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<div><ol><li><font size="3"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Robert Scheer on Apple's Chinese Labor Controversy </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WF%2B0yfi8ceX5/tgoDSx9yDdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Apple’s China Comes Home to Haunt Us</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Jim Lair Beard on Workers and the Wealthy </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=MVSeLY2FImgQO4XYa2fyEzdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Waiting on the Wealth Hoarders</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">William Pfaff on Protests in Greece </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=c3NnWnMlVBR45S9Im3co6jdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Greek Unrest the Result of Suppressed Democracy</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"</span> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15951?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=12" target="_blank" style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">How the 1% Destroys Jobs and the Real Heroes are Everyday People</a> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15942?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=28" target="_blank" style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Occupy Wall Street Calls for May Day General Strike</a> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15923?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=30" target="_blank" style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Daily Show Takes on Right-Wing Insanity on Women in Combat: Should Women Expect to Be "Paid Slightly Less, Raped Slightly More?"</a> </b></font></li><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font size="3">Labor Seminar to Cuba April 21 to May 5, 2012</font></h2></li><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font size="3">Forum on ALBA: in Chicago- March 22-23, 2012 </font></h2></li><li><font size="3"><b><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 17px; ">Congress Acts to Extend Aid to Jobless and Payroll Tax Cut</span> </b></font></li><li><font size="3"><b><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 17px; ">Occupy Joins the Fight Against Private Prisons</span> </b></font> </li></ol></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><span class="ecximgborder" style="line-height: 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: left; "><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=uxqBSPzxd/wAH8RUTtP6ZjdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://www.truthdig.com/images/eartothegrounduploads/foxconed1_eng-160.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="160" height="110" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); "></a></span><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: bold; ">Robert Scheer on Apple's Chinese Labor Controversy</strong><br>"<a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WF%2B0yfi8ceX5/tgoDSx9yDdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Apple’s China Comes Home to Haunt Us</a>" -- It seems China’s labor practices are now to be admired rather than scorned, lest the American economy decline further in the new world order. <br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><span class="ecximgborder" style="line-height: 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: left; "><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=EAzfmXl5AtXaIJXojMHnYDdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://www.truthdig.com/images/eartothegrounduploads/AP10012809355-160.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="160" height="110" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); "></a></span><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: bold; ">Jim Lair Beard on Workers and the Wealthy</strong><br>"<a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=MVSeLY2FImgQO4XYa2fyEzdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Waiting on the Wealth Hoarders</a>" -- You are not a patriot if you prize profits over people. You are a hoarder of wealth. <br><br clear="all"></p><div style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 14px; ">>> SPECIAL REPORTS:</div></div><div style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 14px; "><br></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><span class="ecximgborder" style="line-height: 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: left; "><a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=c6JM4rszwXoeyTUjzRP/HDdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://www.truthdig.com/images/eartothegrounduploads/hadesbreaksloose_160.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="160" height="110" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); "></a></span><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="font-weight: bold; ">William Pfaff on Protests in Greece</strong><br>"<a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=c3NnWnMlVBR45S9Im3co6jdGI8WWiLLx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(166, 66, 28); cursor: pointer; ">Greek Unrest the Result of Suppressed Democracy</a>" -- Denied a referendum on crippling austerity measures, Greeks demonstrated Sunday night that if they couldn’t express their opinions one way, then they would do it in another. <br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 415px; "><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15951?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=11" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_picture1_1283717341.png_95x68" alt="" width="112" height="81" align="left" border="0" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "></a></td><td><span style="color: white; ">-</span></td><td valign="top"><p class="ecxheadline3" style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; "><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15951?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=12" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">How the 1% Destroys Jobs and the Real Heroes are Everyday People</a></p><p style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); ">Mitt Romney & Co. want us to think that making the rich richer will create jobs. That's not true. And it's not the American way. <a class="ecxreadmore" href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15951?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=13" target="_blank" style="line-height: 11px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.1em; "><strong style="font-weight: bold; ">READ MORE</strong></a></p><p style="line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); ">By Lynn Parramore / AlterNet</p><p style="line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); "><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15942?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=28" target="_blank" style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Occupy Wall Street Calls for May Day General Strike</a><br style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); ">By Nathan Schneider | Waging Nonviolence</span>
