Oct 2, 2004

Heartland unionists put in long hours

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Standing in a factory parking lot here on a sparkling September day, surrounded by fields of sugar beets, corn and soybeans that stretch as far as the eye can see, a postal worker, an electrician, a payloader operator and a railroad track maintainer divided up lists of union members and got ready for another afternoon of knocking on doors. click here for Spanish text

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Health care is taking center stage in the election campaign here, as the struggle heats up over Proposition 72, the Health Insurance Act, which will provide health insurance to over a million uninsured Californians, and limit how much employers can charge workers for their health benefits.

More than 2,000 immigrants and supporters rallied in Chicago Sept. 25 to call for maximum voter participation in November.

San Francisco hotel workers walked out Sept. 29 as part of a three-city struggle to force giant hotel chains to agree to a common contract expiration date.

PHILADELPHIA — All summer long, hundreds of volunteers have been beating the bushes here, looking for unregistered voters to sign up to vote on Nov. 2 in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Huge protest over health care cuts / MIAMI: Unemployed picket presidential debate / PHILADELPHIA: Workers occupy City Council, next day 20,000 rally for Kerry / SACRAMENTO, Calif.: Protests greet Giuliani and O’Reilly

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas grand jury here Sept. 21 indicted three Republican operatives for money laundering and illegal corporate contributions to Republican candidates for the state House of Representatives in 2002.

Hard line skinners

I was a teamster of experience in logging and grading camps and in general hauling and ranch work. My driving philosophy was to make friends with my animals, and it worked well, horses and mules being quick to appreciate a considerate driver. So when I was given four mules, I applied my regular formula and everything went fine.

Cuba on Sept. 24 called for revitalizing the Non-Aligned Movement to forge a common front to defend the interests of their peoples and their right to development and peace.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Nova Scotia became the sixth Canadian province to sanction same-sex marriages Sept. 24 when Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Heather Robertson upheld the Ontario marriage of a lesbian couple living in Nova Scotia.