Carrefour SA’s 116 stores in Belgium were closed Saturday because of a strike over planned job cuts, said a company spokesman who put the resulting sales loss at the company-owned outlets at 14 million euros ($19 million).
Syrian Catholic Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of Mosul led over 1,000 Iraqi Catholics in a silent protest on February 28 to demand that the government act to put a stop to violence against Christians there.
Three Chinese death-row inmates who say they were tortured into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit have staged a hunger strike to draw attention to their case.
Thousands of adherents of the National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP) marched in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa Feb. 25 to protest the slaying of civil resistance leaders under what they still consider to be the “de facto regime” of President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo despite the change in government last month. The rally concluded in front of the National Congress building, where the march was blocked by a military cordon.
On Thursday, protesting Guatemalan teachers in Melchor de Mencos blocked the Melchor Bridge with their bodies to stop vehicular passage through the border between Guatemala and Belize. According to union president Zetina, who spoke on behalf of the teachers, they are demanding a 16% salary increase from their Government, in addition to proper renovation of school buildings.
Thirty-eight Jamaican women — all of them asylum seekers, some of whom have lived in the UK for as long as 10 years — are on hunger strike in holding facilities in the United Kingdom, in protest of their imminent deportation to Jamaica.
Tens of thousands of protesters calling themselves the Purple People took to the streets of Rome on the weekend in a sign of mounting opposition to the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The group, Il Popolo Viola, wore purple sweaters and scarves, Berlusconi masks or striped prison dress to protest against what they say is the undermining of Italian democracy by Mr Berlusconi in his battle with the country’s legal system.
Thousands of civil servants have marched through Athens, the Greek capital, as they went on a 24-hour strike in protest against the government’s plans to freeze wages, gather more taxes and reform pensions. The action left flights grounded and many schools and government offices closed, while public hospitals were expected to only take emergency cases. A two-million-strong federation of unions will also start a general strike Feb. 24.
Ikea offered Wednesday to meet with labor union leaders after strikes shut down several stores in France — but only if six workers end a sit-in at its Paris office first. Workers walked off the job starting Saturday in protest over pay.
In Iran, numerous opposition figures reported police harassment on Thursday, including the firing of tear gas and paint balls at protests in the capital Tehran.
Also in Tehran, workers of Tohid Tunnel gathered in front of the entrance of the tunnel they work for in protest of unpaid salaries. The gathering resulted in the closure of the connections between north and south Chamran Freeway from Milad tower to the entrance of Tohid tunnel.
Tomorrow, citizens of Florida and Destin will have the opportunity to show their opposition to oil drilling off Florida’s coastline. Hands Across the Sand encourages Florida residents concerned with pending drilling legislation to gather on beaches at noon and hold hands forming lines in the sand against oil drilling in coastal waters.
More than 150 inmates at a prison in Spuz, outside Podgorica, Montenegro launched a hunger strike last Wednesday, claiming guards are abusing them. This is the second such protest in ten days.
A large number of staff at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport, including security personnel, walked off the job yesterday and attended union meetings in protest against plans to outsource two employee canteens. Other employees who have downed tools include baggage handlers, the fire department, cleaning crews, technicians and drivers.
Immigrants held in a South Texas detention center have begun an indefinite hunger strike. Its the second mass hunger strike in a year. Some of the detainees say they’ll refuse to eat until they are released.
The Sheikh Yassin coalition organized a protest outside the Egyptian embassy in Paris on Saturday, demanding that Egypt stop building an underground steel barrier on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians took part in a protest in Gaza City yesterday, calling for the release of their loved ones imprisoned in Israeli jails.
In Phoenix, more than 20,000 people marched on Saturday to protest the indiscriminate attacks and race-based raids conducted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio against residents of Maricopa County. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Worker blockades of the Belgian breweries of Anheuser-Busch InBev, which began after the world’s largest beer maker announced it planned to cut 263 jobs out of its 2,700 Belgian workforce, were set to continue into a second week after the collapse of mediated talks last Thursday.
In India, leaders of all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Telangana Saturday began a hunger strike to demand that the central government immediately initiate the process for formation of the state.
Several thousand DeKalb County school employees dressed in black yesterday to protest the superintendent’s $15,000 raise, which comes after the board slashed their pay increases and implemented a one-day furlough.
Fujitsu workers in east Manchester, Warrington, Bolton and Crewe are taking part in a 48-hour walkout as part of the UK’s first ever national IT sector strike to protest redundancies, pay and pensions.
A pro-Kurdish demonstrator flashes a victory sign during a sit-in protest in central Istanbul on January 3. Hundreds of Kurdish women gathered in central Istanbul to protest against a ban on the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party.
