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Democracy

Honduran President Castro Warns Of Destabilization Attempts

Honduran President Xiomara Castro, on April 21, warned of a conspiracy against her government by the same conservative sectors that staged a coup d’état against former President Manuel Zelaya in 2009. President Castro alerted the Honduran people that these sectors are now trying to destabilize the current democratically elected government. “There is a conspiracy that is being formed and this has to be made clear to the Honduran people. Just look at who are the figures that are coming out, the same ones that contributed to a coup d’état in 2009. These same figures, who enjoy impunity, today are once again trying to destabilize a government elected by the people,” President Castro told local media following the event celebrating the 92nd anniversary of the Honduran Air Force (FAH).

UFCW Convention: Reformers In Motion

The United Food and Commercial Workers is one of the country’s largest unions, with 1.2 million members in the U.S. and Canada, two-thirds of whom work in grocery stores. Like other unions, it has lost membership over the last decade, but it has managed to double its assets. Reformers in the union are asking why. The UFCW caucus Essential Workers for Democracy has proposed a slate of amendments to expand rank and file power in the union and put resources into organizing and strike action. The proposals will be considered at the union’s convention starting today in Las Vegas. The convention is held every five years.

Resisting A Two-Tiered Legal System In Majority-Black Jackson, MS

July 1, 2023 will fall on a Saturday. In Jackson, Mississippi, it’s likely to be a very hot day, or a rainy day, or both. It’s also the day when House Bill 1020 will take effect, and that the whole of the City of Jackson will be no more — at least with respect to the administration of its criminal legal system. Instead, the city will be partitioned into unequal halves: a Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID) and an unnamed nowhere land. The bill was introduced and shepherded by Rep. Trey Lamar, a Republican and chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, assisted by the house speaker who, exercising his prerogative, sent the bill there instead of to the Judiciary Committee.

West Asia Mistrusts Washington’s ‘Commitment’ To Democracy

An overwhelming majority of citizens in 13 countries across West Asia and North Africa say they do not trust US claims about “encouraging the development of democracy” or about “improving the economic lot of people,” according to a poll released on 7 April by US analytics and advisory company Gallup. Respondents in Iran, Tunisia, Palestine, and Afghanistan were the most distrustful about Washington’s ‘democratic’ intentions. Only in Kuwait and Morocco did the negative perception of Washington drop below 50 percent of respondents. Washington’s commitment to self-determination also faces great skepticism among adults in the nations surveyed, as 35 to 80 percent of respondents agree that the US does not allow people in their region to fashion their own political future.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting (To Win)

You’ve done it. Your team of rank-and-file members has run for union office and won. In a few short weeks or months you will leave the truck, classroom, or hospital floor behind and join the staff of your local union. You’ve made promises to the members, and you don’t want to let them down. Back in 2009 I was in exactly this situation. I had been a member of Teamsters Local 814, packing art in a warehouse and filling in as shop steward. When incompetent leaders plunged our local into financial insolvency, our slate decided to run for union office. Soon we won our election and I found myself principal officer of our local union.

The US Blockade Of Cuba Is A Violation Of Democracy

The only criteria to be invited to Biden’s so-called Summit for Democracy on March 29 and 30 was to be a lapdog of US imperialism, not a real democracy. Instead of uplifting true people’s democracies which have dynamic, mass participation — such as those in Cuba and China — Biden’s summit promoted the overthrow of these governments. As Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said, “The US Democracy Summit was selective and virtual, as virtual as its own ‘democracy,’ a reflection of its own international moral isolation.”

Housing Crisis Pushes Once-Thriving Co-op Movement Back Into Spotlight

When Eric Tuck lost two jobs at separate times in the 1980s, the Greenhill housing co-operative where he lived provided emergency assistance to him and his family. First, Tuck was laid off from National Steel in Hamilton, Ont. Two years later, he was laid off again from Firestone Tire Factory, only six months after he’d taken the job. Tuck was the sole breadwinner back then, raising two young children with his partner. Thrown out of work, he was forced to go on unemployment insurance, which was not enough to supplement his lost wages. But his co-op came through—both times—with a subsidy to reduce his housing charge. The Greenhill co-op was more than just an economic lifesaver.

