Iraqi labor leaders welcomed across U.S.
Six Iraqi union leaders touring the U.S. this week called for an end to the U.S. occupation and expressed hope that American workers would support their efforts to protect Iraqi workers’ rights and defeat privatization. U.S. Labor Against the War sponsored the 17-day, 25-city tour by the representatives of three major labor organizations in Iraq. click here for Spanish text
From Congress to union halls: Demand widens: Exit Iraq!
WASHINGTON — “Let Conyers in!” the crowd chanted at the White House gate the evening of June 16. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and a dozen other lawmakers had come to deliver petitions signed by 566,000 people demanding that President George W. Bush answer for the so-called Downing Street Memo proving that he “fixed” intelligence to justify war on Iraq.
Lawmaker yields as antiwar group turns up heat
BALTIMORE – Members of Baltimore Pledge of Resistance went to the district office of Rep. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) June 17 to demand that he speak out against the Iraq war. The group met for several hours with Cardin’s chief administrative aide Chris Lynch.
Maine vets call for end to war
Earlier in the week, our Veterans for Peace (VfP) chapter went to the capitol in Augusta to be with Russ Christensen who has walked 130 miles since May 4 calling for an end to the war in Iraq. Russ is a Korean War veteran and is 73 years old. As h e walked he passed out a proclamation calling on Maine's Governor Baldacci and leaders of the Maine State House and Senate to demand a recall of U.S. military forces stationed in Iraq.
Philly hears calls to boost minimum wage
PHILADELPHIA — A coalition of labor and community groups rallied here May 25 to demand an increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, which has remained frozen at $5.15 an hour for eight years. Rally speakers demanded that the state Legislature hike the wage to $7.15 an hour to provide adequate worker income and to bring it closer to the minimum wage prevailing in nearby states.
A celebration of brave hearts and courageous acts
This book is a collection of 33 short biographies about the lives and actions of people who are deeply committed in changing the world. As the cover of the book states, “You know the names of Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela.” Yet it questions the reader, “But have you ever heard of Roy Bourgeois, Neta Golan, or Sulak Sivaraksa?” There are many brave men and women who are activists and continue in the tradition of faith-based activism.
Belafonte, Huffington honored for speaking truth to power
NEW YORK CITY — “When Martin Luther King Jr. began to respond to the demands for justice, one of the first persons he called upon was Harry Belafonte,” said Andrew Young, a top aide to King, former congressman and United Nations ambassador. Young was introducing Belafonte at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy annual benefit here on June 8, which honored Belafonte and Arianna Huffington for “Speaking Truth to Power.”
More about white privilege concepts
The following are reader responses to an article by Sam Webb, “Communists make key points on racism” (PWW 4/30-5/6). A discussion worth continuing; Our job in fight against racism
Corporate reparations and transgenerational trauma
It’s admirable that Wachovia Corp., the nation’s fourth largest bank, under pressure from the cities of Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, finally revealed and apologized for their role in the heinous transatlantic slave trade. (“Wachovia finds role in slavery in its past,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 2.)
The 800-lb. gorillas: war spending & tax cuts for the rich
The persistent budget crises in Illinois and Chicago are in large measure created by the Bush administration policies of tax cuts for the very rich, militarization and Iraq war spending that are bankrupting cities, counties and states across the nation. The recently adopted Bush budget projects red ink as far as the eye can see.
