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Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) both said Friday that they would not cross the picket line as workers at Marymount Loyola University go on strike to demand a fair collective bargaining agreement--even if it means missing next week's Democratic presidential debate at the university. (Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
As the hospitality workers' union Unite Here Local 11 said that next week's Democratic presidential debate could be threatened by stalled contract negotiations for workers at Loyola Marymount University, which is hosting the debate, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led the Democratic field in announcing they would be on the side of the workers if a deal is not reached in the coming days.
Warren tweeted early Friday afternoon that she would "not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate," and Sanders tweeted a similar message shortly after, with a CBS reporter then confirming Sanders was also willing to miss the debate next Thursday in order to support university workers.
\u201c.@UniteHere11 is fighting for better wages and benefits\u2014and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1576258663
\u201cI stand with the workers of @UniteHere11 on campus at Loyola Marymount University fighting Sodexo for a better contract. I will not be crossing their picket line.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1576260689
After Warren and Sanders announced their support, other presidential candidates--including businessman Andrew Yang, former Vice President Joe Biden, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg--also said they would not be crossing the picket line next Thursday.
The debate was originally set to take place at UCLA but was moved to Loyola Marymount (LMU), which is also located in Los Angeles, after unions boycotted the event due to another labor dispute.
Now, Unite Here Local 11 said Friday, "the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination will be greeted with picket lines at their replacement venue."
"We had hoped that workers would have a contract with wages and affordable health insurance before the debate next week," said union co-president Susan Minato. "Instead, workers will be picketing when the candidates come to campus."
At LMU, the union represents 150 dishwashers, cooks, cashiers, and servers who are subcontractors employed by the global company Sodexo. The union has been in negotiations with Sodexo since March, demanding higher hourly wages than the $14.40 the workers currently earn, in the 12th most expensive city in the United States.
After Warren and Sanders led the way in expressing support for the LMU workers, labor leaders and supporters praised the senators for "clearly defining which side" they are on.
\u201cThe way to get results is to define the problem, state clearly what you\u2019re willing to do to rectify it, and injecting urgency. Thanks @ewarren for clearly defining which side you\u2019re on and what you\u2019re willing to do alongside @UNITEHERE11 to fight for what\u2019s right! Good plan.\u270a\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1576261010
\u201cWe \ud83d\udc4f don\u2019t \ud83d\udc4f cross \ud83d\udc4f picket lines \ud83d\udc4f. #1u\n\nProps to @BernieSanders and @ewarren.\u201d— People for Bernie (@People for Bernie) 1576263760
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As the hospitality workers' union Unite Here Local 11 said that next week's Democratic presidential debate could be threatened by stalled contract negotiations for workers at Loyola Marymount University, which is hosting the debate, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led the Democratic field in announcing they would be on the side of the workers if a deal is not reached in the coming days.
Warren tweeted early Friday afternoon that she would "not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate," and Sanders tweeted a similar message shortly after, with a CBS reporter then confirming Sanders was also willing to miss the debate next Thursday in order to support university workers.
\u201c.@UniteHere11 is fighting for better wages and benefits\u2014and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1576258663
\u201cI stand with the workers of @UniteHere11 on campus at Loyola Marymount University fighting Sodexo for a better contract. I will not be crossing their picket line.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1576260689
After Warren and Sanders announced their support, other presidential candidates--including businessman Andrew Yang, former Vice President Joe Biden, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg--also said they would not be crossing the picket line next Thursday.
The debate was originally set to take place at UCLA but was moved to Loyola Marymount (LMU), which is also located in Los Angeles, after unions boycotted the event due to another labor dispute.
Now, Unite Here Local 11 said Friday, "the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination will be greeted with picket lines at their replacement venue."
"We had hoped that workers would have a contract with wages and affordable health insurance before the debate next week," said union co-president Susan Minato. "Instead, workers will be picketing when the candidates come to campus."
At LMU, the union represents 150 dishwashers, cooks, cashiers, and servers who are subcontractors employed by the global company Sodexo. The union has been in negotiations with Sodexo since March, demanding higher hourly wages than the $14.40 the workers currently earn, in the 12th most expensive city in the United States.
After Warren and Sanders led the way in expressing support for the LMU workers, labor leaders and supporters praised the senators for "clearly defining which side" they are on.
\u201cThe way to get results is to define the problem, state clearly what you\u2019re willing to do to rectify it, and injecting urgency. Thanks @ewarren for clearly defining which side you\u2019re on and what you\u2019re willing to do alongside @UNITEHERE11 to fight for what\u2019s right! Good plan.\u270a\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1576261010
\u201cWe \ud83d\udc4f don\u2019t \ud83d\udc4f cross \ud83d\udc4f picket lines \ud83d\udc4f. #1u\n\nProps to @BernieSanders and @ewarren.\u201d— People for Bernie (@People for Bernie) 1576263760
As the hospitality workers' union Unite Here Local 11 said that next week's Democratic presidential debate could be threatened by stalled contract negotiations for workers at Loyola Marymount University, which is hosting the debate, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led the Democratic field in announcing they would be on the side of the workers if a deal is not reached in the coming days.
