From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Tue Jul 1 20:29:27 1997 Tue, 1 Jul 1997 19:28:06 -0700 (PDT) Tue, 1 Jul 1997 19:26:44 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 19:26:44 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-uclea@h-net.msu.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: FWD: States Put Limits on Workfare Hiring Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Maryland Order Limits Hiring Of People in Workfare Programs by Louis Uchitelle New York Times, July 1, 1997, page A-15 Responding to protests that people on welfare were being hired to replace regular workers, Gov. Parris N. Glendening of Maryland signed an executive order yesterday to ban the practice. Two other states, Illinois and Minnesota, have adopted similar rules, but Maryland was the first to act in response to protests from low-wage workers. Some charged that they were being displaced by welfare recipients who were less costly to employers because they still received aid in the form of free child care, subsidized wages and free transportation to their jobs. *What the Governor responded to,* said Judi Scioli, his press secretary, *was an earnest pleas from low-wage earners that their job security not be jeopardized by our efforts to move people from welfare to work.* Under recent Federal and state legislation, millions of people are being moved off the welfare rolls and into jobs. Often they pass through a transition stage, called workfare, in which their employment is subsidized or their new employer gets tax credits for hiring them. It is this sort of advantage over the working poor never on welfare that the Maryland executive order and the recently enacted laws in Illinois and Minnesota are intended to ban. The Maryland order put into effect legislation passed last year, and it applies to public as well as private employers. The Illinois law is the strongest of the three prohibitions - banning not only the displacement of regular workers, but also the hiring of workfare people to fill jobs left vacant because of the resignation of regular employees. *An example of this is the high level of voluntary turnover among people who clean building or hotel rooms,* said Jonathan Lange, a coordinator in Baltimore for the Industrial Areas Foundation, a community organizing group. Mr. Lange said his group would seek legislation in Maryland next year banning workfare hiring in that circumstance. The worker protests that helped to bring about yesterday's executive order had been organized by the Industrial Areas Foundation, along with a coalition of black churches in Baltimore and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The protesters' main concern was that workfare would undermine the *living wage* ordinance that Baltimore had enacted at the insistence of the three organizations. The measure requires companies that perform services for the city to pay the employees who actually did the work a wage now set at $7.10 an hour. That is well above the national minimum wage of $4.75 an hour. In rallies and protests in recent months, workers contracted to clean public schools, for example, asserted that the schools were replacing them with people on workfare. And aides on privately operated buses that transport public school children had said they were being forced to train workfare people to fill their jobs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sat Jul 5 00:35:18 1997 Fri, 4 Jul 1997 23:33:55 -0700 (PDT) Fri, 4 Jul 1997 23:33:24 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 4 Jul 1997 23:33:24 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: 1/3 in poll say there's too much free speech protection Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Some Americans Favor Restricting Free Speech 01:40 a.m. Jul 05, 1997 Eastern CHICAGO (Reuter) - Nearly one-third of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing free speech and nearly half favor government restrictions of speech on the Internet, a Chicago Tribune poll said. The poll, conducted by Market Shares Corp for the Chicago Tribune and published Friday, surveyed 1,001 adults and has a margin of error of plus/minus three percent. Of those surveyed, 27 percent said the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went too far in the rights it guarantees, 55 percent said the guarantees were about right, eight percent said the amendment did not go far enough and 11 percent said they did not know. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, ''Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.'' On the question of whether the gonvernment should restrict the kind of material that can be transmitted on the Internet, 50 percent surveyed said the government should, 31 percent said it should not, eight percent did not know and 12 percent were not familiar with the Internet. The Supreme Court last week struck down a law that banned displaying indecent images on the Internet where they could be seen by children on the grounds that it violated the first amendment. On Tuesday, President Clinton outlined a largely laissez-faire policy towards commerce in cyberspace, but set as a goal encouraging technology development that would allow parents to screen their children from objectionable material on the Internet. On other free-speech related issues, the Tribune poll said 58 percent of those surveyed said radio personalities who use implicit or explicit sexual expressions should not be allowed on the air, 35 percent said they should be allowed and seven percent said they did not know. Regarding the rights of anti-government groups, 52 percent polled said groups advocating overthrow of the government should not be allowed to make their views known to the general public, 40 percent said they should and eight percent did not know. Asked, ``Should militia groups/white supremacists/skinheads/Nazis be allowed to protest in a community like yours?'', 49 percent said no, 43 percent said yes, five percent said some should be allowed, others not and four percent did not know. The poll showed Americans have more tolerance on the issue of abortion protests. Asked whether pro-abortion and anti-abortion protests should be allowed in their community, 64 percent said they should be allowed, 24 percent said they should not, seven percent said some should and some should not and five percent said they did not know. From aaron@burn.ucsd.edu Sat Jul 5 23:24:24 1997 Sun, 6 Jul 1997 01:16:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 01:14:42 -0400 To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, LABOR-L@YORKU.CA, marxism-news@jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU From: Aaron Subject: What's happening at British Airways? Status: RO Comrades and other friends, It seems that the union-busting campaign at British Airways (see below) is another one of those capitalist attacks undertaken in the (unfortunately usually justified) belief that the working class will, under trade-union guidance, confine its fight-back to methods that don't violate the bosses' laws. Maybe we can give them a surprise in this case. Airlines, as very public, international operations, are particularly vulnerable to diverse forms of attack. No, I don't mean blowing up their planes! Not unless they're empty. {;->} I won't, in this post at least, go into detail, except to say that, in a struggle like this, we -- those on the side of the working class -- should declare war on the offending corporation, including on its executives as individuals. It's high time to break with the capitalist fiction that officers of a corporation are not personally liable for their acts on behalf of the corporation. End impunity for capitalists! To be clear, I'm not saying that British Airways executives, or similar union-busters, are deserving of the death penalty. In other words, they are not, as far as I know, in the same category of corporate criminal that includes, among many others, the executives of Shell, who are guilty of mass murder in Nigeria and elsewhere, and tobacco traffickers, who are guilty of mass murder everywhere. * * * * * * * In addition to the article reproduced below, there is an earlier (9 June) article on the struggle at British Airways at the ITF web site. The URL is http://www.itf.org.uk/english/sba.html. I'm also hoping to have answers (probably after the weekend) to some questions I posted to the ITF mailing list. The questions include: Who is on strike now? How many workers are involved? When did the strike(s) start and what has been the effect so far. What are other groups of BA workers doing? Are they also unionized? Are they scabbing? What is the text of the threatening letter sent to employees? If anybody out there has answers to any of these questions, or any questions I forgot to ask, please post them (with Cc to me, please). -- In solidarity, -- Aaron >From: Flint_Richard@itf.org.uk >Date: Fri, 4 Jul 97 16:07:38 +0100 >Subject: ITF Info No. 10 >To: itf@listbox.itf.org.uk, #l#london#r#_everybody/itf_london@austin >Sender: itf-request@listbox.itf.org.uk > >[Article from] ITF Info > >********************************************* >International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) . >Issue #10, July 4, 1997 >49-60 Borough Road London, England, SE1 1DS >Tel: +44 171-403-2733/Fax: +44 171-357-7871 >e-mail: info@itf.org.uk >webpage: http://www.itf.org.uk >********************************* > >THE WORLD'S MOST RUTHLESS AIRLINE >The message is "No Way BA" > >British Airways is engaged in the most highly organised and well funded union >busting operation ever seen in the airline industry anywhere in the world. >If BA >succeeds it will send a signal to every airline in the world and one which >none >of those airlines will be able to ignore. > >The current strike by cabin crew has come after BA proposed radical new >conditions involving longer hours for less pay. The dispute however, is not >about conditions but the company's absolute refusal to negotiate these >conditions with the union. > >The company reached a deal with a small breakaway union and then refused to >negotiate with ITF affiliate, the Transport and General Workers' Union which >represents the overwhelming majority of cabin crew. The company's position is: >it will not talk - It will impose. > >The company has engaged in shocking tactics of intimidation of union members. >These include sending to every crew member at home, a written threat that they >will be dismissed and sued individually for any loss of business that BA >suffers >as a result of strike action. > >The company has recruited an army of strike breakers from agencies and >among its >own management in a strike breaking plan called "Operation Snow Plan". None of >this stopped a 73 per cent postal vote of union members in favour of 72 hour >rolling strikes. > >Despite the company's massive strike breaking effort, it will have a major >struggle to get flights into the air. The ITF is requesting all its civil >aviation affiliates at every airport in the world where BA flies to take all >possible steps to show solidarity during the strike period and to ensure that >the company knows that if the world's most ruthless airline comes to your >airport the message is "No Way BA". > ---------- aaron@burn.ucsd.edu http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aaron From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sun Jul 6 22:58:31 1997 Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:58:19 -0700 (PDT) Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:57:46 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:57:46 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Zapatista Election Statement Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO (fwd) *ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE*--July 5, 1997 A service of the Zapatista Front of National Liberation. More information regarding the FZLN and the Zapatista struggle in Mexico can be found at: http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln (English) http://spin.com.mx/~floresu/FZLN (Spanish) This and previous news updates can also be found at: http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln/news.html Please send comments to: joshua@peak.org ____________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL PRE-ELECTORAL NEWS UPDATE (JUNE 22 - JULY 5, 1997): 1. Many indigenous communities will refrain from voting in the elections: EZLN and CNI 2. The effect of the elections on the peace process, "uncertain": CONAI 3. Mexican Army to stay in its barracks on July 6th 4. Paramilitary violence continues in the north of Chiapas _________________________________________________________________ EZLN: Many Indigenous Communities will Refrain from Voting In a lengthy communique dated July 1st, Subcomandante Marcos announced that, due to the "climate of civil war promoted by the government", as well as the failure of the government to implement the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture (which include a recognition of the right of indigenous communities to practice their own forms of electing leaders and representatives) and the militarization of indigenous communities across the country, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation supports those indigenous communities who have decided not participate in the July 6th elections. In response to criticisms received by the EZLN for its relative silence in recent months regarding the electoral process, the 7-page document also clearly spells out the EZLN's position and political proposal with respect to electoral democracy in general: "In electoral moments or outside of them, our political position is and has been clear. We are not in favor of any political party, but neither are we against them; we are not electoral, but neither are we anti-electoral. Our position is against the State-party system, it is against presidentialism, it is for democracy, liberty and justice, it is of the left, it is inclusive, and it is anti-neoliberal. "There have been many criticisms which we have received for this position of seeking to construct "another" politics, and there have been many attempts to dilute or politically "normalize" those non-partisan civilian manifestations. The case of Alianza Civica, which would have had to renounce its right of electoral observation in exchange for its "registration" as a political association, is a sample of the monopoly which exists in politics. The political parties (and some intellectuals, found today in the presidency of the Federal Electoral Institute), view every non-partisan proposal as if it were really partisan. "But the "other" politics does not seek to occupy the space of party politics; it is born from the crisis of the parties and tends to occupy the space which is not covered by partisan tasks. The "other" politics seeks to organize itself in order to "overturn" the logic of party politics, and seeks to construct a new relationship between the Nation and its parts: citizens who have the right to be full-time citizens, differentiated and specific, united by a history and by that which arises from that history. This new relationship involves the government as well as the political parties, the communications media, the churches, the army, private business, the police, the Judicial Power, as well as the Congress of the Union." (...) "Democracy is not only electoral, but it is also electoral. The electoral arena does not just refer to the confrontation of candidates and/or political proposals at the ballot box. It also has to do with the viability of that route, the equitable conditions it demands, and the relationship of the elected officials with the electors... "Democracy is not the alternating of Power. If the political system continues to exclude its citizens, if it continues to "kidnap" political tasks, if the only thing achieved is a "widening" or "alternating" of the leadership of authoritarianism (yesterday one-party, tomorrow bi- or tri-party), then democracy will continue to be out of reach of the citizens and other forms of struggle which are non-partisan, including the armed struggle, will continue to be not only a possibility but a reality in any Mexican mountain or street." With respect to the current electoral process, culminating on July 6th, Marcos explains the position of the CCRI-CG of the EZLN: "If, in some places, the vote represents a possibility of rebellion and a blow against the Mexican political system, the citizen should exercise at the ballot box his or her right to say "Ya basta!" to the politics which leads us to war and national disintegration. "If, in other parts, the vote is only the legitimation of authoritarianism, in addition to facilitating and complying with the imprisoned conditions of entire communities, then the citizen can abstain and demand, in exchange, new and better political and social conditions, not only for voting, but for living, not only to be citizens for a day, but at all times. "In the Mexican south and southeast (particularly in the states of Hidalgo, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas), the indigenous and rural Mexico lives in an authentic state of siege, and the specific needs and affairs of the indigenous peoples in terms of government and culture are ignored by the current political system and its parties. The militarization in indigenous zones makes normal life impossible; there can be no planting, walking, meetings, commerce, washing clothes. Now the Mexican political system attempts to simulate a return to normality in those zones, but only for a few hours so that voting may occur. Afterwards, all will return as it was. For this reason, Zapatista and non-Zapatista indigenous communities of the Mexican south and southeast have decided not to participate in the upcoming electoral process for three fundamental reasons: "First.- As a protest against the militarization and the climate of civil war promoted by the local and federal governments. "Second.- As a protest against the failure to implement the San Andres Accords, signed by the federal government, which recognize the democratic rights of the indigenous peoples. "Third.- As a call of attention to the political parties which have ignored the particular social and political reality of indigenous Mexicans, and who only address themselves to them during electoral times, and/or to attempt to make up for, with deals and compromises, their lack of serious proposals and political work in the heart of the national indigenous movement. "How can this decision of the indigenous communities be called into question, and who can object to it? On what basis can these communities be called to vote when they don't even live in normal conditions? Can they be asked to pretend a civic normality for one day, and then be told to return to a situation of daily terror for the rest of the year? "The EZLN supports the decision of these indigenous communities, many of whom live in rebel resistance, as well as the decision taken by citizens who can freely exercise their right to vote." The diagnostic of the EZLN regarding the conditions for elections has been supported by a wide variety of human rights groups and civic organizations as well. The Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations for Peace (CONPAZ), the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center, the Civilian Democracy Movement (MDC), and the urban neighborhood movement in San Cristobal (BACOSAN) all coincided this week in that the conditions simply do not exist for free and fair elections in Chiapas. The Diocese of San Cristobal, in a joint communique issued with the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center, asked the state and federal authorities last week to "officially recognize the grave situation which exists in various zones of Chiapas, and which make the realization of truly free and democratic elections impossible". For its part, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) pointed out in a communique this week that due to the increased militarization and repression against indigenous communities all over the country, there is little chance that the elections can be carried out in a fair manner in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz. The CNI further adds that for these reasons, abstentionism in indigenous communities is likely to be very high on a national level, and not only in Chiapas. ABSTENTIONISM AND PARTICIPATION The indigenous communities in Chiapas that have announced they will not vote in the July 6th elections (or, in some cases, will refuse to allow the installation of ballot boxes) include the majority of Zapatista communities in the Lacandon Jungle; the civilian Zapatistas in dozens of communities of the northern municipalities of Chenalho and Pantelho; and the EZLN and/or PRD supporters in the municipalities of Amatan and Nicolas Ruiz. The PRI militants of San Juan Chamula and the PRD/EZLN supporters of San Andres Sacamch'en de los Pobres (Larrainzar), on the other hand, have both reversed earlier decisions to boycott the vote, and announced on July 4th that they will participate in the elections. The autonomous social organizations active in southeast Chiapas, meanwhile, are divided on whether or not to participate. The Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization (OCEZ) has called for a full boycott, and has blocked highways in the municipalities of Comitan and Tapachula in recent days, signalling that fair elections in Chiapas are impossible as long as the militarization continues and the government refuses to implement the San Andres Accords. The Coalition of Autonomous Organizations of Ocosingo (COAO), for its part, has made a last-minute decision to participate in the elections. The COAO--made up primarily of civilian Zapatistas, PRD supporters, and members of the ARIC-Independiente credit union in six municipalities in and near the Lacandon Jungle--had boycotted the last elections in Chiapas, in 1995. While the COAO acknowledges that the conditions do not exist in Chiapas for the realization of free and fair elections, the organization manifested its support for Tzeltal candidate Nicolas Lopez Gomez, an indigenous leader and civilian Zapatista supporter, running on the PRD ticket for federal deputy. According to an analysis conducted by La Jornada journalist Juan Balboa, a boycott of the COAO--the second largest indigenous organization in the region, after the EZLN--would probably result in an abstention rate greater than 80% in the third electoral district of Chiapas. However, the participation of the COAO--with a membership close to 25,000--will likely lead to a victory for Lopez Gomez, with a difference of 1,000 or 2,000 votes over the PRI candidate in the zone (assuming that the 20,000 soldiers of the Mexican Army in the district cast their votes for the PRI). ___________________________________ THE EFFECT OF THE ELECTIONS ON THE PEACE PROCESS, "UNCERTAIN": CONAI Gonzalo Ituarte, technical secretary of the National Intermediation Commission (CONAI), told the press this week that "no matter what, the July 6th elections and their results will have an effect on the dialogue process, although we do not know in what form". Responding to the "hopes" of some officials and politicians that the peace talks between the government and the EZLN will be renewed "automatically" once the elections are over, Ituarte warned that "it won't be a quick jump, because the conditions which caused the suspension of the San Andres Dialogue have still not been resolved". For his part, Gerardo Gonzalez, director of the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations for Peace (CONPAZ), mentioned that the elections "represent a variable that could facilitate the dialogue"--if the results lead to the implementation of the San Andres Accords and the remaining conditions layed out by the EZLN for a resumption of the dialogue process--"or the other way around: complicating the dialogue process even more due to the political conditions created by the elections". Gonzalez also mentioned that the future composition of the Commission on Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA) will also be an important variable in the post-electoral context, since half of the members of the COCOPA end their congressional terms in September. The federal deputies who will be leaving the COCOPA after the elections are: Jaime Martinez Veloz and Marco Antonio Michel (of the PRI); Rodolfo Elizondo Torres and Fernando Perez Noriega (of the PAN); Cesar Chavez and Juan Guerra (of the PRD); and Jose Narro Cespedes and Oscar Gonzalez (of the PT). _________________ MEXICAN ARMY TO STAY IN ITS BARRACKS ON JULY 6TH General Mario Renan Castillo, commander of the 7th Military Region, and General Luis Garfias Magana, president of the Defense Commission in the Mexican Congress, announced this past week that the Mexican Army will be confined to its barracks beginning on July 5th, and that on the following day the army troops will vote as civilians, out of uniform. Thus, on the day of the elections--Sunday, July 6th--the army insists that there will not be a single uniformed soldier in the streets, plazas, or communities in Chiapas. Nevertheless, there was a confusion about the number of soliders who will be voting in the third electoral district of Chiapas, which covers most of the southeast "conflict zone" and the Zapatista communities, and in which nearly 20,000 army soldiers are stationed (the vote of the army in this district could be crucial to the outcome of the election). General Renan Castillo told the opposition PRD party in Chiapas that no more than 500 troops in the conflict zone will vote, and even less will do so in the north of the state, since the vast majority of soldiers stationed in Chiapas have voting credentials from other parts of the country. General Garfias Maganas, however, said that any soldier of the Mexican Army has the right to vote in any area where he may be stationed, and that "those of us in the military can vote in any state...regardless of the fact that we may be registered or appear on the voting lists in another state". _________________ PARAMILITARY VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN NORTHERN CHIAPAS Adding to the already tense pre-electoral climate, violence returned to the northern Chiapas municipality of Sabanilla the last week of June, leaving seven indigenous Choles dead, and at least ten others wounded. The incidents began on June 22nd, when members of Paz y Justicia arrived in the community of Emiliano Zapata, shot an 11-year old boy to death, and wounded various other members of the community--supposedly in retaliation for the killing of one of Paz y Justicia's leaders on June 15th in the nearby community of Pasija. The killings at the hands of the paramilitary group continued for the next two days in Emiliano Zapata and Shushupa, taking the lives of six additional unarmed civilian supporters of the EZLN or the PRD. Following the violence, the communities of Pasija, Shushupa, and Emiliano Zapata were left nearly deserted, as families on both sides of the conflict left their homes out of fear of continued attacks or retaliation. The Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center has since filed a formal complaint for "negligence" against the state Attorney General, Jorge Enrique Hernandez Aguilar, for the lack of action on the part of state authorities in response to the murders in Sabanilla. The Attorney General "has done nothing, and thus there is little advancing" in the investigation, said Marina Patricia Jimenez, executive secretary of the human rights organization. "The state police have done nothing to disarm the people [in the municipality], when that is a crime to be pursued by the authorities, and the Attorney General as head of the police is also responsible for this situation", added Jimenez. Meanwhile--in somewhat related news--the Mexican government has agreed to reopen the investigation into the deaths of three members of the ejido of Morelia (municipality of Altamirano), at the request of the Interamerican Human Rights Commission. The three Tzeltales were presumibly assassinated by Mexican army soldiers in the first days of the armed conflict in Chiapas in January, 1994. According to well-documented reports from local and national human rights groups, Severiano Santis Gomez, Sebastian Santis Gomez, and Hermelindo Santis Gomez were detained by the Mexican Army on January 7th, 1994 in Morelia, and were found dead near the ejido four days later. The original investigation into the killings had been relegated to the Army itself, which immediately denied responsibility for their deaths. _________________________________________________________________ Primary sources for all news articles: La Jornada, Proceso, El Financiero, and Siglo 21. The primary responsibility for the content of this news page lies with its author, Joshua Paulson, and not necessarily with a commission, civil committee, or other dependency of the Zapatista Front of National Liberation. _________________________________________________________________ Comments: joshua@peak.org [END] -------------End of forwarding message------------------------- From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sun Jul 6 23:29:13 1997 Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:58:19 -0700 (PDT) Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:57:53 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 21:57:53 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: The Conde Report On U.S.-Mexico Relations Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE CONDE REPORT ON U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS Volume 1, Issue 24, Monday, July 7, 1997=20 "AND THE WALLS FELL" NEWS ITEMS OF SIGNIFICANCE IN U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS ____________________________________________ EDITOR: Francisco J. Conde, CONDE CONSULTING GROUP, INC., An International Business, Marketing & Communications Consultancy, 14500 Dallas Pkwy, Ste. 402, Dallas, Texas 75240-8315,=20 TELEPHONE: (972) 392-1361, FAX: (972) 392-2683, INTERNET E-MAIL ADDRESS: FCONDE@NETWORKED.NET +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=20 =20 INDEX: =20 1.) EDITORIAL ON THE BEAUTIFUL 'FIESTA OF DEMOCRACY' AND THE FUTURE OF MEXICO CLOSER 3.) PRIVATE OWNERS OF N. LAREDO-MEXICO CITY RAIL LINE CUT STAFF BY 50 PERCENT =20 =20 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ By The Conde Report ON THE BEAUTIFUL 'FIESTA OF DEMOCRACY' AND THE FUTURE OF MEXICO EDITORIAL --(TCR)--Today we shall have a relatively clear picture of the direction in which the 53 million eligible Mexican voters choose to take the country in an accounting of the results of the July 6, 1997 elections for the Congress, Senate, Mayor of Mexico City and several key governships. But it might behoove us to reflect "On The Beautiful Fiesta of Democracy" in the felicitous phrase used by President Ernesto Zedillo to encourage Mexico's voters to use their power of the ballot to make known their wishes to their national, state and local leaders. The Beautiful Fiesta is something to behold, the peaceful alternation of power in the national legislative chambers and in the presidency. In the United States and in Europe we have watched as the people have brought about startling changes.=20 In the U.S., we have witnessed the Republican Revolution of November 1994, which eliminated Democratic majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate for the first time in 40 years. Failing to heed sober counsel and misunderstanding the obligations imposed by the requirement of governing due to too many years in the wilderness, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Majority Leader Dick Armey squandered a golden moment. Their serious underestimation of the spine, intelligence and tactical and strategical strengths of minority party President Bill Clinton gave him the chance to recover. Since then Clinton has grown enormously, while Dole fell as a poor presidential candidate in November 1996 and Gingrich's vehemence led to overwhelming unpopularity and the smallest majority in Congress in November 1996 elections in decades, weakening the unity and strength of the Republican Party. What appeared a Revolution with a capital R turned out to be more of a strong wind storm that has faded.=20 The example above is to underscore that, In effect, we are watching in Mexico a non-presidential year election in Mexico, a so-called mid-year election, in which Mexicans are offered an opportunity to redress and to correct the direction of the nation. All of the polls indicate that the people are intent on eliminating the 68-year majority of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Mexican lower house of Congress, or Chamber of Deputies, akin to the U.S. House of Representatives, while the upper house, a more deliberative, thoughtful body, is expected to remain under the control of the long-ruling PRI.=20 If the many polls are sustained as accurate by the election results, the Mexican lower house with the constitutionally endowed "power of the purse" can be expected to reduce the austerity of government spending in recent years and begin to take efforts to assuage the tremendous negative loss of wages and buying power of the overwhelming majority of the Mexican population. That, rather than, a negative, is likely to spur greater consumer spending over time, thus providing a stronger underpinning to an economic recovery that seemingly is doing quite well without it. =20 =20 That lower house victory is likely be the most important development arising from this election. The loud noises over a victory by Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) leader and ex-PRI Governor Cuauht=E9moc Cardenas over all comers for Mexico City Mayor, while significant and notable, is likely to have more symbolic than real impact. His victory in the first-time capital mayoral election since 1928 will prove to be a difficult assisgnment, given that the D.F. government is weak and $2 billion U.S. in debt. His will be the challenge to provide effective, effecient government for the citys' 18 million residents, rather than to challenge the nation's President from his seat. If he fails to understand that, his popularity in the capital will sooner drop than rise. =20 But above all, to be observed on this day of election results is the overall condition of the nation. In the past week, two major international brokerages have increased their estimated Mexican economic growth for 1997 to 4.7 from near 4 percent earlier this year. The Mexican Stock Market main IPC index, a harbinger of things to come over the next six months, has broken four straight record highs, shattering through 4,600 and 4,500 on the index. Consumer spending is on the rise, sound foreign investments are on the rise, job creation is becoming more apparent and the country just announced a successful 11-year refinancing of a large part of its external debt. Exports are way up and imports are growing too, a good sign. TCR ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ By The Conde Report PRESIDENT ZEDILLO CASTS VOTE AT SCHOOL NEAR PALACE, ON CRUTCHES FROM KNEE TURN MEXICO CITY --(TCR) Unperturbed by thoughts of potential election-day violence, President Ernesto Zedillo Sunday cast his ballot early in a school near the presidential palace. Hobbling on crutches after a minor knee operation, he told reporters: "I think voting is plentiful and I believe enthusiastic. ... Democracy speaks for itself. It has its own language, which is very beautiful." The remarks were carried on the President's Internet Web Site. Zedillo's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in power since 1929, could lose the lower house of Congress and up to three of six state governor races, according to the last surveys before a pre-election ban on pollilng that began June 28.