Labor

Because Congress has refused to raise the $5.15 an hour minimum wage since 1997, coalitions of labor, religious and community groups are organizing voters to do so, one state at a time. So far 21 states and Washington, D.C., have done so. Similar campaigns are under way in another dozen states.

HOUSTON – Enron workers who lost billions in pension benefits when the company collapsed are voicing satisfaction that at last top Enron executives have been found guilty of a long list of crimes that plunged the company into bankruptcy.

NUEVA YORK — “¡Están ganando miles de millones a la vez que ustedes están poniendo sus vidas en peligro!”, un orador grito en desafió al frente del Empire State Building antes más de 200 participantes en una manifestación de solidaridad con los guardias de edificios el mayo 25.

They could not find enough seats so they sat on the Capitol steps. Over 100 high school students from across Ohio gathered in Columbus on May 17 to present their minimum wage petitions to the committee of petitioners.

The 33rd Constitutional Convention of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has gone on record urging Congress to enact HR 676, a bill introduced by Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to implement a single-payer health care system in the U.S. The ILWU, whose convention met the third week in May, represents all dockworkers in West Coast ports from San Diego to Vancouver

ANDERSON, Ind. (PAI) — In the 1970s, UAW Local 662, including workers at the Delphi Auto Parts plant in Anderson, Ind., had 17,000 members. In the early ’90s, less than half that remained. Now only 722 are left, and that number is dropping fast.

PITTSBURGH — The coal that miners extract at the Miller Brothers strip mine in Breathitt County, Ky., keeps the lights on in the chambers of Congress. On May 23, the Senate passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER). That same day Steven Bryant, 23, went to work at Miller Brothers and died. The next day, Todd Upton, 34, died from head injuries underground at International Coal Group’s Sycamore #2 mine in Harrison County, W.Va. Both mines are nonunion.

While the relationship between the LGBT community and the labor movement has traditionally been weak, things seem to be changing. LGBT rights organizations and trade unions are working together more and more, coordinating campaigns, running candidates and fighting for issues like domestic partner benefits and gay marriage.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — At the People’s Weekly World annual May Day celebration here, Connecticut AFL-CIO President John Olsen recalled that only two years ago Connecticut Labor Against the War was awarded the Connecticut PWW’s Newsmaker Award. This, he said, contributed to the dialogue that resulted in adoption by the state and national AFL-CIO of strong resolutions against the Iraq war.

Earlier this month the people of South Africa celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first democratic constitution. The dismantling of the oppressive apartheid regime in the early 1990s, and the end of dominance by a privileged white minority, gave hope to millions of black South Africans seeking justice and self-determination.