More than 100 demonstrators were detained Tuesday evening at a rally in downtown San Francisco held by hotel workers who have been without new contracts since August, police and rally organizers said. Unite Here Local 2 President Mike Casey estimated 1,300 demonstrators took part in yesterday’s action.
More than 2,800 Chuquicamata and Mina Sur miners in Chile did not report to work on Monday to protest the wage and bonus package offered by Codelco, which is the world’s largest copper producer.
In Manhattan yesterday, about 100 people protested the detention of Jean Montrevil, a Haitian who has had a green card since 1986 but, owing to a drug conviction for which he served time in the 1990s, has been subject to supervision and was detained by U.S. Immigration authorities on December 30. Ten protesters were arrested after failing to heed a police order to disperse as they blocked traffic.
Angry farmers wearing broad-brimmed hats and cracking kangaroo-hide whips rallied outside Parliament in Canberra on Monday as one of their colleagues, sheep farmer Peter Spencer, entered his 43rd day on a hunger strike to demand compensation for Australian climate change policy.
A two-day strike by Kenya’s matatu minibus taxis, which had stranded thousands of commuters, has been called off after government intervention. Matatu operators agreed to go back to work after the government promised to deal with their grievances.
Several hundred women, many holding pictures of murdered relatives, took to the streets of Kabul to demand that President Hamid Karzai purge anyone connected to corruption, war crimes, or the Taliban from his government. In a rare display of men allowing women to lead, about 500 men followed the protest group in support. (Photo: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times)
Over 20,000 members of the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) are planning on taking part in strike action against listed retailer Pick n Pay today, to protest alleged racial discrimination at the company.
More than 400 Queensland Rail workers walked off the job in Rockhampton on Wednesday to protest against the State Government’s decision to publicly list the company.
On Tuesday, “Hungry for Justice at Vassar College,” began a hunger strike aimed at getting the school to reverse planned job cuts that have or will hit 13 support workers. Also, the Campus Solidarity Working Group held a sing-in at the main building for the same cause, that was followed by a vigil.
World No. 1 copper producer Codelco said an indefinite union worker blockade that began on Wednesday has halted mining activities at its massive Chuquicamata mine complex.
More than 250 people held a candlelight vigil outside the U.S. Military Academy in West Point on Tuesday night to protest President Barack Obama's decision to escalate the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan.
Other protests against the escalation of war in Afghanistan were held in New York, Minneapolis, and many other cities across the country.
A peaceful Boston University counter-protest of more than 200 people faced six picketers Tuesday afternoon from the Westboro Baptist Church, who held signs with messages such as “The Jews killed Jesus,” “God hates fags” and “Thank God for AIDS,” outside the Hillel House.
An undocumented Mexican immigrant, who has been living in the United States for 20 years, recently began a hunger strike in front of the White House, calling for President Obama to pass comprehensive immigration reform by the end of the year, as he’d promised.
Finnair canceled more than 20 flights Wednesday as ground staff extended a walkout to protest outsourcing of cargo and baggage services and the transfer of hundreds of workers.
Daimler workers in Germany have walked out in protest at the company’s plans, announced on Wednesday, to assemble Mercedes C-Class models at its US plant in Alabama and shift German production from Sindelfingen to Bremen.
Striking workers at a local supplier forced Fiat to halt production at its Termini Imerese plant in Sicily for a second day Thursday, to protest against the company’s decision to stop making cars at the plant after 2011.
PHOENIX — A night aimed at discussing First Amendment issues with the controversial Maricopa County Sheriff ended with protesters disrupting the session and Sheriff Joe Arpaio walking out. … After 45 minutes of questioning Monday night, a group of protesters started to sing and chant in the back of the room, interrupting Sheriff Arpaio’s response to questions about illegal immigration. … ”Is this legitimate?” the protesters sang, to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody, a popular ballad by Queen.
In his 16-year reign, Joe Arpaio has faced heated commentary both locally and nationally for his abuses. Nothing has changed. A Q&A would not have accomplished much in this case. Sometimes depriving someone of a platform says much more than a tightly worded comment at the event microphone.
A coalition of groups led by DC activists staged a sit-in inside the John A. Wilson Building and a mock funeral procession outside the White House on World AIDS Day to call attention to the suffering of those afflicted with the disease. Two were arrested for squatting in front of mayor’s office.
An 81-year-old activist fasting as “a prolonged act of mourning” of the destruction of the environment in West Virginia was arrested Tuesday at the state capitol for an outstanding warrant stemming from an incident back in October when he and a group of seniors marched to protest mountaintop mining.
“America’s Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, whose cruelty we profiled in July, will be making fewer arrests on behalf of America.
Last month, the US Department of Homeland Security restricted Arpaio’s 287(g) contract. Named for section 287(g) of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act, the 287(g) program authorizes police officers of participating agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents. Under the new contract, Arpaio’s deputies may no longer make immigration arrests in the field, only among inmates in his jails.
