June 24, 2006

WASHINGTON — The toll of U.S. war dead in Iraq hit 2,500 last week and Democratic lawmakers took to the floor of the Senate and House to demand that the war end and the troops be brought home. They were responding to the surging opposition to the war among their constituents in an election year.

When Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) walks into the Connecticut AFL-CIO convention this week, his 84 percent pro-labor lifetime voting record will be his calling card. Yet, Connecticut’s labor unions have taken a strong stand in opposition to the Bush administration’s war on Iraq, which Lieberman unabashedly supports, and questions are sure to arise.

Just what is The United States National Health Insurance Act, HR 676, introduced into Congress by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)?

CHICAGO — Three years to the day since workers at the downtown Congress Hotel went on strike, the strikers and their union, Unite Here Local 1, joined leaders of the city’s religious, labor and community groups for a funeral-themed rally.

In honor of Pride Month: The CPUSA and YCLUSA stand in solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters in the fight for full equality. We demand an end to the violence and discrimination against LGBT people in our schools, workplaces and communities. Join us in the struggle for LGBT equality.

WASHINGTON — When Exxon Mobil reported 2006 first quarter profits of $8.4 billion, it put the energy giant on track to outstrip its record $36 billion profits in 2005. Last week’s “Take Back America” conference here noted that while Exxon Mobil is a big winner, millions of Americans are the losers in an economy based on fossil fuels and denial of the human and environmental damage it causes.

On June 13 in Columbus, Ohio, pro-choice advocates made their case to Ohio lawmakers who are considering a ban on all abortions in that state. Addressing the absence of exceptions allowing for victims of rape to terminate their pregnancies, Corinna Lohse of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center reported that in the U.S about 32,000 women a year become pregnant as a result of sexual assault.

45 states: Hundreds of thousands honor Juneteenth
WASHINGTON: Congress enacts mine safety law
COLUMBUS, Ohio: Woman to lead 2.3 million Episcopalians

Erica Smiley is looking forward to her new job as national coordinator of the Young Communist League USA. Smiley, 26, was elected at the YCL’s national convention Memorial Day weekend, succeeding outgoing coordinator Jessica Marshall, who was cheered by the delegates for her outstanding work.

DETROIT — On June 15, national Justice for Janitors day, several hundred Detroit area janitors, members of Service Employees International Union Local 3, marched to the new downtown PricewaterhouseCoopers building to send notice to New Image, the nonunion cleaning contractor servicing the building, that they will not allow nonunion businesses to take root in the city. On their way back, the marchers were warmly greeted by many fans leaving the stadium of baseball’s first-place Detroit Tigers.