Sep 6 2003

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – As several thousand striking Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital workers picketed, rallied and sat-in, they were joined by Rev. Jesse Jackson, who likened their struggle for economic justice to the historic struggle for the right to vote in Selma, Alabama.

DELANO, Calif. – Hundreds of farm workers and their families gathered at “Forty Acres,” the United Farm Worker’s (UFW) most hallowed ground, Aug. 30, and cheered as UFW President Arturo Rodriguez denounced the ultra-right attempt to recall California Gov. Gray Davis.

St. Paul, Minn. – The hot dogs and hamburgers – both meat and veggie – were grilled to perfection, the beer and soda were icy cold, and the weather was beautiful. This year’s annual picnic to raise money for the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo Fund Drive was held here, Aug. 23.

In yet another escalation of terrorist violence in Iraq, a massive car bomb killed one of the country’s most prominent Shiite religious leaders and some 100 others in the holy city of Najaf Aug. 29. It was the deadliest attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

“Why do workers struggle? Because they have to,” was a favorite refrain of former Maryland AFL-CIO President and Communist Party leader George Meyers. Working families have certainly been forced to struggle for jobs, better wages and benefits, civil rights and the right to organize a union this Labor Day.

LOS ANGELES – From a rally to a massive march of 10,000, the focus of union families this Labor Day was clear – “No to the recall.” Unionists representing the over 800,000 members from 350 unions utilized the day to launch their campaign against the attempt to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

Sal, our soldier friend in Iraq, was encouraged when the new organization “Military Families Speak Out” (www.mfso.org) started holding public activities in Texas. He writes:

ST. LOUIS, Mo.: Bush dogged on campaign trail; RICHFIELD, Ohio: Bush gets Midwest heat on Labor Day; WASHINGTON, D.C.: Braun for President, says NOW; CHARLESTON, S.C.: Union labor alive in Deep South; PITTSBURGH, Pa.: Labor Day – 40,000 say ‘Save city jobs’

SAN FRANCISCO – Bay area workers, in coalition with labor unions, immigrant and civil rights groups, have come together, like their counterparts across the country, to take part in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride.

ST. LOUIS – This city’s public school system, like so many others around the nation, finds itself in the grip of a severe crisis. Its problems have been brought to a head by the recent privatization of the system’s management. Many parents are threatening to have their children boycott classes when schools open, especially in the district’s Black community, where 16 schools are being closed.