Labor

DETROIT — Meeting in the heart of Motor City, a historic center of autoworkers and the African American working class, the NAACP placed ending racism and inequality and strengthening labor/Black unity high on the agenda of its 98th annual convention.

If this is a democratic country, then how do you explain the fact that 80 percent of the people oppose this war and yet more and more troops are sent? I’ll tell you why, from a working-class perspective. When you wake up and go to work, where you spend most of the waking hours of your life, you move into a democracy-free zone.

OAKLAND, Calif. — As leftovers from July 4 barbecues festered in the hot summer sun, locked-out workers were on the picket line at garbage giant Waste Management here and in other San Francisco Bay Area communities this week.

LOS ANGELES — On the heels of a fare increase for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority comes a strike by coach operators for the neighboring Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The drivers are represented by Teamsters Local 952.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The blue T-shirts of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports were everywhere, proclaiming that port truck drivers, area union members, neighborhood residents and environmental activists are united to win decent pay and conditions for the drivers and a healthful environment for the Port of Oakland’s workers and neighbors.

CHICAGO — Cuatro años después que 150 empleados se salieron del trabajo del histórico hotel Congress Plaza para protestar los recortes de salarios y beneficios de salud todavía siguen demostrando con sus rótulos diciendo que continuarán haciendo piquete hasta conseguir un convenio laboral justo.

Pollsters with their questionnaires were all over the moviegoers waiting in line for the sneak preview of “Sicko” on June 23 in Dallas. They seemed particularly interested in finding out why people were motivated to turn out.

Though the Employee Free Choice Act could not gain the 60 Senate votes needed to end debate June 26 and move to a decision on final passage, its backing by a 51-48 majority contains hope for the future.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — From the opening remarks by New Mexico AFL-CIO President Christine Trujillo to the speeches of various dignitaries at the state labor federation’s biannual convention here, June 15-16, it’s clear the labor movement is readying for the 2008 elections.

WASHINGTON — Animado por la victoria contra la derecha republicana en las elecciones del pasado noviembre, tres mil activistas en la quinta conferencia anual “Take Back America” (Retomemos a América) aplaudieron y vocearon la demanda de los oradores que el Congreso tiene que poner fin a la guerra en Irak, restaurar los derechos sindicales y promulgar servicios de salud universal.