</div><div><span style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); "><br></span></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/15923?akid=8264.16102.LdFuNi&t=30" target="_blank" style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Daily Show Takes on Right-Wing Insanity on Women in Combat: Should Women Expect to Be "Paid Slightly Less, Raped Slightly More?"</a><br style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); ">By Sarah Seltzer | AlterNet</span>
</div><div><span style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); "><br></span></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-size: 10pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, helvetica; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_ac8a121c-65fd-4063-9c08-e55d365b4144" style="line-height: 17px; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_18708881-c37a-451f-82ca-b11347774d94"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_d62fa8a1-7df9-4a61-aaf2-4dc34c45874e"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_567c93bc-2bba-43b3-aee3-7488bda36eec"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_68998ed2-4372-4744-97e1-1d5f94e2dbe5"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_ed8cf2ba-e6e3-4a0e-a357-d06675f6e565"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_38ae4118-e6dc-4d66-b3e9-aa0f8591b700"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_05f43d76-563c-406e-ba72-0ffff98359f2"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_3e1a0bca-b8ee-44cd-b22f-544ad161d984"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_4152107a-23c8-42a7-b179-6aeac077a3f1"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_a7e4ffe8-5a60-49a4-a668-776c11a33461"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_412f2d55-e38a-4836-9f81-4aad88052b4d"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_9f4a3b96-4661-4066-af93-025e2056286a"><font size="4" style="line-height: normal; "><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; ">US/Cuba</strong></font><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000"><font size="4"><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; "> </strong></font><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; ">Labor Exchange Seminar to Cuba</strong><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; "> </strong><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; ">April 2<font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" style="line-height: normal; ">1</font> to May 5,</strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; ">201<font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif" style="line-height: normal; ">2</font></strong><strong style="line-height: 23px; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; "><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="line-height: normal; "> Two Weeks</font></strong></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></font></div><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></font><p style="line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><blockquote style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, helvetica; "><div><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; "><div><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_ac8a121c-65fd-4063-9c08-e55d365b4144"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_18708881-c37a-451f-82ca-b11347774d94"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_d62fa8a1-7df9-4a61-aaf2-4dc34c45874e"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_567c93bc-2bba-43b3-aee3-7488bda36eec"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_68998ed2-4372-4744-97e1-1d5f94e2dbe5"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_ed8cf2ba-e6e3-4a0e-a357-d06675f6e565"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_38ae4118-e6dc-4d66-b3e9-aa0f8591b700"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_05f43d76-563c-406e-ba72-0ffff98359f2"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_3e1a0bca-b8ee-44cd-b22f-544ad161d984"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_4152107a-23c8-42a7-b179-6aeac077a3f1"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_a7e4ffe8-5a60-49a4-a668-776c11a33461"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_412f2d55-e38a-4836-9f81-4aad88052b4d"><font size="2" face="arial" color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 10pt; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_9f4a3b96-4661-4066-af93-025e2056286a"><font size="4" style="line-height: normal; "><font face="Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif"> <font size="2" face="Helvetica"><font size="4">21th anniversary of the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange</font>.</font><br style="line-height: 23px; "><br style="line-height: 23px; "></font></font><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_2_90261d8c-7f71-4ee9-9c8e-fac3a367f2ef"><div id="ecxygrp-mlmsg" style="font-family: Arial, '\d\ahelvetica', clean, sans-serif; "><div id="ecxygrp-msg" style="line-height: 1.22em; z-index: 1; "><div id="ecxygrp-text" style="line-height: 1.22em; font-family: Georgia; "><div style="line-height: 1.22em; ">US/Cuba Labor Exchange </div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; "> </div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">P.O. Box 39188 Redford, MI 48239 Phone/Fax: (313) <font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">675 4026</font> E-mail: <a href="mailto:laborexchange%40aol.com" style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">laborexchange@<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; "></a><a href="http://aol.com/" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">aol.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><a href="http://laborexchang/" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://laborexchang</a><wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">e.blogspot.<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">com/2008_<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">01_01_archive.