The United States’ Obscene Wealth Inequality

By Gilbert Mercier and Dady Chery Haiti Chery In the past 33 years, the United States has become a study in blatant and obscene contrasts between the rich and poor. Although FDR’s New Deal helped to lift the country out … Continue reading →

GDP Measures the Wealth of Bankers

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Libya’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 108 percent in 2012. By contrast, the growths of Japan and other developed countries, as measured by their GDP, have stagnated at values below three percent and sometimes negative. If you are shaking your head, thinking there must be a mistake in the World Bank’s computations, think again.

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Hotel Workers Fight Back: Launch Global Boycott of Hyatt, Class-Action Suit Against Temp Agency

By Staff, UNITED HERE | Jenny Brown, Labor Notes. The hotel housekeepers union UNITE HERE gathered in Washington, D.C. on Monday, July 23, 2012, to launch an international boycott of Hyatt hotels under the banner “Hyatt Hurts.” The workers complain of injurious workloads and an employer who seeks to subcontract their jobs. In addition a class action suit is being launched on behalf of 3,000 Indiana hotel workers who estimate a liability of $10 million and claim that temporary agency employer Hospitality Staffing Solutions (HSS) regularly stole their wages and conspired with the hotels to blacklist them and deny them permanent jobs.

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Happy Bastille Day! Ah, ça ira!

By Fred E. Foldvary, The Progress Report | Ah, ça ira!: Lyrics by Ladré, music by Bécourt, Chansons historiques de France, YouTube | Edith Piaf, YouTube. July 14 is celebrated as Bastille Day in France. The Bastille was a prison in Paris that the people stormed and seized in 1789, starting the French Revolution that toppled King Louis XVI and the aristocracy. (Lyrics and videos included)

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Economic Crimes of Dictatorships: Argentina

By Marcela Valente, IPS | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. More than 600 businesspeople lost their properties to the Argentina dictatorship of 1976 to 1983. “they took everything we had, our seven companies and the company plane. And it’s a miracle they didn’t kill us,” says Alejandro Iaccarino, a prosperous dairy industry businessman during the 1970s who is suing for millions of dollars in reparations.

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U.S. Labor Law ‘a Scam’

By Josh Eidelson, In These Times | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A turning point in the power of American labor was the passage of the National Labor Relations Act, and especially its 1945 Taft-Hartly Act provisions, which recognized the right to collective bargaining but banned mass picketing and secondary boycotts. The NLRA is examined in light of the growing disregard for unions by corporate bosses and the increasingly successful partnerships of labor with the Occupy movement.

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In Major Victory for Occupy, JP Morgan Chase Stampeded Out of Buffalo NY

By Eric W. Dolan, Raw Story | Occupy Buffalo. Buffalo, New York USA City Comptroller Mark J. F. Schroeder announced that the city will pull $45 million from an account with JPMorgan Chase, following concerns raised by members of the Occupy Buffalo movement.

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Workers and Students Beat University-Funded Hotel-Flipping Firm

By David Moberg, In These Times. Overcoming the classic town-gown social divide, students at various ivy-league universities have formed labor-action movements to win major victories for hotel workers in their fight against appalling working conditions at university-financed hotels.

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Nurses Lead Protest Against NATO, For Financial Transactions Tax

By David Moberg, In These Times | Haiti Chery. At a Friday, May 18, 2012 rally in Chicago to kick off no-NATO protests, nurses wore Robin Hood attire to demand a financial transaction tax, also called the Robin Hood tax.

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56 Cities in Vermont U.S. Vote to Challenge Corporate Personhood

By Aquene Freechild, Common Dreams. At least 56 cities in Vermont voted nearly unanimously, Tuesday March 6, 2012, for resolutions that call on the state legislature and congressional delegation to support a constitutional amendment that specifies money is not speech and corporations are not people.

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Chicago Window Plant Occupiers Win Reprieve, Former CEO Faces Felony Fraud Charges

By Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes | Melissa Harris, Chicago Tribune | Alternet | Labor Beat, YouTube. Members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110 (UE) won another reprieve for a Chicago window factory after they re-occupied the plant they famously held in 2008, this time with support outside from Occupy Chicago.

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Valentine’s Day Occupy Oakland Celebration of Community Love

By Staff, Occupy Oakland | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Occupy Oakland will march through downtown Oakland on Tuesday Feb 14, 2012, Valentine’s Day, with flowers, flower petals, bubbles, glitter, confetti, to share with each other and the community. In the event of oppressive police presence, participants will hug and kiss.

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Nicaragua’s Antidote to Violent Crime | El antídoto nicaragüense contra la inseguridad

By Danilo Valladares, IPS, with Jose Adan Silva. Crime rates are much lower in Nicaragua than in its northern neighbours El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, because Nicaragua follows a Cuban model of policing that is focused on community and trains its police to serve the society. (English | Spanish)

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