By Leo Schwartz NEW YORK-On April 20 thousands of marchers chanting, "Giuliani must go!" gathered at City Hall in lower Manhattan to protest the cop murder of an unarmed Haitian immigrant, Patrick Dorismond, on March 16. The spirited march, organized by the Haitian Coalition for Justice, started at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn and crossed … Continue reading N.Y. Haitians and Supporters
Category: Actions & Protest
Thousands in D.C. Protest IMF & World Bank
By Jennifer Stentiford WASHINGTON-Thousands of people from all walks of life converged on The Ellipse in this city to protest World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings that look place on April 16 and 17. April 16 saw the largest crowds of the week-long protests. Organizers estimate between 10,000 and 30,000 people participated in the … Continue reading Thousands in D.C. Protest IMF & World Bank
All out May 7 and May 13!
BY JEFF MACKLER Organizers across the country and worldwide will mobilize on May 13 for the largest demonstrations in support of a U.S. political prisoner in perhaps the past half century. They will focus on two central demands: "Stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal!" and "For a new trial now!" In the United States, major … Continue reading All out May 7 and May 13!
International Call to Action on May 13: Save The Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal! Mobilize on May 13!
Leonard Weinglass, Chief Legal Counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal, has sounded the alarm: The next 90 days will be more critical to the life of Abu-Jamal, than the preceding 17 years. Federal District Court Justice William Yohn must decide whether or not to grant review to the record of false evidence and official perjury that punctuated … Continue reading International Call to Action on May 13: Save The Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal! Mobilize on May 13!
AFL-CIO Backs Anti-IMF, World Bank Protest in Washington: “Dump the Third World Debt”
By NAT WEINSTEIN It's no secret that the Mobilization for Global Justice, scheduled for Washington, D.C., April 16-17, is intended to be a bigger and better sequel to the Seattle anti-WTO demonstration at the end of last year. The Washington event has received a fairly wide endorsement-including that of the AFL-CIO as well as the … Continue reading AFL-CIO Backs Anti-IMF, World Bank Protest in Washington: “Dump the Third World Debt”
Editorials
Socialist Action salutes the 40,000 trade unionists, environmentalists, students, farmers and other concerned people who took to the streets of Seattle to protest the World Trade Organization in November. We are also thrilled with the number of local organizing initiatives that have arisen in the aftermath of Seattle, both to discuss the lessons of that … Continue reading Editorials
May 13 Set for International Protests for Mumia Abu-Jamal
By JEFF MACKLER The Feb. 19 Emergency National Conference to Save the Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal represented the broadest unity thus far achieved in the fight to save the life and win the freedom of U.S. political prisoner and death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. Seven hundred of the nation's leading activists, representing political forces and … Continue reading May 13 Set for International Protests for Mumia Abu-Jamal
50,000 Protest Confederate Flag in S. Carolina
Over 50,000 Black and white South Carolinans chose to celebrate Martin Luther King day with a demonstration and rally against the continued display of the Confederate battle flag over the state capitol in Columbia. The turnout, which was the largest civil rights demonstration in the state's history, surprised both protest organizers and right-wing supporters of … Continue reading 50,000 Protest Confederate Flag in S. Carolina
Youth in Action
By ADAM RITSCHER Decatur, Ill., the recent scene of bitter labor struggles by striking and locked-out workers at the Staley, Caterpillar, and Bridgestone Firestone plants, last month also saw the angry raised fists of hundreds of Black and white high school students protesting the unjust expulsion of seven Black students. The seven students, who … Continue reading Youth in Action
Teamsters Notebook: TDU Convention Attracts Militants
By CHARLES WALKER Contingents of brewery workers, flight attendants, and meat-packing workers inspired and animated the 400 delegates and guests attending the Teamsters for a Democratic Union's 24th Convention last month. The workers addressed the meeting's main sessions, as well as workshops. Their message was as similar as their daily jobs are different: Teamsters … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook: TDU Convention Attracts Militants
AFL-CIO Marches Against WTO
By CHARLES WALKER SEATTLE-The AFL-CIO strategists had a bold game plan. Hold a mass rally of unionists and their allies at a large Seattle stadium, march to the meeting site of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and then hold a "silent sit-down," blocking the building's entrances and preventing easy access to 3000 WTO delegates. … Continue reading AFL-CIO Marches Against WTO
Student Protests in Iran
By KAMRAN NAYERI For five days last summer (July 8-13), Iranian students took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest the denial of basic democratic rights. These protests, their immediate and underlying causes, the solidarity they generated, and the Islamic Republic regime's response to them offered a way to examine and … Continue reading Student Protests in Iran
Athens Protests Spoil Clinton’s Balkan Show
ATHENS - Clinton's journey to the Balkans was planned by the U.S. government to be a triumphant tour and the crowning of their criminal military activities in Yugoslavia. At the same time, the governments of the countries Clinton was going to visit also hoped to acquire some part of that glory and "triumph." But the … Continue reading Athens Protests Spoil Clinton’s Balkan Show
Cuban Delegations Attend WTO and NNOC Conferences
Cubans focus on case of kidnapped youngster, Elian Gonzalez By JEFF MACKLER "The struggle against the World Trade Organization (WTO) was not only in the streets of Seattle," said Felipe Perez Roque, Cuba's 34-year-old Foreign Minister and head of Cuba's 20-member delegation to the WTO, "it was inside the conference itself." Perez Roque addressed … Continue reading Cuban Delegations Attend WTO and NNOC Conferences
SEATTLE!
