November 29, 1999
The Russian government has begun a de facto military occupation of Chechnya — deploying 100,000 troops in and around the republic. The Kremlin, which originally claimed it needed to create a “buffer zone” against “Islamic terrorists,” is more openly stating that its aim is to retake the Chechen republic, which won a degree of autonomy in the 1994-1996 war.
The Yeltsin regime is trying to staunch the rising resistance to Russian chauvinism among the oppressed nations in Caucasus and to crush their fight for self-determination. The political instability in the region has alarmed Washington and other imperialist powers. The U.S. rulers have counted on the Yeltsin government to curtail social unrest in the region.
November 29, 1974
NEW YORK — Defying a United Parcel Service threat to close down its New York area operations, striking members of Teamsters Local 804 voted overwhelmingly to reject UPS’s “final offer.” The strike by 4,500 Teamsters has had an increasing impact, especially with the approach of the Christmas mailing season.
The key issue is UPS’s demand to replace full-time workers with low-paid part-timers. Driver Louis Bernard told reporters, “We can’t give in. Right now they are talking about part-time for inside workers. Next it will be drivers.”
Postal workers are in solidarity with the strikers. A delegation from the Metro Area Postal Union joined with strikers for a Nov. 14 demonstration outside the main UPS depot in Manhattan.
November 28, 1949
The “Victory Convention” of the CIO in Nov. 1948 hailed the election of Truman and a Democratic majority in Congress as a guarantee of new advances by labor. It was expected that labor would share in the fruits of “victory” through new social legislation, repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act and gaining substantial economic concessions from the employers.
A year later the position of the workers is worsened. The workers are beset by unemployment and declining income. The corporations are restoring the old pre-union conditions in the plants.
The workers will demand independent political action through their own party and program, which will free them for action against Big Business monopoly and all its political agents, Democratic and Republican.