Apr 16, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO — In a surprise announcement April 7, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he is delaying until June 2006 a controversial ballot initiative to change state workers’ pensions from public, guaranteed-benefit programs to privatized 401(k)-like pensions.

LAS VEGAS — Perhaps more than any other union, the United Steelworkers of America has confronted head-on corporate liquidation, government betrayal, and outright attacks affecting hundreds of thousands of steelworkers. As the union’s 2,100 U.S. and Canadian delegates met here April 11-14 at its 32nd Constitutional Convention, it was obvious that having met this crisis, the union is changed. It’s larger and looking to expand and to sharpen rank and file mobilization.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The People’s Weekly World Connecticut bureau announced this week the recipients of its annual Newsmaker Awards. Connecticut Working Families Party and Community Organized for Responsible Development (CORD) have been selected to receive this year’s awards for building the coalition against the Bush agenda with grassroots organizing to win democratic rights for working people.

PHILADELPHIA — In honor of Women’s History Month, the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware District of the Communist Party USA hosted “Celebrating the Contribution of Women in the Struggle for Peace, Freedom, Justice and Equality” forum here.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated against the U.S. occupation, April 9, in Baghdad. Some estimated the numbers as high as 300,000. The rally reflected the virtually unanimous anger in Iraq over the U.S. military presence and the devastation it has caused. At the same time, it indicated the complexities facing Iraq’s democratic and progressive forces who are seeking to build a united, secular, democratic state.

WASHINGTON — Carl W. Ford Jr., former chief of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, told senators April 12 that John Bolton, President Bush’s choice for UN ambassador, is a “serial abuser … an 800-pound gorilla” who “devours” anyone who disagrees with him.

The National Urban League’s latest report, “State of Black America 2005: Prescription for Change,” is yet another warning that structural inequality and racism are leaving Africans Americans behind, marginalizing major segments of our society. Warning “our nation [to] wake up” to the stark realities of African American problems, the report presents data and analyses showing that inequality between Blacks and whites in urban America is not improving. The report recommends urgent changes in national policies and priorities, including an increase in the minimum wage and expansion of job training and career counseling efforts with a focus on young urban males.

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush’s Social Security road show ran off the road last week and he can’t seem to get it back on track. The uproar was unleashed April 5, when he cast doubts on the creditworthiness of the federal government.

Calling Social Security “the most profound and effective program in our history,” Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Calif.) told an April 2 town hall meeting sponsored by the California Alliance of Retired Americans (CARA) that “with Social Security we weave together a safety net that guarantees our independence and economic security.” Watson pointed out that the investment firms pre-selected to participate in President Bush’s privatization scheme were his largest campaign contributors. “These Wall Street sharks will charge anywhere from 15 to 20 percent to ‘manage’ private accounts,” she warned, resulting in benefit cuts and loss of disability and survivors’ benefits.

DETROIT — After the Board of Education announced that 34 public schools would close here by next fall parents, teachers and the community voiced their grave concern over the future of public education.