On Oct. 17, 400 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war protest as part of a national day of peace actions that saw anti-war events in 50 cities across the U.S. on the weekend of Oct. 17-18.

A spirited picket line protested outside the Colombian consulate in Chicago Oct. 1. 30 students, solidarity and labor activists chanted in support of political prisoners held by the Colombian government of President Uribe. Passersby stopped to read leaflets and listen to chants of, “Free Lily Obando,” “No to U.S. bases,” and “The people of Colombia are under attack! What do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” Chicagoans were joined on Michigan Avenue by activists from Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, California, Florida and Washington D.C. for this international day of action.

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.

Demonstrations mark 8th anniversary of Afghan War – demand immediate U.S./NATO withdrawal

On Oct. 7, students on 25 campuses across the United States will protest eight long years of war against the people of Afghanistan. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a national student organization committed to activism for peace, justice and equality, is organizing the protest.

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.

Fight Back! interviewed UNC Chapel Hill activist Haley Koch about her trial on Monday, September 15, in which all charges relating to her arrest for the protest of Tom Tancredo were dropped. Koch took part in a large protest of students who shut down the racist, anti-immigrant speaker at UNC's campus last April.

Minneapolis, MN – The U.S./NATO military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, submitted a report to the Obama administration stating that more U.S. military forces must be sent to Afghanistan. In a Sept. 22 press conference, Twin Cites anti-war groups spoke out against the proposed escalation of the war and announced plans for demonstrations this fall against the war in Afghanistan and the continuing occupation of Iraq.

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.

Minneapolis, MN – After a months long fight against her foreclosure, police came to evict Rosemary Williams from her home, Sept. 11. Dozens of police cordoned off the street, sidewalks and alley all around the home, police with rifles and tear gas were at the ready at windows inside the house, as a private security company used metal grating to board up windows and doors. The police showed up as preparations were being made for a birthday party for Rosemary Williams’s grandson, Talib, who turned two that day.

St. Paul, MN – Even though the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC) has been over for a year, eight Twin Cities activists are still caught up in its aftermath. The weekend before the RNC, local police led raids on the Convergence Space and the homes of members of a group calling itself the RNC Welcoming Committee. Eight Twin Cities activists (Monica Bicking , Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, Luce Guillen-Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Max Specktor and Eryn Trimmer) were arrested pre-emptively and held for the entirety of the convention. Despite these arrests and other acts of intimidation, thousands of people turned out to protest all four days of the convention and a groundswell of community support has grown surrounding the group now known as the RNC 8.

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.

“Foreclose the war, not people's homes”

Minneapolis, MN – The Twin Cites peace movement organized a rally under the call of “Foreclose the war, not people’s homes, ” Aug. 27 to show support for Minneapolis homeowner Rosemary Williams and her fight against foreclosure and eviction. More than 50 people demanded a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions and for the billions being spent on U.S. wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan to be used instead to keep people in their homes.

Chicago, IL – When the owner of SK Hand Tools in Chicago unilaterally cut off health care benefits for his employees, he provoked a strike. As a result, the picket line of striking workers on Tuesday, Aug. 25, was also a health care rally.

At the 2009 national convention of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), over 100 delegates from across the country unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for the immediate U.S. withdrawal and an unconditional end to the occupation of Afghanistan.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 family, friends, neighbors and other community supporters gathered at the home of Rosemary Williams Aug. 24 to show support for the continued fight against foreclosure and eviction.

Vows to fight to keep it

Minneapolis, MN – About 40 supporters and neighbors of Rosemary Williams gathered at her home here, Aug. 18 to hear an update on the latest developments in the negotiations with her mortgage holder GMAC and plans for future actions.