August 06, 2003
Headlines Produced by Nell Abrahm
Israel Releases 334 Palestinian Prisoners
Maher Hawash Pleads Guilty
India’s Supreme Court Rules Govt Employees Can’t Strike
UK to Fingerprint Sri Lankan Visitors
Vigil in DC to Commemorate Hiroshima
Episcopalians Approve Gay Bishop
58th Anniversary of Hiroshima Bombing
58 years ago today the Japanese city of Hiroshima was destroyed when the US dropped the world’s first nuclear bomb on a civilian population. In remembering the event today, Hiroshima’s mayor harshly criticized the U.S. for pursuing new nuclear weapons technology, saying Washington was threatening world peace with its apparent worship of “nuclear weapons as God”. Meanwhile as people across the country and around the world remember the victims of that tragedy with peace memorials, Miles Ashdown brings us this story on the fight for world peace in Hiroshima.
Hate Crimes on the Rise
Immigrants rights and civil liberties groups held an emergency meeting in Queens, NY last night to denounce a hate crime committed on Sunday against a Sikh family and to plan a united response to the rising incidence of hate crimes around the country. Deepa Fernandes has more.
Korean Worker’s Victory
There was a major victory for organized labor in Korea today. After a crippling 47 day strike 40,000 workers at Hyundai motors reached an agreement with the automaker that cuts the work week at Hyundai from six days to five while giving them nearly a 9 percent pay raise. The victory comes amid major controversy surrounding the suicide of the Hyundai heir who jumped from his window on Monday after Korean investigators spent three 12-hour sessions questioning him on his alleged role in shifting $500 million to North Korea. In a major concession as part of the workers victory, Hyundai agreed to give its workers a formal say in where the company invests. From Seoul, Aaron Glantz and Ngoc Nguyen have the story.
AFL-CIO Meetings and Rallies
his week, while the AFL-CIO Executive Council met in Chicago, rank-and-file union members rallied to challenge the Executive Council on issues of leadership democracy, accountability and corruption. The Rank and File AFL-CIO Reform Movement — which represents union auto workers, Teamsters, hotel workers and others who are committed to rebuilding a militant, fighting labor movement in the United States — is also calling on national union leadership to support a platform that opposes US war policies and advocates for immigrant and undocumented workers. Chris Geovanis reports from Chicago.
IT Jobs Moving Overseas
A new report paints a gloomy picture of the future of high-tech jobs in the US. The world’s largest high-tech consulting firm, Gartner, Inc., predicts that one out of every ten I.T, or Information Technology jobs in the US could shift to lower-cost facilities overseas by the end of next year. For I.T. workers already grappling with the collapse of the “dot-com” economy, the news couldn’t come at a worse time. Martha Baskin has more.
