May 17, 2003

ARDMORE, Okla. – The power grab by President George W. Bush, his advisor Karl Rove, and U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay to redraw Texas congressional districts in order to send up to seven new right-wing extremists to the U.S. House of Representatives suffered a serious setback when 53 Democratic lawmakers on May 12 boycotted the Texas House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of jobless workers picketed the Labor Department and then marched to Capitol Hill on May 13 to demand that Congress approve another 26-week extension in unemployment compensation for 4.5 million workers who are running out of benefits.

CHICAGO – I was talking to a subscriber today and mentioned that our editorial office – the place where these very pages get put together week-after-week – was moving from New York City to Chicago.

News Analysis

The resignation of a top British cabinet member this week spotlighted the sharp struggle over who will control post-Saddam-Hussein Iraq.

OAKLAND – Bowing to intense pressure from the community and public officials, Oakland police remained largely on the sidelines as more than a thousand demonstrators, May 12, reasserted their constitutional right to picket at the docks against companies profiteering from the occupation of Iraq.

WASHINGTON – About 500 union nurses, both registered and practical, fanned out on Capitol Hill May 6 to protest the billions in tax cuts George W. Bush and Congress are doling out to the rich while Medicare and Medicaid are slashed, 41 million people lack health insurance, and hospitals are woefully understaffed.

PHILADELPHIA – Nearly 300 people protested monopoly control of the media at a rally and march to ABC, NBC and Clear Channel Radio headquarters here on May 12.

MIAMI, Florida –Save Our Kids from Gov. Bush / OMAHA, Nebraska –Captive meeting turns expensive / SACRAMENTO, California – Budget deficit axes healthcare, food and public safety / OLYMPIA, Washington –Stop AIDS, violence and poverty / LANSING, Michigan – Governor to veto partial birth abortion bill

“The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) has to be the lightning rod to mobilize labor to formulate actions to turn things around,” stated Lew Moye, chairman of the organization’s St. Louis chapter.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Although they get the headlines and the TV crews, coal mine explosions and cave-ins have not been the leading cause of death of coal miners for 50 years. Black lung, a disease that destroys the lungs as a result of breathing coal dust, killed 55,000 miners between 1968 and 1990 and still takes the lives of 1,000 miners per year.