<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">html <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Join the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange to participate in the Cuban Labor Seminar to Cuba Saturday April <font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">21</font>to <font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">Saturday</font> May <font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">5</font>, 201<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">2</font> (one week $1,250)</div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; "> </div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; "><font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">Two week of Cuba</font> Labor Seminar-<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">On Cuban education</font><br style="line-height: 1.22em; "> </div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Uniting America's Working Class and Increasing its Influence</div></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; font-family: Georgia; "><font size="2" style="line-height: normal; "><font face="Arial">Promote people to people contact</font><br style="line-height: 17px; "></font><div style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">7<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">3</font> Anniversary of the CTC Central Workers of Cuba<br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">5<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">3</font> Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution<br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">This delegation will be in Havana, Cuba from Saturday April 2<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">3</font> to Thursday May <font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">5</font>, 201<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">1</font> Our hosts will be the CTC Confederation of Cuban Workers. We will visit hospitals, schools, and worker centers<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; "> and participate at the May day celebration</font><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">The price of the trip will include: round trip airfare (from Cancun, Mexico to Havana, Cuba to Cancun, Mexico) hotel (double occupancy), 2 meals per day (breakfast and dinner), internal transportation to and from the program, translation, visas and the program.* The price of $1,650 for two weeks. is good until the end of March, The price may increase for any application made after that date. <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "> </div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; ">A group of trade unionists and workers are exercising their constitutional right to travel to Cuba, to gather educational information and to have an exchange of ideas with other workers of the world. These rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution and by the International Human Rights declaration of the United Nations.<br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">"...one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.<br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">"Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental. The freedom to learn. Has been bought by bitter sacrifice. And whatever we may think of the curtailment of other civil rights, we should fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn." - W.E.B. DuBois, "The Freedom to Learn." (1949)<br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">All questions MUST be completed. PLEASE PRINT neatly and/or type. <br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">The original application must be submitted, with a copy of your passport attached and $300 deposit made payable to the Labor Exchange. All information will be kept confidential <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Legal Name (as it appears on the passport):__<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_______ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Address:____<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">City________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_____ State ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_ Zip ?Code_______<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">____ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Phone/Fax ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">________e-<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">mail: ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">______ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Union/Organization_<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">___ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">How/from whom did you learn about the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">______ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Passport#___<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">___ Expiration Date________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Date of birth_______<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">_ Place of birth ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">______ ____________<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; ">___ <br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Please mail your application ?to: <br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">US/Cuba Labor ?Exchange <br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">P.O. Box 39188 <br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Redford, MI 48239 <br style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Phone/Fax:(313)<font size="2" style="line-height: normal; ">675 4026 </font>mailto:<a href="mailto:laborexchange@aol.com" style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; ">laborexchange@<wbr style="line-height: 1.22em; "></a><a href="http://aol.com/" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">aol.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em; "><div style="line-height: 17px; text-align: center; "> </div><div style="line-height: 17px; text-align: center; "><em>All of the work we do is volunteer run, consider making a <strong style="font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://action.dreamactivist.org/r/A/NTI4MQ/MjQwODk/0/0/aHR0cDovL2FjdGlvbi5kcmVhbWFjdGl2aXN0Lm9yZy9kb25hdGUv" target="_blank" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">donation</a></strong> to support us.