Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

Grand Rapids, MI – After a lively rally on June 24 with nearly 100 workers, the stagehands union IATSE is calling a new rally on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol for July 15. The stagehands and other gig workers are demanding the passage of the HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act by the U.S. Senate. July 25 is looming as the $600 per week unemployment boost that keeps people paying their bills is set to run out. Tensions are rising not just in Michigan, but also for stagehands from New York City to Hollywood, across the whole country.

Grand Rapids, MI – Union stagehands and gig workers are rallying to extend unemployment at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on June 24 at 10 a.m.

Grand Rapids, MI – Protesters gathered in several major Michigan cities last weekend, including Grand Rapids and Lansing, demanding justice for the Minneapolis Police Department’s killing of George Floyd and for all victims of police brutality.

Grand Rapids, MI – 45 people rallied in Grand Rapids on January 25 to demand “No U.S. war on Iran! U.S. out of Iraq!”

Grand Rapids, MI – On January 4, about 35 people gathered at the intersection of Division and Fulton, the center point of Grand Rapids, to express their outrage and protest the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Soleimani was killed outside Baghdad’s airport.

Grand Rapids, MI – Excitement is building among trade unionists and community activists in Grand Rapids, about an upcoming event where labor negotiator and author Joe Burns will speak. Michigan is a so-called ‘right to work’ state, where labor unions are struggling to maintain their membership and power.

Outrage that cop called ex-Marine ‘loco’

Grand Rapids, MI – The Grand Rapids Police Department was caught lying and covering up for Captain Curt VanderKooi this week. VanderKooi racially profiled an ex-Marine and contacted ICE to detain him in November 2018. The recent Grand Rapids police investigation claims VanderKooi contacted ICE out of concern for possible ‘terrorism.’