By MARTY GOODMAN NEW YORK-Thousands of angry New York City transit workers marched on June 20 to begin "a long hot summer" against management abuse. The target was threatened cuts in health care benefits as well as transit's notorious discipline policy. The demonstration was organized by the militant new leadership of the Transport Workers Union … Continue reading NY Transit Workers Rally Against Health Cuts
Month: July 2001
Hoffa Triumphant, His Opponents Defiant
By CHARLES WALKER LAS VEGAS, Nev.-From June 25-29, the 26th Teamsters Convention was convened here in a huge auditorium located below a fake Eiffel Tower that rises 50 stories above a glitzy casino. Barely out of earshot of whirling slots and bouncing dice, the mostly enthusiastic 2400 delegates and alternates were joined by nearly 5000 … Continue reading Hoffa Triumphant, His Opponents Defiant
The Greatest Generation? Reflections of a World War II Veteran
By PAUL SIEGEL We are being deluged by a flood of tributes to the heroism of what the TV commentator Tom Brokaw has dubbed "the greatest generation," the veterans of World War II. The immediate reason for this torrent of tributes is the desire of the book and movie industries to make money by marketing … Continue reading The Greatest Generation? Reflections of a World War II Veteran
The Not So Fabulous Life of Tina Modotti
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER I was intrigued by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith's review of Ellen Gavin's new play, Apertura Modotti, in last month's Socialist Action. The play follows the life of Tina Modotti, the photographer, actress, and political activist who died under unclear circumstances in 1942 in Mexico City. According to the playwright, Modotti in her last years was in … Continue reading The Not So Fabulous Life of Tina Modotti
SF Revival of Fugard’s Apartheid-Era Masterpiece
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The play "Master Harold" ... and the Boys ended its month-long run at ACT in San Francisco on June 3. Playwright Athol Fugard begins and ends his play with the characters Sam and Willie practicing ballroom dancing. Dancing could be seen throughout the production as a metaphor for the way life should … Continue reading SF Revival of Fugard’s Apartheid-Era Masterpiece
World Bank Leaders Admit: ‘Cuba Has Done a Good Job’
By CARL ROSENTHAL The May 30 release of the World Bank's 2001 edition of "World Development Indicators" (WDI) was the occasion for some raised eyebrows in ruling-class circles when it demonstrated that revolutionary Cuba had topped virtually all other poor countries as well as some of the advanced capitalist nations in health and education indices. … Continue reading World Bank Leaders Admit: ‘Cuba Has Done a Good Job’
South Africa’s Mbeki Promotes Bush Agenda; Ducks UN AIDS Conference
By GERRY FOLEY South African President Thabo Mbeki's June 25 White House visit with George Bush shattered a few more illusions that Mbeki's African National Congress (ANC) government represents the interests of the South African people. The Mbeki-Bush meeting was widely reported in the capitalist media. A June 25 CBS interview had Mbeki urging "stability" … Continue reading South Africa’s Mbeki Promotes Bush Agenda; Ducks UN AIDS Conference
US Blacklists Ethnic Albanians
The U.S. has blacklisted a series of ethnic Albanian nationalist organizations and leaders, the German international radio service, Deutsche Welle, reported on June 28. The report was immediately picked up by the Belgrade daily Politika as well as by the Macedonian daily papers. From the accounts, it seems that the so-called Prevention of Terrorism Act was invoked, … Continue reading US Blacklists Ethnic Albanians
US Deal with Albanian Guerrillas Leads to Macedonian Police Riot
The U.S. government got a lesson in the pitfalls of manipulating Balkan politics on June 25. It persuaded the Albanian National Liberation Army to evacuate the village of Aracinovo, from which the Albanian rebels were in a position to shell the Macedonian capital of Skopje, the country's main airport, and its only oil refinery. The … Continue reading US Deal with Albanian Guerrillas Leads to Macedonian Police Riot
Mass Graves of Kosovar Graves
By GERRY FOLEY The evidence of the Milosevic government's attempt to dispose of the bodies of the victims of its mass terror in Kosovo is steadily, if slowly coming to light. It has made enough of an impact on the Serbian media that supporters of Milosevic protesting their hero's extradition to the Hague court shouted … Continue reading Mass Graves of Kosovar Graves
Milosevic Handed Over to the Hague
By GERRY FOLEY Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic ruthlessly overode the objections of the Yugoslav Supreme Court and Yugoslav federal President Vojislav Kostunica on June 29, delivering Slobodan Milosevic into the arms of the U.S.-sponsored International Tribunal at the Hague. Djindjic apparently was ready to pay a high political price in order to meet the U.S. … Continue reading Milosevic Handed Over to the Hague
Body Count Rises Along the Border
By MIKE SCHWARTZ Mario Castillo and Raymundo Berreda were two of the 14 immigrant workers who were found dead in the Arizona desert in late May. Every day thousands of people leave Mexico with the hope of finding a decent paying job in the United States. This situation arises out of the massive poverty that … Continue reading Body Count Rises Along the Border
Bush Forced to Respond to Vieques Protesters
By DAVID BERNT On June 14, President Bush, responding to heightened protests, announced he would order an end to the Navy's bombing of the island of Vieques by May 2003. The U.S. Navy has used the island off the coast of the Puerto Rican mainland as a training ground for amphibious assault exercises. The Navy … Continue reading Bush Forced to Respond to Vieques Protesters
More Police Misconduct in Kevin Cooper Case
By PAUL M. In the struggle to prove his innocence, death-row inmate Kevin Cooper has always had to contend with police corruption. Although he won the right to DNA testing last December, his defense team recently made a shocking discovery-key evidence just about to undergo testing may have been tampered with. The results of the … Continue reading More Police Misconduct in Kevin Cooper Case
Editorials
Editorials Chinese Communist Party to include capitalists Taking the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, on July 1 the CP general secretary and president of the country, Jiang Zemin, called for welcoming capitalists into the party's ranks. It was a logical corollary of the policy of restoring capitalism and of … Continue reading Editorials
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: On Rapping Rap
"Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws." - attributed to Daniel O'Connell, Irish Nationalist (1775-1847) The recent Rap Summit in New York, organized by hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, and supported by leading industry, political, academic, and cultural figures, speaks volumes, not so much of the … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: On Rapping Rap
As Mumia Activists Gear Up Efforts, New Court Decision May Help Defense
By JEFF MACKLER Efforts to win the freedom of death-row political prisoner and award-winning journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal have intensified over the past months. Imprisoned for the past 20 years following a racist frame-up trial for a murder he did not commit, Jamal and his new legal team are preparing critical new documents to present in … Continue reading As Mumia Activists Gear Up Efforts, New Court Decision May Help Defense
South Carolina Says: ‘Free the Charlseton Five!’
By MARTY GOODMAN COLUMBIA, S.C.-Some 5000 demonstrators gathered here on June 9, chanting, "Free the Charleston Five!" The Charleston Five are trade unionists framed on felony riot charges stemming from a police attack on a union picket line against a non-union ship docked at a Charleston, S.C., port. The five have been under house arrest. … Continue reading South Carolina Says: ‘Free the Charlseton Five!’
The Economy Reels!
By JEFF MACKLER When on June 27, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan announced the sixth reduction in federal interest rates since Jan. 1, no government official felt confident to predict that the staggering U.S. economy would respond favorably. Greenspan was compelled to record a continuing decline in capital spending and productivity losses as U.S. corporations, … Continue reading The Economy Reels!