Comunidades pobres y de clase trabajadora, ya azotadas por los cesos y reducciones dehoras de trabajo que resultan de la recesión económica, están a punto de sufrir aun mas como los gobiernos estatales y municipales empiezan a cortar los servicios de salud, escuelas y gobierno local, cosas necesarias para nuestras familias.

San José, CA -Mientras que se amontonan los cesos y las ciudades reportan cada vez mas hambrientes y desamparados, Wall Street espera que la economía sea muy positiva en 2002. Esto ha producido el resultado de que los precios de las acciones en la bolsa de valores han ido subiendo desde el fin de Septiembre. Wall Street espera que los once recortes de intereses impuestos por el Banco Federal de Reserva produzcan una recuperación de ganancias, con la ayuda de los recortes de impuestos para las corporaciones y los ricos que los Republicanos Congreso pretenden otorgar.

May Day is the most widely celebrated holiday in the world. Hundreds of thousands of workers, led by their unions, will march through the streets in Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines. In the socialist countries where the working people rule society – Cuba, China, Vietnam, Democratic Korea and Laos, May Day, or International Workers Day, is a national holiday. It is celebrated with huge rallies of millions. Leaders make speeches opposing war and imperialism, while praising the gains of the laboring classes who are furthering the cause of socialism.

St Paul, MN – Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bail Out organized a picket line at the Minnesota Department of Revenue Building, where Governor Pawlenty proposed his plan to address the $5.2 billion budget deficit, Jan. 27.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 people gathered here May 1, May Day, for a celebration of International Workers’ Day. Speakers from key Minneapolis and St. Paul battles, including organizers of the clerical workers’ strike at the University of Minnesota and the 46-day transit workers’ strike, addressed the standing room-only crowd. The event was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Raleigh, NC – “We’re in the middle of an historic crisis,” the president of the North Carolina Public Sector Workers Union (UE 150), Angaza Laughinghouse, told Fight Back!. “It requires a historic response from unions, youth groups, faith groups and community organizations to develop the fight back.”

Minneapolis, MN – “You got bailed out, we got sold out! Stop foreclosures now!” was the rallying call during a protest here June 13 as a crowd of 75 people surged to the doors of a US Bank branch on Lake Street. Minneapolis police officers blocked the doors of the bank building, calling in more squad cars, which arrived with sirens blaring.

Fight Back! interviewed Gregg Shotwell, a worker from the Delphi auto parts plant in Coopersville, Michigan, and a founder of Soldiers of Solidarity, an organization of rank-and-file members of the United Auto Workers (UAW). This interview deals with a number of critical issues, including the role of the UAW leadership and the need for a united resistance on the part rank and file workers.

Minneapolis, MN – In a packed Hennepin County Court room, May 26, District Judge Lloyd Zimmerman decided to delay the foreclosure-related eviction trial of Rosemary Williams until June 22. A hearing on the legal issues to be considered at the trial is scheduled for June 16.

Don't Balance the Budget on the Backs of City Workers!

Durham, NC – Fifty city workers and their supporters gathered outside City Hall here, May 18, to protest a decision by the city council to lay off 35 workers and eliminate 113 more positions that are currently unfilled. The result will put a huge strain on the backs of workers who are already understaffed, underpaid and over worked. The job losses will also lead to a deterioration in critical services that these workers provide to the public.