Aug 30, 2003

LOS ANGELES – In a display of unity and fighting spirit, 600 union leaders from across the Golden State met at a special convention here Aug. 26 and voted unanimously to mobilize a huge vote Oct. 7 to defeat the recall of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

CRAWFORD, Texas – Something is new in the fight against President Bush’s military aggressions in the Middle East. It is the growing resistance of the military men and women as expressed by their families here at home.

Sept. 1 is Labor Day, a holiday that is too seldom a real celebration of workers and their contributions to society. We’ve chosen Labor Day to be the kick-off of the annual Fund Drive as a way to honor the kind of people whose struggles the PWW/Mundo covers in every issue. This year’s fund drive, an essential requirement for maintaining and expanding our work, has a goal of raising $200,000 by Dec. 15 – a fraction of what it costs to produce the every year.

Following the devastating bombing of the United Nations office in Baghdad, talk is increasingly turning to the failure of the Bush administration’s unilateralist Iraq policies and its “war on terrorism.”

WASHINGTON – In an atmosphere charged by the “war on terror” and the Bush administration’s severe curtailments of civil rights, thousands of people marched and rallied here Aug. 23 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

As of this writing negotiations are continuing between the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), representing almost 80,000 workers, and telecommunications giant Verizon Communications.

TUCSON, Ariz. – newspaper is changing the terminology it uses to refer to undocumented migrants, according to editor Michael Chihak. The will stop using the words “illegal” and “illegals” as nouns.

SEATTLE, Wash. – President George W. Bush met some heated opposition when he visited the Puget Sound region last week, posturing about his weak environmental policies and raising $1.7 million for his reelection campaign at a single reception in Hunts Point at the home of telecommunications billionaire Craig McCaw.

On Aug. 12, 2003, an editorial appeared in the titled “Reforming Special Ed.” The paper said New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein “has done a tremendous job” in implementing school reform and that “the turnaround in the school system must be fast and furious.”

The FirstEnergy transmission line failure in Ohio that quite possibly triggered a massive blackout in the country’s Northeast earlier this month may have been caused by neglected maintenance stemming from the industry’s deregulation, the Utility Workers Union of America said last week.