Joe Hill Watch

"Don't Mourn, Organize"

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Union Librarian begins the Joe Hill Watch today--April 20, 2006. This will honor workers killed or wounded on the job. In some cases as in Mexico, workers have been killed fighting for their rights. In other cases workers have died because of unsafe work conditions. By driving out unions management all over the world are responsible for unsafe working cnditions. Each man or woman who dies at work is a light that goes out.We begin the Joe Hill Watch at the time of organizing for the May 1, 2006 Immigration Protests. It is a shocking reminder of the suffering and hardships of our brothers and sisters in Mexico that the Mexican police have killed and wounded striking workers on the eve of the U.S. protests.

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May 11, 2007. JHW. 12.

CHILE: FORESTRY WORKER KILLED

Last week, 26 year old Rodrigo Alexis Cisternas, a forestry worker in Chile was shot three times by police, and died. He was killed during a strike involving 7,000 workers. His union (and the global union federation representing forestry workers, the BWI) are asking all of us to take a moment and send a message to the Chilean government demanding an
investigation of this crime, and to ensure that workers' rights are respected.
April 11, 2007. JHW.11
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Santiago Rafael Cruz, an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), was found bound and beaten to death this morning in the group’s Monterrey, Mexico, office.

FLOC opened an office in Monterrey next to the U.S. Consulate there in 2005 to help members coming to North Carolina as guest workers in processing their visas, to fight corruption in the recruitment process and to develop leaders and train members. The office has been the target of break-ins with files and equipment destroyed.

Cruz, 29, who worked for FLOC for more than four years in the United States, had headed up the Monterrey office for less than a month, says Leticia Zavala, a FLOC organizer.

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April 4, 2007. JHW. 10
Carlos Fuentealba.
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine schoolteachers went on a one-day nationwide strike on Monday after a high school chemistry teacher was killed by police last week during a protest over pay. In the capital, Buenos Aires, workers at banks, hospitals, government offices, and public transportation joined the strike for one hour.Carlos Fuentealba, a 41-year-old teacher, died on Thursday, a day after he was hit in the head by a tear gas cartridge when police broke up a teachers' protest and roadblock in the southern province of Neuquen.
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March 23, 2007. JHW.9
Remember the 15.

Second anniversary of the tragedy at Texas City, and to unveil the Remember the 15 Bill. We will assemble on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin from 12:30 to 2:00 P.M.
Location:
South Steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin
1100 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX

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February 10, 2007. JHW.8
Weekly Toll: Death In The Workplace w/News & Udates


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October 19, 2006. JHW. 7.

Union Activist Jesús Marino Mosquera Murdered in Colombia

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June 22, 2006. JHW. 6.

Many Workers Killed Week of June 19/2006.

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June 10, 2006. JHW.5.

A foundry worker was killed Thursday when he fell into an industrial pit and was covered in molten steel, authorities said.

Gordon Hickman, 41, was operating a massive ladle near the rim of the 35-foot pit just before noon when he fell into it, moments before the 2,600-degree steel was poured in, said Battalion Chief John Whitlatch of the Canton Fire Department.

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May 20, 2006. JHW.4.

5 Killed in Harlan Mine Explosion. HOLMES MILL - Five coal miners died and a sixth crawled to safety early May 20, 2006 after an underground explosion ripped through a Harlan County coal mine in Kentucky's worst mining disaster in 17 years...United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts urged state and federal mine officials to "redouble their inspection and enforcement activities, starting now.""This tragedy only compounds what has already been a horrific year in America's coal mines," Roberts said in a statement.

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May 6, 2006. JHW.3.

The roof of a condominium project partially collapsed, burying and pinning workers in quick-drying concrete that ultimately crushed them. The site was One Bal Harbour featuring 185 apartments priced from $1.75 million to more than $12 million.

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April 21,2006. JHW.2.

Akron Beacon Journal-.
WHEELING, W.Va. - A foundry worker who was electrocuted had recently been forced to leave his job Mittal Steel's Weirton mill through a buyout offer as part of downsizing.

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April 20, 2006. JHW.1.

Michoacan, Mexico. Mexican police shot dead two workers at a steel plant operated by Villacero SA, Mexico's biggest producer of steel bars and wire rod, during an attempt to break a three-week-old picket line, the union said.About 600 police this morning shot tear gas and opened fire on workers at the company's steel plant in the southern state of Michoacan, killing two and wounding dozens more, the Mexican Mining Federation said in an e-mailed statement. The workers' families burned buses and blocked roads in response, the union said.