=20 The polls also indicated former PRI governor, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, on the verge of=20 victory as the first elected mayor of Mexico City's Federal District -- the heart of this giant metropolis of 18 million. Cardenas is carrying the banner of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), which he co-founded after quitting the PRI in 1987.=20 On Sunday, people formed lines to vote at the 104,700 polling stations across Mexico, many of which opened slightly late. Preliminary official results were expected a few hours after polls close at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. (2400 Greenwich Mean Time).=20 =20 Strict enforcement of a government ban on any reference to poll results -- even old polls -- led Mexico's Radio and Television Industry Chamber to black out all foreign cable and satellite reports about the elections beamed into the country. Cable News Network (CNN), CBS, NBC and the British Broadcasting Corp. were among those affected.=20 The sale of alcoholic drinks was banned from midnight on Friday. Dozens of thousands of police officers were on duty to guarantee security for the election, which officials termed the cleanest yet in a country which has suffered decades of polling fraud.=20 Voters were wary of major electoral changes. Newspapers reported Sunday that the elections were a big test for the new system. "On trial, the new electoral framework," read the headline in the El Universal daily and on its web site.=20 President Zedillo's changes have included holding elections for mayor of Mexico City's Federal District -- a post previously filled by a presidential nominee -- and providing generous public funding for all political parties, including the opposition.=20 The Federal District is home to 8.5 million people, about half the number who live in the sprawling Mexico City metropolitan area and is the federal capital. The rest of city's residents live in Mexico State, which has a separate state government.=20 The loss of a PRI majority in the lower house may result in big changes since Congress has traditionally acted as a formal supporter of the government program of PRI presidents.=20 Opposition leaders expressed confidence the could end the PRI's Congress majority and force Zedillo into real negotiations over many laws and the budget, something unprecedented in Mexico's modern history. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ By The Conde Report =20 PRESIDENT ZEDILLO ENCOURAGES MEXICANS TO PARTAKE OF 'GREAT DEMOCRATIC FIESTA' MEXICO CITY --(TCR)- President Ernesto Zedillo Friday urged Mexicans to take part in a ``great democratic fiesta,'' encouraging his countrymen to make use of electoral reforms have ensured free and fair national elections on Sunday.=20 The voting for the Congress and Senate, six state governors and Mexico City's mayoralty is as significant as that which lifted Zedillo to his post in August 1994. Polls indicated that his PRI ruling party could lose House, a first in 68 years.=20 "From the day I assumed the presidency of the republic, I called for political reform so that all Mexicans can live in full democracy,'' Zedillo said in a speech broadcast nationwide Friday night. "Thanks to these reforms and the deep democratic conviction of the Mexican people, we have witnessed an electoral campaign without precedent in our history,'' Zedillo said.=20 But while Zedillo claims he has created a "healthy distance'' between himself and his party, he launched a nationwide tour to announce public works projects in the weeks leading up to the election, in what has been perceived as an attempt to bolster his party's chances in the vote.=20 Zedillo's last major speech before Sunday's elections appeared to be an attempt to claim the mantle of a chief executive who vigorously pushed 1 1/2 years of negotiations with all parties, winning constitutional changes that consolidated democracy at home.=20 Although the parties failed to reach accord on some issues of campaign financing and party activities, Zedillo's government has said the reforms begun under his predecessor show his own full commitment to democracy.=20 For the first time, the Federal Electoral Institute -- Mexico's supreme election body -- is fully independent of the government, which has been dominated for decades by Zedillo's Institutional Revolutionary Party. Previously, the elections body was under control of the partisan Interior Secretariat.=20 "The campaigns are now behind us. Let us reflect on our decision before we go to vote this Sunday. May the electoral process be the culmination of the great democratic fiesta we have witnessed in recent months,'' Zedillo said. Reforms grant international monitors greater leeway to observe the vote.=20 Mexico City residents will elect their mayor for the first time since the 1920s, taking responsibility for a post previously filled by presidential appointment. In addition, new provisions now stipulate that 30 percent of total public campaign funding be distributed equally among all parties, and the rest according to the percentage of votes each party got in previous elections.=20 "Every vote counts,'' Zedillo said. "Every vote counts toward maintaining the course of liberty and progress in which we all participate in the construction of a strong, prosperous and just =20 nation.''=20 Anticipating the vote, Mexico's stock market soared and the peso strengthened Friday as investors bet that the elections would not be disruptive. Fifty-two million Mexicans are eligible to vote Sunday for the 500-member lower house of Congress, a quarter of the Senate and the other races.=20 Polls indicate the ruling party will easily retain its majority in the Senate and at least four of the governorships, but is threatened with losing its decades-old majority in the lower house of Congress, as well as Mexico City's mayoral race.=20 The rebel Zapatista movement in southern Mexico has urged Indians there to boycott the elections to protest the militarization of the area and what it calls political parties' failure to address the needs of Mexico's Indians.=20 But the rebel-allied leader of one southern town asked his followers Friday to vote despite the boycott. Juan Gonzalez Lopez of San Andres Larrainzar said it was important to go to the polls "to demonstrate to the official political party that the opposition is in the majority.'' (TCR) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE CONDE REPORT ON U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS strongly encourages its current 840 subscribers to pass on its contents to others who may have an interest in U.S.-Mexico relations and welcomes requests for subscriptions, which are free of charge. The Conde Report actively seeks comments and contributions by its readers in the form of News Items and E-Mail Letters to the Editor at fconde@networked.net +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=20 Copyright =A9 July 1997, THE CONDE REPORT ON U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS. All rights reserved. All the news provided by the TCR is copyrighted. Any forms of copying other than an individual user's personal reference without express written permission is prohibited From aaron@burn.ucsd.edu Tue Jul 8 11:18:16 1997 Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 12:57:32 -0400 To: seac+announce@ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu, Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, LABOR-L@YORKU.CA From: Aaron Subject: Murders of Colombian leftist HR activists (Esp/Eng) prensa.embajada@mad.servicom.es, "Human.Rights.Watch":; Status: RO Companieros, Below you will find, in English and Spanish, a call for solidarity= against the state-sanctioned murders of leftists and human rights activists= in Colombia, with particular refernce to two murders that took place in= Cali in June. (I regret that this translation has been delayed for so long.= Anybody who is willing and able to help with future translations should= contact me at . The present translation, although I= received a lot of help from several Colombian friends, is my= responsibility, and I would appreciate being informed of any errors.) You will find information about other such cases, in English and Spanish,= at my web site at http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aaron/Colombia/. There are= references to Spanish-language web sites at the end of the Spanish version,= below. I also especially refer those who want information in English to the= web site of the Colombia Support Network http://www.igc.org/csn/. If you wish to redistribute the English text without the Spanish text,= you should include at least the list of addresses to contact. You might= also want to add addresses of Colombian embassies and consulates in your= area. You may, at your discretion, credit and/or blame me for the translati= on. --------------- English translation of text: --------------- Equipo Nizkor Urgent Solidarity 20 June 1997 *** The founder of the Colombian NGO ANDAS, LUISA ESTELA ALTAMIRANO, was= assassinated on 12 June 1997; Her companiero had died earlier that day of= wounds suffered in an attack on 4 June. *** (STOCKHOLM/SWEDEN/ANNCOL) The founder of the human rights organization ANDAS= (Asociacion Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria/National Association of Mutual Aid)= in the Department of the Valley of Cauca, Luisa Estela Altamirano, 37, was= assassinated on June 12 of this year by two hired killers in the city of= her birth, Cali. She was the fifth victim in a short period in this city= where the government has legalized the paramilitary groups, converting them= into "security cooperatives", called Convivir. Not only paramilitaries have been legalized. Many of the paid assassins that= became unemployed when their "patrons" of the Cali Cartel, the greatest= cocaine barons in the world, were imprisoned, have seen the possibility of= joining Convivir. It is not a secret that generals and colonels are the= instigators and coordinators of the formation of the paramilitary groups= that, according to Amnesty International, murdered more than 1,000 persons= last year. The creation of Convivir in November of 1994 by the Samper= government has encouraged assassinations of every opposition.=20 Luisa Estela Altamirano had, for eight days, been looking after a= companiero, Adalberto Valencia, 32, who had been shot by hired gunmen on 4= June. Before dawn on 12 June, he died from the severe wounds from the seven= bullets that had penetrated his body. That night, Estela was meeting with= some companieros in the El Jardin neighborhood when two individuals= appeared at the window and shot her. They entered the house where they= finished her off in front of her friends. The murderers were after only her= =2E Estela Altamirano founded the NGO ANDAS at the end of the 1980's in the= Department [State] of the Valley. She labored primarily for the displaced= persons but also for the political prisoners. She belonged to the regional= leadership of the Colombian Communist Party in the city of Cali. She had= been the victim, months earlier, of another attempt on her life; then the= bullets did not reach her. She lived in the poorest part of Cali, where the= districts 13, 14 and 15 form the famous Aguablanca (Pop. 700,000). In spite= of the threats and attempts against her, she rejected recommendations to= seek asylum in another country together with her three daughters aged 2 to= 16. In January of 1996 she took the initiative of creating a Human Rights= Committee in the neighborhood. It was a success with great support from the= inhabitants. Javier Lopez was an intimate friend and companiero of the same= party in Cali. He was the owner of a photomechanics/printing workshop the= center of Cali. In 1989 he was kidnapped by narcos and police and freed= three months later. In August of 1996 his workshop was raided twice by= security agents of the State. Supplementary Information ANDAS specializes in attention to those displaced by the Colombian civil war= and has important projects of cooperation financed with Spanish funds. The= systematic persecution of activists related to the Colombian Communist= Party has been denounced by all the international human rights= organizations and results from a technical plan carried out by the= Colombian military staffs. The excuse is that they accuse this party of= being the political arm of the FARC. This situation has meant that more= than 4,000 activists connected with that party have been assassinated in= recent years. Therefore, what is necessary is an energetic condemnation of= these facts before the Colombian authorities, stating clearly that it is= known that there is a systematic plan of repression and that they don't= prosecute and punish the perpetrators of these crimes. Send Fax or mail to the authorities listed at the end of the Spanish text= below, and also to the Colombian ambassador in each country. --------------- Original en espa=F1ol: --------------- Equipo Nizkor Solidaridad Urgente 20jun97 =46UE ASESINADA EL 12 JUN 97 LA FUNDADORA DE LA ONG COLOMBIANA ANDAS LUISA= ESTELA ALTAMIRANO DESPUES DE HABER SUFRIDO UN ATENTADO SU COMPAN~ERO EL DIA= 4 JUN 97. (ESTOCOLMO/SUECIA/ANNCOL) La fundadora de la organizacion de derechos= humanos ANDAS (Asociacion Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria) en el departamento= del Valle, Luisa Estela Altamirano de 37 an~os, fue asesinada el 12 de= junio, an~o en curso por dos sicarios en su ciudad natal, Cali. Fue la= quinta victima en un tiempo corto en esta ciudad donde el gobierno ha= legalizado a los grupos paramilitares, conviertiendolos en "coperativas de= seguridad", llamadas Convivir [ver informacion en las paginas Web de Nizkor= ]. No solamente paramilitares han sido "legalizados", muchos de los sicarios= que han pasado a la desocupacion despues de que sus "patronos" del Cartel= de Cali, los barones de la cocaina mas grandes del mundo, han sido= encarcelados, han visto la posibilidad de incorporarse a las Convivir. No= es un secreto, que generales y coroneles son los instigadores y= coordinadores en la construccion de los grupos paramilitares que, segun= Amnistia Internacional, han asesinado a mas de mil personas el an~o pasado.= La creacion de las Convivir en noviembre de 1994 por parte del gobierno de= Samper, ha estimulado los asesinatos a toda oposicion. Luisa Estela Altamirano habia estado durante ocho dias, vigilando el estado= de salud a un compan~ero, Adalberto Valencia, de 32 an~os, que habia sido= baleado por sicarios el 4 de junio. En la madrugada del 12 de junio= fallecio por las graves heridas de la siete balas que penetraron su cuerpo.= En la noche ese dia, Estela se junto con unos compan~eros en el barrio El= Jardin cuando dos individuos aparecieron en la ventana y le dispararon.= Entraron a la casa donde la remataron delante de los amigos. Los asesinos= la buscaban solamente a ella. Estela Altamirano fundo la ONG ANDAS a final del decada del 80 en el= departamento del Valle. Trabajo en primer lugar para los desplazados pero= tambien para los presos politicos en las carceles. Pertenecia a la= directiva regional del Partido Comunista Colombiano, en la ciudad de Cali.= Habia sido victima meses atras, de otro atentado, donde las balas no= lograron a alcanzarla. Vivia en la parte mas pobre de Cali, donde los= distritos 13, 14 y 15 forman el famoso Aguablanca (700.000 hab). A pesar de= las amenazas y atentados ella rechazaba las recomendaciones de asilarse en= otro pais junto con sus tres hijas de 2-16 an~os. En enero de 1996 tomo la= iniciativa de crear un Comite de DD.HH. en el barrio. Fue un exito con gran= respaldo de los habitantes. Javier Lopez fue un amigo intimo y compan~ero= del mismo partido en Cali. Era duen~o de un taller de fotomecanica/imprenta= en el centro de Cali. En 1989 fue secuestrado por narcos y policias y= liberado tres meses despues. En agosto de 1996 su taller fue allanado dos= veces por agentes de la seguridad del Estado. INFORMACION COMPLEMENTARIA: La ANDAS se especializa en la atencion a los desplazados de la guerra civil= colombiana y tiene importantes proyectos de cooperacion financiados con= fondos espan~oles. La persecucion sistematica a los activistas relacionados= con el Partido Comunista Colombiano ha sido denunciada por todos los= organismos internacionales de derechos humanos y obedece a una= planificacion tecnica realizada por los estados mayores militares de= Colombia. La razon es que acusan a este partido de ser el brazo politico de= las FARC. Esta situacion ha determinado que mas de 4000 activistas= relacionados con este partido hayan sido asesinados en los ultimos an~os.= Por lo tanto no cabe mas que una condena energica ante las autoridades= colombianas dejando saber claramente que se conoce que es un plan= sistematico y que las responsabilidades penales correspondientes por este= tipo de delitos no prescriben. ENVIAR FAX O MAIL A LAS SIGUIENTES AUTORIDADES Y TAMBIEN A LA EMBAJADA= COLOMBIANA EN CADA PAIS: S.E. Ernesto Samper Pizano Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino Bogota, Colombia =46ax (+ 571) 284 21 86 Mailto: esamper@presidencia.gov.co Dr. Orlando Vasquez Velasquez Procurador General de la Nacion Carrera 5, N 15-80 Bogota, Colombia =46ax (+ 571) 284 04 72 /or 342 97 23 Dr. Carlos Vicente de Roux Consejero Presidencial para los Derechos Humanos Palacio de Narino Bogota, Colombia =46ax +571.341.83.64 Dr. Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento =46iscal General de la Nacion =46ax +571.288.2828 Ministro del Interior =46AX: +57.1.286.0485 y +57.1.286.6524 Embajada de Colombia en Madrid - Estado Espanyol Oficina de prensa: Mailto:prensa.embajada@mad.servicom.es PARA MAS INFORMACION DIRIGIRSE A: Comite pour le respect des droits humains en Colombie "Daniel Gillard" Rue Gachard, 11 - 1050 Bruxelles - Belgique =46AX: +32.2.284.9151 Organizacion de Solidaridad con los pueblos de America Latina, Asia y Africa - OSPAAAL - Desengano, 12 - 28005 Madrid - Espana =46AX +34.1.521.1736 MAS INFORMACION DE COLOMBIA EN: Nuevo documento sobre la impunidad en Colombia en: http://www.derechos.org/koaga/iii/2/perez.html Mas info sobre Colombia en: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia ****************************************************************** Equipo Nizkor Apartado de Correo 15116 - 28080 - Madrid - Tfono: +34.1.517.0141/Fax:+34.1.521.1736 http://www.derechos.org/nizkor (Equipo Nizkor) Mail: nizkor@derechos.org - Editor responsable: Gregorio Dionis - Mailto: goyo@derechos.org Contra viento y marea/con el alma en un hilo/entre luces y sombras/amo la libertad/ (Pedro Garcia Cabrera) Este mensaje esta protegido por el Codigo Penal espanol segun el Titulo X Capitulo I y el Titulo XIII - Capitulo XI, respectivamente. ****************************************************************** --------------- Fin del original en espa=F1ol: --------------- ---------- aaron@burn.ucsd.edu http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aaron From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Tue Jul 8 18:24:00 1997 Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:50:51 -0700 (PDT) Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:50:05 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:50:05 -0700 (PDT) To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: NAFTA: The Failed Experiment Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO From: Paul Plaganis Subject: NAFTA: The Failed Experiment Forwarded from: united@cougar.com The Failed Experiment: NAFTA at Three Years Executive Summary The President is required to submit "a comprehensive study on the operation and effects" of NAFTA to Congress by July 1st. In this report, several organizations concerned with the well-being of working families and the environment perform their own evaluation of NAFTA's track record. Although NAFTA clearly has been good for some North Americans, the costs - to many more North Americans - have been much heavier: U.S. Wages For nearly two decades, the real wages of American blue-collar workers have been declining. Imports from low-wage countries are an especially important cause of increasing wage inequality, and Mexico is one of America's most important low-wage trading partners. * Between 1993 and 1995, Mexican goods made up 26.7% of the increase of U.S. imports from non-industrialized, low-wage countries. Mexico was also responsible for 43.5% of the increase in U.S. deficits with these countries. * Many firms have used the threat of moving to Mexico as a weapon against wage increases and union organization. In a survey commissioned by the NAFTA Labor Secretariat, Professor Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell found that over half of the firms used threats to shut down operations to fight union organizing drives. When forced to bargain with a union, 15% of firms actually closed part or all of a plant-triple the rate found in the late 1980s, before NAFTA. Trade Balances and Job Losses in the U.S. * In 1996, exports were 36.3% higher to Mexico and 33.4% higher to Canada than in 1993. Growth in U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada, however, was much larger-82.7% and 41.1%, respectively, over the same period. As a result, a U.S. surplus with Mexico of $1.7 billion in 1993 became a deficit of $16.2 billion in 1996. America's overall deficit with the NAFTA countries hit $39 billion in 1996, an increase of 332% from 1993. * Based on standard employment multipliers, the increase in the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has cost the U.S. 420,208 jobs since 1993 (250,710 associated with changes in the trade balance with Mexico, and 169,498 with Canada). NAFTA was responsible for 38% of the decline in manufacturing employment since 1989. NAFTA and globalization generally have changed the composition of employment in America, stimulating the growth of lower paying services industries and accelerating the deindustrialization of our economy. NAFTA and the Peso Crisis * The 1995 peso crisis is commonly used to excuse the sharp deterioration of the U.S. trade balance with Mexico. However, NAFTA was the foundation for an aggressive export-led growth strategy in Mexico. This assumed that expanding Mexico's exports would create jobs for Mexico's rapidly expanding workforce and steadily increase living standards. The peso had to fall in order for this strategy to succeed. As Professor Robert Blecker of American University put it, "Mexico had to devalue the peso in order to attract the direct foreign investment and export-oriented manufacturing that the NAFTA agreement was designed to promote." * The peso crisis is also intricately linked with the politics of NAFTA. The artificially high peso held down inflation in Mexico, helped to win votes in the U.S. Congress for passage of NAFTA in 1993, and improved the electoral prospects of Mexican Presidential candidate Ernesto Zedillo in 1994. * The real value of the peso has been climbing steadily since late 1995 at 5 - 7% per quarter. The Mexican government has been stimulating the economy in advance of next month's elections. Past experience suggests that Mexico's next sudden devaluation, and even deeper depression, are only a matter of time. Mexico * The peso collapse has devastated Mexico's economy. The number of unemployed workers doubled between mid-1993 and mid-1995, to nearly 1.7 million. Additionally, there were 2.7 million workers employed in precarious conditions in 1996. To make ends meet, many families are forced to send their children-as many as 10 million-to work, violating Mexico's own child labor law. An estimated 28,000 small businesses in Mexico have been destroyed by competition with huge foreign multinationals and their Mexican partners. Real hourly wages in 1996 were 27% lower than in 1994 and 37% below 1980 levels. Of the 1995 working population of 33.6 million, 19% worked for less than the minimum wage, 66% lacked any benefits, and 30% worked fewer than 35 hours per week. During three years of NAFTA, the portion of Mexican citizens who are "extremely poor" has risen from 32 to 51%, and 8 million people have fallen from the middle class into poverty. Canada * Canada has been mired in recession since shortly after entering into the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement in 1989. Unemployment increased from 7.5% in 1989 to 11.3% in 1992. Joblessness fell back to 9.4%, but has risen slightly in 1997, to 9.6%. Canada's policies and practices are being harmonized with those of the rest of North America -- downward. Between 1989 and 1995, Canada's real interest rate was 2.9% higher than in the U.S. As a result, Canada is cutting government outlays sharply and dismantling its social safety net, while increasing its unemployment rate. NAFTA and Labor Rights Significant areas of labor rights are excluded from effective review by NAFTA enforcement agencies. * To date the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) has completed only five public reviews of complaints of labor violations. Four of these five complaints have centered upon labor rights violations in Mexico. None of the workers involved in these complaints - more than 200 in total - was reinstated or compensated for serious labor rights violations. A new section is needed in the NAFTA agreement to provide real remedies for labor violations. The Environment and Public Safety Three years of evidence demonstrate conclusively that the unregulated expansion of North American trade has made an already heavily polluted border region much dirtier and more dangerous; and that the institutions created by NAFTA to handle environmental and public safety problems are utterly inadequate. * The NAFTA clean up plan for the U.S. Mexico border has failed, generating only 1 percent of the promised clean-up money. Ozone levels in El Paso have increased steadily since NAFTA. The rate of Hepatitis-A in the border region rose to between 2 and 5 times the U.S. average. * NAFTA opened the U.S. borders to trucks that don't meet U.S. safety standards. Fewer than 1 percent of the 3.3 million trucks entering the U.S. each year are inspected. 50% of those inspected are rejected for major safety violations. * NAFTA has weakened food safety inspections. Strawberries, head lettuce, and carrots from Mexico have violation rates of 18.4%, 15.6% and 12.3%, respectively, for illegal pesticide residues. * The Ethyl Corporation of Virginia has filed a $250 million suit against Canadian government, under NAFTA rules, after Canada banned a toxic gasoline additive. If Ethyl wins its case, governments will have to pay polluters not to pollute in order to protect public health. * NAFTA weakened border inspections of U.S. trade. A tragic side effect was to increase the transshipment of illegal drugs. Transshipment of illegal drugs through Mexico has increased greatly. 80% of the cocaine now entering the U.S. comes through Mexico. Conclusions Before it can be expanded, NAFTA should be revised to include enforceable labor and environmental standards, effective adjustment assistance, financial market regulation, and protection of national safety nets for those left out of the benefits of trade. Paul Plaganis Legislative Representative T.C.U. District #861 Albany, NY e-mail address: metro716@taconic.net From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 9 09:29:53 1997 Wed, 9 Jul 1997 08:27:26 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 9 Jul 1997 08:25:22 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 08:25:22 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, h-uclea@h-net.msu.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Chicago Federation of Labor Shady Deal Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO >/* Written 11:35 AM Jul 4, 1997 by Cbiers@aol.com in igc:list.publabor */ >/* ---------- "Chicago AFL Aids Shady Employers" ---------- */ >CHICAGO FED, AFL-CIO AID SHADY EMPLOYERS > >by Herman Benson > >in Union Democracy Review, a bimonthly publication of the Association for >Union Democracy. AUD is a national, pro-labor, non-profit organization that >promotes the policy and practice of union democracy as a means of >strengthening the labor movement. 500 State Street Brooklyn, NY 11217. >(718) 855-6650 fax: 718 855-6799, e-mail: aud@igc.apc.org. > >At first it's puzzling. Look more closely and it's weird: Criminal federal >indictments face a group of suspect Illinois employers who are charged by >the Justice Department with a racketeering conspiracy to cheat union >benefit funds and wages, to file false reports in the mail, to commit >bribery . The Chicago Federation of Labor has submitted an amicus brief >supporting the accused companies, arguing that the criminal suit interferes >with normal collective bargaining procedures and that the charges belong, >not in federal court, but before the National Labor Relations Board. > >Sherman Carmell, the Chicago federation attorney, equates his role to the >ACLU's when it supported the right of Nazis to march in Chicago. An odd >comparison! The only common element could be that the defendants in both >cases are detestable. Only an elastic imagination could conclude that a >defendant's cause can contribute toward justice just because he is >detestable. The ACLU observed a clear principle: the right of obnoxious >clients to exercise civil liberties. The Chicago Fed advances quite a >different principle, that crooked employers can steal workers' money >without facing criminal charges because the NLRB has jurisdiction over >contract breaches. > >The indictment charges that two companies and six of their executives have >defrauded members of the Chicago Laborers District Council and of and >Teamsters Local 731 of more than $10,000,000 and that they have tried to >cover their tracks with false employee wage reports and have used the U.S. >mails to serve their purposes. > >Both the employers and the federation make the same argument: that the >control and policing of the funds is part of the normal collective process >and so the National Labor Relations Board should have jurisdiction >Enforcement, they argue, belongs exclusively before the NLRB and not in >criminal court. Employers, understandably, try to take refuge behind the >NLRB; they are defendants and naturally advance any argument that can >possibly promote their cause. But why should unions offer their moral >support? >Everywhere else, the AFL-CIO denounces the NLRB as ineffective, even >anti-labor. It charges that the NLRB drags out complaints until unionists >are demoralized or defeated by persecuting employers, that even in those >rare cases when it upholds a worker's complaint, the decision comes too >late and the penalty against offending employers often amounts to a >meaningless slap on the wrist. An old, sad story: justice delayed, justice >denied. > >The NLRB has no criminal enforcement authority. At best for the unions, it >can order employers to pay back wages or other reimbursements. At worst for >the employers, it means money, only part of the normal costs of doing >business. The risks are not great; in the end, they can make more money by >violating the rules than what they might pay if caught. > >If they are careful, employers can keep two sets of books with impunity . >One set helps cheat the union and insurance funds; if that set is >fraudulent, and they are caught, they could face mild civil charges and pay >out some money. But to be safe, they can simply keep another set of more >accurate books for the federal government, because if they cheat on, say, >social security, they could go to jail. > >So that the threat of criminal penalties becomes a powerful enforcement >tool against employers who cheat their unions and workers. That's what >makes the action of the Chicago Federation almost unbelievable. In this >case, confounding all experience, the Chicago Federation supports the >employers who prefer to go before an ineffective unenforcement agency >rather than face stringent criminal penalties for violating workers rights. >It would be enlightening to know exactly where the two federation >affiliates stand: Teamsters Local 731 and the Laborers District Council, >both of Chicago. Both international unions, but not necessarily the locals, >had been charged with permitting infiltration by organized crime. Chicago >is the home base of Bruno Caruso who ran unsuccessfully against Arthur >Coia. > >Back when the Teamsters international was still under control of the old >guard, an ecumenical consortium of top labor officers denounced the >government's RICO suit aimed at eradicating organized crime from the IBT. >They insisted that they wanted to protect a free labor movement. Why >doesn't the government move against crooked employers? they complained. Now >that the government seems to be acting on their advice, the Chicago Fed >will not take yes for an answer. It comes to the aid of suspect employers, >presumably to defend free enterprise. > >How explain all this? One possibility is truly depressing. In this case, >the government charges employers with fraudulent use of the mails, a >criminal offense, to pilfer the insurance funds. In a totally different >federal case, the corrupt ex-officials of the Marine Engineers Beneficial >Association were convicted in federal district court, among other criminal >offenses, of illegally using the mails to run fraudulent union elections >and referendums in a scheme to extract millions of dollars from the union >treasury. That case is now under appeal. Is it possible that the Chicago >Fed is eager to avoid mail fraud charges against suspect employers who >steal money because it is even more eager to protect unscrupulous union >officials who steal elections? > >Chicago is Chicago and all this might be only a local affair except that >city federations are under the direct supervision of the AFL-CIO which in >turn is now under new management which hopes to stimulate a new spirit in >unions so that the labor movement can be accepted as a great force for >democracy, decency, and social justice in America. The Chicago case tests >the determination of the new AFL-CIO leadership to carry out its own >program. > > > > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 9 18:53:27 1997 Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:48:33 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:47:58 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:47:58 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, united@cougar.com From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: NAFTA in Caribbean?! Action Requested! Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO From: Nicaragua Network [The information for this alert was provided on July 9, 1997, by the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project, P.O. Box 268-290, Chicago, IL 60626; Tel: (773) 262-6502; e-mail: usglep@igc.apc.org] URGENT!!! PLEASE ACT ON THIS ALERT: House Tax Bill Contains $200 Million in New Benefits For Central American Maquiladora Businesses; No New Benefits for Maquila Workers The House of Representatives is quietly trying to extend NAFTA trade benefits to the Central American and Caribbean apparel-for-export sector. The so-called Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) parity measure, originally introduced by Rep. Phil Crane, R-IL, is part of the omnibus reconciliation tax bill that has already passed the House. The Crane measure would expand the long-standing Caribbean Basin Initiative duty-free trade program to phase in NAFTA-equivalent trade benefits for apparel, shoes and petroleum, commodities that are currently excluded from the CBI trade program. The Senate version of the reconciliation bill does not contain a CBI-parity provision. Central American governments and business leaders have lobbied for three years to obtain the same trade benefits provided to Mexico under NAFTA, arguing that Mexico has an unfair trade advantage that has harmed the Central American maquiladora sector. However, the Central American maquiladora sector has continued to grow, despite Mexico's lower duties. Since NAFTA was passed, CBI countries have increased their total share of U.S. imports of apparel from 19% to 23%. The Crane bill does nothing to ensure that Central American workers obtain a share of the new trade benefits. While the version of the Crane measure in the reconciliation bill apparently does not remove current provisions that link CBI benefits to progress on respecting worker rights, these provisions have proven to be inadequate. Central American trade unions and those in the U.S. who support Central American workers believe that the extension of new trade benefits to the Central American maquiladora sector should be conditioned on measures to ensure that the benefits be shared by Central American workers through strong worker rights provisions. The attempt to sneak the controversial Crane measure through the reconciliation bill represents an attack on both Central American and U.S. workers and worker rights advocates, depriving fair trade supporters an opportunity to engage in efforts to strengthen to worker rights provisions of U.S. trade laws and build a trading system that is not based on the exploitation of Third World workers who are denied their basic rights. The House's action is a back-door attempt to ensure that worker rights advocates have no opportunity to push for stronger worker rights provisions. The drum beat of media coverage of worker rights violations in the Central American maquiladora sector no doubt has CBI-parity supporters concerned about having an honest and public debate on U.S. trade-worker rights policy vis-a-vis the Central American maquiladora sector. In a clear indication of efforts to side-step a public debate, the bill authorizes the new trade benefits for only one year, thereby keeping down costs represented by the loss of duties that would no longer be imposed. However, the strategy of the provision's sponsors is to get the nose of the camel under the tent, knowing that once the benefits are provided for one year they will be extended in future years. The five- year cost of CBI-parity would be $1 billion. Senators Patrick Moynihan, Trent Lott and William Roth have been named to represent the Senate in a conference committee with House counterparts on the section of the reconciliation bill that contains CBI- parity. TIMELINE: IMMEDIATE. This bill is going to conference July 10 and observers expect a conference (i.e. compromise) version of the bill to be completed as early as the middle of the week of July 14. ACTION: Contact your U.S. senators immediately. Ask them to contact Senators Moynihan, Lott and Roth and urge that they remove CBI- parity from the reconciliation bill. For more information, contact Steve Coats at the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project; Tel: 773-262-6502; e-mail: usglep@icg.apc.org CAMPAIGN FOR LABOR RIGHTS memberships: Send $35.00 to CLR, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. For a sample copy of our newsletter, send your postal address to clr@igc.apc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To receive our e-mail Labor Alerts send a message to clr@igc.apc.org with "labor alerts -- all campaigns" in the subject line or specify which labor issues interest: Nike, Disney, Guess, child labor, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, US farm workers, US poultry processing workers. If you would like to receive information which falls outside those categories (prison labor, workfare, other policy issues, additional briefing material on some campaigns), indicate that you want to be on out Additional Labor Information list AS WELL as our All Campaigns list. From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Thu Jul 10 00:07:50 1997 Wed, 9 Jul 1997 23:06:06 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 9 Jul 1997 23:05:28 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 23:05:28 -0700 (PDT) To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu, irra@relay.doit.wisc.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: [PEN-L:11222] URGENT: Tax bill may slash graduate stipends! (fwd) Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Background: As you may know, the "Tax Relief Act" of 1997, passed the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2014) on Thursday, June 26; a different version of the bill passed the Senate (S. 949) on Friday, June 27. The House bill, while providing $135 billion in tax relief to many Americans, contains a provision which drastically and detrimentally affects graduate students. A short clause phases out section 117(d) of the tax code, the section that excludes the value of tuition waivers or tuition reductions from taxable income. With the loss of this tuition tax exclusion, many graduate students will see their taxes raised by thousands of dollars per year. Examples provided by the NAGPS (National Association of Graduate-Professional Students) indicate that some of us may see our after-tax wages cut by 50% or even more!! Tuition waivers are used in many graduate programs to assist students during their often-lengthy education. Most of these students are obtaining PhDs in academic fields and will go on to modestly-paying university positions, possibly after long post-doctoral research. They serve as teaching assistants or research assistants in return for not paying tuition, which can easily exceed $20,000 per year at private institutions. Under the House version of the bill, the value of this tuition waiver would be considered taxable income. Although the House version of this bill is a disaster for graduate students, the Senate version does not include the repeal of section 117(d) of the tax code. Because of this and many other differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, both houses of Congress (as well as the White House) will convene to reconcile the two versions of the bill following the July 4th recess. At that point, the bill will be voted on for final passage, and signed into law. Our last chance to defeat the House bill is through this House-Senate Committee, which is expected to begin meeting the week of July 7th. If you have not heard of this issue, contained within the highly publicized "Tax Relief Act," it is because this act is enormous, containing tax issues involving cigarettes, capital gains, and the $500 per child tax credit, to name just a few. It is these other issues which have gained the media's attention, and few people seem to be aware of the impending disaster for graduate students, higher education, and university and research budgets. **It is our responsibility to ensure that our opinions are voiced and that this issue gains national attention. For more background on this situation, see one of the following web sites: NAGPS: MIT GSC: Harvard GSC: ================================================================= What you can do: 1. Please forward this Email to all graduate students you know at other institutions, as well as your family, your friends, and any undergraduates you know who plan to go to graduate school in the future. (Maybe media also!) Convince them to take action. 2. Distribute this information to fellow students, faculty, department and graduate program directors, and administrators within your own institution. Organize a campus-wide response through your local graduate student representative group. Be sure that your administration is on top of this issue and is taking immediate action. 3. Call (or fax or email) your Senators and Representative! It is critical that your voice be heard by your own members of Congress. Shear numbers of calls will make an impact. 4. Make a special effort to swamp the members of the Conference Committee with calls, as they will make the ultimate decision in reconciling the bills. If you are represented by one of these Senators or know someone who is (DE/MS/NY/NM/IA/OK/NJ/ND), make sure contact is made! ================================================================= How to contact your Senators and Representatives: House/Senate switchboard: 800-962-3524 or 800-972-3524 or House: 202-225-3121 Senate: 202-224-3121 Or check for addresses, direct phone number, district office number, email and more information. The following senators are members of the Conference Committee which will be composing the final version of the bill. These are critical people to target, especially if you live or go to school in DE, MS, NY, NM, IA, OK, NJ or ND. Roth (R-DE), Lott (R-MS), Moynihan (D-NY), Domenici (R-NM), Grassley (R-IA), Nickles (R-OK), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Conrad (D-ND) House Conference Committee members will not be announced until July 7th or 8th. Congress is now on Independence Day recess (through July 7th) and most members will be in their home districts. Use this opportunity to meet with them personally to discuss your concerns. ================================================================= What to say in your calls and letters: Please be polite and courteous, but let them know that you oppose the loss of section 117(d), the tuition tax waiver for graduate students. This waiver is retained in the Senate version (S. 949) of the Tax Relief Act but eliminated in the House version (H.R. 2014). Be sure to mention that you are concerned that this issue be carefully considered at the meeting of the Joint House- Senate Conference Committee to reconcile the two versions of the Tax Relief Act. Explain to them your concerns for higher education and for research should the tuition tax waiver be lost. Here are some specific points to mention: - - - how this tax increase will impact your financial status (have numbers to illustrate your point) - - - how top students will opt to not pursue graduate degrees, threatening America's continued leadership in research - - - how graduate students will leave graduate school - - - how losing qualified students in your field will impact the US (e.g., biology: cancer and HIV/AIDS research engineering/physics: national defense) - - - how this tax will increase costs to universities, leading to an increase in undergraduate tuition - - - for more specifics, see NAGPS Talking Points: WRITE, PHONE, and FAX these issues to your representatives immediately. The more they are aware that there is real and dire concern over this issue, the more likely that this issue will be removed in the House-Senate Conference Committee. ================================================================= Thanks for your action! The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Graduate Student Association gsa-g@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduate School Council gsc@hcs.harvard.edu Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Student Council Stanford University Graduate Student Council gsc@assu.stanford.edu ----- End of forwarded message from Linguistic Society Of America ----- Anthony D'Costa From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Thu Jul 10 14:57:06 1997 Thu, 10 Jul 1997 13:20:49 -0700 (PDT) Thu, 10 Jul 1997 13:19:22 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 13:19:22 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Democrats Cry Foul at a GOP Plan For 1.4 Million Labor Investigation Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Democrats Cry Foul at a GOP Plan For $1.4 Million Labor Investigation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Juliet Eilperin and Jim Vande Hei With the blessing of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga), House Republicans this week quietly dipped into a controversial reserve fund for the first time to approve a $1.4 million investigation into labor laws and union activity. In a contentious session Tuesday night, the House Oversight Committee, which controls the $8 million reserve fund, OKed a request by the Education and the Workforce Committee to give Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich) $1.4 million and 11 new staffers to launch oversight hearings on the state of American workers. Democrats, who were not informed of the plan until late Monday, complained vehemently about the scope of the probe and its financing through what they have called a GOP "slush fund." Key Republican Members told Roll Call that Hoekstra, chairman of the panel's investigation and oversight subcommittee, will use a portion of the funds to probe the AFL-CIO's political activities. "Hoekstra plans to look at the ways labor leaders are not representing workers," said Rep. Jim Greenwood (Pa), a member of GOP leadership Chairman Bill Paxon's (NY) "vision team," which plots strategy for oversight and investigations. "This will include using [compulsory] dues for political purposes." Hoekstra said that "he doesn't see how investigating [union political activity] ties into his oversight" plans. But two GOP Members said Hoekstra and Paxon's vision team discussed using the $1.4 million to flog the AFL-CIO, which spent more than $35 million last year to defeat GOP candidates nationwide. "This was coordinated with leadership, Hoekstra, and members of the Education Committee," said a member of Paxon's vision team who asked not to be identified. "The [AFL-CIO] will come up throughout this probe." Paxon's team includes Reps. Mark Souder (Ind), Mike Parker (Miss), Jo Ann Emerson (Mo), and Greenwood. Souder said: "I would expect the [AFL-CIO] to come up because of the Beck decision," the 1988 Supreme Court ruling that restricts union leaders from forcing rank-and-file workers to help fund political activities. Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NH), who sits on the Education and the Workforce Committee, said the new group would investigate issues ranging from alleged corruption in setting Davis-Bacon wage standards to whether unions violated federal labor practices by hiring young organizers last summer to help with union campaigns. "I would think we could find some stuff," Ballenger said. "It's there. It will probably take staff to do it." Hoekstra's plan, which allocates 70 percent of the investigation's resources to the majority and the rest to the minority, calls for hiring 11 Republican and five Democratic aides. The new positions, which would exceed the committee's staff ceiling of 75, include three attorneys, a $70,000 communications director, and a $25,000 media assistant. It also proposed hiring a $95,000 project manager and two researchers. Democrats are furious not only with the GOP's plans to slap the AFL-CIO, but also with the manner in which House Republicans approved the investigation. Democrats charge that they were not informed of the GOP's plans to release the $1.4 million until less than 24 hours before the House Oversight panel approved the plan. GOP sources said the plan was purposely kept secret until the 11th hour. Democrats were also outraged that House Oversight Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif) did not postpone the meeting until ranking member Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn) could return from a NATO trip in Europe. "If we're going to be fair, if there's some comity, some pretense of fairness, the ranking member should have known we were having a meeting," said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md), who acted in Gejdenson's place. But Thomas said he would have expected Gejdenson to attend the meeting, since the House took five recorded votes shortly after 5 p.m. "This is not the Senate," he retorted. "We do not shape our agenda to a single Member's desires or wishes." This level of hostility persisted throughout the meeting, which lasted late into Tuesday night, as Thomas and Hoyer repeatedly clashed over the GOP's tactics. At one point, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich) felt compelled to remind her colleagues that they were charged with carrying out "the people's business." "I hate the antagonism I keep feeling every time I walk in the room," she lamented. "If we're going to talk about rules, let's follow the rules. I don't think we're following the rules." Thomas defended the decision to spend the money from the reserve fund, saying the GOP leadership had decided to allow committees to petition for additional funds because they had adopted a two-year funding cycle, which made it difficult to anticipate some demands. According to the reserve fund guidelines approved by House Oversight on Tuesday, panels can receive more money under "extraordinary, emergency, or high-priority circumstances." However, Hoyer argued that the way the Republicans handled the funding request indicated "it can't stand the light of day." Education Committee Republicans met in a private session more than two weeks ago to authorize the project, according to several Members. Gingrich, who verbally approved the plan on June 26, signed a letter Monday formally authorizing the move. But despite the Speaker's approval, sources said that several top GOP leaders were not consulted on the project. Instead, Paxon's vision group orchestrated the plan. Republican Conference Chairman John Boehner (Ohio) and Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) knew very little about Paxon's plan, two leadership sources confirmed. "This is one of few secrets that have been kept around here," said a leadership adviser. Hoekstra framed the venture as a sequel to his subcommittee's "Crossroads Project," which examined the nation's education system. "The purpose of the companion project is to examine federal workplace policies which enhance or impede the development of an environment in which the American worker can be the most productive and enjoy the highest standard of living of any worker in the world," the plan reads. "This will include a review of the Department of Labor and its programs, activities, and spending habits, and other agencies which administer federal workforce laws, in an effort to promote a workplace which provides Americans with security and flexibility during their working years and in retirement and offers a fair return on American taxpayer money." Democrats complained that the proposal was so vague and of such long duration that it could encompass a range of anti-union activities. Thomas said he did not know if the project would focus on union activity. "That's the committee's decision," he said. Hoyer questioned why the Republicans felt the project was important enough to devote nearly 20 percent of the reserve fund to it. Drawing on the reserve fund may prompt criticism from fiscal conservatives as well. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz), for one, questioned why the chamber needed to spend more money on investigations. "I continue to be amazed around here, with corporate America having to do more with less, cutting back every day, that we've got folks here that think we can't get the job done with existing resources," he said. "I don't understand why we're not like that here, why Republicans can't act more like businesspeople." Copyright ) 1997 Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved. Bryan Thompson H: 630-860-7423 Staff@NATCAVoice.org http://www.NATCAVoice.org Editor - The NATCA Voice 800-SKY-TALK ; Pin 114-9137 -------------End of forwarding message------------------------- From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Fri Jul 11 12:35:21 1997 Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:09:19 -0700 (PDT) Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:08:35 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:08:35 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: UFW Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Farm Workers Rights and Human Rights Embraced; Farm Workers and Farmers Champion the Strawberry Industry 03:38 p.m Jul 10, 1997 Eastern WATSONVILLE, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of strawberry farm workers and farmers gathered today in Watsonville, CA to restate their support of workers rights and to call on the public to endorse their pledge. They were joined by Bishop Sylvester Ryan, Monterey Catholic Archdiocese; Reverend Donnel McLane of the Assembly of God, and Buddhist Reverend Jerry Sakamoto. The lunch hour event was sponsored by the Strawberry Workers & Farmers Alliance (SW&FA), a coalition formed in 1996 to protect open markets for strawberries in markets around the world, and the jobs of workers and the businesses of farmers. Gigantic posters with copies of the signatures of eight thousand farm workers and farmers who support SW&FA served as a back drop while another gigantic poster incorporated a pledge supporting active, equal enforcement of laws that protect employees in the work place and in making collective bargaining choices. "Today we seek to remove any confusion that might exist regarding the intentions and commitments of farm workers and farmers to seek full, fair and active enforcement of laws that regulate the workplace." Stated Gary Caloroso, SW&FA spokesman, "We are at a loss to understand why millions of dollars are being spent in a campaign that attacks our industry and impinges on the rights of workers and farmers alike. Allegations suggest wide spread human rights abuses in farming and that is not at all true." Participants at the event signed a pledge that has been the basis of SW&FA's mission since its formation. "Let there be no question. Farmers and farm workers can and do work side-by-side in these fields to produce quality, affordable food in an environment of mutual respect," stated Samuel Ybarra, a farm worker for over ten years producing strawberries. Cesario Ramirez, a farmer who started as a field worker forty years ago and now farms more than 100 acres of strawberries, employing over 100 farm workers stated, "There are laws that protect workers' rights to join or not join unions. What we do not understand is why some people keep trying to force the workers into one specific group. They put an organization ahead of the workers. That is not justice. Farmers respect the workers rights. Now we ask that everyone else do the same thing." Supermarkets came under pressure beginning last year to support a proposed sweetheart contract between a single union and the entire strawberry industry. In some instances threats of boycotts were made. That pledge excluded workers rights of self-determination and has been rejected in all but a few instances. SW&FA's pledge offers an alternative that fully supports farm worker rights. The pledge has been circulated to supermarkets throughout the United States and Canada as a voluntary alternative to the one that excludes workers rights. Hundreds of outlets have signed the SW&FA pledge. SW&FA is an organization that advocates open markets for strawberries. SW&FA is supportive of legal collective bargaining rights. SW&FA and its supporters have advocated full and equal enforcement of all work place laws and supports full compliance with the California Agriculture Labor Relations Act. Over twelve thousand individuals and organizations, to date, have endorsed SW&FA and its mission. SOURCE Strawberry Workers and Farmers Alliance Copyright 1997, PR Newswire From aaron@burn.ucsd.edu Fri Jul 11 18:19:27 1997 Fri, 11 Jul 1997 20:18:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 20:19:17 -0400 To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, labor-l@yorku.ca From: Aaron Subject: Re: UFW Status: RO Comrades, This is for those of you who received the item reproduced below and passed over it without paying attention, and for those who didn't receive it previously. I think it's worthwhile to be alert about what the enemy is up to. I've never heard of PRNewswire nor of the "Strawberry Workers & Farmers Alliance (SW&FA)", and I don't know if they are anything more than press release machines, but, regardless of their forces, the whole thing smells like a psy-war operation against the UFW. They don't mention the UFW by name, although they are clearly attacking it. This may be partially in honor of the Public Relations maxim that no publicity is bad publicity, and partly not to give away the game by attacking the best-known union of farm workers. Basically, these people are supporting workers' rights the same way that supporters of "right-to-work" laws do. In other words, they support the right of workers to be intimidated by their bosses into not joining unions or fighting for their class interests. Which is what you'd expect of any organization which purports to unite workers with their employers. -- In solidarity, -- Aaron >Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:08:35 -0700 (PDT) >From: Michael Eisenscher >Subject: UFW >X-Sender: meisenscher@igc.org >X-To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU > >Farm Workers Rights and Human Rights Embraced; Farm Workers and >Farmers Champion the Strawberry Industry >03:38 p.m Jul 10, 1997 Eastern > >WATSONVILLE, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of strawberry >farm workers and farmers gathered today in Watsonville, CA to restate >their support of workers rights and to call on the public to endorse >their pledge. They were joined by Bishop Sylvester Ryan, Monterey >Catholic Archdiocese; Reverend Donnel McLane of the Assembly of God, >and Buddhist Reverend Jerry Sakamoto. The lunch hour event was >sponsored by the Strawberry Workers & Farmers Alliance (SW&FA), a >coalition formed in 1996 to protect open markets for strawberries in >markets around the world, and the jobs of workers and the businesses >of farmers. > >Gigantic posters with copies of the signatures of eight thousand farm >workers and farmers who support SW&FA served as a back drop while >another gigantic poster incorporated a pledge supporting active, >equal enforcement of laws that protect employees in the work place >and in making collective bargaining choices. "Today we seek to remove >any confusion that might exist regarding the intentions and >commitments of farm workers and farmers to seek full, fair and active >enforcement of laws that regulate the workplace." Stated Gary >Caloroso, SW&FA spokesman, "We are at a loss to understand why >millions of dollars are being spent in a campaign that attacks our >industry and impinges on the rights of workers and farmers alike. >Allegations suggest wide spread human rights abuses in farming and >that is not at all true." > >Participants at the event signed a pledge that has been the basis of >SW&FA's mission since its formation. "Let there be no question. >Farmers and farm workers can and do work side-by-side in these fields >to produce quality, affordable food in an environment of mutual >respect," stated Samuel Ybarra, a farm worker for over ten years >producing strawberries. > >Cesario Ramirez, a farmer who started as a field worker forty years >ago and now farms more than 100 acres of strawberries, employing over >100 farm workers stated, "There are laws that protect workers' rights >to join or not join unions. What we do not understand is why some >people keep trying to force the workers into one specific group. They >put an organization ahead of the workers. That is not justice. Farmers >respect the workers rights. Now we ask that everyone else do the same >thing." > >Supermarkets came under pressure beginning last year to support a >proposed sweetheart contract between a single union and the entire >strawberry industry. In some instances threats of boycotts were made. >That pledge excluded workers rights of self-determination and has been >rejected in all but a few instances. SW&FA's pledge offers an >alternative that fully supports farm worker rights. The pledge has >been circulated to supermarkets throughout the United States and >Canada as a voluntary alternative to the one that excludes workers >rights. Hundreds of outlets have signed the SW&FA pledge. > >SW&FA is an organization that advocates open markets for >strawberries. SW&FA is supportive of legal collective bargaining >rights. SW&FA and its supporters have advocated full and equal >enforcement of all work place laws and supports full compliance with >the California Agriculture Labor Relations Act. Over twelve thousand >individuals and organizations, to date, have endorsed SW&FA and its >mission. SOURCE Strawberry Workers and Farmers Alliance > >Copyright 1997, PR Newswire From Urthman@aol.com Fri Jul 11 18:35:21 1997 From: Urthman@aol.com by emout09.mail.aol.com (8.7.6/8.7.3/AOL-2.0.0) Fri, 11 Jul 1997 20:35:21 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 20:35:21 -0400 (EDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: RIP Labor Research Review; welcome WorkingUSA! Status: RO The bad news is that the Midwest Center for Labor Research has discontinued publication of Labor Research Review, which has provided useful information and served as a forum for discussion of important issues (e.g., the "organizing model" vs. the "servicing model"). MCLR will continue its core research and consulting work, but many folks will miss the Review. The good news is that M.E. Sharpe, Inc., has begun publishing a bimonthly journal called WorkingUSA. Edited by Don Stillman, plus David Elsila, Jo-Ann Mort and Stefanie Weiss (and Earl Dotter as Photo Editor), and with a high profile editorial advisory board, it looks like an upscale version of Labor Research Review intended for a wider audience (with good pix). The May-June 1997 issue includes articles by Robert Kuttner, David Moberg, William Greider, Ruth Needleman, Steve Babson, John Sweeney, and a Fred Solowey interview with Andy Stern. The editors say the are "looking for fresh and interesting articles that will provide new insights on labor and work. Articles are invited (1,000-3,500 words) on a wide range of issues including: organizing, unions and politics; work and family; labor-management relations; labor and gender. race and class; job safety and health; collective bargaining; social and economic policy; global labor issues and others. Send writers' queries to WorkingUSA, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, NY 10504, or E-Mail: workingusa@igc.apc.org". Individual subscriptions are $45 per year (student subscriptions are $30 per year). Subscriber services: 1-800-541-6563. In the various struggles, Ed Ramthun AFSCME Indianapolis, Indiana From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sat Jul 12 02:41:25 1997 Fri, 11 Jul 1997 23:02:37 -0700 (PDT) Fri, 11 Jul 1997 22:55:10 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 22:55:10 -0700 (PDT) To: Aaron , Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, labor-l@yorku.ca From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Re: UFW Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Aaron, Thanks for your alert. I should have appended a notice that SW&FA is the "company union" created as a counter to the UFW in the strawberry campaign. I forwarded this hastily and should have been more attentive to provide context for those not familiar with this grower effort to endrun and deflect the UFW campaign. In this case haste makes confusion. My appologies. Michael At 08:19 PM 7/11/97 -0400, Aaron wrote: >Comrades, > >This is for those of you who received the item reproduced below and passed over it without paying attention, and for those who didn't receive it previously. I think it's worthwhile to be alert about what the enemy is up to. I've never heard of PRNewswire nor of the "Strawberry Workers & Farmers Alliance (SW&FA)", and I don't know if they are anything more than press release machines, but, regardle >ss of their forces, the whole thing smells like a psy-war operation against the UFW. > >They don't mention the UFW by name, although they are