</em></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></div></font></div></blockquote></div></blockquote><p style="line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </p><p style="line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; ">The U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange conferences in Tijuana, Mexico focus on theses themes specifically related to workers. Please welcome Cuban Ambassador Bolanos at this excellent and informative forum! For more information on the Tijuana Conferences, bookmark: laborexchange.blogspot.com</div><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: medium; "><hr><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia; color: navy; font-size: 16pt; ">Forum on ALBA: <br></span></b></div></span></font><hr style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 27px; font-family: Georgia; color: navy; font-size: 16pt; ">Latin America and the Continental Integration of the Peoples</span></b></div><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; ">The achievements of ALBA-TCP</span><span style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; "> (a</span><span style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; ">lba-tcp.org) and the integration of the continental social movements<br> </span></div><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); right: auto; ">Thursday, March </span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; "><span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); ">22</span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; "> and Friday, March </span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); right: auto; ">23<br>5:00-8:00</span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); right: auto; ">pm DePaul University<br>Schmitt Academic Center (SAC) Room </span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; "><span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); ">154</span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); "> <br></span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); right: auto; ">2320</span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(165, 0, 33); right: auto; "> N. Kenmore, Chicago<br><br></span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt; ">Thursday, March </span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; ">22</span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt; ">:<span style="right: auto; "> </span><br></span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Conference on the Social Movements of the ALBA-TCP Nations</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">Luther Castillo</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">, S</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); right: auto; ">pokesperson for the Honduran People’s Front for</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">National Resistance; </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); right: auto; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><font color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; "> </font></span><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12pt; ">co-coordinator of Cuba’s Latin American School</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><font color="#000000" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; "> of Medicine's international </font></span>team of physicians working in Hait</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">i after the earthquake</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Rummie Quintero,</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; "> LGBT activist, Venezuela</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">José Aguilar</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">, Free Software Movement, Venezuela</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Amenothep Zambrano</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">, Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Jose Pertierra</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">, </span><strong style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; font-weight: normal; ">represents Venezuelan government in the case to extradite Luis Posada Carriles</span></strong></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt; "><br>Friday, March </span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; ">23</span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 23px; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt; ">: <br></span></u></b><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Conference with Diplomats of the ALBA-TCP Nations</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Francisco Campbell Hooker, </span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">Nicaragua Ambassador in Washington</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><u style="right: auto; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Jorge Bolaños Suárez,</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; "> Chief of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">Angelo Rivero,</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; "> Presiding Officer of the Embassy of Venezuela in Washington</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 5.75pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 5.75pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">Freddy Bersatti Tudela</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; right: auto; ">Presiding Officer of the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in Washington</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><span style="font-family: Georgia; "> </span><b style="font-weight: bold; "><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; ">Amenothep Zambrano,</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; "> Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "> </div><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><font color="#00007f" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; "><b style="line-height: 20px; font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 14pt; ">Organized by: DePaul University, General Consulate of Venezuela in Chicago,</span></b></font></div><div align="center" class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><font color="#00007f" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; "><b style="line-height: 20px; font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="ES-VE" style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 14pt; ">Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5, La Voz de los de Abajo.