I remember in 1981 when the Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) went on strike it was during the strikes in Poland that eventually brought down European communism. Those PATCO employees were fired by President Reagan. I still have a button that says “The right to strike-Only in Poland. The reason I raise this is we are seeing history repeat itself. While protests are breaking out all over the Middle East we are seeing an attack on our own citizens in Wisconsin. This is an assault on all working people by the far right and their funding sources in the business community. All working people should fight back in any way they can to stop this. Labor missed an opportunity in 1981. Let’s not miss another.
The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is urging people to wear red on Tuesday. It’s the least we can do.

Dear friends,

On October 29th, 2007 we go back into bargaining with The Hyatt Corporation. We will be bargaining for our second Union contract and fighting to set a standard in the city for what it means to be a hotel worker.

We will demand that standard be a fair wage, full health care coverage for us as individuals and increasingly more coverage for our children and spouses, the ability to retire comfortably in addition to job security, being free from the harassment of unfair disciplinary action, and more control over our workplace.