Labor movement backs bank nationalization
MIAMI — The nation’s largest labor federation has called for nationalization of the nation’s major banks. In a detailed statement, the AFL-CIO, at its executive council meeting here, called on the Obama administration to intervene when significant financial institutions are on the brink of collapse. But those interventions must “protect the public interest, and not merely rescue executives or wealthy investors,” the labor group declared.
Health advocates tell Capitol Hill: go for single-payer, not Mass. plan
A packed Capitol Hill forum Feb. 25 heard a warning that national health care reform should steer clear of the problems Massachusetts has experienced with its state program.
World Baseball Classic brings together 16 nations
For most, around this time of year, “March Madness” is all about college basketball and that’s totally cool. Really, college ball is for real. No doubt. Lots of props there.
U.S. prepares for change on Cuba
Congress is beginning to act on Cuba. Justifications for lifting the U.S. blockade of Cuba have gained currency. The policy has had bipartisan support for almost half a century.
Another terrifying ICE raid, but this time, a different response
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- In a terrifying early morning raid Feb. 24 here 28 workers, believed to be undocumented, were arrested at Yamato Engine Specialists by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Arrests thrust right-to-die into spotlight, again
BALTIMORE—Voters in Washington State last fall, and in Oregon eight years ago, approved by strong majorities ballot propositions legalizing physician assisted suicide for terminally ill patients suffering unbearable pain. Known as a movement for “death with dignity,” it has spread nationwide.
Unthinkable! GOP budget cuts endanger lives, leaders charge
As California’s budget debacle enters its fourth month, labor and environmental organizations are stepping up their fightback against the Republican drive to gut vital labor and environmental protections.
Reform blocked by racist groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center in a recent report charges that three Washington D.C. organizations have racist roots and that they were the most responsible for blocking comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. All three — the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA — are part of a single chain of lobbyist groups conceived and funded by John Tanton, known as an extreme white nationalist and anti-immigrant culprit, says the law center.
Two Black workers who made history
BALTIMORE — Helen Evans was turning the pages of an album of photos of her father, Joseph P. Henderson, when her eye fell on a picture of him as a Laborers union organizer in Washington, D.C., during the 1940s.
New actions urged in Oscar Grant murder
OAKLAND, Calif. — Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff is being pressed to take new actions, after additional video footage was made public late last month, showing what happened in the moments before Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old unarmed African American, was shot in the back by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle early New Year morning.
