Jun 8, 2002

LANSING, Mich. – Nearly 1,000 union retirees and seniors gathered here May 28 to protest a scheme to privatize Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS). Republican state legislators and lame duck Republican governor John Engler are pushing for privatization of the insurance company.

NUEVA YORK – El caso contra 42 activistas que fueron arrestados en la sede de la ONU por protestar el bombardeo de la isla municipio de Vieques por la Marina de Guerra de Estados Unidos empezó el lunes, 3 de junio en la Corte Criminal de Manhattan antes el Juez Robert M. Stolz.

The AFL-CIO has designated the month of June as “Voice@Work Month” and has launched a month-long campaign aimed at shining a spotlight on the struggles workers face when they try to form unions – and the need to reform the nation’s unfair labor laws.

In his final State of the Union address, outgoing United Auto Workers (UAW) President Stephen P. Yokich called on UAW members to get actively involved in union organizing campaigns and political action and to build on the UAW’s tradition of fighting for social and economic justice.

It’s shaped up to be quite a Memorial Week – bookended with Monday’s holiday and Thursday’s traditional commemoration, which also happens to be the closing ceremony for World Trade Center recovery efforts. And there’s been a whole lot of witnessing going on.

The single most important factor in determining the future of this nation is our children. If we fail to invest in today’s young people, we can be sure that tomorrow’s adults will not live up to their fullest potential.

MILWAUKEE – Over 200 people filled the First Unitarian Church on Milwaukee’s East Side Friday evening, May 24, to hear a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Michelle in Cuba. The concert of traditional, semi-classical and classical music from Cuba featured six musicians, including Cuban flutist Ana de la Cuesta.

CHICAGO – Eight television trucks were lined up outside of the Cook County City Hall in Chicago’s Loop May 29 at 11:15 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, county workers were filling the sidewalks as they marched around the block-square building. For two hours the vigorous pickets, members of several local unions affiliated to District Council 31 of the State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) sang songs, the most heartfelt being the now familiar, “Everywhere we go/People want to know/Who we are/So we tell them/We are the unions/Mighty, mighty unions.”

“Injusta, fascista, asquerosa, esclavizante y racista,” fueron las palabras usada por la legisladora Graciela Mascia hablando antes que la cámara baja del parlamento italiano pasara un proyecto de ley que pone obstáculos a inmigrantes que quieran ir a este país europeo. Mascia, del Partido Refundación Comunista, era una de 203 que votaron en contra de la ley. Los partidarios del gobierno derechista de Silvio Berlusconi dieron 279 votos en favor del proyecto.

Bush’s first-strike policy/Save the planet