By BOB MATTINGLY Across America, there's a slowly growing realization that our constitutional birthright was disregarded last October, when both houses of Congress and the president joined together to make the deceptively named USA Patriot Act the law of the land. Legal experts say that the passage of the massive 342-page law guts our revolutionary … Continue reading The USA Patriot Act: A Bastion for Scoundrels, A Menace for Labor
Category: Labor
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: War on the Waterfront
By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL In times of war, even one so nebulous as the "War On Terrorism", there are wars within wars. Wars not merely fought abroad, but little, internal wars of interests battling for dominance. With the elevation of George W. Bush to the nation's highest office by the Supreme Court, business interests know they … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: War on the Waterfront
UPS Pact – Is the Truth Being Cooked?
By CHARLES WALKER From The New York Times of July 17, ("U.P.S. and Teamsters Reach Deal for a 25% Raise") to the Peoples Weekly World of July 20, ("Teamsters win big at UPS"), comes word that the Teamsters' tentative contract with United Parcel Service (UPS) announced on July 16 is a winner for the workers. But did the usually … Continue reading UPS Pact – Is the Truth Being Cooked?
U.S. Unions Bankroll Israeli Aggression
By BOB MATTINGLY Labor voices are being raised against the AFL-CIO's collaboration with the U.S. government's backing of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Unionists are petitioning the labor federation's officers, stating that they "deplore the fact that AFL-CIO President John Sweeney recently associated U.S. labor's name with support for the Israeli invasion of the … Continue reading U.S. Unions Bankroll Israeli Aggression
Unemployment Growing in China
By ZHANG KAI HONG KONG-Since China embarked on the road for capitalism, enterprises with profit-making as their main concern have been laying off workers for cost-effectiveness. With China entering into global competition after accession to WTO, readjustments, bankruptcies and mergings of enterprises will accelerate; the post Sept. 11 impact on China's exports also added to … Continue reading Unemployment Growing in China
British Government Policies Trigger Strike Wave
By TERRY CONWAY LONDON-It is not only in the United States itself that some of George W. Bush's friends have been having a difficult time. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of Bush's closest international allies, has been having a rough ride at home as dissatisfaction with the policies of his government have played a … Continue reading British Government Policies Trigger Strike Wave
Labor Department Dares Western Dockers to Strike
By CHARLES WALKER "For the past several years PMA President Joseph Miniace has been pushing hard for an increased role of the federal government in the maritime industry. The agenda: restrict trade-union power on the docks by banning the right to strike. Since Sept. 11 their lobbying has borne strange fruit." - ILWU Business Agent … Continue reading Labor Department Dares Western Dockers to Strike
Canadian Labour Congress Shifts Left
By BARRY WEISLEDER VANCOUVER, B.C.-The largest ever Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) opted for mass job action to defend medicare, reaffirmed support for the New Democratic Party and defeated a conservative challenge in elections for top officers. The June 10-14 gathering of 3263 registered delegates, representing some 2.5 million affiliated members, was held … Continue reading Canadian Labour Congress Shifts Left
Who Can Save S.F. Workers’ Pensions?
By CHARLES WALKER "The 10 biggest businesses in town earned a combined $12.9 billion in profits last year. In other words, there's plenty of money to pay for city services." -San Francisco Bay Guardian This story is about union leaders in San Francisco, the fabled city by the bay, who are as dependent on "labor-friendly" … Continue reading Who Can Save S.F. Workers’ Pensions?
