Still, Nader remains unique to the Democratic contenders for the
labor issues he is persistent about addressing – issues that seem to be
off-limits for the Democratic Party. For example, none of the other
candidates will talk about repealing anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley,
instituting a tax on Wall Street securities speculation and cracking
down on corporate welfare. These often marginalized issues should be
seen as critical to the interests of the labor movement and the fact
that only a candidate outside of the Republican-Democratic fold will
raise these issues should give some pause about the limits of the
Democrats’ labor rights credentials. There is something systemic about

Kirana was eight years old when he first went to work in the fields.
Estate owners transported him and his parents from their home village,
Mulanje, along with 45 other families. The truck journey covered more
than 1,000 kilometers and ended in the tobacco fields in Rumphi in northern Malawi.
   
   
   

Kirana's
mother, Jane Kapito, 45, says the family left home seeking a better
life. “Four years later, my whole family is still struggling with
poverty. My son has to work as hard as everyone else if we have to
afford the basic necessities. The money that my husband and I receive
from the tobacco estate is not enough,” she says.
   
   
   

Malnutrition throughout the country was high and 14 children died in 2002, literally from
lack of food.  The Farmworkers Association (ATC) organized a march from Matagalpa 100 miles to the capital, Managua, to demand a solution from the government.  For several long weeks, the workers marched under the hot sun, camping along the road and occasionally stopping traffic on the Pan American highway.  They refused to quit until the government agreed to negotiate solutions to their demands for food, work, credit and land.

This past Tuesday (February 12th), Bridgestone announced that after an internal review, it had discovered that its hose division gave inappropriate payments (also known as bribes) to foreign agents to secure contracts.  The names and locations of the foreign agents who received the payments have not been released.  The internal review took place in connection with an ongoing investigation of Bridgestone launched by the U.S. Department of Justice, the European Commission and Japan's Fair Trade Commission.  Bridgestone said that it will stop taking new orders for its hose division.  Last May, U.S.