clearly attacking it. This may be partially in honor of the Public Relations maxim that no publicity is bad publicity, and partly not to give away the game by attacking the best-known union of farm workers. > >Basically, these people are supporting workers' rights the same way that supporters of "right-to-work" laws do. In other words, they support the right of workers to be intimidated by their bosses into not joining unions or fighting for their class interests. Which is what you'd expect of any organization which purports to unite workers with their employers. > > -- In solidarity, > -- Aaron > >>Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:08:35 -0700 (PDT) >>From: Michael Eisenscher >>Subject: UFW >>X-Sender: meisenscher@igc.org >>X-To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU >> >>Farm Workers Rights and Human Rights Embraced; Farm Workers and >>Farmers Champion the Strawberry Industry >>03:38 p.m Jul 10, 1997 Eastern >> >>WATSONVILLE, Calif., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of strawberry >>farm workers and farmers gathered today in Watsonville, CA to restate >>their support of workers rights and to call on the public to endorse >>their pledge. They were joined by Bishop Sylvester Ryan, Monterey >>Catholic Archdiocese; Reverend Donnel McLane of the Assembly of God, >>and Buddhist Reverend Jerry Sakamoto. The lunch hour event was >>sponsored by the Strawberry Workers & Farmers Alliance (SW&FA), a >>coalition formed in 1996 to protect open markets for strawberries in >>markets around the world, and the jobs of workers and the businesses >>of farmers. >> >>Gigantic posters with copies of the signatures of eight thousand farm >>workers and farmers who support SW&FA served as a back drop while >>another gigantic poster incorporated a pledge supporting active, >>equal enforcement of laws that protect employees in the work place >>and in making collective bargaining choices. "Today we seek to remove >>any confusion that might exist regarding the intentions and >>commitments of farm workers and farmers to seek full, fair and active >>enforcement of laws that regulate the workplace." Stated Gary >>Caloroso, SW&FA spokesman, "We are at a loss to understand why >>millions of dollars are being spent in a campaign that attacks our >>industry and impinges on the rights of workers and farmers alike. >>Allegations suggest wide spread human rights abuses in farming and >>that is not at all true." >> >>Participants at the event signed a pledge that has been the basis of >>SW&FA's mission since its formation. "Let there be no question. >>Farmers and farm workers can and do work side-by-side in these fields >>to produce quality, affordable food in an environment of mutual >>respect," stated Samuel Ybarra, a farm worker for over ten years >>producing strawberries. >> >>Cesario Ramirez, a farmer who started as a field worker forty years >>ago and now farms more than 100 acres of strawberries, employing over >>100 farm workers stated, "There are laws that protect workers' rights >>to join or not join unions. What we do not understand is why some >>people keep trying to force the workers into one specific group. They >>put an organization ahead of the workers. That is not justice. Farmers >>respect the workers rights. Now we ask that everyone else do the same >>thing." >> >>Supermarkets came under pressure beginning last year to support a >>proposed sweetheart contract between a single union and the entire >>strawberry industry. In some instances threats of boycotts were made. >>That pledge excluded workers rights of self-determination and has been >>rejected in all but a few instances. SW&FA's pledge offers an >>alternative that fully supports farm worker rights. The pledge has >>been circulated to supermarkets throughout the United States and >>Canada as a voluntary alternative to the one that excludes workers >>rights. Hundreds of outlets have signed the SW&FA pledge. >> >>SW&FA is an organization that advocates open markets for >>strawberries. SW&FA is supportive of legal collective bargaining >>rights. SW&FA and its supporters have advocated full and equal >>enforcement of all work place laws and supports full compliance with >>the California Agriculture Labor Relations Act. Over twelve thousand >>individuals and organizations, to date, have endorsed SW&FA and its >>mission. SOURCE Strawberry Workers and Farmers Alliance >> >>Copyright 1997, PR Newswire > > > >$*$*$*$*$ 1 LINE REFORMATTED BY POPPER AT igc.apc.org $*$*$*$*$ > From aanz@sirius.com Sun Jul 13 11:52:06 1997 for ; Sun, 13 Jul 1997 10:51:55 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 10:51:55 -0700 (PDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu From: aanz@sirius.com (anzalone/starbird) Subject: Re: Important Globalization View from PEN-L Status: RO >As a modest correction to what is probably a typo: (6) Should more accurately read: "1 billion people 30% of the world's" (adult, remembering the child labor struggles I would add the word adult) "workforce are either jobless or un (DER) employed." With this change the figures would match those of the Intl. Labour Organization. As it is the "jobless or unemployed" phrase would be redundant (which is why I think it is a typo) and inaccurate. These unDERemployed make less at their part or full time employment than necessary to sustain themselves. An example that comes to mind are the shoeshiners of Haiti, who roam the street hoping someone will hire them to shine shoes. The are ringing their bells and walking the street day and night, they are not getting many takers for their services, and cannot sustain a family on the pittance they receive when lucky enough to find a taker. These gentlemen are underemployed. Temp workers, part time workers unable to find full time employment and not paid enough to sustain themselves on their salaries are all examples of underemployment. ellen starbird all benefited from her tax cuts, credit boom and privatisation >programme.' The price was growing inequality as state welfare was cut >and millions of working class people were driven into poverty to pay >for Thatcher's programme. The privileges of the middle classes could >only be preserved at the expense of ever increasing numbers of >impoverished working class people. In spite of the revenues from North >Sea Oil, productive investment stagnated in Britain, and record >amounts of capital were invested abroad. Britain was rapidly becoming >a rentier state. > >With the failure of Thatcher's economic policies at the end of the >1980s and with poverty and inequality rapidly accelerating, inroads >began to be made into the standard of living of sections of the middle >classes. It is the potentially explosive consequences of this >development that drives Hutton. He offers his alternative to >'globalisation', to an unrestrained and deregulated capitalism. First, >he says, we must alter the way the British financial system works - >essentially from seeking high, liquid, short-term gains, irrespective >of location, to giving a long-term commitment to regenerating the >productive base of the British economy - a process which, he says, >requires a political revolution to take power away from the entrenched >'conservative hegemony'. Britain has to be transformed into a high >investment, high growth economy. Second, a coalition supporting social >welfare has to be rebuilt. For this to happen the middle classes must >opt in, rather than opt out into the privatised provision of the >neo-liberal agenda. The middle classes, he argues, can be given 'a >vested interest in the entire system' by 'incorporating inequality >into the public domain'. A core system for the mass of the working >class with the middle classes able to buy in the extra quality >services they require - in short 'nationalising inequality' within the >state system. > >However, if the degeneration of capitalism into a parasitic and >rentier form is now a necessary trend emerging in all the mature >capitalist nations, Hutton's response to globalisation - what I have >called the political economy of the new middle class - is both >idealist and reactionary.[4] > >We can now understand the significance of Sivanandan's standpoint. >Living in a country where knowledge, culture and politics are >dominated by the concerns and prejudices of middle class people; in >which the poor and oppressed working class are outside the political >process and ignored by the official labour movement; and where social >relations seem frozen, repetitive and unchanging, it could appear that >an epochal shift has occurred in capitalism and that the socialist >project, at least as it is traditionally understood, has to be buried. >We note Sivanandan's warning not to underestimate the dangers posed by >the so-called 'culture of postmodernism', in a society where >'"knowledge workers" who run the Information Society, who are in the >engine room of power, have become collaborators in power'. But we >respond as materialists. History has not ended. And globalisation, if >it is anything, is a sign of the crisis of capitalism, of increasing >instability, of rapidly changing circumstances in a world of obscene >and growing inequality. Social relations are not fixed. The conditions >which spawned a new middle class and turned it into a bedrock of >social stability in the imperialist nations after the war have ended. >Today it is those privileged conditions which are being threatened. >Hutton, at least, recognises this - hence his terrible fear of a >return to the extremes of class conflict that dominated the 1930s. >Sivanandan is far too preoccupied with the ideological posturing of a >small elite of academics and opinion formers caught up with >globalisation and beneficiaries of it. > >Ellen Meiksins Wood develops a number of crucial points in her reply >to Sivanandan. Firstly, more giant corporations with a global reach, >and more international organisations serving the interests of capital, >in no way imply a unified international capitalist class. The 'global' >market ensures the 'internationalisation of competition' - a >contradictory process. On the one hand it does mean new forms of >capitalist integration and co-operation across national boundaries but >on the other hand, it also means active competition between national >and regional capitalists. 'So the 'global' economy if anything may >mean less and not more capitalist unity.' The overall consequence of >'globalisation' far from integrating capital is at least as likely to >produce disintegration. > >Secondly, the proposition that there is an inverse relation between >the internationalisation of the economy and the power of the state >fails to acknowledge that 'globalisation' presupposes the state. 'The >nation-state is the main conduit through which national (or indeed >multinational) capital is inserted into the global market.' >Transnational capital may be more effective than the old-style >military imperialism in penetrating every corner of the world but it >accomplishes this, in the main, through the medium of local capital >and local states. It may well, ultimately, rely on the military power >of the last remaining 'super-power' to sustain the sovereignty of the >market. Further, it depends on such local political jurisdictions to >maintain the conditions of economic stability and labour discipline >which are the conditions for profitable investment. And finally, new >kinds of inter-imperialist rivalry will emerge in which the nation >state is still the principal agent. > >>From this she advances her most important political point: the nation >state is still the terrain of (class) struggle. 'If the state is the >channel through which capital moves in the "globalised" economy, then >it is equally the means by which an anti-capitalist force could sever >capital's lifeline.' > >These arguments go a great deal of the way to undermining Sivanandan's >position. But there is something lacking. It is perhaps best >highlighted in the undue weight Wood gives to the ideological impact >of the concept of globalisation as it is commonly understood. 'It is >the heaviest albatross around the neck of the left today'. 'In the >current conception of globalisation, left joins right in accepting >that "There Is No Alternative" - not just to capitalism, but...to a >more or less (the right goes for more, the left somewhat less) >ruthlessly "flexible" capitalism.' She continues, if their conception >of globalisation were an accurate reflection of what was happening in >the world today her ideological objections wouldn't count for much and >we would have to accept that the socialist project is dead. > >This is all very true but something more is surely needed. Ideas only >become a material force when taken up by the masses. The ideological >struggle is of political importance when it falls on fertile ground. >In periods when the poor and impoverished working class are outside >the political process, the politics of the left, in the main, reflect >their class position in capitalist society - as part of the privileged >working class or educated white collar and professional workers who >form the backbone of the new middle class. The recomposition of the >working class as a fighting force against capitalism has to be the >product of developments within capitalism itself, it will not be the >result of ideological combat alone. This process is already taking >place as capitalist governments deregulate labour, attack state >welfare, undermine the democratic right to protest and workers' rights >to organise, attempt to divide the working class through racism and >sexism, and destroy the environment. The ideological struggle has to >be combined with the political organisation and defence of those >sections of the working class under attack and fighting back. We need >to show how developments within capitalism are making this possible. >That is why a great deal more is required from the analysis of the >latest stage of capitalism to finally lay to rest the ghost of >globalisation. > >The reality of globalisation >============================ > >It is important not to underestimate the significance of >globalisation. It might well be an 'ideological mystification' in the >hands of a Martin Wolf or some intellectuals and academics on the >political left, but its impact on the economic and political lives of >the vast majority of humanity is of great political consequence. To >say, as I have argued in my earlier article on globalisation, that >'far from it being new it is a return to those unstable features of >capitalism which characterised imperialism before the First World War' >is not to dismiss its importance but, on the contrary, to highlight >it. It is beginning to create the very conditions which produced those >dramatic shocks to the international capitalist economy and which led >to the revolutionary developments in the first decades of the >twentieth century. So what then are the crucial components of >globalisation which suggest these developments. > >Multinational companies (MNCs)are the principle vehicle of >imperialism's drive to redivide the world according to economic power. >In 1995 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outflows increased by a >massive 38 per cent to $317bn, with a record $100bn going to Third >World countries. That investment is concentrated in three competing >power blocs, the 'Triad' of the European Union, Japan and the United >States and their regional cluster of countries. 76 per cent of the >investment in Third World countries (1993-5) went to only 10 >countries. Five imperialist countries, United States, UK, Germany, >Japan and France were responsible for almost two-thirds of the total >outflows in 1995. The United States ($96bn), UK ($38bn) and Germany >($35bn) all exported record amounts.[5] Most MNCs are nationally >based, controlled by national shareholders, and trade and invest >multinationally with a large majority of sales and assets in their >home country. A recent study showed 70 - 75 per cent value added by >multinational companies was produced in the home country. They are >highly concentrated. Only 100 MNCs, 0.3 per cent of the total, all >from imperialist countries, own one-third ($1.4 trillion) of the total >FDI investment stock. The process of concentration continues >internationally through mergers and acquisitions. Cross border mergers >and acquisitions doubled between 1988 and 1995 to $225bn. > >Globalisation is devastating the lives of millions of people. Even the >World Bank admits that in the case of the ex-Soviet bloc 'transition >has relegated an entire generation to economic idleness.' Output in >Russia fell by 40 per cent between 1990 -1995 and between 16 and 30 >per cent in the other countries. Growth has been falling over the last >15 years in about 100 countries, with almost a third of the world's >people, dramatically reducing the incomes of 1.6bn people. The >declines are unprecedented, exceeding in duration and sometimes in >depth the Great Depression of the 1930s. One billion people, 30 per >cent of the world's workforce, are either jobless or unemployed. Even >in the imperialist countries 100m people live below the poverty line, >30m are unemployed and more than 5m are homeless.[6] > >The world is becoming more unstable. $1,230bn a day flows through the >foreign exchange markets. Third World Debt, at a record $1,940bn, >continues to increase despite massive debt repayment. A formidable $55 >trillion is gambled on the world's derivatives market. All the major >banks are large players. Barclays, for example, has liabilities of >922bn pounds, more than 80 times its capital base. A crash in the >stockmarket will leave them facing huge losses. Growth in world trade >halved last year because of a sharp deterioration in the performance >of the so-called Asian 'tigers'. The conflict in Zaire has started a >new scramble for Africa as inter-imperialist rivalry intensifies. >Finally, inequality between rich and poor countries and between rich >and poor in all countries has reached unprecedented levels and is >still growing. > >These are not the conditions of an unchanging world. They are one's >where the socialist message can once again take root. Throughout the >world, from workers in Korea to guerrillas in Mexico, from public >sector workers in France to landless peasants in Brazil, people are >fighting for change. In Britain new alliances are being built with >environmental campaigners taking to the streets to defend dockers in >Liverpool. Globalisation is a long-term structural crisis of >capitalism. It is laying the ground for turning what Ellen Meiksins >Wood calls 'various fragments of opposition' to capitalism into >conscious class struggle. > >References >========== > >1 See 'Globalisation: a redivision of the world by imperialism' in >Fight > Racism! Fight Imperialism! 131 June/July 1996. > >2 These positions appear in 'Capitalism, globalisation, and epochal > shifts: an exchange' in Monthly Review Vol 48 No 9 pp19-32. That > diametrically opposed positions on the significance of globalisation > are held by writers throughout the political spectrum from 'right' > to 'left' only adds to the confusion. > >3 This was a favourable review of a book by Paul Hirst and Grahame > Thompson Globalisation in Question Polity Press 1996. Material from > this book is used in my earlier article on globalisation. They hold > a similar position to that of Hutton above, arguing that 'nation > states, and forms of international regulation created and sustained > by nation states, still have a fundamental role in providing > governance of the economy (p185).' > >4 Quotes from Hutton are from his book The State We're In Jonathan >Cape > 1995. For my review of this book see 'The political economy of the > new middle class' in Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 124 April/May > 1995. > >5 See World Investment Report (WIR) UN 1996 for information. Other > figures are taken from my earlier article or earlier WIR reports. > >6 Figures from The World Development Report OUP 1996 and The Human > Development Report OUP 1996. From rarmbrus@wizard.ucr.edu Mon Jul 14 10:31:36 1997 for Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu; Mon, 14 Jul 1997 06:31:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Ralph Armbruster Subject: Re: UFW To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 06:31:54 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <2.2.16.19970711100847.41c7c5f2@pop.igc.org> from "Michael Eisenscher" at Jul 11, 97 10:08:35 am Status: RO From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Mon Jul 14 17:55:23 1997 for ; Mon, 14 Jul 1997 08:41:40 -0700 (PDT) Mon, 14 Jul 1997 08:41:15 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 08:41:15 -0700 (PDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, Labor Research and Action Project From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Re: RIP Labor Research Review; welcome WorkingUSA! Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO While the new publication WorkingUSA is a welcome addition to the small number of labor-friendly/labor-focused journals, I question whether it will be "an upscale version of Labor Research Review." While LRR did not go out of its way to pick fights with the AFL-CIO leadership, it also demonstrated its independence and willingness to publish articles that did not necessary hew to the "party line." If the first issue of WorkingUSA is any indication, it appears to have staked its turf closely aligned with the New Voice leadership. Its critical edge is pretty dull, which leads me to suspect that it will not ask too many or very probing difficult questions. I hope I am wrong. Our labor movement desperately needs a thoughtful analytical leading edge accessible (to workers) journal. LRR will be missed. There should be room for both publications in a movement as large as ours. In solidarity, Michael At 08:35 PM 7/11/97 -0400, Urthman@aol.com wrote: >The bad news is that the Midwest Center for Labor Research has discontinued >publication of Labor Research Review, which has provided useful information >and served as a forum for discussion of important issues (e.g., the >"organizing model" vs. the "servicing model"). MCLR will continue its core >research and consulting work, but many folks will miss the Review. > >The good news is that M.E. Sharpe, Inc., has begun publishing a bimonthly >journal called WorkingUSA. Edited by Don Stillman, plus David Elsila, Jo-Ann >Mort and Stefanie Weiss (and Earl Dotter as Photo Editor), and with a high >profile editorial advisory board, it looks like an upscale version of Labor >Research Review intended for a wider audience (with good pix). The May-June >1997 issue includes articles by Robert Kuttner, David Moberg, William >Greider, Ruth Needleman, Steve Babson, John Sweeney, and a Fred Solowey >interview with Andy Stern. > >The editors say the are "looking for fresh and interesting articles that will >provide new insights on labor and work. Articles are invited (1,000-3,500 >words) on a wide range of issues including: organizing, unions and politics; >work and family; labor-management relations; labor and gender. race and >class; job safety and health; collective bargaining; social and economic >policy; global labor issues and others. Send writers' queries to WorkingUSA, >M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, NY 10504, or E-Mail: >workingusa@igc.apc.org". > >Individual subscriptions are $45 per year (student subscriptions are $30 per >year). Subscriber services: 1-800-541-6563. > > >In the various struggles, > >Ed Ramthun >AFSCME >Indianapolis, Indiana > > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Tue Jul 15 06:06:24 1997 Mon, 14 Jul 1997 23:24:39 -0700 (PDT) Mon, 14 Jul 1997 23:21:30 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 23:21:30 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-uclea@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Support Appeal Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO I received this appeal by way of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Share it with those who might be willing to help or who could benefit from knowing more about the state of democracy and labor rights in Mexico. =============== Dear Friends, Peter Cervantes-Gautshi has asked us to send this to our friends and allies. >>Subject: Support Appeal >> >>To: Friends, family & allies >>From: Peter Cervantes-Gautschi >> >>Re: Appeal for Support >> >>I am writing to ask your help. >> >>It was my privilege to participate in a SNEEJ sponsored >>tour of organizations in the state of Coahuila, Mexico as a >>representative of the Environmental and Economic Justice >>Project. On the tour I was accompanied by representatives of >>the Oil Chemical & Atomic Workers Union, the National Council >>of Churches, the Youth Project, CAFE, TIRN, the Labor Institute, >>Southwest Public Workers Union, SOC and others. >> >>We left San Antonio, Texas and drove to Acuna, Coahuila where >>we were joined by Beti Robles Ortega, of SEDEPAC (Servicio, >>Desarollo y Paz), and Cipriana Jurado of CISO (Centro de >>Investigacion y Solidaridad Obrera). Our first stop was The >>Workers Center in Acuna. The Workers Center is a SEDEPAC >>linked organization of Maquiladora workers from the Alcoa >>subsidiary, Arness located in that city. Some 26,000 >>maquiladora workers live and work in Acuna. Half of them >>have emigrated there from poorer areas of the country. >> >>The we drove directly to a meeting hall which had been rented >>for a meeting between us and worker center members. >>Immediately upon our arrival, security agents from the Alcoa >>Arness plant arrived outside the hall and began driving back >>and forth, videotaping all who entered and exited the building >>and took photographs. During our round of introductions, >>Leopoldo Rodriguez, the local chief of Gobernacion, the Mexican >>equivalent of the FBI, arrived at the hall and informed >>SEDEPAC leader, Beti, that ours was an illegal gathering which >>must be dispersed. >> >>After some intense discussion back and forth, Mr. Rodriguez >>entered the hall and addressed our group. Mr. Rodriguez >>informed us that we, of the tour, were violating our tourist >>visas by engaging in activities the purpose of which was to >>destabilize the Mexican nation. It was obvious, he said, that the >>purpose of our visit was not tourism, but rather to support >>movements and activities which were contrary to order in >>Mexico. This was evidenced, he said, by the signs on the wall. >>At this point, he pointed to a sign on the wall which read: >>"Demandamos la Reinstalacion de los Obreros Injustamente >>Despedidos" ( We demand the reinstatement of the unjustly >>fired workers.) >> >>He stated that there had been three complaints filed with his >>office about our meeting. Remarkably, he said this to us less >>than an hour after we had entered Mexico. >> >>After being introduced to us and pressed regarding the rights >>of both Mexican citizens and the purpose of our visit by Ruben >>Solis, representing both the Southwest Public Workers Union >>and SNEEJ, Sr. Rodriguez softened his tone, stating that he was >>bound by duty to respond to complaints lodged with his office. >>And that he welcomed us as tourists in Mexico. >> >>We were followed by company security to our next >>meeting in the city and also for several miles when we left >>town for our next stop on the tour. >> >>After the incident at the hall, we met with a large number of >>workers in the small house of Martin Cordero. Martin and 9 >>others were fired from the Alcoa plant without stated charge, >>but apparently for allegedly organizing a slow down in the >>plant to protest the fact that workers were forced to work 11 >>hour shifts and not allowed to go to the bathroom our take >>breaks. One of the fired workers was dragged from the >>bathroom by company security personnel, put in a car, and >>driven around until dawn before she was released. Martin was >>thrown in jail for a day. >> >>Two days later in the state capitol, were told by state >>legislators that what happened to Martin was reprehensible >>and would be investigated. However, the state government has >>no authority to order Alcoa to reinstate Martin and the other >>unjustly terminated workers. >> >>I believe it is in everyone's interest that the organizing >>maquiladora workers in Mexico succeed. I am also proud to be >>an admirer and supporter of Martin Cordero, Lazara Gallegos >>and SEDEPAC which is organizing maquiladora workers into >>fine independent unions. >> >>For these reasons I ask that you write the following people >>and ask that they reinstate Martin Cordero and Lazara Gallegos >>to their the jobs at the Arneses plant in Ciudad Acuna: >> >>Robert Hughes, CEO, Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd. >>105 Westpark Dr. >>1Brentwood, TN 37027 >> FAX- (615) 370-2176 >> >>Jan H.M. Hommen, Chief Financial Officer >>Aluminum Company of America >>425 6th Ave. >>Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1819 >> FAZ (412)533-4498 >> >>Arneses y Accesorias de Mexico S.A. de C.V. >>Carr. Presa La Amistad KM 5 >>A.P. #658 >>26200Cd. Acuna, Coahuila >> FAX 011 52 (877) 2 31 97 >> >>Please fax copies of your letters to: >>Centro Obrero de Cd Acuna -- Attn: Angelica Morales >> FAX (210) 299-4009 >> >>Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to this >>request. >> >> >> >> >> >>m >> >> > >Ted Smith >Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition >760 N. First Street >San Jose, CA 95112 >408-287-6707-phone >408-287-6771-fax >tsmith@igc.apc.org > >>NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information on the >>grassroots politics of regulatory reinvention. Includes >>a new chart comparing Project XL other models of community participation. >Also information on the the impacts of high-tech industry. >> >> http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ > > > > Leslie Byster Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 760 N. First Street San Jose, CA 95112 408-287-6707-phone 408-287-6771-fax svtc@igc.apc.org >NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information about our new book, SACRED WATERS: LIFE-BLOOD OF MOTHER EARTH, Four Case Studies of High-Tech Water Exploitation and Corporate Welfare in the Southwest > http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ > > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 16 21:54:44 1997 Wed, 16 Jul 1997 20:54:14 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 16 Jul 1997 20:53:00 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 20:53:00 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: [PEN-L:11316] CAW settlement at Starbucks Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO This complements of Sid Shniad on PEN-L: The Vancouver Sun Wednesday 16 July 1997 STARBUCKS, UNION SIGN HISTORIC DEAL The B.C. contract with the coffee chain, which has 1,100 outlets, is a North American first. Bruce Constantineau, Sun Business Reporter Vancouver Sun Unionized workers at nine Greater Vancouver Starbucks coffee outlets and a distribution centre have voted 95 per cent in favor of an historic first contract that gives the 110 workers a 75-cent-an-hour pay raise, increasing the starting wage to $7.75 an hour. The British Columbia Starbucks locations become the first of more than 1,100 outlets in North America to negotiate a union contract with the Seattle-based coffee giant. The Canadian Auto Workers spent nearly 10 months working for a first collective agreement. "We see this as a very good beginning for Starbucks workers," said CAW national representative Roger Crowther. "They're getting a 75- cent increase on a ridiculous wage of $7 an hour." Starbucks responded to the two-year contract agreement Tuesday by announcing the same wages and conditions will apply to workers at all 96 B.C. Starbucks locations. Starbucks representative Shelly Silbernagel said the company did not make that decision to try to discourage union organizing at other B.C. outlets. "We have always had a philosophy of treating all our [employee] partners equally and that's the situation here." Silbernagel expects the CAW will try to organize more Starbucks stores but could not predict the outcome of future organizing drives. "Each partner will make his or her own informed decision. Ultimately, it's up to them." There are more than 130 Starbucks locations across Canada, and Crowther said Toronto-area workers have recently expressed an interest in joining the union. The 75-cent-an hour wage increase is retroactive to July 1, and another 12 cents an hour will be paid, effective July 1, 1998. The CAW said the base rate of $7.87 next year and the top rate of $10.62 will match the current rates paid to workers at CAW's 50 unionized Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets throughout B.C. The union acknowledged it didn't get everything it wanted, including paid sick leave and a base starting rate of $10 an hour. But it said it was pleased to negotiate an agreement where seniority becomes a key factor in shift scheduling, providing employees have the relative ability to do the work. The contract also contains strong anti-harassment language. Starbucks employee Lori Banong told a news conference Tuesday that many workers are pleased to win a first contract with Starbucks. "It was time to take back some control and make Starbucks realize it's the employees behind the counter that made the company what it is today," she said. Silbernagel said working conditions at Starbucks will remain basically the same and noted the contract contains "groundbreaking content" regarding the rights of a company to manage its operations. She noted, for example, the contract allows managers and assistant managers to do the work alongside unionized employees. B.C. Federation of Labor secretary-treasurer Angela Schira said the CAW contract with Starbucks is significant because service sector jobs are no longer just short-term, entry-level, part-time positions that only require low wage scales. "People now realize they are going to be working at these jobs for a few years so they need a wage that lets them make a decent living," she said. "The service sector is the fastest growing part of the economy and that's where most union organizing will take place in the future." From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 16 23:29:40 1997 Wed, 16 Jul 1997 22:29:28 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 16 Jul 1997 22:28:35 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 22:28:35 -0700 (PDT) To: united@cougar.com, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Kmart workers reject pay offer Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Kmart Distribution Workers Reject Pay Offer 06:56 a.m. Jul 16, 1997 Eastern DETROIT (Reuter) - About 1,600 unionized workers at Kmart Corp.'s four apparel distribution centers have rejected the company's final contract offer, setting the stage for nationwide labor actions, union officials say. The Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) said workers rejected the offer at distribution centers in Atlanta, North Bergen, N.J.; Groveport, Ohio; and Carson, Calif. The centers process and pack apparel orders for Kmart's 2,122 retail stores across the nation. In a news release Tuesday, the union said workers rejected the company's final offer because it did not address pay inequities between their facilities and Kmart's hard-goods distribution centers. Hard goods consist of items such as tools as opposed to clothing. Starting pay at the apparel centers, where more than two-thirds of the workers are members of minority groups, is up to 30 percent less than at the hard-goods centers, where workers are mostly white, UNITE said. ``UNITE will not accept a contract with Kmart which doesn't even begin to address equal pay for equal work for these workers, most of whom are people of color,'' said Bruce Raynor, the union's vice president and Southern regional director. ``We've taken on Kmart in the past and won, and we are ready and willing to mobilize again.'' A UNITE spokeswoman said the union is considering a number of possible actions, including a strike, civil disobedience, or organizing a boycott. Kmart spokeswoman Shawn Kahle said the retailer still wants to bargain with the union and wants to avoid a strike. ``The negotiation process is still ongoing as far as we're concerned,'' she said. ``We're committed to good-faith bargaining.'' However, Kmart has made contingency plans to keep its stores stocked in case of a strike, ``as any smart company would do,'' she said. The retailer has some manufacturers ship clothing directly to stores and could shift distribution of some products to Kmart's hard-lines distribution facilities, she said. Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. From mreview@igc.apc.org Fri Jul 18 11:21:29 1997 From: mreview@igc.apc.org for ; Fri, 18 Jul 1997 09:46:45 -0700 (PDT) for ; Fri, 18 Jul 1997 09:45:13 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 09:45:13 -0700 (PDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Sender: mreview@igc.org Status: RO M O N T H L Y R E V I E W presents: A Special Double Issue Summer 1997 RISING FROM THE ASHES? LABOR IN THE AGE OF "GLOBAL CAPITALISM" edited by Ellen Meiksins Wood and guest editors Peter Meiksins and Michael Yates to order: 1-4 copies/$7 each 5-24 copies/ $6 each 25-50 copies/ $5.50 each write checks out to Monthly Review and send to: Monthly Review 122 West 27th St. New York, NY 10001 or call and charge to your credit card (MasterCard or Visa): telephone: 212 691 2555 fax: 212 727 3676 e-mail: mreview@igc.apc.org C O N T E N T S : Zapatismo and the Workers Movement in Mexico at the End of the Century by Edur Velasco Arregui, and Richard Roman Organizing the Unorganized: Will Promises Become Practices? by Fernando Gapasin and Michael Yates Notes on Labor at the End of the Century: Starting Over? by Sam Gindin Race and Labor Organization in the United States by Michael Goldfield Talking About Work by Doug Henwood Same As It Ever Was? The Structure of the Working Class by Peter Meiksins American Labor: A Movement Again? by Kim Moody The French Winter of Discontent by Daniel Singer The "Late Blooming" of the South Korean Labor Movement by Hochul Sonn Labor, The State, and Class Struggle by Ellen Meiksins Wood After a long period of sustained attack by governments of various stripes, a steady deterioration of working and living standards, and declines in memberhip and militancy, there are encouraging signs that organized labor is on the move again. This may come as a surprise to many, on the left as well as the right, who have long since written off the labor movement as an oppositional force. Although it is, of course, too early to make big claims about this trend, it does seem a good moment to take a close look not only at these new signs of activism but also at the nature of labor today and at the environment in which the labor movement now has to navigate. This special issue of MONTHLY REVIEW explores and challenges some of the assumptions about labor that have been the common sense of our historical moment---assumptions about various social, economic, and technological changes, like "globalization" and "the end of work"---which supposedly make labor organization and class politics impossible and/or irrelevant today. RISING FROM THE ASHES? LABOR IN THE AGE OF "GLOBAL" CAPITALISM explores the general economic and social context in which labor now has to operate, looks at recent developments in the labor movement and examples of renewed labor militancy in various parts of the world, examines what's changed and what hasn't in the composition and prospects of the working class, and proposes organizational and political strategies. From Herejobs@aol.com Fri Jul 18 14:40:58 1997 From: Herejobs@aol.com by emout01.mail.aol.com (8.7.6/8.7.3/AOL-2.0.0) Fri, 18 Jul 1997 16:39:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 16:39:51 -0400 (EDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, LABOR-L@yorku.ca, pen-l@ecst.csuchico.edu, OICAMPUS@cmsa.berkeley.edu, OIFAC@cmsa.berkeley.edu Subject: Job announcement Status: RO Please post and circulate this job description for new positions with the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union Research Department in New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Thank you very much. **WANTED: RESEARCHERS FOR HOTEL WORKERS' UNION ORGANIZING CAMPAIGNS** The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) and several of its Local Unions are currently seeking people to do full-time campaign-oriented research to support hotel, restaurant, and casino workers' union organizing and bargaining struggles nationwide. As of July 1997, positions with the union's exciting and fast-growing Research Department are available in: *WASHINGTON, DC. HERE International Union. Two positions with national Research Department at union's headquarters: Senior Research Analyst to research corporate targets and direct campaigns; extensive campaign and/or investigative research experience required. Research Analyst to assist with info gathering and campaign development for local unions and national multi-local organizing efforts; some campaign or investigative research experience required. *NEW YORK. Hotel Trades Council (HERE Local 6). Senior Research Analyst wanted to provide research and campaign support for the New York City hotel workers' union's organizing and bargaining programs. Extensive campaign or investigative research experience required. *LOS ANGELES. HERE Local 11. Research Analyst sought to support city-wide contract fight and new organizing. 2+ years campaign or investigative research experience preferred. Research jobs also open up from time to time in other cities. HERE research analysts conduct in-depth investigations into companies which the Union is organizing or bargaining with. They then work together with organizers and Local leadership in carrying out comprehensive strategies. Ideal candidates will have: activist campaign experience; demonstrated research skills; excellent writing and speaking ability; comfort with basic financial concepts; and an ability to work well on a campaign team with organizers. Salary is negotiable the basis of experience; excellent benefits. Women and People of Color are encouraged to apply. For positions described above, please send cover letter and resume by September 5th to: HERE Research Department, 1219 28th St, NW, Washington, DC 20007-3389, Fax: 202-333-6049. No phone calls or email resumes please. (Posted 7/18/97) From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sun Jul 20 19:48:12 1997 Sun, 20 Jul 1997 18:46:20 -0700 (PDT) Sun, 20 Jul 1997 18:46:09 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 18:46:09 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: CovertAction Quarterly article Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO >>X-POP3-Rcpt: rcowan@mail >>Date: Sat, 19 Jul 97 22:15:19 CDT >>Reply-To: can-alum@pencil.math.missouri.edu >>Originator: can-alum@pencil.math.missouri.edu >>Sender: can-alum@pencil.math.missouri.edu >>Precedence: none >>From: David Jansson >>Subject: CovertAction Quarterly article >> >>The spring 1997 issue of CovertAction Quarterly has an excellent article >>by Lawrence Soley called Phi Beta Capitalism: Universities in Service >>to Business. Soley reveals how corporate CEO's, who dominate university >>boards of trustees, use their influence to make universities more >>sensitive to the needs of corporate profits than those of students, >>faculty and staff. (CovertAction Quarterly, 1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW >>#732, Washington DC 20005, 202-331-9751, caq@igc.org, >>http://mediafilter.org/caq) >> >>Also recommended is Soley's 1995 book Leasing the Ivory Tower: the >>Corporate Takeover of Academia, from South End Press (800-533-8478). >> > > > From clawson@sadri.umass.edu Wed Jul 23 13:44:53 1997 labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu; Wed, 23 Jul 1997 15:44:51 -0400 (EDT) 23 Jul 1997 15:44:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 15:44:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Clawson Subject: A.S.A. labor meeting To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu Status: RO July 23, 1997 To: Sociologists (and others) who support the labor movement From: Sociology Labor Network (see names at end) Re: meeting Sunday August 10 at 8:30 p.m. at A.S.A. convention A year ago, at the American Sociological Association convention, the Sociology Labor Network and the AFL-CIO Organizing Department co-sponsored a reception on the new labor movement. Richard Bensinger, the first Director of Organizing for the AFL- CIO gave the keynote address, with other remarks by Frances Fox Piven and by several Union Summer participants. The Organizing Institute staff also held individual meetings with perhaps one hundred sociology faculty and students. In a follow-up to the meeting, David Croteau took responsibility for creating Labor-Rap, a valuable source of information and communication. This year no speakers are scheduled, but we have a great deal to discuss, including a series of exciting teach-ins held around the country and, coming out of those teach-ins, efforts to form an organization uniting academics and the labor movement, efforts supported by John Sweeney, Linda Chavez-Thompson, and others in the AFL-CIO. If you are interested in sharing information about the revived labor movement, in discussing what we can and should do, and in planning future activities, PLEASE COME TO A MEETING ON SUNDAY AUGUST 10, AT 8:30 P.M., in Sheraton Centre Conference Room B-C at the A.S.A. convention in Toronto. Please pass this message on; be an organizer helping to reach others. TENTATIVE AGENDA/TOPICS: 1. Report on teach-in movement (and how to plan your own) 2. Report on attempts to create an organization uniting academics, intellectuals, and the labor movement (how to get involved) 3. Sharing information on connecting with the labor movement, local activities 4. Working with students, in courses or as activists 5. Do we want to form an A.S.A. section? 6. Ways to stay connected, future activities Please send agenda topics or suggestions to Dan Clawson (or any of the others who signed below). The meeting will (tentatively) be co-chaired by Dan Clawson, Hector Delgado, Judith Stepan-Norris, and Kim Voss. Signed: Stanley Aronowitz (saronowi@email.gc.cuny.edu) Edna Bonacich (ebonacic@wizard.ucr.edu) Dan Clawson (clawson@sadri.umass.edu) Mary Ann Clawson (mclawson@wesleyan.edu) Jonathan Cutler (jcutler@email.gc.cuny.edu) Hector Delgado (delgado@orion.oac.uci.edu) Rick Fantasia (rfantasi@angel.smith.edu) Myra Marx Ferree (ferree@uconnvm.uconn.edu) Dick Flacks (flacks@alishaw) Jeff Haydu (jhaydu@ucsd.edu) Allen Hunter (ahunter@facstaff.wisc.edu) Howard Kimeldorf (hkimel@umich.edu) Beth Mintz (bmintz@zoo.uvm.edu) Bradley Nash Jr. (bnash@vt.edu) Robert A. Penney (rpenney@umich.edu) Louis Prisock (prisock@soc.umass.edu) Rob Rosenthal (rrosenthal@wesleyan.edu) Dee Royster (royster@sadri.umass.edu) Ingrid Semaan Judith Stepan-Norris (jstepann@orion.oac.uci.edu) Kim Voss (kimvoss@socrates.berkeley.edu) Jerry Watts (jerry.watts@mail.cc.trincoll.edu) -- Dan Clawson work = 413-545-5974 home 413-586-6235 Contemp. Sociology = 413-545-4064 fax 413-545-1994 email = clawson@sadri.umass.edu consoc@sadri.umass.edu From aanz@sirius.com Wed Jul 23 17:10:03 1997 Wed, 23 Jul 1997 16:09:57 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 16:09:57 -0700 (PDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu From: aanz@sirius.com (anzalone/starbird) Subject: Disney-HH Cutler Protest/10-4 Status: RO Folks, we got big trouble with the situation in Haiti. Please help out and send a letter. The CWA has a great web site to access Disney directly via e-mail IF That's your cupa tea. The National Labor Committee, 275 Seventh Ave., 15th floor, New York, NY 10001 is calling for a national day for human rights on October 4th. Please clear your calendars for that day, and urge your affiliate student groups on campus to respond to this challenge. We activists in the U.S. cannot responsibly offer solidarity to workers IN Haiti OR ANYWHERE else if we are not prepared to escalate action when the ultimate sacrifices are called for on the part of our international brothers and sisters. Loss of job in Haiti is not just "the capital punishment of labor relations" as we say in the U.S. In Haiti, where there is no safety net and starvation is rampant, loss of a job can be,literally, capital punishment. According to a letter I got from Kernaghan today, a response will be coordinated with the Haitian workers. (Cutler is threatening to leave in Sept., so presumably there is time for them to change their minds and stay.) Meanwhile I'm forwarding on to you a petition from the National Labor Committee, and the enclosed note from the Disney Haiti campaign. (I have no idea who they are, unlikely that Wednesday pickets would hurt at this point however. I can't speak to a threat of boycott, and would suggest waiting to hear from the Haitian workers before making what could amount to an idle threat. Other than that their suggestions for letters seems like a good one to me, and I would urge you to comply and feel free to forward this message to any and all decent people.) Yours in Solidarity Ellen Starbird YES! To HUMAN RIGHTS NO! To Sweatshops A petition to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESS, THE U.S. CONGRESS & THE WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE TO END SWEATSHOP ABUSES We the People believe that there is a direct link between sweatshop abuess offshore and the growth of sweatshops in the U.S., job loss and falling wages. We believe that in our global economy, human rights protections are every bit as important as corporate rights. We do not want U.S.-based multinationals pitting the U.S. worker against the poor in the developing world in a race to the bottom competing over who will accept the lowest wages and benefits and the most miserable working conditions. We need to lift human rights standards around the world, not lower them. WE AFFIRM THE DIGNITY OF LIFE OVER CORPORATE GREED. * Children belong in school. * NO to child labor *Companies should clean up their factories * NO to the exploitation and hire the parents and older brothers of teenaged girls forced and sisters of these young people, and to work long hours in strictly respect local laws requiring harsh sweatshop conditions young people to attend school. under armed guards. *Wages must be tied to the basic cost of * NO to starvation sub-sistance living in each country --which the wages. multinationals can easily afford. * NO to corporations claiming *Corporations must open their plants to that they will monitor and independent monitoring by respected local police their own factories. religious and human rights organizations. SIGNATURE PRINT NAME ADDRESS ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____ PLEASE SEND COMPLETED PETITIONS TO: The National Labor Committee, 275 Seventh Ave., 15th floor, New York, NY 10001 >From: Kapab@aol.com >Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 08:49:34 -0400 (EDT) >To: Kapab@aol.com >Subject: Disney-HH Cutler Protest >Status: U > >Disney, HH Cutler: >You can run, but you can't hide! >Protest every Wednesday, 12 noon to 2:00 pm >100 West 33rd Street (6th Ave) >Protest Disney Subcontractor Pull-out from Haiti! >HH Cutler, Disney's largest subcontractor in Haiti, has declared its >intention to shutdown its operations in Haiti by the end of the summer. >Facing mounting pressure from workers and international criticism for its >starvation wages and abusive labor practices, HH Cutler is cutting and >running from 28c an hour sweatshops in Haiti to 13c an hour sweatshops in >China and Indonesia! Just like HH Cutler dropped 1,400 US garment workers >when it moved its operations overseas in 1995, Cutler is continuing its >practice of the lowest form of corporate greed. >2,300 Haitian garment workers earning starvation wages- 28c an hour- stand to >lose their jobs if Cutler pulls out. That's 10% of the assembly sector >workforce in Haiti. The unemployment rate in Haiti is close to 80%. >People of conscience must let HH Cutler and Disney know that these practices >will not be condoned by US consumers. US corporations must respect the rights >of workers abroad, pay living wages, and provide decent working conditions. >US companies must also pursue all avenues to maintain jobs at fair wages here >in the US. >It should also be made clear to HH Cutler and to the Walt Disney Company that >HH Cutler's pull out would lead to an immediate call for an international >boycott of both Disney and HH Cutler products! >Phone, Fax or mail your protest to:Thomas Austin, President >H.H. Cutler >120 Iona Ave. SW >Grand Rapids, Michigan >49503 >Phone: 616-459-9101 >Fax: 616-459-2135 >Michael Eisner, C.E.O. >The Walt Disney Company >South Buena Vista Street >Burbank, CA >91521 >Phone: 818-560-1000 >Fax: 818-846-7319 > >Protest organized by: >THE DISNEY / HAITI JUSTICE CAMPAIGN >VILLAGE STATION, P.O. BOX 748, NY, NY 10014 (212) 592-3612 > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 23 22:11:48 1997 Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:09:01 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:08:48 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 21:08:48 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, united@cougar.com, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: text of July 22 Teamster UPS bulletin Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO This came today from the IBT Communications Dept. with requests to circulate widely. A strike at UPS could become the next major national battleground for organized labor, with implications far beyond the membership of the Teamsters and the package delivery industry. Let's not let this one go a year or more before we recognize the need for massive, militant, national solidarity actions. =========================================================================== Teamsters UPS Update July 22, 1997 Please post and distribute UPS TEAMSTERS PREPARE FOR JOB ACTION With less than 10 days to go before our national contract expires, UPS negotiators are still not addressing our key proposals. On Thursday, July 17, Teamsters Parcel Division Director Ken Hall told company representatives that our union's national negotiating committee would be available to meet "day and night, seven days a week, until July 31." That same afternoon, management's lead negotiator dropped another demand for give-backs on the table and said his team wouldn't be back for five days. When company negotiators finally returned to the table on Tuesday, July 22, they still refused to seriously address our main issues. As a result of management's continued foot-dragging, General President Ron Carey instructed all UPS locals to begin making preparations for a possible strike if needed to win a good agreement. Carey asked all UPS locals to appoint strike coordinators and picket line captains for each UPS building. "Time is running out -- and we're going to be ready for every possible course of action as the clock winds down," said General President Carey. Tell UPS: "Best Way To Reassure Customers is to Settle Now" There is still time to reach an agreement before our national contract expires on July 31 -- but UPS doesn't seem to think so. When management came back to the negotiating table on Tuesday, July 22 -- after taking a five day break -- they brought a request for a contract extension in order to "reassure" customers that there won't be a strike. "This strategy is nothing more than a management scare tactic," said Teamsters Parcel Division Director Ken Hall. "The best way for UPS to 'reassure' its customers is to start bargaining seriously. If they did that, we could have and agreement by the end of the week." Stay Focused on Our Goals UPS negotiators are trying to distract us from our priorities by making more demands for give-backs. For example, at the end of last week the company handed out a proposal that would force all Teamster UPSers to turn over their health and welfare benefits and pensions to company-controlled plans. Apparently this is what the company means when it claims to be negotiating "seriously." There's only one response to this tactic -- staying focused on the goals we've been fighting for since day one: * An end to subcontracting. * More full-time jobs. * Better wages and benefits. * Accurate paychecks. * Improvements in safety and health. From sscipe1@icarus.cc.uic.edu Thu Jul 24 13:45:17 1997 Thu, 24 Jul 1997 14:45:32 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 14:45:32 -0500 (CDT) To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: sscipe1@icarus.cc.uic.edu (Kim Scipes) Subject: FWD: Crack/CIA story (2/2) Status: RO >Second part. > >Redistributed for noncommercial, educational purposes only. >Begin Part 2 of 2. >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >The Bigger Story: Subversion of Law Enforcement to Protect >Traffickers > >These quibbles should not obscure the most important points made >by the Webb stories, which cannot be refuted. Two of these, >conceded now for the first time by the "responsible" press, are >that earlier press dismissals of the Contra-drug connection had >been wrong, and that the CIA had knowledge of this connection. As >Walter Pincus conceded in his attack on Webb, "Even CIA personnel >testified to Congress they knew that these covert operations >involved drug traffickers." (Journalist Robert Parry has pointed >out that the use by one Contra faction of cocaine profits to buy a >helicopter was noted in a 1985 CIA National Intelligence >Estimate.) > >An equally important point, ignored in all the attacks on Webb, is >that Meneses and Blandon, while they were supporting the Contras, >were immune from government prosecution. Jack Blum, former counsel >to the Kerry Subcommittee investigating the matter, has focused on >this point: "If the question is "Did the CIA sell crack...? the >answer is a categorical no. If you ask whether the United States >government ignored the drug problem and subverted law enforcement >to prevent embarrassment and reward our allies in the contra war, >the answer is yes." Referring to his own experience, he recalled >how the Justice Department "fought giving us access to essential >records and to witnesses in government custody." > >Even the "Washington Post"'s own ombudsman was able to see the >issue avoided by Walter Pincus. In an assessment published by the >"Post", she asked: "Did the U.S. Government play any role in >supporting or condoning drug smuggling into the United States?" >And she concluded with a rebuke that is hard to disagree with: "A >principal responsibility of the press is to protect the people >from government excesses. The Post (among others) showed more >energy for protecting the CIA from someone else's journalistic >excesses." > >And in thus protecting the CIA over the years, one might add, the >press helped strengthen the immunity enjoyed by the traffickers >themselves. Time after time, it proved impossible for government >prosecutors to go after important traffickers, protected by the >CIA, of whom the public knew nothing at all. > >One can think of many reasons why the "responsible" press should >have so risked their credibility in their zeal to rebut Gary Webb. >One is to protect their own past record of complicity in covering >up the bigger Contra-drug story. Another is a real establishment >concern at the anger of black communities and leaders, when they >learned that drugs reaching their communities were imported by >traffickers who enjoyed protection against arrest. Both the "New >York Times " and the "Post" tried to discount this as black >paranoia, or what the "Post" called "an inclination, born of >bitter history...to accept as fact unsubstantiated reports or >rumors about conspiracies targeting blacks." > >But in truth the facts should make any citizen angry, angry not >only at the Contras and the CIA, but at the "responsible" press >for their complicity in covering up an intolerable situation. For >Gary Webb, however fallibly, has focused the nation's attention on >a CIA-Contra-drug connection that is bigger, by far, than he and >the "Mercury" ever implied. > >DEA reports from the 1980s give us a glimpse of this bigger story: >those drug-traffickers supporting the Contras to gain CIA >protection included not just Norwin Meneses and Daniel Blandon but >some of the DEA's top targets at the time. > >The Real Contra-Drug Connection > >In 1982 the DEA prepared a top-level secret intelligence memo, >listing twenty "Major Cocaine Violators" in Colombia and the >United States. The memo focused attention on a single four-man >consortium which, the DEA believed, accounted for a major share >(perhaps a third, perhaps more than half) of all the cocaine >moving between the two countries. (M228) > >By 1985 the DEA had come to believe that the most important >smuggler of the four was a Honduran by the name of Juan Ramon >Matta Ballesteros, the link between the Colombians and the >dominant Guadalajara drug cartel in Mexico. In that year >"Newsweek" published official estimates that Matta alone was >responsible for one third of the cocaine reaching the U.S. >(5/15/85). > >By this time the DEA had another reason to want Matta: it believed >that Matta, along with other Guadalajara cartel members, was >responsible for the murder in Mexico of its own agent, Enrique >Camarena. After 1986 it also knew exactly where Matta was, living >comfortably in Honduras, a country almost completely dominated by >the United States. > >Yet until 1988 Matta remained untouchable. Indeed, as the Kerry >Committee documented, when the DEA Office in Honduras began to >identify Matta as its principal target, the response of the US >Government was to close down that office. Then, in April 1988, >Matta was picked up while jogging and quickly flown (some said, >"kidnapped") to the United States. > >There was no mystery as to what had changed. One month earlier, on >March 7, the "Christian Science Monitor" had noted that the U.S. >faced a dilemma, whether to go after Matta (who had many friends >in the Honduran military) or to placate Honduran displeasure at >the on-going Contra presence in that country. And in that same >month U.S. support for the Contra war ended, Congress voted >(twice) to suspend military aid, North was indicted, and a truce >was declared in Nicaragua. > >The two questions, Matta and the Contras, were indeed closely >related. Matta was not only one of the world's leading cocaine >traffickers, he was also one of the leading Contra supporters. His >airline, SETCO, was used by the CIA and State Department to ship >aid to the Contra camps, at the same time that it was listed in >Customs and DEA computers for suspected drug-smuggling. > >Matta was not alone in buying himself immunity by the simple >device of supporting the Contras. So did his Guadalajara >associate, Angel Felix Gallardo, who moved to the top of the DEA's >Wanted list after Matta's arrest. Felix, who was wanted both for >Class I trafficking and for Camarena's murder, escaped arrest for >another year, until after the election of a new Mexican President. >Witnesses and documents in Felix's trial alleged that the >Guadalajara cartel had supplied the Contras with arms, cash, and >even a training camp on a drug ranch near Vera Cruz. > >The Honduran military who protected Matta also included some who >supported the Contras, and who became involved in drug- >trafficking. Two of their drug shipments in late 1987 totaled over >6.7 tons, the largest drug shipments seized up to that time. One >Contra-supporting general, Jose Bueso Rosa, plotted to use cocaine >proceeds to finance the assassination of the Honduran President. >Although the State Department called this the most significant >case of narco-terrorism to date, Bueso Rosa was given lenient >treatment because of his Contra support. Oliver North then >intervened energetically to reduce his sentence even further. > >CIA aid for the Contras in Costa Rica was channeled chiefly >through the tightly-controlled Ilopango Air Base in El Salvador, a >base where the real power was exercised by a U.S. Colonel >responsible for Contra support. The local DEA Agent at the time, >Celerino Castillo, has since charged that two hangars there under >CIA and Oliver North's control doubled as depots for major cocaine >shipments. Castillo claims that his documented reports on Ilopango >to DEA in Washington were never acted on. Certainly a number of >known drug traffickers flew regularly in and out of Ilopango, a >drug plane given over to the Contras and CIA was stationed there, >and Ilopango allegedly served as a base for American drug networks >such as the notorious Company, which served the entire United >States. > >Manuel Noriega was at one time also a Contra supporter, and his >initial drug indictment was for shipments with pilots who were at >the same time flying aid for Contra camps in Costa Rica. Some of >these were Cuban American drug traffickers from Miami, whose >airline, listed in DEA computers, also received State Department >contracts for flying Contra support. Significantly, the U.S. >Government only turned against Noriega in 1987, after he in turn >had shifted his attention from the Contras to the incipient >Contadora peace process in Central America, named after a Panama >island under Noriega's control. > >Finally, to quote from a 1991 "Washington Post" editorial, "What >is one to make of the riveting assertion, made by a convicted >Colombian drug kingpin at Manuel Noriega's Florida drug trial, >that the Medellin cartel gave $10 million to the Nicaraguan >contras? Carlos Lehder is a key prosecution witness; the U.S. >government cannot lightly assail his credibility." Another cartel >figure, Ramon Milian Rodriguez, also testified under oath that the >Medellin cartel had given millions to the Contras. > >The overall picture is clear, and devastating. It would appear >that, from Colombia through Mexico, all of the major known >traffickers at this time doubled as Contra supporters. Indeed, >because this drug milieu was still relatively integrated, one >could say that the basic Central American drug network simply >became a major part of the Contra support network. > >The Contra-Drug Story and the Hopes for U.S. Democracy > >One can agree with Ceppos' admission that the Gary Webb articles >are not immune to criticism. Nevertheless, as Peter Kornbluh >pointed out in the "Columbia Journalism Review", the "Mercury >News" managed to "revisit a significant story that had been >inexplicably abandoned by the mainstream press, report a new >dimension to it, and thus put it back on the national agenda where >it belongs." He added that the mainstream press "faces a challenge >in the contra-cocaine matter not unlike the government's: >restoring its credibility in the face of public distrust over its >perceived role in the handling of these events." > >The problem of the "credibility gap" has been an increasing >concern of serious politicians since the Kennedy assassination and >the Vietnam War. Much of the concern about the Webb series has >focused less on the much-battered image of the CIA, than on the >increasing alienation of black civic leaders. Many of these have >for some time been convinced that government covert operations >have continued since the days of Hoover's COINTELPROs to target >ethnic neighborhoods. > >Some of the media rebukes to Webb and the "Mercury" have implied >that that the story would have died, had it not been for what the >"Post" dismissed as black paranoia. Others have pointed to the >role of the "San Jose Mercury"'s website, which because of the >story has been "hit" by up to one million viewers a day. More than >one critic has contrasted the rationality of the traditional media >with the ability of Web surfers to believe anything: even that the >CIA had been involved with drug traffickers. > >The efforts of the mainstream media to defend the credibility of >the CIA may well be successful in the short run. The Webb story, >which has now outlasted any previous CIA drug story, is still one >which nearly all members of Congress are reluctant to embrace too >closely. > >In the long run, the press overkill applied to the Webb story may >do more to increase alienation than to reduce it. The chief victim >may turn out to be the public's faith, revived by Watergate, >frustrated by Iran-Contra, in the ability of the mainstream media >to criticize our aging institutions at all. > >In psychological warfare, a form of warfare which the CIA takes >pride in practicing, the aim is not to persuade one's opponents. >(That is traditional politics). The aim is to neutralize them. TV >images of a CIA Director being shouted down in