Labor

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, and Rich Edwards, a wine steward at L’Auberge de Sedona restaurant in Arizona, kisses his son Devon goodbye. He won’t return home until long past 10 p.m., when Devon is fast asleep. A brief embrace is all they will share together this holiday.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Anger was evident at the state Capitol here recently over revelations of a secret deal between Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to cover up child labor law violations. The charges include requiring teenage workers to use heavy equipment, including chain saws and forklifts.

News Analysis

Hadi Saleh, international secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, was murdered in his Baghdad home, Jan. 4. His hands and feet were tied, he was blindfolded and beaten, forced to kneel, and strangled with electrical wire.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Over 170 employees of The Vindicator newspaper remain on strike here as the walkout heads into its third month.

The workers, members of Local 11 of The Newspaper Guild (CWA 34011), are fighting management proposals to reduce health care benefits, impose other takeaways, and limit wage increases to only 1 percent.

PORTLAND, Ore. — In the spirit of the holidays, 300 people joined a picket line outside the Parry Center for Children Dec. 10, protesting the starvation wages that forced the 85 child care workers on strike Nov. 29.

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