown, 47, works very hard. Every day the 10-year veteran housekeeper with Resurrection Health Care Westlake Hospital here pushes her supply cart through the hospital, mopping, wiping and scrubbing, cleaning waiting rooms, patient-care rooms, bathrooms and countertops. She gets home about 3:45 in the afternoon. Most nights by 6 p.m., she’s exhausted and goes straight to bed.

Nonetheless, Brown is deeply involved in a bitter struggle with her employer for the right to have a union. She is confident that a union victory will eventually ease her days.

On March 11, when executives from Resurrection showed up for its black-tie gala at the downtown Hilton Hotel, Brown, along with many of her co-workers, joined by religious and community leaders, held a candlelight vigil and rally outside. “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, who was the featured entertainer at the gala, spoke to the crowd outside first, telling jokes and offering encouragement to the workers.

Protesters urged executives of Resurrection, the city’s largest Catholic health care organization, to “come home” to its mission of quality patient care, compassion, and a fair and just workplace. They sang songs, held picket signs and chanted, “We shall not be moved.”

Employees at Resurrection have been seeking to form a union with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 since 2003.

Resurrection has responded with an aggressive anti-union campaign spearheaded by the law firm Seyfarth Shaw, which specializes in helping employers fight unionization. Eight union supporters who were publicly active have been fired.

Lower-wage workers, many of whom are immigrants, have been told they will be fired or lose benefits if they support the union. Others have been pressured to sign petitions stating they oppose forming a union.

Resurrection takes in $1.4 billion in revenue annually. “What started as a small community hospital has evolved into a huge corporation,” said Harald Anonsen, a registered nurse with Resurrection, at the rally. According to Anonsen, nurses no longer feel that they can give the high quality health care they want to provide.

“The heart and soul of Resurrection Health Care is right here, outside, on Michigan Avenue — not inside that hotel,” said Father John Kobus, a Catholic priest and one-time employee of Resurrection.

Resurrection health care workers say they are underpaid, short staffed, and have inadequate supplies and insufficient infection control practices, putting patients’ safety at risk. The lowest paid workers in the system cannot afford health insurance for themselves.

Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon spoke to the crowd. “Keep fighting and we’ll stand by you until you win,” he said.

Shirley Brown was encouraged. “With the support I see here tonight,” she said, “I know it’s just a matter of time.”

THIS WEEK IN LABOR

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:55:00 +0000

Chalk one up to solidarity

At least at the local level, the nation’s labor movement is as united today as it was eight months ago, before the formation of a competing labor federation threatened the demise of local and state labor councils.

The AFL-CIO announced March 21 that 933 locals of Change to Win unions have applied for “Solidarity Charters” which allow them to remain connected to state federations and central labor councils even if their national union has disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO. Affiliation with the AFL-CIO through the solidarity charter program has brought participation in state and local federations up to the level it was before seven unions left the AFL-CIO last summer, the federation said. The local affiliations demonstrate “tremendous support at the grassroots union movement level for working as one movement to be most effective in politics, organizing and the fight-back against corporate America’s war on workers.”

CLCs move on HR 676

Here’s a good example of what unites labor. Central labor councils in Albany, N.Y., Cleveland, and Butler County, Pa., have added their endorsements to HR 676, the single-payer solution to the health care crisis. HR 676 would cover every person in the U.S. for all necessary medical care including drugs, hospital dental, mental rehab, vision and long term care without deductibles and co-pays.

CTW says ‘Make work pay!’

At its first organizing convention, held last week in Las Vegas, the Change to Win federation unveiled plans for “creating a new model for cross-union organizing.” The week of April 24, the new federation will launch its “Make Work Pay” campaign targeting major industries in 35 cities. Local cross-union campaign teams “will work together as single entities to unite workers in their cities,” according to a statement from the federation.

The power of a well-organized workforce can turn low wage jobs into “solid middle-class jobs,” said CTW President Anna Burger. She pointed to “jobs that will continue to provide vital services in the coming years — in transportation, distribution, retail, construction, leisure and hospitality, health care, property services, laundries, food production and processing, and other services.”

Pride at Work hits Ford boycott

Pride at Work, the AFL-CIO constituency group focused on full equality for workers of all sexual orientations, expressed disappointment, though not surprise, at an anti-gay boycott instigated against the Ford Motor Co. by the American Family Association.

AFA’s boycott campaign attacks the auto manufacturer for “funding homosexual groups which promote homosexual marriage.” Supporting the fight for marriage equality, providing domestic partner benefits, and offering diversity trainings for employees are among the list of charges against Ford listed on the website of a coalition of 19 conservative anti-gay groups who are managing the boycott.

“It is unfortunate that the progress unions have worked long and hard for — not only in the form of benefits and policies, but toward perceivably fair workplaces — is being fought,” said Dan Sturgis, United Auto Workers member and Pride At Work board member in a March 20 statement.

Iraqi speaker at AFL-CIO

Iraqis are united against the U.S. occupation of their nation, an Iraqi speaker told 80 listeners at a forum sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War held at the AFL-CIO headquarters March 15, PAI reported.

Dr. Rashid Zidan, a Baghdad pharmacist who runs an organization caring for widows and orphans, spoke after USLAW unveiled its new film documenting last year’s U.S. tour by six Iraqi labor leaders and subsequent developments of antiwar views within the union movement. After the forum, participants formed a candlelight march to the White House a block away.

Verizon steals union label

The Communications Workers union plans to sue Verizon in federal court in Philadelphia for attaching the CWA logo, without permission, to uniforms made by nonunion manufacturers, PAI reports. Verizon managers distributed the CWA-tagged threads to workers in Pennsylvania and Delaware. CWA District 13 VP Jim Short said that putting the union’s logo on nonunion apparel tarnished CWA’s reputation. “Members have died on the picket line fighting for justice while wearing the CWA logo,” he pointed out.

‘He’s an angel’

Letter Carrier Branch 120 President Joseph Murone in Paterson, N.J., was walking his route one morning just before 6 a.m. when he saw a fire erupt from a home. He ran up the steps and started pounding on the door, right in the face of the fire. “I was doing everything I could to wake people up — yelling and screaming and banging on the windows,” he said. It worked. Waleska Morales, her sister-in-law and three children woke up and escaped. “I’m starting to believe he’s an angel,” Morales said of Murone. “I mean, what’s a mailman doing around at that hour anyway?”

This Week in Labor is compiled by Roberta Wood (rwood@pww.org). Press Associates Inc. contributed.