South Los Angeles >do more to sustain than threaten the CIA in an increasingly >polarized but white-dominated society. Those who wish to >de-legitimize the concerns of the Webb story find it convenient to >list it among the exotica of the Internet -- along with tales of >space aliens, fluoridation horrors, and conspiracies to spread the >AIDS virus. > >What we see threatened here is politics itself. If there ever was >an issue worthy of serious political consideration, it is the >larger story of tolerated drug-trafficking which Gary Webb began >to expose. But Congress is clearly scared of this issue, and >scared of the CIA. One can hardly blame them, as long as the >responsible media continue to treat the Contra-drug story as a >"conspiracy theory" born out of ghetto paranoia. > >The result is a national dementia. We continue to marginalize >rational discussion of our collective drug crisis, even as drugs, >licit and illicit, play a larger and larger role in dividing the >different levels of our more and more stratified society. > >-- >Lisa Pease > >"It is as if the final price for winning the Cold War is our >confinement to a permanent childhood where reassuring fantasies >and endless diversions protect us from the hard truth of our own >recent history." >--Robert Parry, THE CONSORTIUM, 2/17/97 > >Check out my Real History Archives @ www.webcom.com/lpease >Visit the site of Probe Magazine at www.webcom.com/ctka > >================ >End Part 2 of 2. > From sscipe1@icarus.cc.uic.edu Thu Jul 24 13:46:55 1997 Thu, 24 Jul 1997 14:44:55 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 14:44:55 -0500 (CDT) To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: sscipe1@icarus.cc.uic.edu (Kim Scipes) Subject: Important/Crack/CIA story (1/2) Status: RO Folks--I have been sending you stories about the Crack/CIA connection over the past several months because I have strong reason to believe they are true, and I've found the arguments in the latest reports convincing. The mainstream media has denied or attacked reporters who have approached this issue. This article, by Peter Dale Scott and who is one of the most knowledgeable people about the US Government and drug issues, discusses the media's cover-up on this issue--THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF. Please read and forward as widely as possible--Kim > >Relayed in two (2) parts. > >Redistributed for noncommercial, educational purposes only. >Begin Part 1 of 2. >= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >From: Lisa Pease >Subject: Peter Dale Scott on Gary Webb & CIA/Crack/Cocaine Coverup >Date: 21 Jul 1997 19:29:18 GMT > >The following was published in the current issue of Tikkun >Magazine (7/97) and is reproduced with the permission of the >author, Peter Dale Scott. > >Scott, author of Cocaine Politics (University of California Press) >is regarded as one of the world authorities on the US govts >involvement in the illicit drug trade. > >THE CIA, DRUGS, THE GHETTO -- AND THE MEDIA WHITEWASH >By Peter Dale Scott > >If you read the May 13 "New York Times", it appeared that nine >months of controversy over a major Contra-drug story, published >last August by Gary Webb in the "San Jose Mercury News," had >finally been laid to rest. "Expose on Crack Was Flawed, Paper >Says," read the dismissive headline. A "Times" editorial the next >day claimed that Webb's editor, Jerry Ceppos, had admitted in a >column that Webb's articles "had been poorly written." Three weeks >later, the "Times" shifted its focus from the story to Webb >himself, claiming that his "bare-knuckles" style and "penchant for >self-promotion" had split the "Mercury" newsroom. > >For a confused public, all this may have seemed like the last >word. For those who had been following closely, Jerry Ceppos >column of apology, and the "Times"' one-sided oversimplification >of it, were only further evidence of a dramatic cover-up, a >whitewashing that does not stand up under scrutiny. The cover-up >suggests further how frightened the establishment is of the truth >behind the story: how U.S. law enforcement was subverted when it >came to major drug-traffickers who were also Contra supporters, >and how the CIA, by recurringly allying itself with the world's >biggest traffickers, has contributed to the increased flow of >drugs into this country. > >This fear has been enhanced by the rise of the Internet as a >public grapevine, a cottage industry alternative press. Amid all >the wild stories one can pick up out there in cyberspace, there is >also abundant documentation of the big media's own role in a >CIA-drug cover-up that has been going on for several decades. > >In 1986, for example, "San Francisco Examiner" reporter Seth >Rosenfeld broke the story that Contra leaders and supporters had >been behind the "Frogman" cocaine shipment seized in San >Francisco. The big media ignored this story until after Webb >repeated it last August. Instead they reported Reagan's charge on >television, made only a few hours after the "Examiner" story, >"that top Nicaraguan government officials are deeply involved in >drug trafficking." (The DEA itself swiftly debunked this suspect >allegation, saying that it had no evidence to implicate high-level >Sandinista officials.) > >But for almost a year the Internet has kept alive the series of >stories by Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury-News, alleging that a >California drug ring supplied the cocaine for crack in Los >Angeles' black neighborhoods, and simultaneously channeled drug >profits to the CIA-managed Contra Army in Central America. > >The Webb Story and the Efforts to Rebut It > >Webb focused on three figures. One was "Freeway Ricky" Ross, a >black dealer who introduced L.A. and other cities to crack. A >second was Daniel Blandon, a Nicaraguan who not only supplied Ross >(and others) with his cocaine, but developed the concept of >creating a mass market for crack. The third was Norwin Meneses, >the head of the "Frogman" connection importing cocaine for >Blandon. Webb charged that both Meneses and Blandon met regularly >with Contra leaders, and by supplying them with drug earnings >gained protection from law enforcement. (Blandon, by turning in >Ross, ended up on the DEA payroll; Ross, the black, ended up with >a life sentence. Meneses was eventually convicted for trafficking, >but in Nicaragua, never in the United States.) > >These allegations have been challenged vigorously by the >"responsible" U.S. press: those papers, above all the "New York >Times," the "Los Angeles Times," and the "Washington Post", who >respond most swiftly to the needs and requests of their CIA >sources. > >For those who follow such matters, the special connection between >these papers and the CIA is no secret. Watergate reporter Carl >Bernstein once wrote in "Rolling Stone" that the CIA's >"relationship with the [New York] Times was by far its most >valuable among newspapers, according to CIA officials. From 1950 >to 1966, about 10 CIA officials were provided Times cover...[as] >part of a general Times policy ... to provide assistance to the >CIA whenever possible." > >The situation at the "Washington Post" was hardly different. In >1988, the paper's owner, Katharine Graham, said in a speech at the >CIA's Headquarters: "There are some things the general public does >not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes >when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets >and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows." > >Graham's words came amid six years of extraordinary efforts by the >"Post" to first suppress, and then contain, the explosive >Contra-drug story. I was myself a witness in a secret >Congressional hearing, of which the Post falsely reported the >Chair as saying that "none of the witnesses gave any evidence that >would show the Contra leadership was involved in drug smuggling." >When the Chair, Congressman Rangel, wrote to complain that this >was quite different from what he had said, the Post declined to >print his letter. Thus it became possible for the words Rangel >never uttered to become embalmed as "fact" in the official >"Iran-Contra Report" from two other Congressional Committees. > >In 1989 a subcommittee chaired by Senator John Kerry published a >report documenting that the U.S. Government had contracted with >known drug traffickers to supply the Contras. This important >finding was minimized in the dismissive news stories published by >the "Post" and the "Times", while "Newsweek", owned by the "Post", >wrote off Kerry as a "randy conspiracy buff." > >The "Post"'s treatment of the Gary Webb story was in this >tradition. The rebuttal of Webb was assigned first to Walter >Pincus, a man who admits that he was once sent at CIA expense to >two overseas conferences. (The Washington Times [7/31/96] once >described Pincus as a journalist "who some in the agency refer to >as `the CIA's house reporter.'") > >Pincus elaborately rebutted a number of allegations that Webb >never made, such as "that the CIA helped start and played a major >role in promoting the crack plague," or "that the CIA was behind >Blandon" (Danilo Blandon, the Nicaraguan drug dealer in LA who >gave drug profits to the Contras). (The issues raised by Webb had >been of CIA knowledge and protection of the traffickers, not >initiation of the project.) > >More deviously, Pincus wrote that "Although Nicaraguans took part >in the drug trade of that era, most of the cocaine trade then can >be attributed to Colombian and Mexican smugglers.... the >Nicaraguans accounted for only a small portion of the nation's >cocaine trade....Blandon's own accounts and law enforcement >estimates say Blandon only handled a total of about five tons of >cocaine during a decade-long career. That...is a fraction of the >nationwide trade of the 1980s, when more than 250 tons of the drug >were distributed every year." > >Both in detail and overall, these words were skilfully misleading. >Although Blandon's various accounts are confused, it takes a very >biased reading of them to come up with an estimate of "a total of >five tons" over a decade. Blandon testified that he supplied just >one of his many customers, the LA crack king Ricky Ross, with an >average of 50 to 100 kilos a week. That alone works out to a total >of 2.8 to 5.7 tons a year, not a decade. > >The larger deception here is through the implicit assumption >(which Webb did not make) that all of the Contra drug supporters >were Nicaraguan. As we shall see, some of the biggest were the top >Colombian and Mexican smugglers whom Pincus tried to imply were >irrelevant. > >The debate still rages over the actual importance of Ricky Ross >(and hence of Blandon) in the rise of the crack market. Jesse Katz >of the L.A. Times weighed in with a front-page article saying that >Ross was only one of many "interchangeable characters," who was >dwarfed by other dealers: "How the crack epidemic reached that >extreme, on some level, had nothing to do with Ross." > >It is clear that something, or someone, had intervened to help >produce this verbal performance. Two years earlier, on 12/20/94, >the same Jesse Katz had written a 2400 word article on "Freeway >Ricky" Ross as "King of Crack... Key to the Drug's Spread in >L.A." His opening words then were: "If there was an eye to the >storm, if there was a criminal mastermind behind crack's >decade-long reign, if there was one outlaw capitalist most >responsible for flooding Los Angeles' streets with mass-marketed >cocaine, his name was Freeway Rick." As for crack, "Ross did more >than anyone else to democratize it, boosting volume, slashing >prices and spreading disease on a scale never before conceived." >Katz estimated that Ross's "coast-to-coast conglomerate was >selling more than 500,000 rocks a day." Other journalists, now >forgotten in today's furor over the Webb stories, have written how >Ross personally created the crack scene in other cities such as >Cincinnati. > >The unseen force that induced Katz to make this remarkable >recantation has now reached Jerry Ceppos, Webb's editor at the San >Jose Mercury. Last October, in response to the Pincus article in >the "Post", Ceppos wrote a letter which the "Post", once again, >did not publish. In it, after making some of the points in my >preceding paragraphs, Ceppos went on to point out that: "While >there is considerable circumstantial evidence of CIA involvement >with the leaders of this drug ring, we never reached or reported >any definitive conclusion on CIA involvement....We reported that >the men selling cocaine in Los Angeles met with men on the CIA >payroll. We reported that they received fund-raising orders from >people on the CIA payroll. We reported that the money raised was >sent to a CIA-run operation. But we did not go further -- and took >pains to say that clearly." > >Ceppos concluded by repeating the words of a "Post" editorial on >10/9/96: "For even just a couple of CIA-connected characters to >have played even a trivial role in introducing Americans to crack >would indicate an unconscionable breach by the CIA. It is >essential know whether the agency contributed to this result or >failed to exercise diligence to stop it." > >That was Ceppos in 1996. In May 1997, sounding like one of >Stalin's victims in the show trials of the 1930s, Ceppos revised >his tune even more dramatically than Jesse Katz. "We fell short of >my standards," he wrote in the "San Jose Mercury." Reversing >himself, he now wrote that the original Webb story on crack and >the Contras "strongly suggested high-level C.I.A. knowledge of >that connection." "I feel that we did not have proof that top >C.I.A. officials knew of the relationship," he added, converting >his original defense of the article into an attack on it. > >Interestingly, however, Ceppos did "not", as the "Times" claimed, >admit that the series was "poorly written." He still claimed that >it was "important work" that "solidly documented disturbing >information...worthy of further investigation;" and had been >"right on many important points." The shortcomings he now admitted >referred less to content than to the manner of presentation. "If >we were to publish today," he said, the series "would state fewer >conclusions as certainties." > >Even some who endorse the importance of the series have agreed >that the ambiguities in the evidence were greater than Webb >admitted. Particularly controversial was his estimate that Meneses >and Blandon supplied millions in drug profits to the Contras, a >claim which remains debatable even though Webb supported it with >Blandon's court testimony and sheriffs' affidavits. Ceppos now >points to the figure of millions as no more than "our best >estimates." > >Webb strongly disagrees. Since the series appeared, both he and >the British network ITV have interviewed Carlos Cabezas, a >convicted member of Meneses' network, who now talks of having >delivered Meneses' drug profits to a CIA agent in the contra >logistics network by the name of Ivan Gomez. (Others have >confirmed Gomez' CIA status.) Cabezas told Webb that in 1982 these >profits had amounted to between $4 and $5 million, confirming >Blandon's own figures. Webb wrote up the story, but so far Ceppos >has declined to publish or even edit it. > >At this point we do not know what induced Jerry Ceppos to change >direction. (He declined to be interviewed for "Tikkun," saying >through a representative that he preferred to let his column >"speak for itself.") It is however easy to identify one powerful >and interested force in the propaganda battle of the last year: >the CIA operatives responsible for the Contras. > >One technique used by the "L.A. Times" to rebut the Webb story was >simple and straightforward. Citing a "former CIA official" named >Vince Cannistraro, the "L.A. Times" reported that "CIA officials >insist they knew nothing about Meneses' and Blandon's tainted >contributions to [Adolfo] Calero or other contra leaders." In >another news story, Cannistraro was even more categorical: "I have >personal knowledge that the CIA knew nothing about these guys >[Blandon and Meneses]. These charges are completely illogical." > >One might have thought that, in a lengthy three-day series, the >"L.A. Times" could have mentioned that Cannistraro had actually >been in charge of the CIA Contra operation in the early 1980s (the >Meneses-Blandon period), before moving on to supervise the covert >program of CIA aid to heroin-trafficking guerrillas in >Afghanistan. ("Tikkun" readers may recall Cannistraro as the >former CIA "expert" who, within hours of the Oklahoma City >bombing, told a TV audience that the act was obviously the work of >Arab terrorists.) > >If a journal presents a suspect as a credible source, it is clear >that that it is looking for the opinion, "not guilty." (The "L.A. >Times" did not cite Noriega, or for that matter O.J. Simpson, as >sources to establish "their" innocence.) And it would not have >taken much research for the "L.A. Times" to show that, on this >point, Cannistraro may have been lying. > >One need only go to the lengthy attacks on Webb by Tim Golden in >the "New York Times." Though in sum Golden was also hostile to >Webb's allegations, his articles specified that DEA had notified >the CIA about Meneses' drug-trafficking activities. Golden >referred also to "intelligence reports on Norwin Meneses," his >Contra contacts, and his involvement in arms and drug smuggling. >"'We knew about him, and he obviously knew some people who were >contras,' one official said." Golden does not identify the agency >of this official, but it would have been unusual for intelligence >of this nature not to have reached the CIA. > >Overall, Golden's reports in the "New York Times" are as biased as >those of Pincus and Katz. He wrote that "Reports of Mr. Meneses' >links to the Nicaraguan rebels are not new," even though his own >article belittling them was the first mention of them ever in the >"New York Times." He wrote of the 1986 account of Meneses by Seth >Rosenfeld in the "San Francisco Examiner" that "the most >significant contribution by Mr. Meneses that the newspaper could >find was a $5,735 tab he was said to have helped pay at a 1984 >dinner" in honor of Adolfo Calero. In fact the core of Rosenfeld's >story concerned $36,020 of drug profits seized from Meneses' >organization, which the U.S. Attorney, in an unusual corroboration >of a Contra-drug connection, ordered returned as belonging to the >Contras. (Recently the "New York Times" has conceded that, as >Rosenfeld also reported, the organization also sent the Contras a >truck and other supplies.) > >Finally, with twisted logic, Golden derided Webb's claim that >Blandon and Meneses "met with CIA agents" at the same time they >were selling drugs. Golden conceded that Contra leader Adolfo >Calero had met "on as many as four visits" with Meneses, and also >that Contra military commander Enrique Bermudez had met with >Meneses and Blandon. Ignoring Calero, Golden then wrote that >"Although Mr. Bermudez, like other contra leaders, was often paid >by the the C.I.A., he was not a C.I.A. agent." This is technically >correct. However Calero, about whom Tim Golden is so eloquently >silent, "was" a CIA agent, according to more candid histories of >the Contras. (Webb also alleged that Meneses met with other CIA >agents as well, such as the drug pilot Marcos Aguado.) > >================ >End Part 1 of 2. > From Eve770@aol.com Thu Jul 24 13:52:07 1997 From: Eve770@aol.com by emout14.mail.aol.com (8.7.6/8.7.3/AOL-2.0.0) Thu, 24 Jul 1997 15:52:03 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 15:52:03 -0400 (EDT) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Re: A.S.A. labor meeting Status: RO Hi Dan -- I've just gotten back to my office and my e-mail, after many days in exotic and steamy locales around the South. Thanks for your messages about the ASA. I'm glad to be an honorary sociologist, and as a full-fledged member of the ASA, I would be more than happy to participate in any labor-oriented efforts. Unfortunately, I have to rush back to a meeting in Boston after our panel, and I won't be able to be at the Sunday morning meeting. I would like to know what happens, and I'd like to participate in any future discussions or events, including the newly created labor/academic group. It is exciting that there seems to be so much interest in labor within the academy these days. I also am chagrined to find that my paper was not sent out (I left it to be xeroxed and mailed out, before I hit the road, but our intern and secretary seem to have disappeared...). The list of addresses is also missing. If it's not too much trouble, could you email me the list again, so I can send the paper out to everyone today or tomorrow? Thanks, and I'm sorry for the delay. Hope all is well there -- Eve From aanz@sirius.com Thu Jul 24 16:10:35 1997 for ; Thu, 24 Jul 1997 15:10:30 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 15:12:33 -0700 To: Labor Research and Action Project From: aanz@sirius.com (anzalone/starbird) Subject: Disney-HH Cutler Protest/10-4 Status: RO Folks, we got big trouble with the situation in Haiti. Please help out and send a letter. The CWA has a great web site to access Disney directly via e-mail IF That's your cupa tea. Also their publicity hack can be reached at: disney_communications@disney.com Sorry this wasn't in my first communique. Yours in solidarity, ellen starbird The National Labor Committee, 275 Seventh Ave., 15th floor, New York, NY 10001 is calling for a national day for human rights on October 4th. Please clear your calendars for that day, and urge your affiliate student groups on campus to respond to this challenge. We activists in the U.S. cannot responsibly offer solidarity to workers IN Haiti OR ANYWHERE else if we are not prepared to escalate action when the ultimate sacrifices are called for on the part of our international brothers and sisters. Loss of job in Haiti is not just "the capital punishment of labor relations" as we say in the U.S. In Haiti, where there is no safety net and starvation is rampant, loss of a job can be,literally, capital punishment. According to a letter I got from Kernaghan today, a response will be coordinated with the Haitian workers. (Cutler is threatening to leave in Sept., so presumably there is time for them to change their minds and stay.) Meanwhile I'm forwarding on to you a petition from the National Labor Committee, and the enclosed note from the Disney Haiti campaign. (I have no idea who they are, unlikely that Wednesday pickets would hurt at this point however. I can't speak to a threat of boycott, and would suggest waiting to hear from the Haitian workers before making what could amount to an idle threat. Other than that their suggestions for letters seems like a good one to me, and I would urge you to comply and feel free to forward this message to any and all decent people.) Yours in Solidarity Ellen Starbird YES! To HUMAN RIGHTS NO! To Sweatshops A petition to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESS, THE U.S. CONGRESS & THE WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE TO END SWEATSHOP ABUSES We the People believe that there is a direct link between sweatshop abuess offshore and the growth of sweatshops in the U.S., job loss and falling wages. We believe that in our global economy, human rights protections are every bit as important as corporate rights. We do not want U.S.-based multinationals pitting the U.S. worker against the poor in the developing world in a race to the bottom competing over who will accept the lowest wages and benefits and the most miserable working conditions. We need to lift human rights standards around the world, not lower them. WE AFFIRM THE DIGNITY OF LIFE OVER CORPORATE GREED. * Children belong in school. * NO to child labor *Companies should clean up their factories * NO to the exploitation and hire the parents and older brothers of teenaged girls forced and sisters of these young people, and to work long hours in strictly respect local laws requiring harsh sweatshop conditions young people to attend school. under armed guards. *Wages must be tied to the basic cost of * NO to starvation sub-sistance living in each country --which the wages. multinationals can easily afford. * NO to corporations claiming *Corporations must open their plants to that they will monitor and independent monitoring by respected local police their own factories. religious and human rights organizations. SIGNATURE PRINT NAME ADDRESS ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____ PLEASE SEND COMPLETED PETITIONS TO: The National Labor Committee, 275 Seventh Ave., 15th floor, New York, NY 10001 >From: Kapab@aol.com >Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 08:49:34 -0400 (EDT) >To: Kapab@aol.com >Subject: Disney-HH Cutler Protest >Status: U > >Disney, HH Cutler: >You can run, but you can't hide! >Protest every Wednesday, 12 noon to 2:00 pm >100 West 33rd Street (6th Ave) >Protest Disney Subcontractor Pull-out from Haiti! >HH Cutler, Disney's largest subcontractor in Haiti, has declared its >intention to shutdown its operations in Haiti by the end of the summer. >Facing mounting pressure from workers and international criticism for its >starvation wages and abusive labor practices, HH Cutler is cutting and >running from 28c an hour sweatshops in Haiti to 13c an hour sweatshops in >China and Indonesia! Just like HH Cutler dropped 1,400 US garment workers >when it moved its operations overseas in 1995, Cutler is continuing its >practice of the lowest form of corporate greed. >2,300 Haitian garment workers earning starvation wages- 28c an hour- stand to >lose their jobs if Cutler pulls out. That's 10% of the assembly sector >workforce in Haiti. The unemployment rate in Haiti is close to 80%. >People of conscience must let HH Cutler and Disney know that these practices >will not be condoned by US consumers. US corporations must respect the rights >of workers abroad, pay living wages, and provide decent working conditions. >US companies must also pursue all avenues to maintain jobs at fair wages here >in the US. >It should also be made clear to HH Cutler and to the Walt Disney Company that >HH Cutler's pull out would lead to an immediate call for an international >boycott of both Disney and HH Cutler products! >Phone, Fax or mail your protest to:Thomas Austin, President >H.H. Cutler >120 Iona Ave. SW >Grand Rapids, Michigan >49503 >Phone: 616-459-9101 >Fax: 616-459-2135 >Michael Eisner, C.E.O. >The Walt Disney Company >South Buena Vista Street >Burbank, CA >91521 >Phone: 818-560-1000 >Fax: 818-846-7319 > >Protest organized by: >THE DISNEY / HAITI JUSTICE CAMPAIGN >VILLAGE STATION, P.O. BOX 748, NY, NY 10014 (212) 592-3612 > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Thu Jul 24 18:05:39 1997 Thu, 24 Jul 1997 16:55:53 -0700 (PDT) Thu, 24 Jul 1997 16:45:31 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 16:45:31 -0700 (PDT) To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-uclea@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: urgent: we can still defeat tuition tax pcolombaro@igc.org, jrfine@mit.edu, jkurz@igc.org, albelda@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, joe-berry@uiowa.edu, carre@radcliffe.harvard.edu, cherny@sfsu.edu, g3357mdoug@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, femspak@igc.apc.org, fgapasin@ucla.edu, nance@usm.maine.edu, greenj@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, gooding@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, haas@ucla.edu, Honoroff@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, djacobs@american.edu, johnston@mail.cruzio.com, dmoberg@igc.org, bnissen@indiana.edu, richardsc@woods.uml.edu, blairs@igc.org, shniad@sfu.ca, kjsciacc@facstaff.wisc.edu, abudak@alumni.ysu.edu, gwolff@ucla.edu, worthenh@socrates.berkeley.edu, zeitlin@soc.ucla.edu, jschaffner@igc.org Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO FORWARED FROM CAN-LABOR: Help stop an across-the-board benefits cut for workers at colleges and universities -- defend the tax-exempt status of tuition benefits, currently threatened in Article 127 of the "Tax Relief Act" before Clinton. Contact your senators http://www.senate.gov/writerep/ and representative http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (search by zip code) or call this toll-free number set up by the National Graduate and Professional Students Association 1-888-723-5246 and they will connect you with your Senator or Representative in Washington, D.C. Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 10:19:02 -0400 From: Maggie McIntosh Subject: Preliminary Conference Agreement [...] The conferees are now meeting with the White House negotiators to see if a final bill can be agreed to before the August 2nd adjournment. Since the final negotiations with the White House may involve substantial changes from the current Republican package, our win is not a "done deal" but it looks very good. [...] The offer would also extend Section 127 for three (3) years, [section 127 exempts college workers from tax on tuition] but only for undergraduate courses. The White House is expected to put the issue of graduate classes back on the table, so this will be the subject of additional bargaining. http://www.nagps.org/Student_Aid/105th/Clinton_Tax_Proposal-9707.html Employer-Provided Education Benefits Extends permanently Section 127 of the tax code, which allows people to exclude $5,250 of employer provided education benefits from their taxable income. Both undergraduate and graduate education would be eligible. Additionally, a 10% employer credit for small business training is included. This credit would apply to payments made to third parties to cover expenses of education for employees under employer-provided education assistance programs. The credit would be available to employers with average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less for the prior three years. From clawson@sadri.umass.edu Fri Jul 25 10:16:58 1997 Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu; Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:16:55 -0400 (EDT) 25 Jul 1997 12:16:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:16:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Clawson Subject: Re: A.S.A. labor meeting In-reply-to: <970724155053_-939426865@emout14.mail.aol.com> from <"Eve770@aol.com"@Jul> To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Status: RO Eve -- Here's the list. The meeting Sunday is going to be in the evening, so you'll miss it by even more; I'll have to check my announcement to be sure that's clear. See you in Toronto in August, and this coming year in Amherst. The list: Session Sponsor: Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Session Category: open submission Session Title: Labor as a Social Movement Organizer and Presider: Dan Clawson, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Presentations: 1. Failure Paves the Road to Success: Plant Closing Struggles. Eve Weinbaum, Yale University 2. Dynamics of Sustained Movement Participation. Sjoerd Goslinga, Peter Kerkhof, and Bert Klandermans, Free University, Amsterdam 3. Gender, Class and the Interaction between Social Movements: A Strike of Day Care Workers. Silke Roth and Myra Marx Ferree, University of Connecticut 4. Putting the "Move" Back in Labor Movement: Tactical Innovation and Contemporary American Unions. Kim Voss and Rachel Sherman, University of California, Berkeley Discussion: Rick Fantasia, Smith College Topics: Collective Behavior/Social Movements (03) Political Sociology (28) Social Change (33) Presentation classification: Formal Papers Room Setup: Theatre for 100 Addresses: Dan Clawson, Dept. of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003 [clawson@sadri.umass.edu] Rick Fantasia, Dept. of Sociology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 [rfantasi@smith.smith.edu] Myra Marx Ferree, Dept. of Sociology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2068 [ferree@uconnvm.uconn.edu] Sjoerd Goslinga, Dept. of Social Psychology, Free University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands [s.goslinga@psy.vu.nl] Peter Kerkhof, Dept. of Social Psychology, Free University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands Bert Klandermans, Dept. of Social Psychology, Free University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands Silke Roth, Dept. of Sociology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2068 [roth@uconnvm.uconn.edu] Rachel Sherman, Dept. of Sociology, 410 Barrows Hall, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 [rsherman@uclink2.berkeley.edu] Kim Voss, Dept. of Sociology, 410 Barrows Hall, University of California- Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 [kimvoss@violet.berkeley.edu] Eve Weinbaum, 205 Summerglen Drive, Union City, GA 30291 [eve770@aol.com] > > Hi Dan -- > > I've just gotten back to my office and my e-mail, after many days in exotic > and steamy locales around the South. Thanks for your messages about the ASA. > I'm glad to be an honorary sociologist, and as a full-fledged member of the > ASA, I would be more than happy to participate in any labor-oriented efforts. > Unfortunately, I have to rush back to a meeting in Boston after our panel, > and I won't be able to be at the Sunday morning meeting. I would like to > know what happens, and I'd like to participate in any future discussions or > events, including the newly created labor/academic group. It is exciting > that there seems to be so much interest in labor within the academy these > days. > > I also am chagrined to find that my paper was not sent out (I left it to be > xeroxed and mailed out, before I hit the road, but our intern and secretary > seem to have disappeared...). The list of addresses is also missing. If > it's not too much trouble, could you email me the list again, so I can send > the paper out to everyone today or tomorrow? Thanks, and I'm sorry for the > delay. > > Hope all is well there -- > Eve > -- Dan Clawson work = 413-545-5974 home 413-586-6235 Contemp. Sociology = 413-545-4064 fax 413-545-1994 email = clawson@sadri.umass.edu consoc@sadri.umass.edu From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sat Jul 26 01:56:24 1997 Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:54:54 -0700 (PDT) Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:48:41 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 00:48:41 -0700 (PDT) To: mdougher@emerald.tufts.edu, femspak@igc.org, fgapasin@ucla.edu, jrfine@mit.edu, nance@usm.maine.edu, hossfeld@sfsu.edu, dmoberg@igc.org, jkurz@igc.org, Louie57@aol.com, blairs@igc.org, SHOSTAKAt@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu, cathyh@wscpdx.org, debr@wscpdx.org, gwolff@ucla.