Labor

HAYWARD, Calif. — Hundreds of northern California grocery workers roared their approval at a press conference here Dec. 8 as California Labor Federation head Art Pulaski pledged the federation’s support for the UFCW locals now in intense and difficult contract talks with Safeway and other grocery giants. Pulaski said the federation will join the workers’ “Boycott Pledge Card” campaign.

CHICAGO — How can union activists make sure the unfolding discussion in the AFL-CIO includes the issues of international solidarity and peace? How can we move the foreign policy debate forward in the labor movement? How can we support the growing sentiment in labor for bringing the troops, predominantly workers and the sons and daughters of workers, home from Iraq and out of harm’s way?

NEW YORK — In an amazing bounce- back from the frustrating Nov. 2 electoral defeat, labor leaders, academics and rank-and- filers turned out en masse here to discuss and debate “Labor at the Crossroads: Competing Visions, Alternative Strategies, and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement.”

CHICAGO — Faculty members at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) reached agreement on a new contract Dec. 8 after a 20-day strike halted classes here for 12,000 students.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Fed up with years of wage freezes and concessions in health care benefits, workers represented by Local 11 of The Newspaper Guild went on strike Nov. 16 against the The Vindicator, a daily newspaper published here and circulated in northeastern Ohio and parts of western Pennsylvania. click here for Spanish text

SAN FRANCISCO — Some 4,300 hotel workers returned to work triumphantly at 14 of this city’s premier hotels last week, after area health providers’ decisions to extend workers’ medical coverage for December and January pulled the rug from under a weeks-long lockout imposed by the hotels’ management. click here for Spanish text

While little known today, during the late 1920s and the 1930s, B.D. Amis was one of a small cadre of African Americans leading the fight for workers’ rights and racial justice. Urbane in demeanor and a dynamic speaker, he was one of the most important Black activists of his time. His commitment was to the working class and, in particular, the Black working class.

Leaders from UNITE HERE Local 11 and officials from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor announced Nov. 12 a boycott of nine upscale hotels, members of the Los Angeles Hotel Employers’ Council.

Opinion

Labor was at the heart of an incredible people’s coalition to defeat George Bush and the ultra-right wing of the Republican Party. And labor remains at the heart of keeping that coalition together and fighting back against the Bush agenda.

Aidan White, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, condemned the Colombian government last week for deporting four senior international trade unionists from the international airport in Bogotá in early November.