Williamsburg, VA – 150 Smithfield workers were joined by 1000 supporters here, Aug. 29 – in what was the largest demonstration in this city’s history – to demand justice for factory workers at Smithfield’s Tar Heel, North Carolina plant. Demonstrators met at a church to rally and hear both clergy and workers testify against Smithfield executives, then took to the streets with signs saying, “Worker’s rights are human rights,” and chanting, “Down with Smithfield, up with justice!”

Minneapolis, MN – On July 16, Federal Judge Joan Ericksen, a Republican appointee, denied a motion for a preliminary injunction that would have ordered the city of Saint Paul to grant the permit originally requested by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War for a national demonstration on Sept. 1. Her ruling made no modifications to a permit issued by the city that would restrict demonstrators to a route along Cedar Street and require them to end the demonstration before the Republican National Convention begins.

Asheville, NC – “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” Over 40 students with the Justice at Smithfield campaign began their countrywide tour here with a spirited picket of a local Ingles supermarket. Ingles stocks Smithfield products from the notorious Smithfield hog processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. The Justice at Smithfield campaign will visit several major cities in the United States in a tour to raise awareness and build solidarity between trade unions, community organizers, student activists, and the Smithfield Tar Heel plant workers.

Chicago, IL – People around the country are making plans to travel to Saint Paul, Minnesota on Labor Day to march on the Republican National Convention. In Chicago, buses have been reserved and tickets are going on sale, reports Joe Iosbaker, a local anti-war activist who is helping to coordinate for the local Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. “The chartered buses will leave Chicago at 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 1. We have to leave at that hour to be at the rally in Saint Paul at 11:00 a.m.”

Cincinnati, Ohio – 450 union workers found themselves out of work at NuTone in Cincinnati, on Sunday, July 17. The manufacturer, NuTone, paid to have letters delivered to United Auto Workers Local 2029 members’ homes announcing the lockout. Workers set up picket lines at three plant gates and held cardboard signs saying, “NuTone locked us OUT!”

St. Paul, MN – A lawsuit for damages totaling $75,000 will be filed in Federal Court, July 2, by attorneys representing Mick Kelly. Kelly is an organizer for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. Kelly was arrested outside the Xcel Center June 5 while passing out leaflets at an Obama rally. He was promoting the Sept. 1 anti-war march at the Republican National Convention. Police placed him under arrest, then he was searched, put in a squad car and taken blocks away to the old police headquarters where he was cited for soliciting and peddling.

Minneapolis, MN – With the courtroom packed and many waiting in the hallway, attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union presented a case in federal court, July 9 on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The Coalition is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the city of Saint Paul to a issue realistic permit for the Sept. 1 anti-war march.

St. Paul, MN – More than 100 people marched here July 1, in the fourth and final march in a series of recurring demonstrations to pressure the city of Saint Paul to grant a permit for an anti-war march on Sept. 1, the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC). The event was organized by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Minneapolis, MN – The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War celebrated their new offices with an open house, June 20. The group is planning a massive anti-war protest for the first day of the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul in September.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) convention ended on June 4. Even in its last hours, the reform movement showed it will continue to challenge the undemocratic methods of President Andy Stern. A slate of 13 rank-and-file members stepped forward to run for International Executive Board seats. This so surprised the officers that they had to scramble to print ballots. The vote counting went well into the evening, forcing their ‘victory party’ to start before the results were announced.

Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN – Presidential candidate John McCain was met by 100 anti-war protesters and trade unionists at a fundraising event at the Minneapolis Hilton, June 19. The demonstration was organized by the Anti-War Committee.

The largest union in the U.S., the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), begins its national convention the weekend of May 31, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Convention goers will have a very different experience from the well orchestrated ceremonies of past years. As delegate Sirlena Perry from SEIU Local 73 in Chicago put it, “There’s going to be big debate about how Andy has been doing things,” referring to the pro-business methods of SEIU’s president, Andy Stern.

Hoover, AL – In solidarity with the over 15,000 Goodyear Tire and Rubber workers who have been on strike since Oct. 5, demonstrations were held on Dec. 2 at Goodyear retail stores across the country. In Birmingham, over 100 workers and their supporters rallied at the retail store, while in Hoover, Alabama, a similar rally was held to protest the company’s unfair contract proposals, as well as to warn consumers of the risk involved in buying tires manufactured by strikebreakers.

Hamilton, AL – “This is a fight to the death. We will not let the scabs have this plant. If we can't have it, we will shut it down,” vowed the local United Steel Workers of America membership.

Gary, IN – Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living is a social service agency here whose services cover children with developmental disorders as well as adults with chronic mental illness. The 180 housekeepers, maintenance workers, therapists and teachers are members of Teamsters Local 743. These workers care for their clients, often giving out of their own pockets to buy things for them.

Chicago, IL – Members of Teamsters Local 743 are preparing to join the massive national march on Sept. 1 in Saint Paul, Minnesota to protest at the Republican National Convention. They see this march as part of the effort to defeat the Republicans this fall. This march will be the first time in 45 years that Local 743 is joining a national mobilization.

Chicago, IL – The U.S. Attorney here handed down a 14 count indictment against former Teamster Local 743 presidents Robert Walston and Richard Lopez and former Teamsters Local 743 employees Cassandra Davis Mosley, David Rodriguez and Thaddeus ‘Teddie’ Bania, March 6.

Chicago, IL – The University of Chicago Hospital employed Richard Berg as a housekeeper for 16 years. In 2004, they fired him at the request of Bob Walston, the criminal that was principal officer in Teamsters Local 743, Berg’s union. Berg had led the New Leadership Slate (NLS) that had twice won in local elections that year, but each time had been denied their elective offices by the massive theft of votes by Walston’s gang. The gangsters decided to eliminate the challenge once and for all: if Berg didn’t work in a Local 743 shop, he couldn’t be a member of the union and could never run for office again.

Chicago, IL – Five union reformers entered the offices of Teamsters Local 743 Dec. 31 to receive keys to the union hall from their opponents who had lost election in the fall. The old president Richard Lopez knew he was defeated and that he might be going to jail.

Sami Rasouli in Chicago

Chicago, IL – Sami Rasouli is an Iraqi American. “When the U.S. invaded, I felt like I was attacking myself. I was the oppressed and the oppressor.” Rasouli emigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in 1976 and became a U.S. citizen in 2001. He moved back to his home in Najaf, Iraq in 2004 to help counter the U.S. occupation. Since then he has returned the U.S. each year to speak, explaining the disastrous impact of the occupation on the Iraqi people and to seek support for his efforts. Rasouli is in the U.S. now; he travels back to Iraq in July, but will be back in Saint Paul, Minnesota by Sept. 1 to join the protests at the Republican National Convention.