Western Saharas quest for self-determination
Recent developments in northwestern Africa, along with worldwide observances of African Liberation Day, provide occasion to reflect on the continent’s last remaining colony, Western Sahara. The politics of oil, a repressive occupation, and a long-deferred referendum on self-determination are once again thrusting the territory into the world spotlight.
Texans slam privatization
LA MARQUE, Texas — About 200 Texans met in this small community adjacent to Texas City (location of the recent BP refinery explosion), June 11, to express their opposition to the Bush administration plan to privatize Social Security. They were treated to rousing speeches by Congressperson Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston), Nick Lampson (former congressperson from Houston), Texas AFL-CIO President Emmett Sheppard and others.
L.A. hotel workers reach tentative pact
Only moments before some 2,500 workers at seven major Los Angeles hotels were to be locked out by their employers, leaders of UNITE HERE Local 11 and the L.A. Hotel Employers’ Council (EC) reached a tentative contract agreement in the early hours of June 11.
Calif. labor vows fight in special election
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the proverbial other shoe June 13 with a long-anticipated announcement that a special election headlining his proposed ballot measures will be held Nov. 8.
National Clips
NEW PALTZ, N.Y.: Mayor faces charges for same-sex marriage ceremonies; WASHINGTON: High court defends ‘jury of peers’; WASHINGTON: Senate apologizes for inaction on lynchings; BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Execs convicted of pollution; E. PALO ALTO, Calif.: ‘Evict hazardous waste plant’
New Haven concert builds labor-neighbor solidarity
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — After a year of door knocking and organizing, neighborhood activists who have joined forces with the union organizing drive at Yale New Haven Hospital decided it was time to hold a community-wide solidarity event. The result was a May 21 rally and concert for “Our Community, Our Jobs, Our Hospital,” which brought together over 2,500 people to demand the hospital administration respect the needs of the people of this city.
Storm erupts over Patriot Act
WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) was so enraged by a witness from Amnesty International USA, who linked the Patriot Act to torture at secret U.S. detention facilities around the world, that he gaveled a June 10 hearing to an end. He ordered microphones turned off and stormed out of the hearing room.
Puerto Rican Peoples Day Parade celebrates culture of resistance
CHICAGO — Twenty-eight years ago, in the midst of a political storm, the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center organized the first Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade here. The parade was the PRCC’s organized response to the brutal 1977 killing of two young Puerto Ricans at the hands of racist white policemen, an event that triggered a community-wide rebellion on the city’s near northwest side. click here for Spanish text
Wave of resolutions reject AFL-CIO split
Powerful, unanimous voices are being heard from across our nation’s labor movement. They are stating in one voice: “Unity!”
Juneteenth holiday celebrates freedom
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The celebration marks the events of June 19 (“Juneteenth”), 1865, when Union General Gordon Grangergy read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, effectively freeing over a quarter million enslaved Blacks in the state.
