Bloomington, MN – Thousands of striking Northwest Airlines workers and their supporters rallied across from the Northwest hangar at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International airport, Aug. 27. They rallied to support the strike of 4,400 mechanics, cleaners and custodians who are members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) Local 33. The strike began on Aug. 19 in response to Northwest’s proposal to lay off 53% of AMFA mechanics – and to sock the remaining workers with a wage cut of more than 25%.

San Francisco, CA – Bay area Asian American community organizations sponsored a forum in Chinatown that make the link between U.S. imperialism and racism against Asians in the U.S., July 8. Three Chinese American activists, involved in the Asian American movement from the 1960's to today, spoke about the spy-plane drama that unfolded with China earlier this year.

Minneapolis, MN – “After our strike two years ago, we were ready to sit down and negotiate a good contract this year. But U of M management started off by undermining our negotiating committee and attacking me as local president because we have stood up for our members and for justice,” said Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800 and co-chair of the Clerical and Health Care workers’ negotiating committee.

Management Overestimated Costs But Won't Lower Rates

Minneapolis, MN – “Workers at the University of Minnesota are being ripped off. The administration is stealing $6 million from us and we want it back,” said Kelly Ryan, an executive board member of AFSCME Local 3800, the clerical workers' union at the University of Minnesota. The unions are fighting to get back $6 million that the administration is overcharging workers for health care. They have come together in a new coalition called University Unions United.

Netherlands – Sparked by the battle of Seattle, and Professor Jose Maria Sison's call for greater coordination of the anti-globalization movement, the International League of Peoples' Struggle's founding conference took place in the Netherlands, May 25-27. Over three hundred activists from progressive and anti-imperialist organizations gathered to consolidate the gains and lessons from massive protests in Manila, Prague, Seattle and Quebec.

Columbus, GA - Ten thousand people descended on Fort Benning, Georgia, Nov. 18-19 to shut down the School of the Americas (S.O.A.). Also known as the School of Assassins, the S.O.A. has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency so they can repress the people in their homelands.

New York City, NY – Over 100 activists marched here September 8, stopping to protest in front of four consulates before proceeding to a rally across the street from the United Nations where the final day of the U.N. Millennium Summit was taking place. Protest organizers stated that the big capitalist powers attending the summit “use economic, military, political and cultural means to defend the investments of powerful corporations in nations which are weaker economically and militarily.”

Chisholm, MN – With a contract set to expire July 31, the stage is set for a major confrontation between iron miners and the Cleveland Cliffs Inc. Cleveland Cliffs is demanding concessions, including take-aways of retirees’ health care. The company says that it will answer any strike by hiring scabs. Housing for strikebreakers has been placed at the Hibbing mine. Scabs are being trained in the town of Silver Bay.

“Boycott Killer Coke, No Blood for Oil!”

The Colombia Action Network has called for national days of action, Nov. 1 through Nov. 6, to support Colombian trade unionists and to stop Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia is the U.S. military aid package given to Colombia’s death squad government.

Chicago, IL – There has been a high tide of conflict at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). In January, two Saturdays were spent in hearings on campus before Black and Latino state legislators. Called by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, the hearings resulted in a 67-page report, released finally in late August. It details the many demands by the forces that are fighting the administration: union workers, oppressed nationality students, faculty and staff, and the residents of the surrounding communities, mostly Mexicano and African American.

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.

Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. On average, right-wing paramilitary death squads or the military murder three Colombian trade unionists a week. Many more are threatened each day. At the same time the U.S. has given more than $3 billion in military aid, which funds both the military and paramilitary war on Colombian trade unionists, human rights workers and campesinos (peasants).

For two weeks in July, a solidarity delegation of the Colombia Action Network (CAN) traveled in Colombia, meeting with leading trade unionists, peasant leaders and other participants in that country’s powerful movement for justice and liberation. The CAN delegation was made up of anti-war and student activists from Illinois, Minnesota and Connecticut. The delegation investigated the impact of U.S. military aid through Plan Colombia and extended solidarity to the struggle of the Colombian people against U.S. imperialism.

Minneapolis, MN – After months of negotiations with the Metropolitan Council, 2200 Twin Cities bus drivers, dispatchers, maintenance and clerical workers went on strike at 2:00 a.m., March 4. The transit workers, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, last struck in 1995.

Minneapolis, MN – A growing number of organizations representing poor people and bus riders are demanding a restoration of bus services and an end to the 29-day-old transit strike. The demands fly in the face of Governor Tim Pawlenty's arguments that the strike is having no effect and that mass transit is not necessary.

Minneapolis, MN – At a packed fundraiser for striking bus drivers on Saturday, March 27, almost $15,000 in contributions from local unions and individuals was collected for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 strike fund. Participants also contributed three truckloads of food for the Local 1005 strikers' food bank.

St. Paul, MN – As the transit strike enters its third week, more than 1,300 transit workers and their supporters rallied on the steps of the state capitol building, March 18. The rally drew from a broad cross section of the labor movement, including postal workers, University of Minnesota clerical workers, Teamsters and some of the building and trades unions.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 700 strikers and their supporters demonstrated here, March 12, to demand justice for workers on strike against Metropolitan Transit. The action was organized jointly by AFSCME Local 3800, a local of University of Minnesota clerical workers who were on strike themselves just months ago, and transit workers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005.

Minneapolis, MN – After months of negotiations with the Metropolitan Council, 2200 Twin Cities bus drivers, dispatchers, maintenance and clerical workers went on strike at 2:00 a.m., March 4. The transit workers, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, last struck in 1995.

Barrancabermeja, Colombia – “Nine compañeros have been assassinated, 45 have been displaced and 75 have had their lives threatened. The only thing these people have in common is that they work for Coca-Cola. Now the military and the paramilitaries are threatening our families,” said William Mendoza. Mendoza, vice-president of the beverage workers’ union SINALTRAINAL, was speaking July 2 to a delegation of the Colombia Action Network that visited July 2.