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: New SVTC List Serve Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Dear Friends, The Campaign for Responsible Technology (CRT), a project of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, was formed to promote grassroots participation to help develop sustainable practices within the global electronics industry (already the world's largest and fastest growing manufacturing sector). CRT is now expanding its efforts to develop a network of individuals and grassroots groups -- both in the US as well as globally -- that is dedicated to holding the high-tech industry accountable for its environmental, economic, labor, community and health impacts. We are starting an internet list-serve to share experiences, struggles, strategies, and technical information by increasing communication among the world's grassroots activists who are concerned about high-tech development. By joining this list-serve you will be linking with others like you who are fighting for clean air and water, healthy workplaces and communities, and greater accountability and sustainable practices from the electronics industry. Through this list-serve we plan to send out periodic updates such as: 1. news about high-tech developments in differentcommunities around the world 2. short abstracts from books and papers on various issues including, labor, occupational health, new less polluting technologies, efforts towards toxic use reduction/pollution prevention, environmental impacts, economic and financial information about high-tech development, etc. 3. updates about community efforts to promote effective action and advocacy that prevents pollution and supports community sustainablility as well as corporate and government accountability. 4. more detailed and in-depth information than is currently available on our website http://www.svtc.org/svtc For further information, please visit our website where you can see: 1. the executive summary of Sacred Waters, our new book on water pollution and overuse by high-tech companies in the Southwest(co-published with SNEEJ) http://www.svtc.org/svtc/execsum.htm 2. an article from our latest newsletter "Responsible Technology Goes Global" that describes the activities at the 6th European Work Hazards Conference and the decision to form an International Campaign for Responsible Technology http://www.svtc.org/svtc/icrt.htm 3. a list of transnational high-tech firms and their locations in different parts of the world -- http://www.svtc.org/svtc/inttable.htm 4. a factsheet for communities and workers near high-tech companies -- http://www.svtc.org/svtc/fctsht.htm 5. the list of high-tech superfund contamination sites in Silicon Valley - http://www.svtc.org/svtc/mapsite.htm 6. a critique of the EPA's Project XL community participation process http://www.svtc.org/svtc/xlmatrix.htm 7. a list of those currently serving on the CRT Advisory Board - http://www.svtc.org/svtc/advboard.htm We hope that you will join our list-serve. It is a closed and moderated list, so you will not be innundated by e-mail. Please take a few minutes to fill out this form and reply to svtc@igc.org If you have information that you think would be interesting for others, please send it in and we will share it with others on the list-serve. Also, please forward this message on to others who you think might be interested. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ____Yes, I want to be part of the CRT list-serve. ____No, I don't want to be part of your list-serve, please remove my name from your list. Name: Organization Street Address: City, State, Zipcode Country e-mail address: Phone: Fax: website: My principal interests: _____labor _____environmental impacts _____economic impacts _____ community impacts ____ corporate welfare (subsidies) ______worker health Other: Please list companies that are of particular concern to you: Anything else you want us to know at this time? Ted Smith and Leslie Byster CRT, (a project of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition) 760 N. First Street San Jose, CA 95112 408-287-6707-phone 408-287-6771-fax svtc@igc.apc.org www.svtc.org/svtc Leslie Byster Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 760 N. First Street San Jose, CA 95112 408-287-6707-phone 408-287-6771-fax svtc@igc.apc.org >NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information about our new book, SACRED WATERS: LIFE-BLOOD OF MOTHER EARTH, Four Case Studies of High-Tech Water Exploitation and Corporate Welfare in the Southwest > http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ > > From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sat Jul 26 10:38:20 1997 Sat, 26 Jul 1997 09:37:23 -0700 (PDT) Sat, 26 Jul 1997 09:36:46 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 09:36:46 -0700 (PDT) To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-uclea@h-net.msu.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: World Bank Report Reviewed (fwd from PEN-L) Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO > > Has a volte-face truly occurred at the World Bank ... ? Here's a bit of a critique that has been circulating in some Bank-watchdog circuits... From: Bretton Woods Project Subject: WDR UPDATED BRIEFING Dear Friends, Attached is a briefing I have put together responding to the WB's World Devt. Report. Hope you find it useful. Alex BRIEFING ON ROLE OF STATE WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT (WDR) This short briefing outlines the main content of the World Bank's 1997 World Development Report and suggests angles to use in press work so that journalists can balance/enliven their coverage of the report's launch next week. The Bank will publish its WDR on The State in a Changing World on 25 June 1997. The WDR is the Bank's flagship research report, with around 150,000 copies produced in nine languages and a budget of $3 million. It is circulated widely to politicians, officials, universities and many other people across the world and is influential for many years. The Bank sees it as a means to communicate staff's views on key matters, and also to raise its profile as a global thinktank. For NGOs it is important to respond both so that the Bank does not capture or narrow this vital debate about the state and because the Bank this year produced the Report using a new process involving consultations from early on with NGOs, government officials, and business representatives. NGOs in India, Japan, the UK and elsewhere have all expressed their deep dissatisfaction with the process adopted and the way their comments were used and the Bank has been asked not to portray this Report as based on the views of civil society. NGO interventions at this point will be useful both to influence the press coverage and because the Bank's WDR team will in July make a presentation to the Board advising how the Bank should operationalise their findings. Their recommendations are likely to encompass issues such as privatisation/regulation and deepening the Bank's work on good governance and corruption. WDR team members are currently travelling to key world capitals to publicise the Report before an embargo/publication date of 25th June. If you do not have time to contact key journalists or do a press backgrounder/press release before the publication date, you could consider writing letters to the papers which cover the Report. The debate about the role of the state and the role of the World Bank will continue long after next week's WDR launch. The Bretton Woods Project intends to pull together some NGO thinking on this subject into a longer briefing to be launched at the Bank/Fund annual meeting in September. We would be very interested to see any comments your organisation makes on the Report, or any press cuttings from your country. WORLD BANK RELEASE The Bank's publication announcement for the Report makes the following main points: The Report looks as what the state should do, how it should do it, and how it can do it better in a rapidly changing world. Because of failures of state-led or dominated development many people have concluded that a minimalist state would be the best solution, but the WDR concludes that this extreme view does not match the evidence of many industrialised or newly industrialising countries which shows that an effective state is needed to complement the activities of private businesses and individuals. "An effective state is vital for the provision of the goods and services - and rules and institutions - that allow markets to flourish and people to live healthier, happier lives. ... the state is central to economic and social development, not as a direct provider of growth, but as its partner, catalyst and facilitator." The Report makes no attempt to describe a single recipe for an effective state - the requirements differ widely across countries at different stages of development. Differences in size, ethnic makeup, culture and political systems make every state unique, even among countries at the same level of income. The Report does, however, provide a framework for guiding reforms with a two part strategy: * Focus the state's activities to match its capabilities. Many states try to do too much with few resources and little capability. Governments should ... concentrate on the core public activities that are vital to development. * A state can improve its capability by re-invigorating public institutions. The Report puts particular emphasis on mechanisms that give public officials the incentive to do their jobs better and to be more flexible, but which also provide restraints to check arbitrary and corrupt behaviour. Effective states in the Report's examples all have some common features: "the ways in which government has set rules that more broadly underpin private transactions and civil society, and how the state has played by the rules itself, acting reliably and predictably and checking corruption". "... the Report shows how opportunities for reform can open, and widen, with the help of careful sequencing and mechanisms to compensate those who stand to lose from reforms. It also argues that, as we approach the twentieth century (sic), the challenge for states is neither to shrink into insignificance, nor to dominate the market, but to start taking small steps toward effectiveness." NGO Media Backgrounder on The State in a Changing World, (1997 WDR) 1. Process/Production Issues A. The Bank was encouraged to do its WDR on this topic partly because of concern from Japan, the second largest contributor to the Bank, that the Bank's view of the state's role in development was too narrow and did not take into account the activist state experience of some Asian "miracle" countries. B. The Bank was to call the Report "The Role of The State", but changed the title to avoid accusations of overgeneralisation. Despite occasional disclaimers throughout the Report, the Bank's conclusions are still too universal and reductionist, assuming that all countries need to carry out the same sorts of reforms, and have the same types of key political groupings. C. The Bank used a new process to produce this Report. Rather than ask for comments on a draft once much work had been done, Bank staff this time involved NGOs and others in discussions about the Report from very early stages, involved Ela Bhatt (founder of the Self Employed Women's Association, India) as an adviser, and also encouraged comments via an internet "chatline". On the role of citizen participation in policy-making the Report raises some important issues and makes a number of recommendations (ie pp10-11) that many NGOs would endorse, though the Report reads as "new managerialist" in other parts, arguing that people must be persuaded of the benefits of pre-determined reforms and compensated where necessary. Much other material in the Report is at least non-controversial. NGOs are, however, concerned that some of their more challenging questions, for example on power relations, wealth disparities, the safeguarding of individual and minority rights, or the fixation with economic growth as a measure of progress have not been adequately examined. Isagani Serrano, Vice President of the Philippines Rural Reconstruction Movement, and Rajesh Tandon, of Participatory Research in Asia and Chair of the NGO World Bank Working Group's Sub-Group on Participation presented a paper to the Bank team last October, extracts from which appear as Appendix 1. Their most important points have not been properly addressed in the Report, and Rajesh Tandon complains that he was subsequently sent no drafts of the WDR nor contacted by the Bank's WDR team when they visited India. D. By contrast with its haphazard and unsatisfactory efforts at consulting civil society groups the Bank undertook a survey of over 3,700 firms in 69 countries, which is mentioned prominently in the final WDR. The Bank is understood to have considered carrying out a similar citizens' survey, but decided against it, on grounds of cost and/or time. E. The budget for the World Development Report, not including promotion, is $3m. Around $0.5 million may be recovered from sales, as many copies are distributed free of charge. This contradicts the Bank's own mantras on market-testing, and can be seen as an attempt to crowd out other views. The WDR is one of the very few international reference works which many cash-strapped universities in Africa and elsewhere receive. The Bank could spend this very significant annual amount of money to fund outsiders, for example African academics who operate on tiny budgets compared to that of the Bank, to conduct the research. 2. Some Welcome Rethinking The WDR expresses some changes in the Bank's thinking about the state. It is welcome that the Bank acknowledges that recent reforms have emphasised economic fundamentals to the exclusion of the social and institutional basis needed to ensure sustained development and avoid social disruption. The position that the state must be rolled back to make way for the market has been replaced by a more nuanced view that development without an effective state is impossible (see, eg para 1.23). This may presage some new flexibility in Bank programmes, but the Report's main analytical device, dividing countries into those that are "institutionally-strong" and those that are "institutionally-weak" leaves much room for conflicting interpretation, and the recipe of reforms that should be adopted (privatisation and liberalisation) remains unquestioned. 3. Key questions ducked or downplayed A. Globalisation and Transnational Companies Early outlines of the Report indicated that it would tackle how states' actions are being constrained by the globalisation of capital and the increase in the power of transnational companies, and how global markets can be governed [footnote 1]. Yet the Report team could not reach consensus on this issue and dropped the planned chapter on it. Especially as the Bank bills the WDR as a "thinkpiece" and a vehicle for raising debate, it should have at least outlined, if not drawn conclusions on, contentious issues of shifting power balances and the inadequacy of current governance structures in an age of globalisation. Many NGO and other commentators see this as the key question to analyse in a report about the state in a changing world. As the Report fails to analyse the balance of political forces between states and transnational companies, which are increasing in wealth and lobbying power, its discussions of the slow progress in taking action on global climate change, realising a post cold-war peace dividend and allocating health research budgets to diseases which kill poorer people (chapter 8) read as so limited and naive as to be almost useless. [Footnote 2] The discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of economic liberalisation is also restricted to mentioning problems and then asserting complacently that business as usual will be the best way to deal with them (see Appendix 2). B. International Taxation The Report does not address the concern that states' ability to raise taxation is declining as a result of globalisation of capital, and that the taxation that can still most easily be collected is that which falls most heavily on labour/poorer people. The implications for tax revenues and progressive taxation are not set out, nor are possible means for tackling this such as greater global coordination of taxes on mobile revenues or measures to minimise offshore trading or the use of exotic financial instruments such as derivatives. C. The difficulties of regulation/structuring good private sector deals The WDR points out that regulation has run into problems in some instances, but its analysis of privatisation focusses too strongly on efficiency and underestimates the difficulty of designing and negotiating deals and regulations that uphold the interests of poorer people and the environment. It exaggerates the demise of natural monopolies (p. 65) and underestimates the difficulty of establishing a genuinely competitive regime in small and poor countries (ie Haiti, Laos). It does not properly outline the difficulties of persuading companies to provide such services to very poor people and regions, and the role that governments will have to play in guaranteeing or incentivising such investments if they are to happen. The privatisation of services such as water and sanitation, transport and power is a very important issue for development and the environment, and the long-term implications of contracting these to foreign private companies should have been examined. How, for example, will a small municipality like Gdansk (Poland) be able to negotiate effectively and on an even basis with a major transnational like Lyonnaise des Eaux which has the contract for its water and sanitation? D. Universalist/reductionist political analysis The Report addresses the politics of privatisation and globalisation in a very simplistic manner. It expresses the view that these trends should not be debated but that people should be persuaded of reforms' benefits through "consensus building" and perhaps compensation (ie para 9.4). Although the Report admits that application will be "highly country-specific" it proposes "political cost-benefit approach" to assess the redistribution and efficiency implications of reforms, and set out how different groups are likely to react to reforms (table 9.1). For example it states that "employees and managers of public enterprises" will oppgose public sector reform, while taxpayers will support it. Such formulaic political analysis cannot substitute for consultation. The Bank's view of democracy/expression of peoples' collective interests appears limited. For example: "in Uruguay, for example, a 1989 plebiscite rejected privatization legislation. And yet, a recent study shows that inefficiencies in public utilities add 30 percent to the average Uruguayan's electricity, water, and telephone bills. And as we saw in Box 4.2 many of the commonly held arguments against privatisation are not valid." The Report does not note that many people in Britain, one of the pioneers of privatisation, are still very sceptical about the privatisations of UK utilities [footnote 3]. E. States Seen only as Deliverers of Growth and Services The Report admits that "the choice of political regime has justifications that go far beyond economic conditions", yet it argues that democracy should be managed to ensure that development goes forward: "researchers have yet to reach a consensus on the precise relationship between growth and democracy .... states need skill to manage the political transition [to democracy] in such a way that it supports rather than impedes the development agenda" (p. 150). The state's roles beyond delivering services and limited coordination/regulation of the economy, for example in areas of promoting rights to affordable housing, food, labour organisation, information access are almost ignored. The Report also skates over the historical development of the concept of the nation state in Europe, its export in the colonial era, and the displacement of other forms of sovereignty/social organisation. F. Bank and the State Whilst the Bank argues that the WDR is a Report on a key development issue, not on the performance of the Bank itself, discussion of the state would naturally be expected to deal with the Bank's influential roles including those of structural adjustment lending, aid donor coordination, privatisation advice, and project funding. Yet, perhaps because the Report is reviewed by Bank staff keen to avoid any criticism of operations/regions in which they have been involved, the Bank and its sister agencies hardly figure as actors in it, except in a very general section on aid (p.140-1) and when agencies like the Global Environment Facility are lauded for their crucial role" (p.138). Very relevant analytical/critical Bank studies on such roles are thus not mentioned [footnote 4]. Also, the Bank does not have its own house sufficiently in order to start advising others on how to organise staff and build effective public sector institutions [footnote 5]. 4. Implications for the World Bank? As well as writing the Report itself, the WDR team has to write a short paper for the Board by July stating how they think the Bank should operationalise the WDR strategy. Whilst the Report's failure to analyse the Bank's current role will make this hard, they are likely to make recommendations on: The Bank's use of Country Assistance Strategies, the key planning document setting out the framework for the Bank's programmes; The Bank's work in the social sectors; How the Bank selects which countries to lend to ("Clearly, a high priority for aid agencies is to channel resources more systematically towards poor countries with good policies", WDR page 140); A possible new role for the Bank as an "extraterritorial commitment mechanism" to give companies confidence in regulation where states are deemed to be institutionally weak. [Footnote 6]; Deeper involvement in institutional and legal reform. [Note: the Bank will have to consider at what point should it amend its Article of Agreement prohibiting involvement in politics]. Available: Notes from consultation meetings with UK NGOs and others, June 1996, April 1997, and with US NGOs, September 1996. Comments on WDR drafts by Public Services International and the International Committee of Free Trade Unions. Footnote 1: An early outline of the Report sketched out a section that was later dropped. It stated: "The pressure to change comes from outside the nation state as well. Large private capital flows and lower transport and communication costs have made it tougher for individual states to act alone and independently-some call it "the end of geography." Governments that challenge financial markets do so at tremendous cost to their credibility-as Mexico's recent experience has highlighted. The chapter will also ask who governs the global markets. Foreign investors do not always want governments to pursue sensible policies. Market-led globalization could worsen inequality (though evidence suggests the opposite), and a global market may not produce the best outcomes for emerging environmental problems. How are countries that once provided elaborate social safety nets to contain the risks and uncertainties generated by volatile international markets are now forced to cut back due to fiscal pressures handling these trade-offs? Could it lead to a reversal to inward-looking policies? Can more imaginative national and international solution be found? And unless cooperation across state boundaries is more effective, such problems as global warming, ozone depletion, and narcotics may continue to escalate? The Report will show that much more needs to be done to strengthen state institutions and international coordination to address these cross-national issues.", (posted on World Bank web page "chatline", June 1996). Footnote 2: An article on global warming in this week's Economist (14/6/97), by contrast, stresses that "the reluctance of governments to pursue even basic measures is due in part to the political power of industries such as coal, oil and nuclear energy, which will lose out as a result." Footnote 3: Despite its apparent economic efficiency benefits, privatisation is still unpopular amongst much of the British public for reasons including: huge pay rises for bosses, failure of water companies to do enough to mend leaks in their systems, higher electricity rates for poorer people on meters than people with good cash flows who can pay by direct debit. Footnote 4: For example Review of Public Enterprise Reform and Privatisation Operation, PSD, August 1996 which concluded that 38% of the Bank's current operations supporting public enterprise reform and privatisation are rated `unsatisfactory' and that "the causes of poor performance lie as much with Bank incentives, procedures and culture as with conditions within the recipient country". Footnote 5: For example p. 79 of the WDR states: "what matters is whether the actual rules and incentive mechanisms embedded in the system can translate the fine words into reality". A World Bank staffer quoted in Masters of Illusion, Catherine Caufield, 1997 (p. 328), asked to comment on Bank reforms since 1995 stated "the cognitive dissonance between high-level pronouncements and daily practice is at an all-time high." Footnote 6: "In many developing countries legislative and judicial oversight of the executive is weak. ... An independent judiciary is vital to ensure that the legislative and executive authorities remain fully accountable to the law, and to interpret and enforce the terms of any written constitution. ... These institutions of restraint take time to establish themselves, but international commitment mechanisms such as international adjudication, or guarantees from international agencies can serve as a short-term substitute", WDR, page 8. The Bank is already rapidly expanding its use of private sector guarantees, and is expected to make a major announcement on a new Bank/IFC/MIGA initiative at this year's annual meeting in Hong Kong. Appendix 1 Quotes from Reforming the State, a Citizens' Perspective, Isagani Serrano and Rajesh Tandon, prepared for presentation to the Bank's WDR team, October 1996. "The problem before us is not whether our lives will be better off with or without the state. Nor is it a question of whether humanity stands a better chance of survival with more state or less of it. Because the state is here to stay ... the question for us is whether and how the continued existence and functioning of the state can lead to more good than harm for ordinary citizens." "Since the early 1980s, which saw the beginning of structural adjustment programmes, discourses about the role of the state have been dominated by World Bank thinking or rethinking. The premature judgement, now undergoing a more nuanced expression, is that the state should stay away from the economy and leave the business of running it to the market." "It would seem that the growing consensus within official circles around the question of good governance will lay the issue to rest. However this is hardly the case from a civic perspective. It goes without saying that citizens view good governance as a matter of right. In the same vein it is also a matter of right to bring down a government that cannot deliver good governance. The central concern from a civic perspective is this: much, if not all, of the discussion on governance has thus far been confined to state-market dynamic, leaving out the citizens in the margins. Participation, from a civic perspective, means that people are able to control the events and processes affecting the everyday lives." "We hold that politics and economics should be democratized in ways that assure citizens a central place in governance, and not simply see them as the outcomes of political and economic activities." "Reforms that were meant to lessen state intervention in the economy have actually facilitated the domination by the corporate elites who are accountable to no one but themselves." "If it can do little else, because of declining resources, government must put its power to bear to tame rampaging corporations and dedicate all it has to assist in the restoration of citizens' sovereignty". "A growing number of citizens everywhere who have been resisting state imposition will not submit themselves to the new tyranny of the market." "Deregulations targeted at protective barriers have prised open the national economy and paved the entry of global corporations. These major corporations would merge with national elites or run the show themselves. The usual come-ons used by the state are tax holidays, unrestricted profit remittances, relaxation of labour laws and banking and capital markets regulations and unrestricted land acquisition." "The right to know, a basic element of transparency in governance, continues to be denied to ordinary citizens." "Growth has come to mean the same as human development. And instead of being just a means to human development it has become an end in itself.... The current expression of ideological consensus is that growth is necessary but its benefits should be shared and it should take into account environmental concerns. ... The 1996 Human Development Report points out to us a very disturbing phenomenon - jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless and futureless growth. This kind of growth cannot be sustained for much longer except at great social and environmental costs." "Equality of social condition is the foundation of a sustainable future. Its realisation is therefore the ultimate test of state leadership and performance and the basis for its continued existence." "The values that propelled the rat race of the twentieth century will have to be replaced with a new set of values that gives the highest premium to equity, cooperation, sharing and caring, with respect for diversity". "Structural adjustment ... may have improved the financial and investment environment but at the same time have also diverted government attention and energy away from the needs of the poor and ordinary people." "Peoples' trust in government is fast slipping away." ________________________ Appendix 2: The WDR on Globalisation/Liberalisation (pp. 131ff) "The need for international cooperation stems from global and regional manifestations of the problems described in earlier chapters, such as missing markets and the presence of externalities. World peace, a sustainable global environment, a single world marketplace for goods and services, and basic knowledge are all examples of international public goods. They will be underprovided without conscious, concerted, and collective efforts to provide them. Development aid, although not a public good in the strict sense, also justifies international cooperations because of global equity considerations." "Expanding world markets. The liberalization of trade and investment laws around the world has contributed to an enormous increase in the volume of world trade and foreign direct and portfolio investment, whose impact on the welfare of participants has been considerable and for the better. Multilateral and regional agreements have supported market expansion, as greater economic interdependence has made it necessary to maintain and expand an international system of liberal trade and investment. Invigorated by buoyant trade, the global economy has grown rapidly, and that growth shows little sign of abating. International migration of people in search of work is the laggard in this story. As World Development 1995 showed, annual migratory flows from developing countries are no greater now, relative to total population, than in the 1970s. Most workers in poorer countries are only beginning to experience the benefits _ and the costs _ of global migration. But the expansion of markets and the increase in competitive pressure will leave some countries highly vulnerable to unforeseen shocks and policy mistakes. As Chapter 3 explained, countries will need to adopt prudent, consistent, and credible policies at home to prepare for the new global environment. International collective action can help support these efforts by offering ways for countries to make external commitments that will give these policies more credibility. The growing global consensus on the benefits of more liberal trade and international market expansion is reflected in the large and growing membership of the WTO. ... Yet reducing border barriers is only one of the preconditions for participating more actively in the global trading system. Countries also need a competitive exchange rate, good availability of foreign exchange, and a transport infrastructure that can support expanded trade. Thus, despite spreading trade liberalisation, the share of trade in GDP fell in forty-four of ninety-three developing countries between the mid-1980s and TRUNCATED DUE TO LACK OF SPACE... From aaron@burn.ucsd.edu Sat Jul 26 13:43:11 1997 Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:42:33 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:43:35 -0400 To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu, LABOR-L@YORKU.CA, seac+announce@ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu From: aaron@burn.ucsd.edu (Aaron) Subject: NESTLE: BABYKILLERS, and also UNION-BUSTERS ndf@xs4all.nl, twn@igc.apc.org, ;;;twnpen@twn.po.my;, jovi.samante@pi.net Status: RO Comrades, compas, et al., The first message reproduced below is a call from the militant workers' organization, the KMU, for support against union-busting by Nestle in the Philippines. For background on the KMU, I include the following paragraph from the back cover of the book by Kim Scipes , KMU: BUILDING GENUINE TRADE UNIONISM IN THE PHILIPPINES, 1980-1994. > The KMU (Kilusang Mayo Uno) or May First Movement is the most >militant labor center in the Philippines, and one of the most >dynamic and developed in the world. It played a key role in >toppling the Marcos dictatorship, and has been central in the >fight against the restoration of a system of elite democracy. >Based at the point of production, distribution and exchange in >the Philippine economy, it has acted to