Christine Royster ran for vice president of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT) last year on the Tom Leedham Rank & File Power Slate. Unfortunately, she lost, denying the Teamsters their first African American woman vice president. Royster, running as a rank-and-file member, would have been a dynamic addition to the Teamsters national executive board.

Chicago, IL – Christine Royster, candidate for International Vice President of the Teamsters, gave the following talk at a Fight Back! Forum in Chicago for Black History Month. Royster is also a key leader in the battle to turn around the 12,000-member Local 743, one of Chicago's largest Teamster locals.

Minneapolis, MN – Video coverage is now available of the Feb. 9-10 Organizing Conference to prepare for RNC Sept. 1 anti-war protest in St Paul, MN. The planned demonstration will coincide with the Republican National Convention.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James Hoffa Jr. has proposed the largest dues increase in the union's history. Right now, workers are paying the equivalent of two hours pay per month. Hoffa's proposal is to increase dues by 25%.

Listen to some of the key speeches

Minneapolis, MN – Activists from around the country gathered here Feb. 9-10 for an organizing conference to plan the anti-war protests at the Republican National Convention.

The United Parcel Service (UPS) strike in 1997 was the most important labor victory in recent years. It was fought under the reform leadership of then-Teamsters president, Ron Carey, and was won due to the courage and determination of UPS workers.

Minneapolis, MN – Carlos Montes, of Latinos Against War and veteran leader of the Chicano and immigrants right movements, along with Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee were among the many prominent activists who addressed the Feb 9-10 Organizers Conference here to prepare the massive anti-war march planned for the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

Minneapolis, MN – Progressive activists from all over the country will attend an organizing conference here Feb. 9-10 to prepare for a national anti-war rally and march set for Sept. 1 – the first day of the Republican National Convention. The conference is hosted by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Jefferson, WI – Workers here are taking a stand against corporate greed, battling one of the most powerful and vicious companies in the meat packing industry, Tyson Foods. Since Feb. 28, the 450 workers have been on strike against the meatpacking giant, refusing to agree to company demands to gut their union contract and drive down their wages and working conditions.

Chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), along with student and youth organizations from across the country are calling for rallies, marches, walkouts, direct actions and other activities on campuses during the week of March 17 to 21, marking the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war.

Milwaukee, WI – 450 members of the Association of Flight Attendants are taking a stand against a greedy, union-busting employer. While the rest of the airline industry was talking givebacks, this group of workers chose to fight back in a fierce struggle to get their first contract. After a three-week strike against the airline that began on Labor Day weekend, the flight attendants were able to get an agreement, which was worth putting to a vote by the members.

Organizers of the massive anti-war demonstration planned for the opening day of the Republican National Convention have won an important victory – permits have been secured for the Minnesota State Capitol building and grounds.

Madison, WI – “We are going to make Madison a Union city where workers are actively supported in their efforts to organize Unions and win a voice in the workplace,” according to AFSCME Local 2412 member, Joe Mingle. Led by the South Central Federation of Labor (SCFL), many Madison area labor activists have been meeting this summer to plan a coordinated organizing campaign to rebuild labor's strength in Southern Wisconsin. Despite the sometimes slow pace, volunteer organizers are confident that big things are on the horizon for this year.

Maha Nassar, activist, educator, mother and ex-political prisoner, visited the U.S. in a speaking tour to talk about the work that she is doing as chair of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees. Ms Nassar shares her years of experience working for Palestinian freedom and resistance to the Israeli occupation. She speaks plainly of where the movement has been and where it must go. The Union of Palestinian Women's Committees is one of the most important groups working for social justice in Palestine. In a country where justice is fought for with rocks against armored tanks, words must become weapons and knowledge is power. Read on and learn about the Palestinian struggle from the people who resist.

This is the second part of an interview Fight Back! conducted with Marco Leon Calarca, a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Click here to see the first part of the interview, which appeared in our Fall 1999 issue.

Fight Back! conducted the following interview with Marco Leon Calarca, a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to give our readers a better understanding of the war that is unfolding in Colombia.  This is part 1 of a 2-part interview.  Click here to see part 2, which appeared in the Winter 2000 edition of Fight Back!

Chicago, IL - In a racist defense of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, the Jewish United Fund rallied here July 17 at the Federal Plaza. As the heat index hit 111 degrees, the Palestine Solidarity Group and other organizations gathered to challenge the Zionists and to oppose Israel’s actions.

Hatem Abudayyeh is a well-known Palestinian activist and who has written extensively on developments in the Middle East.

Maria Martinez is a working class hero. She emerged from a five-week strike against Iowa Beef Processing (I.B.P.) as the clear leader of the rank and file members of Teamsters Local 556 in eastern Washington. This is true because she fought not only the company, but also old-guard union officials who sought to settle short.