Jun 14, 2003

Ludlow, Colo. – One of organized labor’s most sacred and cherished shrines, the Ludlow Memorial, was desecrated on or shortly after the evening of May 7. Vandals cut through solid granite and marble to sever the heads off the statues of a miner and his wife. The wife’s arm, holding a baby, was also removed and stolen.

CHICAGO – Liliany Obando is an official of the National Federation of United Agricultural Workers (FENSUAGRO) in Colombia. On a recent visit to Chicago she made several presentations, and was interviewed by the World.

While aggression against Cuba reached a new low when Bush administration officials expelled 14 Cuban diplomats on allegations of espionage, very important advances are being made in ending the embargo. Members of Congress recently introduced bills in both chambers to end the ban on travel to Cuba.

Despite having reached a tentative agreement, Nilvar Lopez, general secretary of the Peruvian teachers union (SUTEP), said a nationwide strike will continue until the union ratifies the new collective bargaining agreement.

Cuba-Africa: Over 25,000 Africans educated in Cuba / France: New strike wave vs. pension reforms / China: Work starts on longest bridge / Canada-France-USA: Joint Day of Action

“Unless there is a strong Democratic (Party) case for revitalizing manufacturing, there’s a good chance George Bush will clean the Democrats’ clock,” declared Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA).

The U.S. Labor Department said that 9.0 million workers were counted among the officially unemployed in May, bringing the official unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, the highest since July 1994.

The Senate agreed to extend the federally funded Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program on May 23.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Kicking off a campaign to “Bring down the wall” on the border with Mexico, a broad-based coalition of community organizations and individuals held a teach-in here May 31.

The recently concluded 56th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the many-faceted ongoing world health crisis. The meeting, with 2,000 participants from 192 member states, dramatized the incredible dangers facing children, people living in poverty and, in fact, the whole planet.