Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 29 statement from the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee.

New York, NY -This past week reports poured in as New York City opened and built several new medical support structures to aid the overwhelmed city hospital network. Over the weekend, pictures of the converted Javits Center, a huge convention center in Midtown, were circling around, boasting 1200 new hospital beds.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Minneapolis, MN – Union nurses represented by Minnesota Nurses Association at five hospitals voted overwhelmingly that they have “no confidence” in M Health management’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitals where the votes took place are Fairview Southdale, St. Joseph's, St. John's, Bethesda, and the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

San José, CA – Many immigrants won’t be able to get help from the bipartisan COVID-19 pandemic aid bills passed by Congress and signed by President Trump. More than 4 million undocumented immigrants who are paying taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, will not qualify for the $1200 per person benefit because they have no Social Security number. Another 5 million American citizen children with undocumented parents also will not get the $500 per child benefit.

Chicago, IL – Teamsters Local 710 published an online memorial to Brother William “Dollar Bill” Young, who passed away on Sunday, March 29. Brother Young worked at the UPS CACH facility and was remembered as “hard working,” and “dedicated to his craft and always a friendly face.”

Chicago, IL – The COVID-19 health crisis has (rightly) led to millions of people staying home in order to reduce the spread of the virus. For hundreds of thousands of Teamsters though – drivers and warehouse workers at UPS and YRC, grocery store clerks and food service workers – all deemed “essential services” by the Trump administration – we have to continue to work regardless of the risks.

Chicago, IL – Two dozen prominent organizations and individuals have urged Gov. J. B. Pritzker in a letter to use “the powers of [his] office to provide long overdue justice to Gerald Reed.” Reed’s deteriorating health puts him at extreme risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has heart failure, and late last year while awaiting a new trial at Cook County jail he had a heart attack.

The communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) inflicted more than 1000 casualties of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in 2019.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC).

State and local officials can help save lives by independently reaching out to China.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the statement from the MN Anti-War Committee.

New York, NY – Due to the rising unemployment rate, New Yorkers are struggling financially. Some measures have been taken to help homeowners, as well as those going through eviction proceedings. An indefinite moratorium has been placed on evictions, and Governor Andrew Cuomo enacted a 90-day suspension on mortgages. The governor has even gone on to say that through these actions, he has “taken care of the rent issue.”

Wall Street ignores human suffering to launch new bull market

San José, CA – On Thursday, March 26, the Labor Department reported the new claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits rocketed to 3.3 million for the week ending March 21. This was almost five times the previous record of almost 700,000 new claims in October of 1982, when the recession drove the unemployment rate to 10.8%. The number of new claims for UI was 15 times higher than the report just two weeks earlier.

Los Angeles, CA – Long time Chicano leader Carlos Montes blasted the Trump administration’s mishandling of the pandemic, March 25, stating, “President Trump’s irrational and disjointed response to this COVID-19 pandemic is causing major harm to working people.”

The National Prison Movement (Movimiento Nacional Carcelario) and other prisoner rights groups called a demonstration in Colombian prisons on March 21, to protest the lack of protection against the COVID-19 virus and the general lack of decent healthcare in the Colombian prisons. Twelve Colombian prisons answered the call for a ‘cacerolazo,’ a protest where one bangs on pots and pans to make enough noise so that the protest is heard.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 24 statement of the World Federation of Trade Unions.

Minneapolis, MN – The MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) wanted to be a part of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s global week of action for Palestinian Land Day but they couldn’t do it as a protest the way they had originally planned. Instead on March 24 the MN AWC reorganized their protest as a call-in day, and then did a five-person social distancing bannering protest.

Minneapolis, MN – The world is the midst of a once-in-a-century disease pandemic. COVID-19 is a natural phenomenon that is quickly becoming a human disaster.

Tampa, FL – UPS preloaders held a demonstration March 24 demanding disposable gloves, hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The demonstration was part of an ongoing local and national fight by UPS employees to get the PPE they need to safely perform their job and prevent the spread of the virus to customers and the public.

Chicago, IL – This past week, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) won expanded protections for all its members at United Parcel Service (UPS). The mid-contract negotiations were in direct response to the Trump administration's designation of UPS as an essential service during the COVID-19 crisis, meaning that workers will continue to work throughout the duration of this health emergency.