"Our union is not in a hurry, we’re not rushing it,” says Eduardo Peña, lead organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers’ (UFCW) campaign at the Smithfield Foods hog-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina...

Canada Post’s CEO,Moya Greene, took office last year with the announcement that she wanted a “no surprises” relationship with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Greene’s first major public decision was to close the mail sorting plant in Québec City, eliminating hundreds of jobs. CUPW’s 54,000 members and the local community weren’t surprised—they were shocked...

“Operation Transparency is about whose vision of the future of the public postal system is shared by the public,” said CUPW President Deborah Bourque. “Ours, which sees an expanded service responsible to the communities in which they operate without using taxpayer dollars; or theirs, which sees profits only?” Photo: CUPW.

Canada Post’s CEO,Moya Greene, took office last year with the announcement that she wanted a “no surprises” relationship with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Greene’s first major public decision was to close the mail sorting plant in Québec City, eliminating hundreds of jobs. CUPW’s 54,000 members and the local community weren’t surprised—they were shocked.

More than 60,000 teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, members of the teachers union (SNTE) Local 22, ended their 44-day strike on July 5 without having won their demands for higher wages and the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz...

Despite an attack by riot police, teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca occupied Oaxaca City’s central square for weeks to press their demand for a wage increase. Photo: Clifton Ross.

More than 60,000 teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, members of the teachers union (SNTE) Local 22, ended their 44-day strike on July 5 without having won their demands for higher wages and the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.

Colorful murals, mostly of people in struggle, splash across the walls of Mactumactza, the school featured in the opening scenes of the documentary Granito de Arena. The students we see walking the grounds of the rural public college, located in the Mexican state of Chiapas, are studying to be school teachers in the low-income and indigenous communities in which they were raised...

Granito de Arena: Directed by Jill Friedberg, Corrugated Films, U.S./Mexico 2005, 62 minutes. $25 personal use; $250 institutional use. Email Corrugated Films or call 206/851-6785.

Colorful murals, mostly of people in struggle, splash across the walls of Mactumactza, the school featured in the opening scenes of the documentary Granito de Arena. The students we see walking the grounds of the rural public college, located in the Mexican state of Chiapas, are studying to be school teachers in the low-income and indigenous communities in which they were raised.

The United Farm Workers (UFW) and their allies are urging a boycott of Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi wines. The union hopes that by leaving these labels on the shelf consumers can help workers at Charles Krug Winery win the right to return to work.

The winery, which has been operated by the Peter Mondavi family for three generations, terminated all its workers on July 7 after talks with the UFW did not result in a new contract. The company will now outsource its field operations to an independent management company.

A major factor in the breakdown between the company and the union was the reluctance of the Mondavi workers to be subjected to “physical capacity tests.” The company claims this is a health and safety measure while the workers feel it is a way to oust older workers.
Many of the company’s employees have long service records; some have been toiling in the Mondavi fields for over 25 years.

The Interfaith Worker Justice Alliance (IWJ) is encouraging congregations to incorporate labor issues into their Labor Day weekend services. One issue that IWJ hopes to highlight is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing problems of poverty and hardship on the Gulf Coast.

IWJ also champions humane immigrants’ rights policies and advocates for increases in the minimum wage. IWJ believes the religious community can play a significant role in these and other efforts to improve the lives of working people.

As part of its efforts to strengthen ties between labor and religious communities, IWJ can provide information on services that are being organized in your area. Additionally, if you would like to organize a service at your place of worship, IWJ has ideas and advice. They can also put you in touch with a special Labor Day speaker in your area. For further information visit IWJ’s website at www.iwj.org or call Will Tanzman at 773-728-8400.

The Iraqi Freedom Congress and US Labor Against the War (USLAW) are asking for a show of solidarity for Iraqi oil workers. The Iraqi regime has frozen the bank accounts of the General Union of Oil Employees, which represents over 23,000 oil and gas industry workers in Iraq.

The regime’s actions against GUOE are consistent with other recent anti-union measures. According to GUOE and USLAW, the Iraqi government has gone so far as to declare all union activity illegal, saying it will soon put forward a new law regulating trade union activity.

Despite the freezing of its assets the union is planning a strike. The oil workers are demanding that all contracts that have been imposed upon them (as well as other Iraqi workers) be abolished.

Advocates of workers’ rights, including Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work, are urging mobile phone users to support Cingular and pledge not to support Verizon.

The reason is simple. Cingular supports its workers’ right to join unions by honoring neutrality and card check agreements with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). CWA currently represents about 17,000 Cingular employees.

Verizon, on the other hand, has resisted efforts by its employees to organize with CWA and has refused to honor its neutrality agreement with the union. Workers seeking to unionize have been laid off, harassed, and subjected to “captive audience” meetings. According to American Rights at Work, the company has also closed a call center where union interest was strong.