By NAT WEINSTEIN An estimated 35,000 to 50,000 trade unionists, environmentalists, farmers and other concerned people, including an unusually high proportion of youth, went to Seattle to protest at the end of last month. The protests were directed against the World Trade Organization (WTO), its so-called "free trade" policy, and against the multinational corporations … Continue reading SEATTLE!
Teamsters Notebook: Strike at Overnite
By CHARLES WALKER On Sunday, Oct. 24, the Teamsters called a nationwide unfair practices strike against Overnite Transportation Co., the nation's largest trucker of consolidated cargo without a union contract. "Instead of bargaining in good faith, there has been a pattern of retaliation and violence against union supporters," the union said. For months both the … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook: Strike at Overnite
Nurses in Ireland Stand Up Against ‘Social Partnership’
By JOHN McANULTY DUBLIN-Thousands of Irish nurses took to the streets here on Oct. 21 in one of the most significant industrial disputes for many years. On one side are the fat cats of the "Celtic tiger," besmirched by scandal which involves the entire economic and political establishment. The former premier, Charlie Haughey, stands … Continue reading Nurses in Ireland Stand Up Against ‘Social Partnership’
Fidel Castro Expected to Attend Cuba Solidarity conference and WTO Meeting in Seattle
By JEFF MACKLER Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruiz is slated to lead a delegation of 40 top Cuban economists, political leaders, and trade specialists to the weeklong World Trade Organization (WTO) conference that opens in Seattle on Tuesday, Nov. 30. President Castro is also expected to address the Dec. 3-6 National Network on Cuba … Continue reading Fidel Castro Expected to Attend Cuba Solidarity conference and WTO Meeting in Seattle
Kosovo Albanians Expelled from Jobs at Privatized Mine
By GERRY FOLEY A leader of the independent union at the Trepca mine in Kosovo was able to talk to Xavier Rousselin from Socialist Action's French sister organization, the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire, in London in September. The miners' representative, Bajram Mustafa, lives in the Mitrovica region of Kosovo. He was invited to a conference … Continue reading Kosovo Albanians Expelled from Jobs at Privatized Mine
Workers Occupy Privatized Paper Mill in Russia
By ROLAND SHEPPARD The International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR) web site recently featured an article from the Oct. 15, 1999, issue of the Boston Globe, titled "Russia police, workers clash over sale of plant to foreign firm." The reporter, Brian Whitmore, writes: "In a predawn raid that gave a whole new meaning … Continue reading Workers Occupy Privatized Paper Mill in Russia
Indonesian Neocolonialism Puts on a New Face
By GERRY FOLEY In the face of angry demonstrations by students, supported by the poor masses of Jakarta, the Indonesian capitalist class has fallen back to a new line of political defense. The party of the military dictatorship, Golkar, decided on Oct. 20 to put a moderate Muslim divine, Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus … Continue reading Indonesian Neocolonialism Puts on a New Face
Against Free Trade and Against Protectionism
As many as 50,000 or more workers, trade unionists, environmentalists, and others concerned with defending the social and economic interests of the great majority of the American people will be coming to Seattle to protest against the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Nov. 30 through Dec. 3, 1999. (The WTO is slated to meet in … Continue reading Against Free Trade and Against Protectionism
Detroit Teachers Defy Union Officials, Win Gains
By ANN ROBERTSON In one of the nation's biggest teacher strikes in years, 8000 Detroit teachers walked off the job on Aug. 31. The strike was carried out in defiance not only of their own union leadership, which urged them not to walk out, but in defiance of a Michigan law that rendered the … Continue reading Detroit Teachers Defy Union Officials, Win Gains
Youth in Action: The Million Youth March
By ASI-YAHOLA SOMBURU On Sept. 4, I had the pleasure of going to Harlem with my father, Kwame Somburu, to attend the rally that Khallid Abdul Muhammad and the New Black Panther Party that he leads named the Million Youth March. Harlem was alive that day! On television prior to the event there were … Continue reading Youth in Action: The Million Youth March
Belfast Court Reviews Order Against Troublesome Journalist
By GERRY FOLEY On Sept. 23, two Northern Ireland High Court judges began a judicial review of a court order on well-known Irish journalist Ed Maloney, the Northern Ireland editor of the Dublin Sunday Tribune. Maloney was directed to give the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) his notes from an interview with one of their … Continue reading Belfast Court Reviews Order Against Troublesome Journalist