Black trade unionists gear up for convention
When hundreds of Black trade unionists converge on Phoenix for the 34th International Convention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists May 25-30, the many-sided attacks on the Black community and on labor will be the overriding concern. The theme says it all: “CBTU: Forging a New Vision for Tough Challenges Ahead.”
Latin American unionists tell their stories
NEW YORK — Ricardo Monge, head of the health care workers union in El Salvador, described struggles against privatization of health and medical facilities in his country. Claudia Lopez from Bolivia’s Union of Factory Workers told of the fight against privatization of the water supply in Bolivia.
Calif. gov stirs up hornets nest over Minutemen comment
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning the hard way that trying to deflect political difficulties by using immigrants as a scapegoat will only get him in deeper trouble.
National Clips
HONOLULU: Sit-in to halt war research; SALT LAKE CITY: Reject ‘No Child’ law; ARVADA, Colo.: Recruiter caught in lie; WASHINGTON: Secret Service racial profiling; HARTFORD, Conn.: Same-sex civil unions; CHICAGO: Seniors’ summer cooling plan
LA mayors race: Hahn moves to the right
Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign to become Los Angeles’ first Latino mayor in 133 years is picking up steam. Now the incumbent, Mayor James Hahn, is trying to appeal to Republican voters by attacking his Mexican American opponent’s previous activism in the American Civil Liberties Union.
Coalition pushes for change in Cuba policy
WASHINGTON — More than 700 people gathered here April 27 in opposition to the U.S. government’s political and economic blockade against Cuba under the slogan, “Join the majority, change the policy!”
Texans mark Workers Memorial Day
TEXAS CITY, Texas — A Workers Memorial Day ceremony here at the Steelworkers/PACE union hall paid tribute to 67 union members killed on the job this year and the many other victims of workplace accidents and illnesses. The event was just one of scores of similar events around the country.
Reporter's Notebook
I once was part of a union group that was taken on a tour of a new high-tech hospital. Our guide was an earnest young woman, a physician, who had been elected as the union leader by all the workers in the hospital. To our surprise, the first place our delegation visited was deep in the basement.
Workers threaten strike to clean up laundries
Thousands of laundry workers who process hospital and nursing home linens voted to strike May 5 if necessary to win living wages and safe working conditions. Working under expired contracts, employees at seven facilities of Angelica, the nation’s largest health care laundry company, threatened to hit the picket lines if their demands for living wages and safe working conditions are not met. And their colleagues at eight other facilities have already pledged to honor their co-workers’ picket lines. The affected facilities are in California, New York, Texas and Illinois. Click here for related story
Capital campaign reaches $200,000
The campaign to raise $400,000 for three modern centers of education and struggle in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York reached the halfway point last week.
