Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Labor

By Deb Konechne

St. Paul, MN – A packed house listened to labor leaders, religious leaders, politicians and nurses on the night before the largest nursing strike in U.S. history is set to take place on June 10, when 12,000 Twin Cities nurses in the Minnesota Nursing Association (MNA) are prepared to go out on strike starting at 7:00 a.m.

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By Deb Konechne

12,000 prepared to walk out in largest nursing strike in US history

St. Paul, MN – On June 10, nurses from around the Twin Cities are ready to walk off their jobs in a one-day strike after nearly three months of contract negotiations. On May 19, over 90% of 9200 nurses voted overwhelmingly to reject the hospitals’ offer. While the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) continued to try to bargain in good faith, the hospitals refused to respond to even one proposal put forward by the nurses’ union.

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By staff

Chicago, IL – Larry Davis, the new president of Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago, fired five staff members on May 28. Davis had been installed by International President Jim Hoffa on May 14.

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By Doug Michel

Protest against presidents' salary raise at UIC

Chicago, IL – Around 200 workers, students, and special guests from the Illinois state legislature came out for an energized protest against the Board of Trustees meeting, May 20, at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Protestors demanded that the incoming University of Illinois president Michael Hogan turn down his $170,000 raise, chanting, “Chop from the Top!” Members of SEIU Local 73 in conjunction with the coalition UIC-ABC (Against Budget Cuts) organized the picket and rally.

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By staff

“The labor movement is at a crossroads”

Sal Rosselli, Interim  Pres. of National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW)

Fight Back! reporters interviewed Sal Rosselli on April 21, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was in Minneapolis to speak at a fundraiser for the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – The Chop from the Top Coalition at the University of Minnesota, which includes undergraduate & graduate students, staff and faculty, blasted the budget proposal that University President Bob Bruinicks presented at a meeting of the Board of Regents, May 14th

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By staff

There is a big battle going on in the Teamsters Union, pitting reformers against corrupt officials. In Chicago, Teamster union reform leaders, President Richard Berg and Secretary Treasurer Gina Alvarez of Local 743 were removed from office by Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa Jr. this past Friday. Hoffa’s action aids corrupt union officials and criminals trying to worm their way back into Chicago’s Teamster unions. Fight Back! interviewed Richard Berg just before he received the official letter from Hoffa Jr.

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By staff

Members fighting mad

Chicago, IL – Fight Back! learned May 9 that Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., at a meeting in Las Vegas, has joined with the corrupt Teamsters officials in Chicago to remove President Richard Berg and Secretary Treasurer Gina Alvarez from office in Local 743. Berg and Alvarez are rank-and-file reformers who fought for years against the gangsters who ran their union while Hoffa and officers of the Joint Council in Chicago turned a blind eye to the corruption in the local.

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By Masao Suzuki

La gente marcha en San Francisco en 1 de mayo.

San Francisco, CA – El primero de mayo, miles de personas se juntaron en la Misión de la comunidad latina de San Francisco y marcharon al Centro Cívico. Un tema común fue la oposición a la nueva ley de Arizona, SB 1070. Organizaciones comunitarias de latinos y asiáticos, sindicatos y estudiantes universitarios se unieron con familias y con organizaciones religiosas, anti-bélicas y solidarias para la marcha. Se escucharon consignas de “Si se puede!” y “Obama, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” Trabajadores latinos salieron de restaurantes, talleres y lavaderos para ver y apoyar la marcha.

#SanFranciscoCA #Labor #MayDay #May1 #elDíaInternacionalDeLosTrabajadores #1DeMayo #SB1070

By Eric Gardner

250,000 trabajadores inmigrantes y sus aliados marcharon aquí hoy por los derechos de los inmigrantes, denunciando la ley racista de Arizona SB1070 y exigiendo “Legalización Ahora!”

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By Masao Suzuki

Marchers in San Francisco on May Day.

San Francisco, CA – On May 1, thousands of people gathered in San Francisco’s Latino community in the Mission and marched to the Civic Center. A common theme was opposition to Arizona’s new law, SB1070.

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By Eric Gardner

250,000 immigrant workers and allies marched for immigrant rights here today, denouncing Arizona’s racist SB1070 law and demanding “Legalization now!” The march on International Workers’ Day demanded that the Democratic Party and President Obama live up to their election campaign promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

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By James Jordan

Protestor holding sign "A better world is possible"

Tucson, AZ – Around 15,000 people took to the streets here May 1 to celebrate May Day and to demand an end to racist anti-immigrant attacks at all levels of government, including an end to the hated SB1070 (the harshest anti-immigrant law in the nation), an end to border militarization and in support of immigration reform that is humanitarian rather than punitive.

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By Fern

The CIW has won victories against several major food corporations

Lakeland, FL – Over 1500 farmworkers and their allies gathered throughout the weekend of April 16-18 to fight for an end to slave-labor practices and for higher wages in south Florida.

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By Redacción

Minneapolis, MN – La Coalición para los Derechos de los Inmigrantes en Minnesota (MIRAc, por sus siglas en ingles) tiene un nuevo video para ganar fuerza para la marcha del 1 de mayo, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores, en Minneapolis. La marcha se enfoca en los derechos de los trabajadores y los inmigrantes, con los temas principales de 'igualdad para todos' y 'legalización para todos'. El video nuevo incluye entrevistas con personas en la calle expresando su apoyo para la marcha y promoviéndola. La marcha del 1 de mayo en Minneapolis empezara a las 2:00 p.m. en el parque Martin Luther King en la Avenida Nicollet y calle 41. Más que 25 organizaciones han dado su apoyo a la marcha, y la coalición sigue creciendo.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc) has released a new video in Spanish to build momentum for the march in Minneapolis on May 1, International Workers Day. The march will focus on workers' rights and immigrant rights, with the themes “Equal rights for all” and “Legalization for all.” The video features interviews with people on the street expressing support for the march and encouraging others to attend. The Minneapolis May 1 march will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Martin Luther King Park on Nicollet Avenues and 41st Street. More than 25 organizations have endorsed the march, and the coalition continues to grow.

#MinneapolisMN #Labor #MIRAc

By Joe Iosbaker

UIC workers contract fight continues; protesters picket line.

Chicago, IL – Voting was completed for the 1500 clerical workers at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, April 16. The committee of co-workers elected last summer to negotiate a new contract had called for the vote. On the ballot was one thing: Should the committee be authorized to call a strike if a new contract could not be gained at the bargaining table?

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By David Hungerford

Leah Owens of the United Front to Defend Public Education (UFDPE).

Newark, NJ – Community forces here, led by the United Front to Defend Public Education (UFDPE) are opposing funding cutbacks and the privatization of public schools. There have been marches and rallies, speakers at public forums and literature distribution to oppose the cutbacks.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network for Economic Justice.

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By Joe Iosbaker

Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) rally at University of Illinois at Chicago

On April 5, the members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) prepared for a strike. Their bargaining committee went in for a last-ditch session with a federal mediator and the team from management. After 13 hours at the table, GEO scored a significant victory, emerging with a tentative agreement that protects tuition waivers and increases job security. They also won two years of raises to their minimum stipends and an increase in the university’s contribution for health insurance.

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