</span></b></font></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><font color="#00007f" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; "><b style="line-height: 20px; font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="ES-VE" style="right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> </span>For more information:</span></b><span style="line-height: 20px; right: auto; "> <strong style="font-weight: bold; "> Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza <<a href="mailto:ven.chicago@gmail.com" style="font-weight: inherit; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">ven.chicago@gmail.com</a>>; Stan Smith, </strong><a href="mailto:uscubachi@yahoo.com" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; right: auto; "><span style="color: windowtext; right: auto; text-decoration: none; "><strong style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><font color="#00007f" style="line-height: normal; right: auto; ">uscubachi@yahoo.com</font></strong></span></a><strong style="font-weight: bold; "><font color="#00007f" style="line-height: normal; ">, 773-376-7521</font></strong></span></font></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="ES-VE" style="right: auto; "> </span></b><b style="font-weight: bold; "><span lang="ES-VE"> </span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="ES-VE" style="right: auto; ">What is ALBA?</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><span lang="EN" style="right: auto; "> The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Trade Treaty of the People (ALBA-TCP) presently consists of</span> Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Nicaragua.</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> “ALBA’s fight is for a second true independence for Latin America and Caribbean; to free ourselves from poverty and illiteracy and achieve development for our people,” explains Amenothep Zambrano, Executive Secretary of ALBA.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> ALBA is a trade agreement that mutually benefits all parties based on the strengths and weaknesses of each of the members. It<span lang="EN" style="right: auto; "> builds Latin American unity and solidarity through mutual economic development, fair trade, joint development projects and South-South coordination. This is a radical break neo-colonial history based upon imperial exploitation, the fiction of a free market, and domination by the United States.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white; text-align: justify; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white; text-align: justify; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span lang="EN" style="right: auto; ">Why was ALBA created?</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white; text-align: justify; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "> </div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> ALBA was created as a direct response to the attempt by the United States to impose the Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty on the entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean. Implementation of the FTAA would have imposed intensified neo-liberal economic policies, increasing crushing levels of poverty, unemployment and foreign-imposed debt.</span></div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); right: auto; "> </div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro formally created ALBA on Dec. 14, 2004, at the celebration of the 180th anniversary of the victory of Ayacucho, the day Simón Bolívar’s army won independence from Spain</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; ">The need for alliances such as ALBA is demonstrated by the more than 50-year-long war waged by the United States against Cuba, the 2002 failed U.S.-coup attempt against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the 2009 U.S. coup against the democratically-elected pro-ALBA president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, the 7 new U.S. military bases in Colombia, and the failed U.S. coups in Bolivia and Ecuador.<span lang="EN">ALBA countries have recently condemned foreign intervention in Libya and Syria, and have recently strengthened their ties with Iran.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white; text-align: justify; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "><b style="font-weight: bold; right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; ">What Has ALBA Accomplished?</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white; text-align: justify; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> ALBA initiatives include: the ALBA Bank,</span> funding the different development projects in their countries, working towards independence from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other exploiting global institutions;<span style="right: auto; "> the creation of 12 public companies to strengthen national economies in agriculture, infrastructure, telecommunications, industrial supplies and cement production; PetroCaribe, which greatly increases access to energy resources; and a diverse array of health and education programs.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "> </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> ALBA’s social achievements include the elimination of poverty for 11 million people in only five years, through free universal education, food programs, and health programs. Unemployment has dropped to 8.7%, lower than in the U.S. Literacy rates have risen from 84% to 96%; now Bolivia and Nicaragua join Cuba and Venezuela in being free of illiteracy. Infant mortality rates have been reduced by 32%; life expectancy increased to 73 years. </span><span lang="EN" style="right: auto; ">1,899.808 people have had their vision restored or improved through Mision Milagro.</span><span lang="EN" style="right: auto; "> 2,294,666 handicapped persons have received health care service for their problems. </span>Hundreds of their countries students are enrolled in ALBA’s Latin American School of Medicine to develop still more critically-needed medical workers.</div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); right: auto; "> </div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); right: auto; "><span style="right: auto; "> The leading official of the Venezuela Embassy recently noted that U.S. media routinely demonizes ALBA and its programs as threats to its own system. He disputed that, saying that ALBA and its programs are “not threats but opportunities taken by Latin American and Caribbean countries to develop their own people with their own resources….We have changed and we aren’t going back. If U.S. representatives understand this, we will be able to go forward, if not, we will defend what we have created!”<br>---------------------------------------------------------------------</span><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: small; "><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 10pt; ">Participate in a: V Union Meeting " Nuestra America" at Mexico city, Mexico</font><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">- May 19 to May 27, 2012.