raise wages and improve >working conditions for its members, while challenging the >various government's 'western' model of development and the >Philippines' role in the global economy. It has allied with >social movements throughout the country and internationally, and >is one of the creators of a new type of trade unionism--social >movement unionism--that is a model for workers in both the >'third world' and the so-called developed countries. [Kim's book was published in 1996 by New Day Publishers, Quezon City, Philippines. It is available in the US, for $18.95, from Sulu Arts and Books, 465 Sixth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-4794. Voice: (415) 777-2451, fax: (415) 777-4676.] I have also appended a message to remind us of Nestle's most notorious corporate crime: pushing infant formula on mothers in the "third world" who don't realize that they may be murdering their babies by using it! Of course, those who are -- probably with good reason -- afraid of Nestle's megabucks lawyers and the pro-corporate courts, won't come out and call Nestle a mass murderer of babies. But I think that it's a very conservative estimate that the number of babies killed by Nestle's infant formula is in the hundreds of thousands, and that the number harmed is in the millions. Incidentally, most of the other products Nestle is famous for are ways of getting poor people to spend their very limited money satisfying a craving for sugar, chocolate, coffee and other legal drugs. The misery and death caused by Nestle makes the Cali and Medellin cartels and even all the CIA's cocaine and heroin pushers seem positively benign in comparison. Although I'm passing on the KMU's call for peaceful, legal forms of solidarity action, I think that it's appropriate for the workers' and peoples' movements around the world to DECLARE WAR ON NESTLE! Their executives and others who are responsible for making and implementing their murderous policies should be held accountable for their CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY! I hope that many groups and individuals, ranging from guerrilla armies to militant workers to church-going pacifists, will, in accordance with their own principles and resources, take some kind of action against Nestle and the criminals who run it. -- For international solidarity against capital, -- Aaron -------------- Forwarded message: --------------- Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 09:12:19 +0200 To: jovi.samante@pi.net From: kmuid@mnl.cyberspace.com.ph (by way of ndf@xs4all.nl) Subject: International Solidarity for the striking Nestle Workers 26 July 1997 Dear friends, Warmest greetings! The strike of workers belonging to the Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa - Kilusang Mayo Uno Nestle Philippines Inc. - Ice Cream & Chilled Products Division (IBM-KMU NPI-ICCPD Chapter) has been going on for more than half a year now. A total of 129 workers have already been summarily terminated by the Nestle management after they refused to go back to work unless ALL of them are re-instated without retaliatory action. Nestle has already resumed its operation after hiring contractual workers to replace the regular ones. They also continue to ignore the striking workers by not attending the conciliation meetings at the Department of Labor and Employment. One of the biggest monopoly-capitalist corporations worldwide, Nestle has earned a reputation of being a notorious union-buster. It has consistently employed various dirty tactics and acted in bad faith against the union in its plants. This coming 11-15 August, KMU will hold a one-week solidarity activity in support of the striking NPI-ICCPD workers. This activity is part of the resolution approved in the recently-held 14th KMU-International Solidarity Affair attended by delegates from 11 countries. Support of other sectoral organizations under the banner of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) will also be solicited for this campaign. A similar activity was held last 9-13 June characterized by nightly programs and vigils. This time, we are launching an International Solidarity for the striking Nestle Workers. The highlight of the campaign is an internationally-coordinated picket protest outside Nestle offices in our respective countries synchronized on the 11th of August. Other suggested activities for the week are signature drive, barrage of protest letters, information drive and fund-raising activities. With regards to this, we are asking your organization to participate in the said international campaign. It would be a great help in drumbeating the struggle of the workers here in the Philippines. Please let us know of your response and other activities you are planning to do. We will communicate again for some updates. In the face of continuing attacks, let us show Nestle that its workers are not alone in their struggle. Nestle should never be allowed to get away with its outright violation of workers' rights. In solidarity, Crispin B. Beltran Chairman KMU P.S. Attached [here reproduced below -- Aaron] is a copy of the petition letter. Please circulate and send to: Mr. J.B. Santos President Nestle Philippines Inc. Ice Cream & Chilled Products Division 710 Aurora Blvd. 1100 Quezon City, Philippines Telefax No: (632)721-7465 C.E.O. M.H.O. Maucher Nestle S.A. Av. Nestle 55, CH-1800 Vevey, Switzerland Tel No: 021-9242111 Please furnish us also a copy. Our address: KMU-International Dept. Rm. 301 Phil. Herald Bldg. 60-61 Muralla St. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines Telefax: (632) 928-4036 E-mail: kmuid@mnl.cyberspace.com.ph [The following is the petition letter, originally sent as an attachment, "c:\Documents\INTLCAMP.TXT". -- Aaron] A PETITION TO REINSTATE 129 ILLEGALLY DISMISSED WORKERS AND A STOP TO UNION BUSTING ACTIVITIES IN NESTLE-PHILIPPINES For more than half a year now, workers of the Magnolia-Nestle Philippines Inc - Ice Cream and Chilled Products Division (NPI-ICCPD), under the Ilaw at Buklod ng Manggagawa - Kilusang Mayo Uno (IBM-KMU), have been on strike for their jobs and union rights. In an apparent union-busting tactic, the Nestle management illegally dismissed 10 workers, 8 of whom were union officials, and suspended 200 others last January 10. The union struck immediately two days later. The management said the workers violated the company's Code of Conduct, specifically its good manufacturing procedure, when they wore armbands, pins and placards in a protest action last 18-23 November 1996. The protest was meant to press management to act on 23 workers' demands which the management refused to act on. These included discrepancies in economic benefits, work transfers, work schedule and a flexible labor policy with workers given no definite job assignments. A memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by both parties on 24 November but subsequently violated by the managment stipulated that an administrative body would be formed to study the demands of the workers. In its frantic bid to divide the striking workers, the management has resorted to house-hopping, bribery, strike dispersal, intimidations and other forms of harassment. Last January 22, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) issued an order allowing the management free ingress and egress in the factory. Around 250 combined forces of security guards, police, members of Special Weapons and Tactics, Anti-bomb squad and civilian military agents forcibly broke the barricades put up by the workers. Last April 18 and 29, the management again tried to break the workers' peaceful moving picket. Around 125 security guards stationed in the five gates of the company dragged strikers and supporters and alternately threatened, kicked and punched them. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) assumed jurisdiction of the strike last April 2 and issued a return-to-work order to all the striking workers except the eight union officers dismissed. Last 11 April, all the remaining strikers were summarily terminated for insisting that a no retaliatory clause should be made before the workers went back to work. This brought to 129 the total number of dismissed workers. Nestle started operating in the Philippines in 1911, distributing baby foods and other milk brands. Today, it has six plants in the country producing coffee, milk, infant formulas, noodles, food seasoning, ice cream, chocolates and sugar confectioneries. Indeed, a monopoly in consumer needs. Its ICCPD plant is a joint venture with the San Miguel Corporation, the biggest food and beverage conglomerate in the Philippines. Nestle has assumed a 60% controlling share in the company in February 1996. Before the strike, ICCPD has a total workforce of 305, with regular workers numbering 223. All over the world, Nestle has established a record of being a notorious union-buster. Consistently working for a union-free environment, it has employed standard formula to weaken unions in its plant and other subsidiaries. In the Philippines, 69 union leaders and 34 unionists were dismissed at the height of a strike in 1987. In 1989, the union president of Nestle's Cabuyao plant was killed by an unknown gunman, believed to be executed because of his union activities. The recent dispute in ICCPD is viewed as another move of the Nestle management to smash the militant union in its plant, implement its anti-worker and repressive code of conduct and enforce its program of retrenchment and contractualization. The IBM-KMU has called for the BOYCOTT OF ALL NESTLE PRODUCTS. Various organizations and individuals, both local and foreign, heeded the call. Some 30 organizations from Australia, Belgium, Germany, India, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, Sweden, USA, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Switzerland have sent solidarity messages and protest letters. Some individuals have also integrated in the picketline when they visited the country. At the local level, around 31 labor organizations representing half a million workers, and at least 10 non-labor national organizations, have also given their support. In the face of continuing attacks, let us show Nestle that its workers are not alone in its struggle. Nestle should never be allowed to get away with its outright violation of workers' rights. In support of the workers' struggle, we are supporting the campaign for the BOYCOTT of ALL Nestle products. We also demand: 1) IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF ALL DISMISSED WORKERS WITHOUT LOSS OF SENIORITY RIGHTS AND OTHER PRIVILEGES UNDER THE EXISTING CBA! 2) STOP UNION-BUSTING ACTIVITIES! NAME COUNTRY ORGANIZATION --------------- [End of petition to print.] --------------- [The last line of the petition should also be printed at the top of each additonal page, if any. -- Aaron] Date: Wed, 9 Apr 1997 19:06:45 -0400 Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy From: Sam Lanfranco Subject: Nestle Boycott Continues (fwd) /* Written 12:42 AM Apr 9, 1997 by twn in igc:twn.features */ /* ---------- "Nestle Boycott Continues" ---------- */ INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT AGAINST NESTLE CONTINUES The international boycott against Nestle for its unethical marketing of infant formula was first launched in July 1977. Today, the boycott is still very much alive, because of the company's persistence in violating the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. By Mary Assunta Third World Network Features The international boycott against Nestle is very much alive since its launch two decades ago. This boycott is still on because Nestle continues to employ unethical marketing tactics in many countries. Nestle is one of the world's largest food manufacturers, with a turnover of US$42 billion. It controls approximately 40% of the worldwide market for baby food. It influences UN systems, food legislation, market trends and company behaviour more than any other food company. Nestle's persistence in violating the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes was once again revealed in a four-country research commissioned by the Interagency Group on Breastfeeding Monitoring (IGBM). Entitled 'Cracking the Code', the report reveals the massive scale of company marketing malpractice. Initially Nestle dismissed the IGBM report, even before reading it, and announced on BBC World Service that it would not 'accept reproaches from self-appointed groups'. However in the face of the scandalous findings a week later Nestle changed its tune to, 'We take this report seriously.' According to the latest Update of Baby Milk Action's Boycott News, the international boycott is having an important impact on Nestle, not only in direct economic terms but also in wielding damage to its corporate image, management morale and management time the company must spend combating it. The Update reports that in recent years many companies have reversed policies as a result of public pressure, to the benefit of people, the environment and their own image. Nestle however has only curbed some of its more blatant malpractices. The Update states that Nestle's latest efforts in countering the boycott is to advertise itself as a squeaky clean beneficial force by distorting facts. An advertisement which appeared in the Oxford Independent claims that even before the introduction of the WHO Code, '... Nestle marketed infant formula ethically and responsibly and has done so ever since.' The Update however cites some examples of Nestle's promotions in India where there are laws to prevent companies from advertising infant formula. Nestle has come around this by aggressively promoting other expensive processed baby food products with idealised pictures of babies on the tins and in a language locals don't understand. Such promotions continue to undermine breastfeeding. Nestle is the sole advertiser of baby foods in the Indian edition of Parenting magazine and its Cerelac advertisements are found in pharmacies. It even offers cash incentives for local salespersons to display products. A pharmacist in Jaipur said that only Nestle representatives are offering payment in return for a prominent display of baby foods. He receives 200 rupees each month. The Update also points out that the advertisement in the Oxford Independent makes no mention of criminal charges against Nestle in India or the company's challenge to the Indian law, or its attempts to undermine strong baby food legislation in the Philippines, Ghana, Pakistan, Uganda and Europe. The advertisement mentions Nestle's new Charter on its infant formula policy in developing countries. However despite its attempts to whitewash its real practices with a feeble Charter the truth is Nestle continues to undermine legislation in many countries, promote its products through health facilities, give gifts to health workers and has never disciplined its staff for violating the International Code. While Nestle's biggest complaint has been over-regulation and has been actively undermining attempts to bring about strong baby food legislation in many countries, ironically it is calling for legislations of a different kind to be strictly enforced. Nestle wants its corporate brand - the nest - to be protected and entrenched in the law and strictly enforced by the authorities. The Update reports that Nestle's Vice President, Peter Brabeck, made this call for better brand protection and speedy trade deregulation when addressing government representatives of developing countries at the October 1996 Global Investment Forum organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He said, '... Our corporate brand - the nest - is the seal, it takes our products out of anonymity which one might find with other products... The consumers' trust helps us to introduce completely new concepts...' For decades Nestle has used 'the nest' to get mothers to 'trust' in their products which have caused suffering to infants all over the world. This is indeed a scandalous betrayal of trust, especially of the poor from developing countries. In the face of Nestle's continuous irresponsible marketing practices, the international boycott against the company is still on in 17 countries. This boycott will continue till Nestle stops its irresponsible behaviour. - Third World Network Features -ends- About the writer: Mary Assunta is a media officer with the Consumers' Association of Penang in Malaysia. This article is based on information from Boycott News, supplement to Baby Milk Action, Update 20, February/March 1997. When reproducing this feature, please credit Third World Network Features and (if applicable) the cooperating magazine or agency involved in the article, and give the byline. Please send us cuttings. For more information, please contact: Third World Network 228, Macalister Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Email: twn@igc.apc.org; twnpen@twn.po.my Tel: (+604)2293511,2293612 & 2293713; Fax: (+604)2298106 & 2264505 1584/97 ---------- aaron@burn.ucsd.edu http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aaron From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Sat Jul 26 16:06:22 1997 Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:04:06 -0700 (PDT) Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:02:17 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:02:17 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, united@cougar.com, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Latest from IBT on UPS Bargaining Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO These memos are forwarded from the Teamsters' Communications Dept. with a request that they be widely circulated. ============================================================ Subject: July 24, 1997 Teamsters UPS Update Teamsters UPS Update July 24, 1997 Negotiations Continue On Thursday, July 24, our Teamsters National Negotiating Committee presented UPS with a comprehensive set of proposals on economic issues -- including wages, health and welfare benefits, and pensions. For the past several days of talks, UPS negotiators had refused to consider our national negotiating committee's proposals. Instead, they insisted on talking about a package the company put on the table on Tuesday, July 22. Management's proposal package contains mostly retreads of demands they have already made. "The company's attitude in the past few days put up a stone wall at the table," said Teamsters Parcel Division Director Ken Hall. "It's time for the company to respond to our proposals." [out quote] "The unity of Teamster UPS members in every corner of the country is keeping the pressure on management to listen to our concerns." -- Teamsters General President Ron Carey A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing -- The Truth About Management's Proposal Package As we have done since day one, we're continuing to stay focused on our priorities -- measuring management proposals by how well they deal with the key issues that members have said they want addressed in this contract. Management's proposal package doesn't measure up: ** Teamster Issue: Subcontracting. ** Management's "retread" proposal: UPS's proposal package would continue to give the company the ability to subcontract work. ** Teamster Issue: More full-time jobs. ** Management's "trick" proposal: UPS's proposal package appears to address this issue by promising to promote part-timers to full-time positions -- but it would only create 200 new full-time jobs per year. ** Teamster Issue: Better wages and benefits. ** Management's "sugar-coated" proposal: UPS's package would put money into bonuses that should go into increases in base pay that would continue to increase the pay and benefits of Teamster UPSers for years to come. In addition, the company continues to demand that members turn over their pensions and benefits to company-controlled plans. ** Teamster Issue: Job safety and health. ** Management's "retread" proposal: Management's package recycles the same inadequate health and safety proposals they've been making all along -- with few meaningful changes to improve safety on the job. Tell UPS management that tricks and gimmicks won't work. No one is fooled by the new clothes they're trying to put on their old proposals. UPS Forced To Pay Entire $7 Million COLA Increase To Part-Timers A neutral arbitrator has agreed with the Teamsters that UPS must provide back pay to every part-timer hired in the first two years of the 1990 contract who did not receive a 16 cent per hour cost of living raise after completing their two-year progression. After a Teamster victory on this issue in arbitration last year, UPS only awarded back pay to those part-timers who were hired during the first year of the contract period. As a result of the new ruling, the company must now provide back pay to part-timers hired in the second year of the contract as well. This includes part-timers hired from August 1, 1991 to July 31, 1992 who did not receive the COLA increase upon completion of their two-year progression. The entire backpay award totals more than $7 million. ================================================= Subject: July 25, 1997 Teamsters UPS Update Teamsters UPS Update July 25, 1997 UPS CALLS CUSTOMERS INSTEAD OF SETTLING THE CONTRACT UPS is spending time and money this week calling its customers to warn them that the company can't guarantee delivery after July 31. It seems like an odd way to run a business. Why would UPS want to scare away its own customers a full week before the contract expires? The answer, of course, is that management wants to scare Teamster UPSers with the threat of customer loss and layoffs -- and then try to put the blame on us. "The blame game UPS is playing is ridiculous," said Teamsters General President Ron Carey. "We're not calling UPS's customers -- UPS is. "The company can 'guarantee delivery' to customers after July 31 by making a real effort to address our issues right now." One reason UPS can afford to call customers is it knows most of them have no other company to turn to in the event of a strike. According to the Journal of Commerce (7/25/97), "the volume of packages UPS handles could make finding alternatives difficult." LOCAL ACTIONS SHOW OUR UNITY As the clock winds down, Teamster UPSers around the country continue to take action to fight for a good contract. * 'Round the Clock Rally -- Hundreds of UPS Teamsters in Local 690 staged a 29-hour vigil at the entrance gate of UPS's facility in Spokane, Washington -- complete with a homemade clock, music, and "power marches" in the parking lot. "I've endured enough from this company over 21 years," said Marlene Jensen, a 21-year package car driver who rallied at the terminal until 2 a.m. "We stand united and we're going to do whatever it takes to get what we want." The vigil was the top story on the evening news in Spokane. * Unity Rally -- 75 Teamster UPS members in Local 828 showed their support Wednesday at the UPS facility in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City's newspaper covered the Teamster action with a front page article. * Fighting For the Future -- Many UPSers in Jacksonville Local 512 brought their kids and families to a recent "contract update" meeting and rally. Call the International Union Field Services Department at (202) 624-6928 to keep the UPS Update posted on actions and rallies by Teamster UPSers in your area. CAREY MEETS WITH TEAMSTER BENEFIT FUND MANAGERS TO SEEK IMPROVEMENTS In a recent meeting with Teamster health and welfare and pension fund union trustees and some of the fund managers, Teamsters General President Ron Carey emphasized the importance of making significant improvements to Teamster plans. While the union negotiates employer contributions to the funds, trustees and fund managers decide the benefit levels. UPS wants to force all Teamster UPSers to turn over their health and welfare benefits and pensions to company-controlled plans. At the meeting, all the managers agreed to cooperate with President Carey to give him the information and support necessary to negotiate contributions to provide members with the best possible Teamster benefits. From jipsonaj@muohio.edu Mon Jul 28 19:17:38 1997 Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 21:24:01 -0500 To: psn@csf.colorado.edu, ahs-talk@ncsu.edu, H-PCAACA@MSU.EDU, LABOR-L@YORKU.CA, LABOR-RAP@csf.colorado.edu, NCSABB@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU From: Art Jipson Subject: Last CFP: AHS panel on Union Reform Status: RO
Last Call: Please distribute to interested folks! Call for PresentersTimes Panel on Union Reform and its Consequences, Limitations, and PossibilitiesTimes atTimes the Annual Meeting of the Times Association of Humanist SociologyTimes November 6-9, 1997Times The University ClubTimes Pittsburgh, PATimes
Times The theme for the conference is 'Organize the Unorganized,' so the meeting is a welcome opportunity to gather with other labor and social movement scholars and activists. If you would like to participate in a panel on union reform, please contact the session organizer by June 25. Times Send inquiries about the session to:Times Art Jipson, Session OrganizerTimes Department of Sociology, Gerontology, and AnthropologyTimes Upham HallTimes Miami UniversityTimes Oxford, OH 45056Times (o) 513-529-2637Times (f) 513-529-8525Times jipsonaj@muohio.eduTimes Send questions about the association or meeting to:Times Frank Lindenfeld, Program Chair 1997Times Department of Sociology and Social WelfareTimes Bloomsburg University, 400 East 2nd StreetTimes Bloomsburg, PA 17815Times (o) 717-389-4221Times (f) 717-389-2019 Art Jipson Department of Sociology, Gerontology, and Anthropology Upham Hall, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 513-529-2637 (o) 513-529-8525 (f) jipsonaj@muohio.edu Me: http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~ajjipson NCSA: http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~ajjipson/NCSA.htmlx Connells: http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~ajjipson/connells.htmlx "Didn't I say sorry, Didn't I say dear, Didn't I consider, Didn't I stand clear..." - M. Connell, The Connells "Claiming stupidness for daring..." -R. Gates, The Spinanes From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Tue Jul 29 17:15:08 1997 Tue, 29 Jul 1997 15:29:09 -0700 (PDT) Tue, 29 Jul 1997 15:27:30 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 15:27:30 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, united@cougar.com, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: July 28, 1997 Teamsters UPS Update Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO Teamsters UPS Update July 28, 1997 Please post and distribute ** Negotiations Update ** NO EXTENSION -- CONTRACT NOW Our national negotiating committee and UPS's management negotiators met over the weekend and continued negotiations on Monday, July 28. Serious differences remain on our major issues. Our Teamsters negotiating committee has not agreed to the company's request for a contract extension. Our committee is ready to meet around the clock every day this week to try to reach a good agreement by July 31. Further updates will be provided in the next bulletin. UPS PILOTS PLEDGE SUPPORT Pilots at UPS have pledged their full support of Teamster UPSers as the July 31 contract expiration date draws near. The pilots, who are represented by the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), have made a firm written commitment to stop flying and cease all deliveries if we are forced to strike to win a good contract. Box: Local Action RALLYING FOR A GOOD CONTRACT * Local 287, Sunnyvale, CA -- Teamster UPSers rallied at the UPS facility entrance before work and wore Teamster stickers with our slogan "It's Our Contract -- We'll Fight For It." "I think we sent the company a strong message that we're united," said Jim Holland, a feeder driver and Teamster steward in Local 287. * Local 492, Albuquerque, NM -- Despite stubborn rain showers, hundreds of UPS Teamsters gathered in front of the company's Albuquerque terminal to get an update on negotiations and rally for a good contract. A Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters 18-wheeler pulled up nearby to lend support before heading to Santa Fe for another Teamster UPS rally. * Local 639, Washington, DC -- On Sunday, July 27, more than 600 UPS members in the Washington area packed Local 639's hall to get an update on negotiations, prepare for a strike if necessary, and gear up for the final week of negotiations. * Ohio Locals 413 (Columbus), 100 (Cincinnati), and 957 (Dayton), Knoxville Local 519, and Local 385 in Daytona, Florida held meetings for UPS stewards and members over the weekend and on Monday, July 28. Part-timers in Daytona wore Teamster T-shirts to work to show their solidarity. * North Carolina UPSers in Local 391 held parking lot rallies and meetings at facilities around the state last week. S. Carolina UPSers in Local 509 met in Myrtle Beach and prepared to rally at the terminal. CONTRACT UPDATES ON THE WEB http://www.teamster.org Check out the Teamsters website for more information on the UPS contract campaign and negotiations updates. The site contains Teamster UPS Update bulletins, press releases, and fliers. You can also sign up to receive information by email. From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 30 16:53:13 1997 Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:14:03 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:12:31 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:12:31 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, can-labor@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Union Hotels Listed on the Net Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO This was posted as part of a longer message on United by Bob Kastigar of the IBEW. The web address may have been misprinted since one would normally expect it to end with the .com extension. If this does not work, try http://www.erols.com/hereiu instead. COME ON INN The Internet Union Hotel Guide, produced by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, is up and running at www.erols.com.hereiu. At the website, travelers can find the most complete guide to union hotels, motels, resorts and other lodgings throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The site also has links to some of the hotels so you can make your reservations online. To obtain a printed copy of the guide, write HERE, 1219 28th St,. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007, or fax 202-393-0726. From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Wed Jul 30 19:13:19 1997 Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:12:15 -0700 (PDT) Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:11:43 -0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 15:11:43 -0700 (PDT) To: pen-l@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, h-UCLEA@h-net.msu.edu, OIFAC@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Union Pensions Conference Sender: meisenscher@igc.org Status: RO This release came from the UC-Berkeley Labor Center. Please contact them, not me with inquiries. ======================================================================= PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release A CONFERENCE ON UNION PENSION PLANS, FALLING PENSION COVERAGE AND RETIREMENT INSECURITY Fifty billion dollars of pension fund money is jointly controlled by union and management representatives in the Western states - the lion's share in California. The Center for Labor Research and Education of the University of California at Berkeley's Institute of Industrial Relations will bring this money into one room on September 4 - 5, 1997 in "High Performance Pensions: Multi-Employer Plans and Challenges of Falling Pension Coverage and Retirement Insecurity." This two day conference features Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Funds Olena Berg. Robert Georgine, President of the Building and Construction Trades, AFL-CIO; Joel Rogers, Professor of Political Science at University of Wisconsin and MacArthur "Genius" award winner; and Leo Gerard, Secretary Treasurer of the Steel Workers Union are among the distinguished speakers. Professor Michael Reich, Economics, UC Berkeley; Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, Economics, University of Notre Dame; and Kirsten Spalding, Esq., of UC Berkeley's Labor Center are conducting research on high performance pensions, pensions and building local economics, and pensions and housing development, and will present their findings at the conference. The conference is for trustees, policy makers, scholars, and anyone interested in how new capital strategies can be used to promote economic growth, security, and equity. Over 30 national and local officials and academics will be leading workshops. Conference participants can choose three workshops among the following: Tools for Trustees, Pensions as an Organizing Tool; New Capital Strategies and Corporate Behavior Modification; Building Local Economies, Institutional Barriers to Innovative Pension Work; ERISA Boundaries and Fiduciary Responsibility; Good News about Mutli-Employer Pensions; and Health Care Purchasing Alliances. A plenary speech, "Where is Your Money?" starts at 9:00 am, Thursday, September 4. Workshops are scheduled from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm with a reception at 5:00 pm. "Mobilizing Labor's Money" will be presented at 9:00 am the next day. The conference is part of the on-going mission of the Labor Center to bring cutting-edge academic research to the practical issues and concerns facing workers in the state of California. The Higgins Center for Labor Research at the University of Notre Dame is also sponsoring the conference to bring issues of social justice to research and teaching at the University of Notre Dame. Registration fee is $200 - lunch and materials included. Scholarships are also available. Special hotel rates are available at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley and the Emeryville Holiday Inn. For more information about the conference contact Kirsten Snow Spalding at 510-643-6815, fax at 510-642-6432 or email ojeda@uclink.berkeley.edu. _________________________________________________________________ Ma. Teresa Ojeda Publications & Programs Coordinator INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 2521 Channing Way #5555 Berkeley, CA 94720-5555 510 643 2355 vox 510 642 6432 fax ojeda@uclink.berkeley.edu