Labor

It was a surprise when I walked into a labor caucus meeting here to be greeted with such warmth and friendliness by the Hyatt Regency banquet staff. A young 30-something woman with a chopstick-like pin spearing her hair up in a bun came up to me and explained the menu and the serving schedule. The staff had to time the salad, main entrée and coffee/tea service with the beginning and ending of a speaking program that had its own time glitches. Needless to say, this can be a challenge to banquet workers.

While Colombian representatives lobby the Democratic and Republican conventions in support of the Bush administration’s Colombia Free Trade Act, the U.S. labor movement continues its opposition to the pact, signed in November 2006 but put on hold by Congress last April.

DENVER — Two thousand union members, more than half of them delegates to the Democratic National Convention, rallied here Aug. 24 to launch an unprecedented effort by labor to change America this fall.

Union members are arriving here by the tens of thousands for the Democratic National Convention and they are coming by train, plane, automobile, bus and even on foot. Thousands will participate in labor actions outside the convention and tens of thousands of them will be among the crowds that pack the Mile High Stadium on the night of Aug. 28 to hear Barack Obama’s acceptance speech.

SAN FRANCISCO — Fortieth anniversary events this year have highlighted the historic struggle of African American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn. — in 1968 among the country’s most oppressed workers — for union rights, decent wages and conditions, respect and dignity, and the fusing of labor, civil rights and peace struggles in that crucible. They have also pointed to the struggles that continue today

St. LOUIS – “InBev, we aren’t going to have a race to the bottom here,” said Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) to 1,000 Teamsters and their allies as they rallied here Aug. 16.

Charging retail giant Wal-Mart with illegally pressuring employees to vote for Republicans and John McCain in November, labor unions and community organizations filed a formal complaint last week with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).