</font></span><div style="padding-top: 25px; padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; "><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_1_61713f0c-bd78-446d-beb7-00bf4142ba0c"><font face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family: arial, '\d\ahelvetica'; "><br><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_2_8b5a085b-001e-47b7-9048-cff1f9162c42" style="line-height: 17px; font-size: 10pt; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_2_14543a60-6cb8-47d3-992f-294acf49e28d" style="line-height: 17px; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; "><div id="ecxAOLMsgPart_2_d6ff21d8-f99d-4570-b6c8-c58af4bd1442"><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><div style="line-height: 17px; "><font size="7" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 10pt; "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; ">US/Cuba Labor Exchange </strong></font><br><br><strong style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; ">P.O. Box 39188 Redford, MI 48239 Phone/Fax: (313) 254 523 9074 E-mail:</strong><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><a href="http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/laborexchange-n" target="_blank" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 10pt; ">laborexchange @ </a><a href="http://aol.com/" target="_blank" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 10pt; ">aol.com</a><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><br><br><font style="line-height: normal; "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; "><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Join the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange to participate in a: V Union Meeting " Nuestra America" at </font>Mexico City<font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> - </font></strong></font><font size="3" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 10pt; "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; ">Uniting America’s Working Class and Increasing its Influence<br></strong></font></div><div style="line-height: 17px; "><font size="3" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 10pt; "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; ">Raising the level of struggle and Unity of the Worker Movements </strong></font><br><br><strong style="font-weight: bold; "><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">A Labor delegation to </font>Mexico City<font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">, from Saturday May 19 to Sunday May 27, 2012 </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Labor Seminar-United for a New America, We will participate in V Union Meeting " Nuestra America"</font><div style="font-size: 10pt; "> </div></strong></div></font></div></div></font></div><div style="line-height: 17px; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black"><div style="line-height: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; "><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size: 10pt; ">The price of the trip will include: round trip International airfare (</span>Los Angeles, California to Mexico City<font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">), hotel (double occupancy), breakfast, Dinner, internal transportation to and from the program, translation, and the program.* The price of $1,350 is good until the end of March, The price may increase for any application made after that date. </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">A group of trade unionists and workers are exercising their constitutional right to travel to Mexico, to gather educational information and to have an exchange of ideas with other workers of the world. These rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution and by the International Human Rights declaration of the United Nations.</font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><br><strong style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; ">All questions MUST be completed. PLEASE PRINT neatly and/or type. <br>The original application must be submitted, with a copy of your passport attached and $300 USDollars<br>deposit made payable to the Labor Exchange. All information will be kept confidential</strong><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><br><br><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Legal Name (as it appears on passport):_____________________________________________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Address:__________________________________________________________________________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">City_______________________________ State ______________________ Zip Code___________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Phone/Fax _____________________________e-mail: ____________________________________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Union/Organization__________________________________________________________________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">How/from whom did you learn about the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange ___________________________ </font><br><br><br><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Passport#_________________________________ Expiration Date_________________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; ">Date of birth__________________________ Place of birth __________________ _______________ </font><br><font size="2" class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "> </font><br><strong style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; ">Please mail your application to: <br>US/Cuba Labor Exchange <br>P.O. Box 39188 <br>Redford, MI 48239 <br>Phone/Fax:254 5239074</strong></div></font></font><div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black" style="line-height: normal; "><font size="2" face="arial" color="black">mailto:<a href="http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/laborexchange-n" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">laborexchange @ </a><a href="http://aol.com/" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">aol.com</a></font></font></div></div></font></div></span></font></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </div></div><div style="line-height: 20px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">1) Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice<br>2) Judicial Developments in Lockout Rights<br><br><br><br>1) Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice<br><br>Posted By admin On February 9, 2012 <br><br><a href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/02/09/locked-out-workers-to-embark-on-journey-for-justice/#more-69201" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/02/09/locked-out-workers-to-embark-on-journey-for-justice/#more-69201</a><br><br>Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us<br>this.