The struggle of the Teacher's Union and APPO (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca) to oust the corrupt governor of Oaxaca State, and to construct a new, more justice social order, continues, despite serious repression. In the summer of 2006, members of Section 22 of the Teacher's Union, other members of the working class, students, indigenous people, peasants and others, took control of much of Ciudad Oaxaca, and other parts of Oaxaca State, in an effort to oust the corrupt and brutal governor - Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. What had started as a teacher’s strike for better wages and improved funding for schools turned into a community wide rebellion and lead to the formation of APPO. As the working class of Oaxaca, in the face of government neglect and incompetence, took power into their own hands, a new future for the people of this long improvised part of Mexico seemed a real possibility. But by the fall of 2006, backed a federal government under the control of a illegitimate pr...

UPDATE: VIEW THE LABOR BEAT VIDEO ON THE CYGNUS STRIKE VICTORY AT... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8bW-6kIIts After a two week strike, the immigrant workers at the Cygnus soap factory in the Chicago suburb of Riverdale, have convinced the management not to fire workers because of Social Security “no match” letters. Cygnus management had threatened workers who had asked for a wage increase, with dismissal, using Social Security “no match” letters as an excuse. As a result, the vast majority of the factory’s over 120 workers walked off the job on July 30th, demanding that all employees keep their jobs. The Cygnus workers were not union, but strong organizing by worker leaders in the plant ensured few crossed the picket line. They have since joined the IAM (International Association of Machinists). Today it was announced that management had conceded to the workers demands and the workers agreed to return to work next Monday. Proving what immigrant workers can accomplish when the fight ...

After working without a contract since April 1, 2007, NABET Local 41 newsgathering crews, editors and some producers held a protest in front of ABC Channel 7 studios in Chicago on August 15. Disney, which owns ABC, is trying to freeze the pension plan, dismantle the seniority system, offer wages less than COL, and other anti-worker measures. View the Labor Beat video on the protest here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDLvNWbvmhQ Video produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is affiliated with IBEW 1220.Views are those of the producer, not necessarily of IBEW. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. For info: mail@laborbeat.org, http://www.laborbeat.org/ . 312-226-3330. For more videos, go to Google Video or YouTube, search "Labor Beat".

-- FLOC Organizer - Cástulo Benavides Rodríguez - Outside FLOC's Monterrey Office, recently renamed the Santiago Rafael Cruz Justice Center (top) and Santiago Rafael Cruz (bottom) FLOC organizer who was murdered last April. In this era of increased globalization and growing migrant labor, most unions are talking about organizing internationally. But making cross border organizing something real and concrete is a whole other story. FLOC (Farm Labor Organizing Committee) is putting rhetoric into practice. FLOC has setup an office in Monterrey Mexico, from which they can organize, educate and reach out to farm workers in their hometowns in Mexico. Their efforts to protect guest workers from exploitative labor recruitment agencies, has earned them the respect of many Mexican migrant laborers, and the ire of those that prey on migrants. FLOC organizers believe labor recruiters were behind the brutal murder of FLOC organizer Santiago Rafael Cruz in their Monterrey office last April. I v...

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and labor activists around the world are demanding the release Mansour Osanloo, President of the Tehran Bus Workers’ Union, and Mahmoud Salehi, a founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers’ Association and of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers’ Organisations. Salehi was arrested last April and Osanloo in July in a major effort by the Iranian government to squelch the labor movement in Iran. Reports indicate that both men are in ill health. On Thursday August 9th, trade union activists in Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Iran, Finland, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Trinidad, the USA (including Chicago) and Yemen, held rally's demanding the release of Osanloo & ...