Chicago, IL – Over 200 workers, faculty and students at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) marched here, Jan. 21, to demand full funding for higher education and an end to threatened furloughs and layoffs. The rally was held outside the meeting of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. It was called by a coalition of unions, including SEIU and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), as well UIC Concerned Faculty, an ad hoc group, and student activists.

_Hoffa Grants Stay of Effectiveness to Berg and Alvarez _

Chicago, IL – Two days after Teamsters Joint Council 25 suspended Richard Berg and Gina Alvarez from office over trumped up charges, the International president, Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. has granted them a stay of effectiveness. This will be in place until the international hears their appeal. Berg and Alvarez will be restored to their positions in the union immediately.

Chicago, IL – Chicago Teamster bosses ousted reformers Richard Berg and Gina Alvarez from union office today in a power struggle between grassroots reformers and old guard Teamster officials over one of the largest Teamster local unions in Chicago and the country.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following letter, written by Labor for Palestine to the President of the AFL-CIO, urging support for the campaign to boycott Israel.

Los Angeles, CA – Students from all over the state of California gathered at the University of California regents meeting on UCLA campus Nov.19. They were there to protest proposed fee hikes.

Los Angeles, CA – As of Nov. 18, dozens of tents are cropping up on UCLA’s quad as over 100 students begin a tent city, part of an all-night protest against the budget cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes in the University of California (UC) system. The students are waiting for buses filled with trade unionists and students from across the UC system to arrive in the early morning hours, in time for massive protests on Nov. 19 and 20.

Urbana Champaign, IL – After two days of mass picketing that shut down hundreds of classes at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the strike by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) has scored an amazing victory. On the morning of Nov. 17, management tentatively agreed to keep tuition waivers intact and retreat from threatened furlough days. In response, pickets were suspended and a GEO general membership meeting was scheduled for the evening. There, the 450 members present unanimously recommended to the strike committee that it accept the agreement and suspend the strike.

Chicago, IL – “Ganamos” mensajes de texto con estas palabras se distribuyeron la noche del 3 de noviembre entre huelguistas de SK Hand Tool a miembros de familia y apoyadores.   Los reportes directos al hecho de los trabajadores de SK Hand Tool tendrían seguro de salud. Había mucho más que celebrar al marcharse a la calle 47 y tirar la casa de campaña los trabajadores dejaron su voto final para el acuerdo la tarde del 3 de noviembre. Habían estado en huelga por diez semanas – desde el 25 de agosto.

Urbana Champaign, IL – At 8:00 a.m., Nov. 16, hundreds of teaching assistants rallied in a cold, driving rain on the campus of the University of Illinois. The members of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) set up pickets in front of all doors of the four main lecture buildings on campus. Natalie Havlin, co-chair of the GEO steward's council, said 1000 people joined in the spirited circles.

Urbana-Champaign, IL – On Nov. 9, the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) announced the results of its strike authorization vote.

A group of about 150 people, including farmworkers from Immokalee, Florida, students and community supporters, rallied on Oct. 24 to fight for better wages and working conditions for the farmworkers. Members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) traveled to Gainesville to build their ongoing campaigns against Aramark, a major food service provider on many college campuses, and Publix, a popular supermarket chain in the South.

Bogotá, Colombia – Liliany Obando es poderosa. Ella es una de los miles de prisioneros políticos de Colombia. Ya por un año, le conozco por carta. Por fin, nos conocimos en persona en tres ocasiones, durante una delegación patrocinada por la Campaña de Derechos Laborales (basado en los EEUU) y el Red de Acción Colombiana. Yo representé el Red Internacional en Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Políticos Colombianos.

Stephanie Weiner of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice presented $1,500 to SK Hand Tool striker John McHale. The money was raised October 3, at the 'We Say Fight Back' conference in Chicago, where trade union, community, immigrant rights, and student activists came together to found the Network to Fight for Economic Justice. SK Hand and Tool strikers were prominent in the conference and attendees vowed to build support for the strike.

Saladin Muhammad is a veteran leader of the labor and African American liberation movements in North Carolina. He is responsible for coordinating organizing in North Carolina and Virginia for the North Carolina and Virginia Public Service Workers Unions UE Locals 150 and 160. Muhammad is building the fight against a North Carolina law, NC 95-98, which limits workers' rights to collectively bargain.

San Francisco, CA – Protesters picketed Wells Fargo's global corporate headquarters in the financial district here, July 10. Progressives, trade unionists, students and professionals came together to put forth the slogan “Bankers got bailed out, workers got sold out!” to the busy lunch hour crowds. Their aim was to publicly denounce the giant bank for the actions it has been trying to take against the workers at Quad City Die Casting in Moline, Illinois.

Bogotá, Colombia – Liliany Obando is powerful. She is one thousands of Colombian political prisoners. For a year now, I have known Liliany through letters. We finally met face-to-face on three occasions, during a delegation sponsored by the U.S.-based Campaign for Labor Rights and the Colombia Action Network. I represented the International Network in Solidarity with Colombia’s Political Prisoners.

Pittsburgh, PA – A powerful march for jobs filled the streets here, Sept. 20, in the first major protest before the G-20 summit. Organizers estimate more than 1000 people joined the demonstration, which marched from the Hill district, the historic center of the city’s African American community, to Freedom Corner.

Ask for support

Norma Trinidad and 20 of her co-workers stood in front of the Sears store on Dearborn Street in Chicago’s Loop, Sept. 18, handing fliers to people as they walked past. These members of Teamsters Local 743 are on strike against SK Hand Tools. They came to ask Sears customers not to buy the tools made by the SK workers.

Chicago, IL – In the final days of August, members of Teamsters Local 743 accepted a new contract at the University of Chicago Medical Center. A month ago, the 1350 workers overwhelmingly rejected an offer from the employer which offered no meaningful pay increases or job security. With this support behind them, the bargaining committee returned to the table and emerged with significant improvements. 68% of their fellow workers voted yes on the new offer.

Chicago, IL – Richard Lopez, once the overpaid $160,000-a-year president of Teamster Local 743, was sentenced to two years of prison on Aug. 27. His co-conspirators and former employees, Ted Bania and David Rodriguez, are going in for 40 months and 18 months respectively.