<br><br>More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co.<br>locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the<br>Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two<br>months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more<br>than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week,<br>Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in<br>Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500<br>workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in<br>Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home<br>workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at<br>the Daily Kos [1] notes, "For evidence of a war on<br>workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout."<br><br>Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times wrote [2]<br>recently that the number of strikes has dropped<br>precipitously in the past two decades, while lockouts<br>now "represent a record percentage of the nation's work<br>stoppages." Greenhouse quotes professor Gary Chaison of<br>Clark University, who says:<br><br>This is a sign of increased employer militancy.<br>Lockouts were once so rare they were almost unheard of.<br>Now, not only are employers increasingly on the<br>offensive and trying to call the shots in bargaining,<br>but they're backing that up with action--in the form of<br>lockouts.<br><br>Unions and our allies are fighting back against this<br>war on workers. Beginning Feb. 22, locked-out workers<br>from American Crystal Sugar Co. and Cooper Tire &<br>Rubber Co. will start a 1,000-mile journey across<br>America's heartland. They will visit six states in six<br>days, taking part in rallies, fundraisers and other<br>actions with local union members and allies. Locked-out<br>workers will take their message to supporters--and call<br>out the perpetrators of the war on workers.<br><br>From Fargo to Findlay: A Journey for Justice is a joint<br>project of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers<br>and Grain Millers (BCTGM) and the United Steelworkers<br>(USW).<br><br>The Journey will begin with a rally in Fargo, N.D., and<br>will make stops in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and<br>Indiana, before concluding in Findlay, Ohio. For<br>workers making the Journey, the message is simple: They<br>want to keep their union, and they want to go back to<br>work.<br><br>As Paul Woinarowicz, a BCTGM member who has worked for<br>Crystal Sugar for 34 years, told Greenhouse, the<br>lockout was:<br><br>just another way of trying to break the union....It was<br>just like a knife stuck in your heart.<br><br><br><br>The following is a section from a longer piece by Ellen Dannin<br><br><br>FROM DICTATOR GAME TO ULTIMATUM GAME... AND BACK AGAIN:<br>THE JUDICIAL IMPASSE AMENDMENTS<br><br>Ellen Dannin<br><br><a href="http://www.law.upenn.edu/search/search.aspx?q=ellen+dannin" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.law.upenn.edu/search/search.aspx?q=ellen+dannin</a><br><br><br>C. Judicial Developments in Lockout Rights<br><br>An employer's right to lock out is an economic weapon<br>that, in many ways, seems to be equivalent to the<br>employee's right to strike. Both exert economic<br>pressure to force a bargaining partner to agree to an<br>offer. Unlike strikes, however, lockouts exist in a<br>difficult tension with the prohibitions of S 8(a)(1)<br>and (3). A lockout literally punishes employees for<br>engaging in rights protected by S 7 and for the union<br>activity of collective bargaining. Lockouts now tend to<br>last for years. 5' Because the employer controls the<br>start and the end of the lockout, a lockout is close to<br>a discharge if long-term. In contrast, striking to<br>exert economic pressure does not violate the law, so<br>employees have a legal right to choose whether and when<br>to strike or to end a strike and return to their jobs<br>(assuming they have not been permanently replaced).52<br>No statute protects an employer's right to lock out<br>employees.<br><br>Taken further, an employer that locks out its employees<br>for years because they refuse to agree to the<br>employer's proposal and then hires new employees to do<br>their work has effectively fired them. Firing employees<br>for refusing to agree to an employer's offer should<br>lead to a finding that the employer violated S 8(a)(3)<br>for discharging workers for their union activities; S<br>8(a)(1) for interfering with, restraining and coercing<br>workers for engaging in concerted activities to provide<br>mutual support to one another with regard to their<br>wages, hours and other terms and conditions of<br>employment; and S 8(a)(5) for bargaining in bad faith<br>by using a technique that violated workers' legal<br>rights.53<br><br>In the early days of the NLRA, the courts recognized<br>-that lockouts are not equivalent to strikes and could<br>easily violate the purpose of the law. If a lockout has<br>the potential to infringe on NLRA rights, the ability<br>to replace locked out workers certainly does. In its<br>most destructive form, an employer could lock out<br>workers and replace them, but never end the lockout.<br>The resulting discharge for union and concerted<br>activities also could allow an employer to destroy the<br>union's power to represent the workers. In the past,<br>the courts were thus careful to severely circumscribe<br>the right to lock out. More recently, however, courts<br>have dramatically expanded the employer's right to lock<br>out. Courts have moved away from permitting employers<br>to lock out only defensively, that is, to lock out only<br>to protect a multi-employer bargaining group from being<br>whipsawed when a union strikes only one employer in the<br>group or to preempt a union's ability to choose a time<br>to strike that would most injure the employer.5 4 In<br>1965, employers were allowed to lock out offensively as<br>well, that is, to place economic pressure on a union to<br>agree to an employer's offer.55<br><br>A parallel course of judicial decisions has removed<br>restrictions that once prevented employers from hiring<br>replacement workers during a lockout. Before 1986,<br>employers were allowed to use only temporary<br>replacements and then only in defensive lockouts. In<br>1986, the Reagan NLRB decided that employers could use<br>temporary replacements during offensive lockouts as<br>well.56<br><br>The most dramatic judicial rewriting of the NLRA and<br>legalizing of what is in essence a violation of S<br>8(a)(3) came in the D.C. Circuit's 1997 decision in<br>InternationalPaperv. NLRB.57 The court allowed the<br>employer to permanently displace 51 the workers it had<br>locked out. 9 In International Paper,6* the parties<br>began bargaining for a successor contract in early<br>January 1987. On February 20, the employer presented<br>its "best and final" offer and said it would lock out<br>the employees if the union did not accept it. On March<br>7, after the offer was rejected, International Paper<br>(IP) unilaterally implemented its proposal and then<br>hired temporary replacements through BE&K. 6 On March<br>21, it locked out its Mobile, Alabama employees, to<br>prevent what it said would be whipsawing.62<br><br>During the lockout, IP gave the union a proposal<br>stating that IP could, "'at its option, contract out<br>any or all mill maintenance work on a temporary or<br>permanent basis."'63 The unions insisted they were<br>willing to bargain about the subcontracting proposal.