Feature Archives

The work stoppage at all 29 West Coast ports on May 1, 2008 by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) was an historic turning point for the U.S. labor movement. For the first time in more than seventy years, a major U.S. trade union led marches and a system-wide strike on May Day. And for the first time ever, it was not for economic reasons, but for the political demand to end the disastrous and debilitating U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The indynewswire show airs weekly on Freak Radio, Friday mornings 10-12 noon, broadcasting news and opinion from independent media worldwide, focused on indymedia sites but also drawing from other websites. On May 9th, danielsan interviewed Katherine Redmond of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes (NCAVA) on the De Anza Rape Case, closed last week by the CA attorney General Jerry Brown's office, citing lack of evidence. More than a year later, Katherine Redmond discusses this and other cases nationwide.

In San José and all across the United States, marches for immigrant and workers' rights are reviving the long-dormant American tradition of May Day. While legislation for comprehensive immigration reform has stalled in Congress, demonstrators are poised to take the struggle to the next level. From coast to coast, over a hundred thousand marched on May 1, 2008 to demand respect and recognition as workers who contribute so much to building the United States.

The Federal Communications Commission met at Stanford University on April 17 to hear discussion on the future of the Internet. Scores of local Internet users and activists spoke out for 90 seconds each on network neutrality and other concerns. After packing an east coast public hearing with hired seat-warmers, Comcast, AT&T and other industry heavyweights did not show up this time around.

A community march and rally took place in San Jose on March 8th to ask for mercy for Joshua Herrera, who faces 25-years-to-life for a first-time offense. His family believes that such a sentence would be far too harsh for the driver of a car whose passengers confronted a man who was physically abusing another of the defendants in the case. Joshua stayed in the car and was not part of the confrontation, while the intended victim escaped unharmed. Protesters gathered outside of the Hall of Justice at 10:30 on Saturday morning.

On February 7th, more than 100 UNITE HERE Local 19 service sector employees and community activists protested across the street from Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View to support workers' rights. The rally was held adjacent to the site of Google's future four-star hotel and conference center. Despite repeated requests, Google has refused to address concerns about whether future hotel workers will be able to freely choose to join a union.

On January 1st, activists slated, sang, and demonstrated at the downtown San Jose Ice Rink where Jeppesen Dataplan displays a corporate banner. The company handles the logistics for the CIA’s torture flights and continues to be a sponsor of the city's ice rink, despite the fact that the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors recently went on record as supporting the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act and mentioning Jeppesen by name as implicated in the outsourcing of torture.