April 26, 2003

Shouts of “No to colonialism, no to occupation” resounded throughout Iraq this week.

OAKLAND, Calif. – Accusing the Oakland Police Department of acting as “private security guards for multi-national corporations,” delegates to the Alameda County Central Labor Council (CLC) unanimously condemned the April 7 police attack on anti-war demonstrators and longshore workers at the docks, here. Community outrage is also mounting after new revelations of collusion between the police, employers and possibly the Bush administration’s Office of Homeland Security, surfaced.

Reporters from the corporate media told the story from Baghdad. In a city craving information the man walking along Paradise Square was surrounded by people, as if he was giving out chunks of gold. But in the 21st century, information can be as good as gold.

Despite deep splits in Republican congressional ranks and opinion polls that show overwhelming public opposition, President Bush used the occasion of Tax Day to launch a nationwide blitz in a renewed effort to win major tax breaks for the top 1 percent of U.S. tax payers.

ChoicePoint, Inc., a data-processing firm, is selling government data bases on residents of 10 Latin American nations to the U.S. government, allowing them to track immigrants entering or living in this country ChoicePoint is notorious for purging Black and Latino voters in Florida to help George W. Bush steal the 2000 elections.

NEW YORK – As part of a National Day of Action in support of 17,000 Cintas laundry workers, members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), with support from Service Employees (SEIU) Local 32 BJ and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1500, held a spirited rally here, April 23, in front of two separate Starbucks coffeeshops. Cintas is Starbucks’ apron and mat supplier.

As workers at Yale University continue their quest for union recognition and fair contracts, support for their cause continues to grow.

HONOLULU, Hawaii: State legislature challenges Patriot Act / Kentucky and Oklahoma: Save our schools / BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Drummond Coal sued for murder of Colombian miners

The experiences of a hard-fought contract battle against a gang up that included the Pacific Maritime Association, a coalition of retailers and the Bush administration will loom large in the minds of delegates to 32nd Convention of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), April 28 – May 2, as they map strategy for the coming year.

News Analysis



Many Americans had never heard of Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), until it was awarded a $4.8 million contract to open and operate the port of Umm Qasr in war-torn Iraq.