Warren tweeted early Friday afternoon that she would "not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate," and Sanders tweeted a similar message shortly after, with a CBS reporter then confirming Sanders was also willing to miss the debate next Thursday in order to support university workers.
\u201c.@UniteHere11 is fighting for better wages and benefits\u2014and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1576258663
\u201cI stand with the workers of @UniteHere11 on campus at Loyola Marymount University fighting Sodexo for a better contract. I will not be crossing their picket line.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1576260689
After Warren and Sanders announced their support, other presidential candidates--including businessman Andrew Yang, former Vice President Joe Biden, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg--also said they would not be crossing the picket line next Thursday.
The debate was originally set to take place at UCLA but was moved to Loyola Marymount (LMU), which is also located in Los Angeles, after unions boycotted the event due to another labor dispute.
Now, Unite Here Local 11 said Friday, "the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination will be greeted with picket lines at their replacement venue."
"We had hoped that workers would have a contract with wages and affordable health insurance before the debate next week," said union co-president Susan Minato. "Instead, workers will be picketing when the candidates come to campus."
At LMU, the union represents 150 dishwashers, cooks, cashiers, and servers who are subcontractors employed by the global company Sodexo. The union has been in negotiations with Sodexo since March, demanding higher hourly wages than the $14.40 the workers currently earn, in the 12th most expensive city in the United States.
After Warren and Sanders led the way in expressing support for the LMU workers, labor leaders and supporters praised the senators for "clearly defining which side" they are on.
\u201cThe way to get results is to define the problem, state clearly what you\u2019re willing to do to rectify it, and injecting urgency. Thanks @ewarren for clearly defining which side you\u2019re on and what you\u2019re willing to do alongside @UNITEHERE11 to fight for what\u2019s right! Good plan.\u270a\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1576261010
\u201cWe \ud83d\udc4f don\u2019t \ud83d\udc4f cross \ud83d\udc4f picket lines \ud83d\udc4f. #1u\n\nProps to @BernieSanders and @ewarren.\u201d— People for Bernie (@People for Bernie) 1576263760
Rep. Greg Casar accused Trump and his Republican allies of "trying to pull off the most corrupt bargain I've ever seen."
Progressives rallied across the country on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump's attempts to get Republican-run state legislatures to redraw their maps to benefit GOP candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
The anchor rally for the nationwide "Fight the Trump Takeover" protests was held in Austin, Texas, where Republicans in the state are poised to become the first in the nation to redraw their maps at the president's behest.
Progressives in the Lone Star State capital rallied against Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for breaking with historical precedent by carrying out congressional redistricting in the middle of the decade. Independent experts have estimated that the Texas gerrymandering alone could yield the GOP five additional seats in the US House of Representatives.
Speaking before a boisterous crowd of thousands of people, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) charged that the Texas GOP was drawing up "districts set up to elect a Trump minion" in next year's midterms. However, Doggett also said that progressives should still try to compete in these districts, whose residents voted for Trump in the 2024 election but who also have histories of supporting Democratic candidates.
"Next year, [Trump is] not going to be on the ballot to draw the MAGA vote," said Doggett. "Is there anyone here who believes that we ought to abandon any of these redrawn districts and surrender them to Trump?"
Leonard Aguilar, the secretary-treasurer of Texas AFL-CIO, attacked Abbott for doing the president's bidding even as people in central Texas are still struggling in the aftermath of the deadly floods last month that killed at least 136 people.
"It's time for Gov. Abbott to cut the bullshit," he said. "We need help now but he's working at the behest of the president, on behalf of Trump... He's letting Trump take over Texas!"
Aguilar also speculated that Trump is fixated on having Texas redraw its maps because he "knows he's in trouble and he wants to change the rules midstream."
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) went through a litany of grievances against Trump and the Republican Party, ranging from the Texas redistricting plan, to hardline immigration policies, to the massive GOP budget package passed last month that is projected to kick 17 million Americans off of Medicaid.
However, Casar also said that he felt hope watching how people in Austin were fighting back against Trump and his policies.
"I'm proud that our city is fighting," he said. "I'm proud of the grit that we have even when the odds are stacked against us. The only answer to oligarchy is organization."
Casar went on to accuse Trump and Republicans or "trying to pull off the most corrupt bargain I've ever seen," and then added that "as they try to kick us off our healthcare, as they try to rig this election, we're not going to let them!"
Saturday's protests are being done in partnership with several prominent progressive groups, including Indivisible, MoveOn, Human Rights Campaign, Public Citizen, and the Communication Workers of America. Some Texas-specific groups—including Texas Freedom Network, Texas AFL-CIO, and Texas for All—are also partners in the protest.
