By Doug Cunningham

On Tuesday more than two dozen U.S., Canadian and Mexican labor organizations will file a charge against the U.S. and North Carolina under labor provisions of NAFTA. The accusation is that 650,000 public employees in North Carolina are being denied the right to collectively bargain. Dan Kovalik, Associate General Counsel of the United Steelworkers.

By Billy Bruce

Wal-Mart officials said allegations that the company condones the inhumane treatment of workers and turns a blind eye to abusive actions by factory operators in foreign nations are not true.

Three workers from China, Colombia and Swaziland made the allegations Friday when they spoke to a small group of FSU students at the Williams Building on campus in a program sponsored, in part, by the FSU Center for Participant Education FSU and the Florida AFL-CIO.

Yesterday, October 12, 2006, the president of Dole Fresh Flowers announced that the company will be firing over 3,500 workers; that Dole will close operations at Splendor el Corzo, its largest plantation, as well as the Porcelain Flowers plant and Dole’s plantations in Ecuador. Not only will Dole be reducing its workforce on the floor, but it will also be cutting jobs in both administration and sales. John Amaya, president of Dole Food, claims that international competition has caused prices to fall and demands an increase in production of Dole’s products.