Vol. 76/No. 23 June 11, 2012
June 12, 1987
As more U.S. warships head for the Persian Gulf war zone, hundreds more U.S. sailors are being deliberately placed in harm’s way. Their lives, like those of the 37 sailors who died when Iraqi missiles struck the USS Stark in the gulf May 17, are regarded as expendable in Washington’s deadly serious drive toward launching a military attack on Iran.Millions of U.S. working people, who have no stake in war with Iran or any other country in the Middle East, are opposed to Washington’s provocative buildup in the region. But the billionaire families that rule this country, and the Republican and Democratic politicians who represent them in the White House and Congress, are agreed at this time that the stakes in the Persian Gulf are worth the risk of war.
June 11, 1962
A relatively small strike—involving 360 non-professional workers at the Beth-El Hospital in Brooklyn on the simple issue of union recognition for Local 1199 of the Drug and Hospital Workers Union—has developed into a bitter and significant struggle. It is throwing light on hypocrisy in high places and setting important precedents in the struggle to win better conditions for the city’s Negro and Puerto Rican workers.Faced with a union-busting campaign by the hospital’s board of trustees—composed of wealthy businessmen and prominent liberal politicians—the local has appealed to other unions and to youth active in civil rights and student movements, to help man its picket lines.
The workers involved are maids, orderlies, porters, nurses’ aides, dietary and laundry workers who have no seniority or other job rights.
May 1, 1937
NEW YORK—A union agreement covering some 20,000 employees of the Viscose Co., largest producer of rayon yarn in the country, has been won by the Textile Workers Organizing Committee of the Committee for Industrial Organization in the biggest inroad yet made in this previously non-union industry.The agreement provides for a general 10 percent increase in wages, adding more than $3,000 a year to the pay envelopes of the employees. Further increases in the lower pay brackets may be recommended by a joint committee which is to investigate and report on the subject.
A week’s paid vacation for all workers after one year’s service and a 40-hour, five-day week are also included in the pact. The contract is to run for one year, with a renewal clause and provision for 60 days’ notice for proposed changes.
Front page (for this issue) |
Home |
Text-version home