<br>To have done otherwise would have put them at impasse<br>and given the employer the ability to implement its<br>final offer, but there was no doubt that the union was<br>strongly opposed. One representative said, "'[D]o you<br>think that we are going to give up 280 jobs? We want to<br>stay alive. You're going to get us killed.' '64 On<br>August 11, IP declared an impasse and implemented a<br>permanent subcontract of the maintenance work, thus, as<br>the court of appeals put it, "fulfilling its bargaining<br>obligations on the issue., 65<br><br>The court reached this conclusion because it looked<br>only at each discrete action by IP, deracinated from<br>its legal context, and concluded that, since each step<br>was sanctioned by law, so too must be the whole act.<br>Thus, past judicial decisions said employers have the<br>right to lock out employees, so the lockout was<br>legal.66 IP was also permitted to hire temporary<br>replacements to fill the locked out workers' jobs. IP<br>had the right to propose that it have the right to<br>subcontract this bargaining unit work permanently and<br>solely at its discretion. The union could have acceded<br>to the employer's demand, but had it done so it would<br>have committed institutional suicide. The employer must<br>have known that the union could never agree to this<br>term and that therefore the parties would certainly and<br>quickly reach an impasse. When the union refused to<br>agree, IP declared that the parties were at impasse<br>and, as it had the legal right to do, implemented the<br>subcontracting proposal and then subcontracted the<br>work, permanently as far as the union knew. With that<br>act, the employer de facto discharged the unit<br>employees, destroyed the bargaining unit, and ended the<br>union's status as the unit's representative.<br><br>Had the court looked at all these acts in the<br>aggregate, it would have seen that what IP had done was<br>discharge employees solely for not agreeing to the<br>employer's offer, an act that violates S 8(a)(3) and<br>(5). Even had the court failed to consider the express<br>language of the NLRA, it might have asked how<br>permitting an employer to pursue this course of action<br>furthers the Act's goals of promoting equality of<br>bargaining power and collective bargaining.<br><br>Indeed, had the court thought about the parties'<br>actions and their meanings, it would have seen that IP<br>was in no danger of a strike. The union had said it<br>would not strike despite the parties' failure to reach<br>an agreement. A thoughtful court ought to have found<br>this curious and, had it considered the matter, would<br>have understood that the union could not strike because<br>it was afraid IP would permanently replace the<br>strikers. The court would have also seen that the union<br>faced an employer to which the law had given the power<br>to dictate an offer that the union had no power to<br>reject and to use the most extreme measures to enforce<br>that power. The statute said that the dictator game had<br>ended in 1935. The courts say otherwise.68<br><br>____________________________________________<br><br>PortsideLabor aims to provide material of interest to<br>people on the left that will help them to interpret the<br>world and to change it.</pre><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></pre></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><font style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; ">Congress Acts to Extend Aid to Jobless and Payroll Tax Cut</strong></font><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">John H. Cushman Jr. and Robert Pear, The New York Times News Service: "With members of both parties expressing distaste at some of the particulars, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious political and policy fight." </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=50uE5x%2B07Gpnx%2BgdzyusEUbXDdQTs97w" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font color="#cc0000" style="line-height: normal; ">Read the Article</font></a><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span>
</div><div><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></span></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><font style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="line-height: 17px; font-weight: bold; ">Occupy Joins the Fight Against Private Prisons</strong></font><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Rania Khalek, Truthout: "The National Prison Divestment Campaign was organized less than a year ago by Enlace, a coalition of US and Mexican low-wage worker centers and unions, to pressure corporations to divest from private prisons, whose chief investors include some of country's largest financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, both of which have provoked the ire of the Occupy movement for their role in tanking the economy, among other things." </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pOfXyBBOip3ic9cSlTQz9EbXDdQTs97w" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font color="#cc0000" style="line-height: normal; ">Read the Article</font></a><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span>
</div><div><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></span></div><br><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><font size="2">Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monitory gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research and educational purposes. This is in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. section 107..<br></font><a href="http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html" target="_blank"><font color="#0066cc" size="2">http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html</font></a></font></div>
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