Labor

Only a week after releasing the most dismal consumer spending figures in eight years, the government said, March 7, that 63,000 workers lost their jobs in February — another sure sign that the economy is in full recession.

SAN ANTONIO — Emma Tenayuca was a resident and radical militant of San Antonio’s working class west side. Her political formation was shaped, if not heavily influenced, by her early exposure to frequent political rallies and fiery speeches which took place at the Plaza del Zacate with the backdrop of the Great Depression and the early years of nearby Mexico’s revolutionary government.

DETROIT—The United Auto Workers struck American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 26 when no deal was reached on a new labor pact. The largest proportion of American Axle parts are for GM’s pickups and SUVs. Affected are 3,600 workers in plants in Michigan and New York.

Altos dirigentes sindicales terminaron una gira a Colombia el 13 de febrero declarando al presidente de ese país, Álvaro Uribe, que los sindicatos norteamericanos no apoyarán al tratado de libre comercio entre Estados Unidos y Colombia hasta que no se ponga fin a los asesinatos de sindicalistas colombianos por escuadrones de la muerte ultraderechistas en ese país sudamericano.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Janitors represented by Service Employees International Union held coordinated actions around California late last week as they kicked off their campaign to win new union master contracts covering workers in southern and northern California. The current contracts expire April 30.

This past Labor Day, trade unionists were outraged to wake up and read an editorial in The Detroit News arguing for a “right-to-work” law in Michigan. Right-to-work bills failed to garner majority support in the Michigan Legislature last year, but the editorial in the state’s leading business newspaper signaled that the anti-labor crowd is not giving up

SACRAMENTO (PAI)--By a 7-1 vote on Jan. 28, the California state senate Health Committee killed a corporate-based statewide universal health care plan pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), a vote the California Nurses Association cheered.

A la hora de cierre de este número de Nuestro Mundo la situación en Puerto Rico se encuentra tensa con la expectativa que los profesores del sistema de instrucción público se pueden ir a la huelga en cualquier momento y la administración colonial del gobernador Aníbal Acevedo se prepara para el paro con fuerza militar y policiaca.

Más de 3.000 obreros siderúrgicos en su convención se pusieron de pie para aplaudir a Richard Trumka, secretario tesorero de la AFL-CIO, declaró “no mal que ha causado más dolor y sufrimiento en nuestro país que el mal del racismo. El movimiento sindical tiene una responsabilidad especial de luchar en contra de este mal. No llamando a alguien malvado, sino educando a los que no votarían por Barack [Obama] porque es negro”.

Dover, NH - 600 AT&T Government Solutions workers in Dover, New Hampshire have formed a union with Communications Workers of America Local 1298 last month. It is the largest private sector organizing victory for workers in New Hampshire since 1966.