Newspaper dispute ends with settlements
Detroit's Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions announced Monday that contract ratification votes by two Teamsters locals brings to an end the five-and-a-half-year labor dispute.

Other unions who were involved in the strike and subsequent lockout had previously settled their contract with the Detroit News and Free Press. A statement about ending the union boycott of the two papers was expected after our paper went to press.

"These newspapers will soon try and begin to earn the trust of Metro Detroit,
which is a cherished commodity earned by newspapers across the country," said Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions Chairman Al Derey. "And hopefully they will begin that process of building trust - and healing the hurt bestowed on this community - by expeditiously calling back workers on the recall list and doing the utmost to consider the reemployment of terminated strikers, many of whom have unfair labor practice charges rendered in their favor."

Building trades featured in calendar
Detroit and Michigan's rich labor history will come to life in a new wall calendar issued by the Michigan Labor History Society. The calendar includes some rare photos of Detroit building trades workers.

Produced in observance of Detroit's 300th birthday in 2001, the 16-month calendar, "We built this city," is available at Book Beat in Oak Park and at Paperbacks Unlimited in Ferndale.

Local unions can order bundles of the calendar with their own imprint, at a special price. More information is available from Dennis McCann at IBEW Local 58, (313) 963-2130.

Proceeds will help fund a major downtown labor legacy monument and interpretive walkway planned as a gift to the city. The monument is planned to honor, inform, and inspire viewers with its look at Detroit's history and vision for the future. Surrounding the monument will be a landscaped area highlighting labor's contributions to the Detroit community.

Plans call for the display to be placed along Jefferson Avenue with a related kiosk in the lobby of Cobo Center or the UAW-Ford Training Center.

Supreme Court halts recount, Gore
The U.S. Supreme Court slammed the door shut Dec. 12 on efforts to count every vote in the Florida presidential count. In the opinion, five justices said, "We reverse the order of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering the recount to proceed."

In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens said, "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law."

On Dec. 13, Vice President Al Gore directed his Florida recount committee to cease operations, and he conceded the election. In a statement after the ruling, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the decision "by a deeply divided Supreme Court is a real national tragedy that, in the words of Justice Stevens, 'effectively orders the disenfranchisement' of voters in our presidential election.

"Despite our virulent objections to the flaws in the voting process, the AFL-CIO will work with Governor Bush to bring our nation together and address the many important concerns of America's working men and women.

"The first order of business for the next president is to take bold and effective steps to ensure that in no future election do tens of thousands of Americans have their voices stilled in the most important civic act of our democracy," Sweeney added.