Organizations File Complaint Against Texas’ Takeover Of Houston Schools

Civil rights organizations have filed a federal complaint on behalf of several parents against the Texas Education Agency because of its plan to replace the Houston Independent School District’s democratically elected school board, claiming the move takes away the rights of Houston voters of color to choose their own school officials. The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice Friday morning, with a claim by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Houston NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice that the state’s takeover violates the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

Argentina Celebrates 40 Years Of Democracy And Human Rights

Last week, Argentina celebrated 40 years of democracy and human rights by hosting the Third World Forum of Human Rights (March 20-24) scheduled in tandem with its National Day of Remembrance for Truth & Justice. The Forum closed with a march and rally on March 24 which marked 47 years since the US-backed military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government on March 24, 1976, and installed the bloodiest dictatorship in the history of #Argentina remained in power until 1983.

Auto Workers Convention Lurches Towards Reversing Concessions

The brand-new leaders of the United Auto Workers are making ambitious demands but face stiff organizing challenges as they seek to jump-start the union, ahead of a momentous contract expiration this September at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). At the union’s Detroit convention this week, hundreds of delegates–often local leaders–signaled they were less ready than the members to welcome the reform leadership. But there was unanimity that it’s time to finally recoup the divisive contract concessions granted in the 2007-2009 recession. Under those contracts the then-ailing automakers were allowed to hire new workers at close to half pay and no pension.

How Rank-And-File Labor Organizers Can Transform Unions

For the past five years, Tevita Uhatafe of TWU Local 567 has dedicated himself to advancing the labor movement. Known affectionately as “Mic Guy,” Uhatafe has traveled from coast to coast to rally in solidarity with striking workers in multiple states. Uhatafe entered the union movement as an outsider without family connections, but has nevertheless risen as a rank-and-file leader. He is now the Vice President of the Texas AFL-CIO. Vince Quiles, lead organizer of Home Depot Workers United, sits down with Tefita Uhatafe for an organizer-to-organizer conversation on their respective stories, the barriers impeding deeper solidarity in the labor movement, and why unions so desperately need rank-and-file leadership today.

Hostile Takeover Of Houston School District By Texas Education Agency

The Network for Public Education strongly objects to the takeover of the Houston Independent Public School District (HISD) by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). We believe this is a cynical political move to disenfranchise the residents of Houston by yanking control of the governance of their schools from their elected board and giving governing power to political appointees. Network for Public Education Executive Director Carol Burris states, “This decision is clearly a calculated move to put Houston schools under the Governor’s thumb. In the past few years, the elected Board, Superintendent, educators, and students of HISD have made great strides in school improvement.

It’s A New Day In The United Auto Workers

The machine will churn no more. Nearly 80 years of top-down one-party rule in the United Auto Workers are coming to an end. Reformer Shawn Fain is set to be the winner in the runoff for the UAW presidency. As of Thursday night, Fain had a 505-vote edge, 69,386 to 68,881, over incumbent Ray Curry of the Administration Caucus. Curry was appointed by the union’s executive board in 2021. There are around 600 unresolved challenged ballots. (This story will be updated with the final vote tally when we have it.) “By now, the writing is on the wall: change is coming to the UAW,” said Fain. “You, the members, have already made history in this election, and we’re just getting started. It’s a new day in the UAW.”

French Government Bypasses Parliamentary Vote

On March 16, the French government invoked the emergency provision Article 49.3 of the Constitution in the parliament and passed a controversial pension reform, bypassing the parliamentary vote. The decision announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to avoid voting on the pension reforms envisaged in the ‘law of amending financing of Social Security for 2023’, provoked ire from progressive legislators of the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (NUPES) coalition as well as large sections of civil society. Spontaneous protests have already broken out across the country condemning the forced approval of the bill.

Mexico’s Fourth Transformation And Why The US Wants To Stop It

It is this democracy that must be defended now: not, as media outlets would have you believe, from AMLO, but from those who would weaponize the electoral issue to justify a disastrous foreign intervention, in whatever form it might ultimately take. Although the 4T has not fulfilled everyone’s expectations, it has, in four years, created a governing movement that is taking control of its energy resources (including the nationalization of lithium) and is adopting a role of regional leadership in Latin America: two sins the United States has not historically forgiven anywhere.
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