August 21, 2000 Features What's in Your Green Tea? BY FRANCES CERRA WHITTELSEY An In These Times special investigation. Why I'm Voting for Nader ... BY ROBERT McCHESNEY ... And Why I'm Not BY JAMES WEINSTEIN Fox Shocks the World BY RICK ROCKWELL Now comes the hard part for Mexico's new president. Tijuana Troubles BY DAVID BACON NAFTA is failing workers. Unions Get Religion BY DAVID MOBERG News Safety Last BY DAVE LINDORFF As oil prices soar, so do the number of deadly accidents. Sale of the Century BY GEOFF SCHUMACHER An unusual government auction helps preserve the Nevada wilderness. Water Wars BY CHARMAINE SEITZ A botched deal leaves Palestinians high and dry. Profile BY BEN WINTERS Lowell Thompson, a.k.a Raceman. Views Editorial BY JOEL BLEIFUSS Toxic shock. Viewpoint BY KIP SULLIVAN HMO's invasion of privacy. Appall-O-Meter BY DAVID FUTRELLE A Terry Laban Cartoon Culture Give It Away BY DAVID GRAEBER The Maussians are coming. Good Fela BY HILLARY FREY The music, politics and legend of Nigeria's Fela Kuti. Time's Arrow BY CARL BROMLEY A Chilean dissident finds the cinema in Proust. Mission: Impossible 3 BY BILL BOISVERT Goodbye, Mr. Secret Agent ...

Unions Get Religion By David Moberg Chanting "si se puede" - yes, we can - and shaking noisemakers, a hundred mostly Latino janitors marched through the hallways of a suburban Chicago office building in June, demanding recognition of their union. They were joined by an unusual contingent of supporters - two dozen students from various seminaries and theology schools who were preparing for a 10-week summer stint working with unions across the country. They included political veterans like Ellen Winters, a 48-year-old registered nurse who had marched against the Vietnam War and for civil rights, later deciding to enter the Lutheran ministry after her children had grown up. There were also relative novices like Kate Holbrook, a 28-year-old Mormon studying at Harvard Divinity School, who admitted she "didn't know anything about unions" but had been moved by the plight of women workers in developing countries. "Seminary Summer," modeled on the successful Union Summer program for university students and young workers, is the latest manifestation of a growing alliance between the labor movement and religious leaders. Under President John Sweeney, a devout Catholic, the AFL-CIO has given new emphasis to forging coalitions with constituencies like students, academics, environmentalists and critics of globalization, but the ties to clergy and churches may prove one of the most fruitful new alliances.   TOP HOME SUBSCRIBE MAIL   In These Times © 2000 Vol. 24, No. 19