Labor

LAS VEGAS — Algunas 800 mujeres (y unos pocos hombres) vitorearon cuando aprobaron una resolución para exigir un fin a la guerra y a la ocupación de Irak. Fueron delegados a la XIV convención nacional bienal de la Coalición de Mujeres Sindicalistas (CLUW, por sus siglas en inglés) que se reunieron aquí del 10 hasta el 13 de octubre.

From World War II to the present, the cost of outfitting a soldier went from $170 to $17,000. It’s expected to reach $28,000-$60,000 in this decade. Every life is indeed precious, regardless of the price, but let us look at what’s behind the price.

NEW ORLEANS — Renaissance Park in Baker, La., has a name that does it no justice. Home to Catherine Pitt, 31, an African American mother and her two children, it is row after row of cramped FEMA trailers sitting on a flat field encircled by barbed wire and patrolled by armed Blackwater USA security guards.

SEATTLE — A traveling exhibit, “Journey for Justice: 223 Years of Asian Pacific American History in the Puget Sound,” opened at the Wing Luke Asian Museum here Sept. 27 with its bold message that Asian Pacific American workers have won victories over racism and exploitation, yet continue to struggle for equality today.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “Our members are thrilled. For the first time in years we pulled off a victory.” Ray Milici, veteran of 40-plus years working at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), was reflecting on the significance of the August contract settlement between the hospital and the 150 dietary workers represented by 1199/SEIU.

LAS VEGAS — Some 800 women (and a few men) stomped and cheered as they passed a resolution demanding an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq. They were delegates to the 14th biennial national convention of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), meeting here Oct. 10-13.

CHICAGO — Sharon Mikulich, a clerical worker for the Law School at the University of Chicago, has worked there for 31 years. An active member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 743, she was an original bargainer for the union when it was founded in 1979. She comes from a union family.

NEW ORLEANS — A small sliver of downtown New Orleans has bounced back as a neighborhood of gleaming corporate office towers and a playground for the rich.

WASHINGTON (PAI) — Despite strong lobbying by unions, health care groups, children’s groups and their allies, House Republicans mustered enough votes on Oct. 18 to uphold anti-worker President George Bush’s veto of children’s health care. Union leaders vowed the Republicans would receive retribution at the election polls a year from now.

BERKELEY, Calif. — Nearly 5,000 registered nurses at 15 northern California hospitals walked the picket line Oct. 10-11 in the largest strike of RNs in the state in a decade. Most struck hospitals belong to the Sutter Health chain; two are associated with the Fremont-Rideout Health Group.