Jun 21, 2003

Chicago – About 130 workers at the Congress Plaza Hotel walked out on strike at 11:00 a.m., June 15, here protesting illegal wage and benefit cuts.

On June 6, Rev. Jesse Jackson came to Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in Connecticut. His visit was in support of the 150 dietary workers whose union contract expired 30 months ago, the 1,800 service and patient care workers who are trying to get union recognition, and the community-labor campaign for an end to YNHH’s aggressive tactics in collecting unpayable medical debts from low-income patients.

New Analysis

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has called on federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in seeking the death penalty, provoking angry denunciations from civil libertarians all over the U.S. and, indeed, the world.

TEL AVIV – During this last week, just after the dramatically-performed “road map” proclamations, more blood was spilled than in any other week during the past 30 months of the Palestinian Intifada uprising against the Israeli military occupation.

The Cuban capital awoke at the crack of dawn, June 12, with more than one million people marching on the embassies of Spain and Italy in condemnation of the recent European Union (EU) diplomatic sanctions against Cuba.

As U.S. attacks intensified this week against continuing armed resistance in Iraq, reports also grew of civilian outrage at sweeps, house searches and mass detentions conducted by the U.S. troops.

South Africa: Gov’t releases AIDS guidelines / Nepal: Workers back anti-monarchy movement / Britain: Steelworker retirees protest pension losses / Haiti: Health ministry receives donation / Guatemala: Teachers hit the bricks, again

DETROIT – “Our challenge is to craft an agreement that protects our members’ jobs and income security,” said United Auto Workers (UAW) Vice President Richard Shoemaker. Shoemaker was speaking about the union’s mid-July contract talks with the Big Three auto companies, in the UAW’s Solidarity magazine. Current contracts expire September 14.

CHICAGO – The Chicago chapter of the National Alliance Against Racial and Political Repression (NAARPR) observed the organization’s 30th anniversary by holding a banquet that highlighted the urgent need for “regime change” here in the U.S. and called for ending the death penalty and stopping the criminalization and militarization of youth.

The Bush administration and Republican Congress want to strangle government spending. One purpose of the tax cuts (in addition to giving themselves and their wealthy supporters another break) is to starve the government and force further spending reductions.