New York Bus Drivers and Mechanics Strike
By MARTY GOODMAN NEW YORK-For the third time this year, 1500 bus drivers and mechanics went out on strike June 17 at three privately owned bus companies in the borough of Queens. The walkouts at Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses, and Queens Surface disrupted the daily commute of some 115,000 passengers. The workers have been without … Continue reading New York Bus Drivers and Mechanics Strike
James Hoffa Jr. – Trying to Serve Two Masters
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa made a tough, militant speech at the June 27 rally. He said that he had sat in that morning at the bargaining session between the ILWU and the PMA, and that he told the companies the ILWU could count on the support of the Teamsters. If longshoremen are picketing, Teamsters … Continue reading James Hoffa Jr. – Trying to Serve Two Masters
Feds Threaten Dockers Who Strike
By CHARLES WALKER "Officials with the shipping companies insist that their role is to run an efficient port, not to protect the jobs of the unborn" (The New York Times, June 21). OAKLAND, Calif.-On June 27, about 1200 trade unionists and community supporters rallied in the heart of Oakland's seaport to back the West Coast … Continue reading Feds Threaten Dockers Who Strike
Spanish Workers Stage General Strike
Coming only two months after a general strike of 13 million workers in Italy, a strike of more than ten million workers in Spain on June 20 has demonstrated the resistance of European workers to the capitalist offensive. The strike in Spain, which targeted proposed changes in unemployment insurance, brought workers into the streets. Some … Continue reading Spanish Workers Stage General Strike
Teachers Rally in Iran
By OUR CORRESPONDENT In recent months, workers throughout Iran have held numerous strikes and rallies for better pay and working conditions. Demonstrations by teachers have continued despite violent attacks by the authorities. Their core demands are for a pay raise and the right to organize independent trade unions. There are about 2 million teachers in … Continue reading Teachers Rally in Iran
What Will I Do on May Day
By BOB MATTINGLY OAKLAND, Calif.-Not far from where I live is a cemetery that I visit on May Day. I go there to place some flowers, red of course, alongside the marker that identifies a grave as the final resting place of Vincent St. John (1876-1929), once a general secretary of the Industrial Workers of … Continue reading What Will I Do on May Day
Middle East War Roils SF Labor Council
By CHARLES WALKER On March 11, the San Francisco Labor Council narrowly adopted a resolution condemning the Israeli "bombing of civilian and political targets most specifically, but not limited to, the Palestine trade-union offices in Nablus, Palestine, and remind the U.S. government that this is both a moral and legal crime." The resolution also called … Continue reading Middle East War Roils SF Labor Council
Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
By JEFF MACKLER When the U.S. Commerce Department reported on April 26 that the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at an annually adjusted rate of 5.8 percent during the first quarter of 2002, the stock market gleefully registered a momentary advance. Analysts initially, and without foundation, concluded that the data signaled a sharp rise … Continue reading Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
Latin American Cloak & Daggers: The AFL-CIO and the CIA
By CHARLES WALKER On April 25, The New York Times ran an article disclosing that the AFL-CIO's international arm, the American Center for International Solidarity, had received $154,377 from a U.S. congressional conduit "to assist the main Venezuelan labor union in advancing labor rights." That union, the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), was a principal … Continue reading Latin American Cloak & Daggers: The AFL-CIO and the CIA
Workers Strike throughout Argentina as Social Crisis Deepens
By GERRY FOLEY The economic and social crisis in Argentina took another turn for the worse in the last month of April. On Tuesday, April 23, the country's populist ("last chance") president, Eduardo Duhalde, had to accept the resignation of his minister of economics and his team. Although a new minister was soon appointed, the … Continue reading Workers Strike throughout Argentina as Social Crisis Deepens
What Did your Hometown Paper Report?
By CHARLES WALKER Did news of last month's Italian general strike make the front page of your hometown paper? My guess is probably not. I don't say that just because my hometown Oakland, Calif., paper limited itself to printing three sentences from a wire report on page 8. And I don't say that because another … Continue reading What Did your Hometown Paper Report?
Millions Join Italian General Strike
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER On April 20, a total of more than 130,000 protesters joined forces in giant demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. While many issues were raised at the two cities' events-including opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and threats of a wider war extending to the Philippines, Iraq, Colombia, and other … Continue reading Millions Join Italian General Strike
National Steel Corporation Declares Bankruptcy
By ADAM RITSCHER DULUTH, Minn.-In early March, National Steel Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. National Steel is the fifth largest steel company in the country, and its bankruptcy comes on the heels of that of Cleveland Cliffs-which is the nation's number one iron ore producer. Both corporations have blamed their financial difficulties on … Continue reading National Steel Corporation Declares Bankruptcy
United Airlines Machinists Vote for Contract – May Vote Out Union
By CHARLES WALKER If on March 5, the ranks of the Machinists Union (IAM) had voted down United Airlines' second contract offer, the union's officialdom would have been between a rock and a hard place, because the officialdom went all out to sell the airline's offer. Just three weeks earlier the ranks rejected a very … Continue reading United Airlines Machinists Vote for Contract – May Vote Out Union
How Much Will Steel Tariffs Cost Steelworkers
By CHARLES WALKER You can't blame steelworkers for taking to the streets, demanding that their jobs and their security be protected from the dog-eat-dog competition that's driving some steel companies into bankruptcy and steel workers onto unemployment lines. But sometimes when the demands of some steelworkers are met, even partially, other steelworkers are forced out … Continue reading How Much Will Steel Tariffs Cost Steelworkers
Chinese Workers Protest Layoffs
By GERRY FOLEY Since China, unlike Russia and Eastern Europe, is still a predominately rural country, the effects of the ruling bureaucracy's turn toward restoring capitalism have not been so obvious. But for the industrial sector, they are basically the same. The first effect is massive layoffs of workers in the big industries built up … Continue reading Chinese Workers Protest Layoffs