Nevertheless, Arpaio appears poised to continue harassing communities of color with his notorious, racially profiling “sweeps.” That’s not surprising given previous investigations showing Arpaio would rather use limited public safety funds to round up taxpaying people instead of promptly replying to 911 calls.
In restricting Arpaio’s ability to make immigration arrests, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) apparently responded to numerous complaints, including a high-profile letter to President Obama criticizing the entire 287(g) program. In a feat of organizational prowess, the letter was signed by over 500 advocacy groups organized by the National Immigration Law Center.
But stripping Arpaio of his full contract does not go far enough. Rampant abuses of police power across the U.S. (such as in Cobb County, Georgia, as the ACLU documented) indicate that Arpaio was not just a bad apple, but that 287(g) is a racist and counterproductive program that should be terminated altogether.
Tens of thousands of South Korean workers rallied Saturday to protest the government's plan to begin implementing contentious labor laws. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
More than 30,000 workers of bakery shops across the Kashmir Valley went on indefinite strike on Saturday morning, protesting against the authorities’ cruel polices against them.
Hundreds of teachers from private high schools in this western China city called a strike this week to protest low salaries and deplorable working conditions.
In Philadelphia, the strike by SEPTA workers that had paralyzed much of the region since last week ended yesterday morning with a signing of an agreement by SEPTA officials and leaders of Transport Workers Union Local 234.
Several hundred Transit Workers Union members and their supporters in New York marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall Wednesday to protest the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s refusal to implement a new contract established by arbitrators earlier this year.
A general strike paralyzed Royal Mail on Thursday, with unions launching a phased walkout involving up to 120,000 workers in a protest against job cuts. The Communication Workers Union said the walk off would last until Saturday.
In the UK, Iraqi refugees locked up in Brook House and Colnbrook detention centres have been on hunger strike since October 19, to protest against their inhumane treatment and demand their immediate release.
In India, members of various trade unions in the state of Manipur, employees and workers staged a sit-in-protest on Wednesday against the price hike of commodities, downsizing of employees and irregular release of salaries to employees and workers.
People in Rio De Janeiro posed as dead bodies at Copacabana beach in a demonstration after a man was found dead in a shopping cart in the city slum.
An estimated 1,000 protesters, many of them students from Kabul University, marched through the streets of the Afghan capital on Sunday in an anti-US protest stemming from a reported incident in which US soldiers bombed a mosque and burned a copy of the Qu’ran. Police in Kabul opened fire to disperse the crowd. Similar protests took place last week in other Afghan cities.
Waving signs that declared “Northern Secondary Jail,” around 100 students protested outside Northern Secondary School last Thursday in a bid to teach the Toronto District School Board a lesson about allowing police inside their school.
Eight people were issued citations by Chicago police after sitting in the middle of a Near West Side street during a protest rally in front of the Fisk Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, in Pilsen on Saturday.
At Dartmouth, more than 30 students held a sit-in outside of College President Jim Yong Kim’s office last Thursday to bring attention to the need for sustainability on campus. The sit-in, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, ended when students spoke with Kim and presented him with a letter suggesting changes to the College’s current approach to sustainability.
This ridiculous “illegal alien” Halloween costume was being sold at a bunch of major retail stores recently until the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights took issue last Friday. Since then, companies including Target, Walgreens and eBay have removed the costume from their inventory. According to the Associated Press:
Target has said it sold the costume online only and that it was posted by accident though it did not meet the company’s standards. eBay said it asked sellers to remove the costume because it “does not allow items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance, or promote organizations with such views.”
This actually seems like a pretty remarkable step for immigration advocates, who have fought to erase the hateful and inhuman term “illegal alien” from our nation’s vocabulary for quite some time and to mostly little success, thanks to xenophobic mainstream talking heads like Lou Dobbs. Unfortunately many local stores are still selling the costume, which also paradoxically comes with a green card. If that doesn’t reveal this country’s hateful ignorance toward immigrants, I don’t know what does.
Some people have argued that the activists can’t take a joke and that if anything this costume is making fun of the antiquated terminology we use for undocumented immigrants. But only someone who has no idea what the undocumented face in this country—such as indefinite imprisonment—would take issue with the outcry over this costume.
It’s not just some effort to make Halloween costumes more PC. If that were the case then activists would be attacking the many other costumes that play on Hispanic stereotypes. And to be honest, they’d probably have a case with something like this donkey riding Mexican.
More than 100 people gathered outside the Bank of America’s California Street location in San Francisco on Monday to 
This ridiculous “illegal alien” Halloween costume was being sold at a bunch of major retail stores recently until the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights took issue last Friday. Since then, companies including Target, Walgreens and eBay have removed the costume from their inventory. 
