The 15 unions representing Chile's government workers agreed on the night of Nov. 20 to end their four-day-old strike after the Senate approved a 10.4% raise earlier that day. The unions had demanded a 14.5% pay increase, arguing that the annual inflation rate had risen to 9.9% in October. Arturo Martinez, president of the Unified Workers Confederation (CUT), acknowledged that the raise "[m]aybe isn't all we hoped for." He noted that the settlement was between President Michelle Bachelet and the Congress, not the government and the unions, but said the salary increase was the result of the unionists' mobilizations, and "today it's possible to celebrate; the workers have triumphed."

In a five-day operation that ended Nov. 21, ICE agents arrested 104 people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Among those arrested were 94 "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders. Of the 104 people arrested, 23 had prior criminal convictions. (ICE news release, Nov. 25)

On Oct. 24, about 60 people demonstrated in Minneapolis to protest a recent ICE sweep through southern Minnesota. The demonstration was called by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition. (The Militant, Nov. 10) From Oct. 21 to 23, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested 17 people in southern Minnesota's Watonwan County: 10 in the town of Madelia, five in St. James and one each in Butterfield and Lewisville. ICE also arrested two people in Windom, the county seat of neighboring Cottonwood County. Four of the 19 people arrested had been deported previously; five had prior criminal convictions. All 19 were from Latin American countries: 11 were from Mexico, six were from Honduras and one each were from Guatemala and El Salvador. (ICE news release, Oct. 24)

In a 12-count indictment issued Nov. 20 in US District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the former CEO and three managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meat company were charged with new counts in connection with the hiring of unauthorized workers at the company's plant in Postville, Iowa. The case is based on allegations that a top manager provided cash for workers to obtain false documents and that lower level supervisors helped employees get new paperwork.

When we began publication in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, we pledged we would publish "until peace." Today, we almost dare to hope we can cease publication sometime over the next four years. But this is not the time to let our guard down. We will be watching the transition to the Obama administration closely. We note with alarm that the Bush White House in its endgame has been bombing Pakistan almost weekly—to little media outcry. And while the leaders of Iran, Venezuela and Bolivia have hailed Obama's election as a new era, the cabinet he is assembling does not seem to indicate a real break with the ultra-interventionist status quo.

In the days before the presidential elections, the US launched an air-strike on a village in Syria. Since then, the US has been bombing Pakistan every few days, with the media paying very little note. Our November Exit Poll was: "Will the Bush administration instrument a new global crisis in the time remaining to it?" We received the following responses:

On the heels of talk about forming an an anti-Obama "underground," the right-wing talk radio set is now broaching actual secession from the union. The liberal blog Think Progress Nov. 25 posted an audio link from a recent broadcast by shock-jock Glenn Beck. Here's the offending quote:

The army is patrolling the streets of Jos, in central Nigeria, after four days of violence between Muslims and Christians left hundreds dead. A Muslim charity says it has collected more than 300 bodies that had been brought to local mosques, and fatalities are also expected among Christians. Homes, churches and mosques were put to the torch before troops restored order and imposed a curfew. The Nigerian Red Cross says at least 10,000 people have fled their homes. The violence broke out following contested elections in Plateau state Nov. 26, in which the Christian-backed ruling People's Democratic Party was declared to have won. The result was challenged by the opposition All Nigeria People's Party, which has wide support from Muslims. (AlJazeera, Nov. 30; BBC News, Nov. 29)