Judge Rossie Alston Jr. ruled the plaintiffs had failed to prove the groups provided "ongoing, continuous, systematic, and material support for Hamas and its affiliates."
A federal judge appointed in 2019 by US President Donald Trump has dismissed a lawsuit filed against pro-Palestinian organizations that alleged they were fronts for the terrorist organization Hamas.
In a ruling issued on Friday, Judge Rossie Alston Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that the plaintiffs who filed the case against the pro-Palestine groups had not sufficiently demonstrated a clear link between the groups and Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The plaintiffs in the case—consisting of seven Americans and two Israelis—were all victims of the Hamas attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people, including more than 700 Israeli civilians.
They alleged that the pro-Palestinian groups—including National Students for Justice in Palestine, WESPAC Foundation, and Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation—provided material support to Hamas that directly led to injuries they suffered as a result of the October 7 attack.
This alleged support for Hamas, the plaintiffs argued, violated both the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Alien Tort Statute.
However, after examining all the evidence presented by the plaintiffs, Alston found they had not proven their claim that the organizations in question provide "ongoing, continuous, systematic, and material support for Hamas and its affiliates."
Specifically, Alston said that the claims made by the plaintiffs "are all very general and conclusory and do not specifically relate to the injuries" that they suffered in the Hamas attack.
"Although plaintiffs conclude that defendants have aided and abetted Hamas by providing it with 'material support despite knowledge of Hamas' terrorist activity both before, during, and after its October 7 terrorist attack,' plaintiffs do not allege that any planning, preparation, funding, or execution of the October 7, 2023 attack or any violations of international law by Hamas occurred in the United States," Alston emphasized. "None of the direct attackers are alleged to be citizens of the United States."
Alston was unconvinced by the plaintiffs' claims that the pro-Palestinian organizations "act as Hamas' public relations division, recruiting domestic foot soldiers to disseminate Hamas’s propaganda," and he similarly dismissed them as "vague and conclusory."
He then said that the plaintiffs did not establish that these "public relations" activities purportedly done on behalf of Hamas had "aided and abetted Hamas in carrying out the specific October 7, 2023 attack (or subsequent or continuing Hamas violations) that caused the Israeli Plaintiffs' injuries."
Alston concluded by dismissing the plaintiffs' case without prejudice, meaning they are free to file an amended lawsuit against the plaintiffs within 30 days of the judge's ruling.
"Putin got one hell of a photo op out of Trump," wrote one critic.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday morning tried to put his best spin on a Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin that yielded neither a cease-fire agreement nor a comprehensive peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Writing on his Truth Social page, the president took a victory lap over the summit despite coming home completely empty-handed when he flew back from Alaska on Friday night.
"A great and very successful day in Alaska!" Trump began. "The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO."
Trump then pivoted to saying that he was fine with not obtaining a cease-fire agreement, even though he said just days before that he'd impose "severe consequences" on Russia if it did not agree to one.
"It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Cease-fire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump said. "President Zelenskyy will be coming to DC, the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved."
While Trump did his best to put a happy face on the summit, many critics contended it was nothing short of a debacle for the US president.
Writing in The New Yorker, Susan Glasser argued that the entire summit with Putin was a "self-own of embarrassing proportions," given that he literally rolled out the red carpet for his Russian counterpart and did not achieve any success in bringing the war to a close.
"Putin got one hell of a photo op out of Trump, and still more time on the clock to prosecute his war against the 'brotherly' Ukrainian people, as he had the chutzpah to call them during his remarks in Alaska," she wrote. "The most enduring images from Anchorage, it seems, will be its grotesque displays of bonhomie between the dictator and his longtime American admirer."
She also noted that Trump appeared to shift the entire burden of ending the war onto Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he even said after the Putin summit that "it's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done."
This led Glasser to comment that "if there's one unwavering Law of Trump, this is it: Whatever happens, it is never, ever, his fault."
Glasser wasn't the only critic to offer a scathing assessment of the summit. The Economist blasted Trump in an editorial about the meeting, which it labeled a "gift" to Putin. The magazine also contrasted the way that Trump treated Putin during his visit to American soil with the way that he treated Zelenskyy during an Oval Office meeting earlier this year.
"The honors for Mr. Putin were in sharp contrast to the public humiliation that Mr. Trump and his advisers inflicted on Mr. Zelenskyy during his first visit to the White House earlier this year," they wrote. "Since then relations with Ukraine have improved, but Mr. Trump has often been quick to blame it for being invaded; and he has proved strangely indulgent with Mr. Putin."
Michael McFaul, an American ambassador to Russia under former President Barack Obama, was struck by just how much effort went into holding a summit that accomplished nothing.
"Summits usually have deliverables," he told The Atlantic. "This meeting had none... I hope that they made some progress towards next steps in the peace process. But there is no evidence of that yet."