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.