Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and Laura Gauger filed a Clean Water Act citizen suit Jan. 18 against Flambeau Mining Company over its partially reclaimed Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to the suit, the mining company is violating federal law by discharging pollutants, including potentially toxic metals like copper, iron and zinc, into the Flambeau River and a tributary known as Stream C that flows across the company’s property.
Madison, WI – La Red de Acción Sobre Colombia (Colombia Action Network en ingles) se reunió en esta ciudad en marzo 8, para desarrollar la campana de defensa de los trabajadores sindicalizados de la Coca Cola a través del boicot a esta bebida. Luis Adolfo Cardona, el compañero sindicalista que escapo del intento de secuestro, tortura y asesinato por parte de los escuadrones de la muerte al servicio de la Coca Cola, dio una charla sobre la grave situación de Derechos Humanos que sufren los compañeros trabajadores en Colombia.
February 20, 3:30 a.m. – Under a banner that read, “The Whole World is Watching,” fifty-four students, workers and concerned community members slept in the office of University of Wisconsin Chancellor, David Ward. They occupied the chief administrator's office to protest university links to sweatshop labor. The peaceful scene was shattered by the approach of over 60 police dressed in riot gear, with billy clubs at their side and tear gas rifles ready.
Madison, WI – “Businesses that rely on sweatshop labor are not welcome in our community,” said Bob Hemauer, UW-Madison student and member of the Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC). “And The Gap is one of the worst!” Hemauer shared his views during a May 5 protest at the opening of The Gap's newest store on downtown Madison's State Street.
Madison, WI – Students scored a major victory in February, when a five-day sit-in at the administration building forced UW Chancellor David Ward to meet demands for the University to take a stronger position against sweatshop labor. At issue is the UW role in negotiating a Code of Conduct with 150 other universities and the Collegiate Licensing Company that seeks to ensure that college apparel is not made under sweatshop conditions.
Madison, WI – On December 10th, more than 40 students, union members, and church activists held a candlelight vigil and leafleted a local Wal-Mart. This action was part of a national day of action against Wal-Mart called by the National Labor Committee. Protesters demanded Wal-Mart release the list of factories where its apparel is manufactured.
Madison, WI – “I watched as they put a bullet into his head,” said Luis Adolfo Cardona, a former worker at a Colombian Coca-Cola bottling plant. He was speaking of Isidro Segundo Gil, a lead union negotiator at the plant. “I knew I would be next,” Cardona continued. Later that day, Dec. 5, 1996, Cardona was kidnapped and was likely headed for the same fate as his friend until he escaped.
Madison, WI – This past fall, workers and students organized to defend the 8-hour day, supporting workers at the Rock-Tenn Corporation's paper factory on the Near East side. The struggle ignited when Rock-Tenn Management demanded workers change from 8 to 12-hour shifts during contract negotiations with PACE (Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers) Local 1202.
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.
