For Workers Strikes Against the War!

ILWU to Shut Down West Coast Ports May 1 Demanding End to War in Iraq, Afghanistan

In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. In a February 22 letter to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, ILWU International president Robert McEllrath reported that at a recent coast-wide union meeting, “One of the resolutions adopted by caucus delegates called on longshore workers to stop work during the day shift on May 1, 2008 to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.”

First Presbyterian Church
555 S. University Blvd., Norman, OK

Keynote Address by Dr. Barbara Boyd

Dialogue Session to Follow Refreshments

Panelists:
Holly Sklar, Author & nationally syndicated columnist
Shelley Moskowitz, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Kenneth Kickham, Asst. Professor - University of Central Oklahoma
Lisa Sorrells, Director Food & Shelter For Friends
Derrick Johnson, Owner - Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Lex Holmes, Ph.D., Chair – OU Economic Department

Primary Sponsors:
Let Justice Roll – letjusticeroll.org
United Church of Christ of Norman
Oklahoma United Methodist Church & Society
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Additional Sponsors:
First Christian Church of Norman
First Presbyterian Church of Norman
McFarlin United Methodist Church
Norman Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church
St. Thomas More Catholic Church

People of Faith for Fair Wages, a project of the Peace with Justice Task Force of the Kansas/Oklahoma Conference United Church of Christ and Let Justice Roll, a national, nonpartisan coalition of more than 90 faith, community, labor and business organizations, will hold a free public education forum to explore what the faith community can do to resolve issues of paying fair wages and overcoming poverty, Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Southern Hills Methodist Church, 6160 South Lewis Avenue, Tulsa.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 1, 2007) - Oklahoma U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's attack on middle income working parents today is one more example of a Washington politician who is out of touch with the people he was elected to represent, State Democratic Party Chairman Dr. Ivan Holmes said today.

"As a U.S. Senator, Jim Inhofe enjoys some of the most generous health care benefits in America," Holmes said. "But, when Oklahoma middle income working families can no longer afford health insurance for about 40,000 children, he tells them, 'tough luck'."

Holmes praised the Congress for last week passing an extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and expanding its coverage to include children of some middle-income families who have lost their insurance coverage due to higher medical costs. The bill is budget neutral because its increased costs are offset by an increase in the tobacco tax.

Golf Scramble at White Hawk Golf Club

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Shotgun at 8:00 a.m.

This year our Labor Participation Chair on the Campaign Cabinet for the 2007 Tulsa Area United Way Campaign is Frank Janowski. Frank is a member of the United Aerospace Workers Union of America Local 952. UAW is a very strong supporter of the United Way and many other non-profit agencies in our community.

Our Labor-United Way Kickoff this year is again going to be a golf scramble at White Hawk Gold Club in Bixby. White Hawk Club is located at 14515 South yale in Bixby. The kickoff will be held on Tuesday, August 28 beginning at 8 a.m. with 4 player teams (consisting at A, B, C and D players on each team.) You may make your own team or we can assign you to one. The scramble is best ball and will include range balls, lunch, prizes and trophies.

The cost will be $60.00 per player and $240.00 per team. All entries must be in and paid for by August 1, 2007.

UGSOA MEMBER NEWS

The founder of a District-based labor union for special police officers and security guards is facing a criminal investigation into whether he misspent pension dues.

Federal authorities recently raided the home and office of Caleb A. Gray-Burriss, of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) amid an investigation into his handling of more than $100,000 of pension dues and health-benefit funds, according to court records.

The investigation, headed by the racketeering and fraud unit of the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Inspector General, focuses on "numerous withdrawals by Burriss that did not appear to be for the benefit of NASPSO members," according to a search-warrant affidavit filed in federal court in the District.

Sue Bolton

Organisers from the Philippines’ biggest left trade union centre, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP — Solidarity of Filipino Workers) spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Sue Bolton about the repression that they encounter from the state and their efforts to unify left-wing trade unions.

They told GLW that the impact of neoliberal globalisation had weakened all the union federations because of factory closures, downsizing and the replacement of full-time workers with casual workers on less pay.

But these aren’t the only problems that union activists in the Philippines face. Over the last 18 months, harassment and repression by the military and its paramilitary offshoots have stepped up, with assassinations, disappearances, and military intimidation of communities and activists, such as union offices being invaded by the military in full battle gear.
The repression has affected all sectors — workers, urban poor and peasants.