From culturex@vcn.bc.ca Sun Nov 1 18:34:02 1998 Sun, 1 Nov 1998 17:32:01 -0800 (PST) Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 17:31:43 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley Sender: Franklin Wayne Poley Reply-To: Franklin Wayne Poley Subject: Is Sweden's New Anti-Internet Law Part of a Fascist Trend There? To: Pierre Lasson labor-l@yorku.ca, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, united@cougar.com, workfare-discuss@icomm.ca, ctrl@listserv.aol.com, liberty-and-justice@mailbox.by.net, snetnews@world.std.com, labmovs@sheffield.ac.uk, roundtable@flinet.com, team-commonlaw-l@teleport.com, open@democracy.org.uk, do-wire@tc.umn.edu In-Reply-To: <19981101231833.23458.qmail@www0n.netaddress.usa.net> Pierre: I am utterly shocked and dismayed by this. So far the three email opinions I have received are all in agreement. You could spend up to two years in jail just for naming a political adversary in a public email. In my three decades long adult lifetime I haven't come across any legislation as draconian: antidemocratic to the point of fascistic. It will play havoc with all kinds of legitimate political activity on the internet such as welfare-workfare reform, labor union activism and partisan political contests. But I have to see its long-term objective as staving off the advent of direct electronic democracy itself and preventing the use of internet to hold politicians accountable. Well, if we can't harangue the individual Swedish politicians, we'll have to harangue the whole damned country! What are they going to do then-declare war on Canada? FWP. On 1 Nov 1998, Pierre Lasson wrote: > Please forward, if you think it merits attention. > I cant post to CTRL. > > > I can confirm that Malecki is right. > A EU-directive from the 24th of October 1995 was implemented in Sweden the > 24th of October 1998. > This law is the law of the Union. Greece and Italy have also implemented the > law. Portugal and the UK are close to doing so, if they haven't already. > > No EU country can refuse to pass the law. This is a binding EU-directive. > Some countries are stalling. If they don't pass the law, any EU citizen can > sue for damages, according to Prime minister Goran Persson. > > It is called the Data Privacy Act. The good thing with the law is that > restrictions are placed on companies and organizations. They will have to > apply for permission before creating registers. This is appreciated by some > privacy groups. > But the governments appoint the bureaucrats who are to decide about > permissions. They will have enormous power. > > The law makes all mention of names without consent in email illegal in the > entire EU. This is a law that cannot be upheld, of course, but critics can be > targeted and the potential threat stifles debate on usenet and on the > mailinglists. > Although personal use of information has a certain protection, a paper > register with too much information on a football team, for example, may be > illegal. It certainly is illegal if it is spread around without permission. > The use, not the misuse, is criminalized and > uncertainty is created. > This law is a danger to free speech. Some of us feel as if some kind of coup > has taken place. > The Union shows totalitarian tendencies. > > Some groups have been given privileges: journalists, writers and "artists". > We have a new aristocracy with a monopoly on free speech. > > The debate over here has centred on the restrictions on the individuals, not > the organizations. In at least one other country, the restrictions on the > individual have been played down, so as not to create an uproar. > I recommend a visit at www.pul.nu > There is a text in English there. > > > -Caveat Lector- > > > > To follow up on this please contact Bob Malecki directly. > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 10:39:33 -0800 (PST) > > From: Franklin Wayne Poley > > To: Bob Malecki > > Cc: Workfare-Discuss@icomm.ca > > Subject: Re: SV: DW: Sweden Outlaws Discussion Archives? (fwd) > > > > On Sun, 1 Nov 1998, Bob Malecki wrote: > > > > > >At 16:20 31-10-98 -0800, Franklin Wayne Poley wrote: > > > > > > > >>What do Europeans on the list think of this new law? If you can't > > > >>mention the villains by name at risk of two years in jail, there will > > > >>be quite a slow down in anti-workfare activism on the net. > > > > > > The law which came into effect last week is already in big trouble. All > > > political parties here in Sweden have condemned it and are claiming that > > > it denies the right to free speech. > > > > > > Most people here are completely ignoring it and some have made it a > > > principle to fight it quite publically. So the law although now in place > > > is not being implemented and is now been sent back to be worked over. > > > > > Thank you for the valuable feedback, Bob. You know I almost didn't post > > this because I thought the very idea of such legislation was so far > > fetched, even fascist, that it must have been misinformation. I'm serious. > > That is why I almost just went for "delete and forget about it". Plus I > > haven't seen it elsewhere on the discussion lists. It is of staggering > > implications for the future of direct electronic democracy which is surely > > the future for all of the European and North American democracies. > > Imagine-up to two years in jail in Sweden for haranguing your political > > enemies on the internet! With the rest of the European Union considering > > that law for adoption. FWP. > > > > -> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally > > -> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to majordomo@icomm.ca -> > > List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/ > > _snip_ > > > ____________________________________________________________________ > Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1 > *** British Columbia-the world's first direct electronic democracy under development http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/BCPolitics; http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex *** From tony.calabrese@utoronto.ca Mon Nov 2 06:02:45 1998 Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 08:06:52 -0500 To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu From: tony.calabrese@utoronto.ca (Tony Calabrese) Subject: Call For Papers! (fwd) > CALL FOR PAPERS > 2nd Annual > University of Toronto > Graduate Sociology Student Conference > April 14-15, 1999. > University of Toronto. > Toronto, Ontario. Canada. > > Society at the Turn of the Century: Continuities and Change > > The Graduate Sociology Students' Association (GSSA) in the Department of > Sociology (University of Toronto) invites submissions from graduate > students for an interdisciplinary conference to be held April 14 and 15, > 1999 at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. > > The conference theme, Society at the Turn of the Century: Continuities and > Change, focuses on the ideas of "continuity" and "change" with the > expressed aim of encouraging the presentation of high quality graduate > student work. The papers will represent a wide range of topics, > perspectives and disciplines of social scientific study that share the > common objective of understanding the world around us at the end of the > 20th century. > > Paper proposals (abstracts) due December 15, 1998. > Final papers due March 1, 1999. > > Please send all hard copy materials to : > Attention: GSSA Student Conference Organizers > University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, Fifth Floor > 203 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. > M5T 1P9 > > Please note that e-mailed abstracts will be accepted at the following > address: > gssa@chass.utoronto.ca > > However, final papers must be submitted in hard-copy by the due date at > the address indicated above. > > For further information > Please contact any (all) of the following conference organizers by > e-mail: > Tony Calabrese calabres@chass.utoronto.ca > Catherine Kaukinen kaukinen@chass.utoronto.ca > Andrew McKinnon amckinno@chass.utoronto.ca > Daniel Warchow dwarchow@chass.utoronto.ca From meisenscher@igc.apc.org Mon Nov 2 10:27:33 1998 Mon, 2 Nov 1998 09:03:25 -0800 (PST) Mon, 2 Nov 1998 08:55:48 -0800 (PST) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 08:55:48 -0800 (PST) To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Mobilize for Mumia NOW!; Mumia:Statement From Death Row From: Lisa MOBILIZE NOW FOR MUMIA! =================== Afrikan.net News Service www.mumia.org ================ LETS GET BUSY FOR MUMIA! On Oct. 29 the PA Supreme Court did what was expected and signed away Mumia's life with a vicious 71-page decision denying Our Brother's righteous quest for a new trial. Despite the new evidence pointing to Mumia's innocence, despite the deluge of letters and faxes, despite the fact that these same justices forcibly retired Judge Albert Sabo because of his arrogance, incompetence and embarrassing prejudice towards Mumia during the original trial and during his last statewide appeal, the PA Supreme Court now wants you to believe that they have fairly considered the evidence, and cannot overrule the ILLEGAL JUDGEMENTS of Judge Sabo. We are now mobilizing for the battle we must fight on the streets of Philadelphia, beginning right now! We are calling everyone who has ever heard of the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal vs. The System to come to Philadelphia and meet us at CITY HALL at 12 noon TODAY, and every day next week, because we must let this government know that WE WILL NOT LET MUMIA DIE! That's right! Kill Crazy Governor Ridge has promised to sign another Death Warrant for Mumia now that the PA Supreme Court's politically motivated decision has been made public. Because of his political ambition, this government will surely give Mumia that LETHAL INJECTION unless we mobilize our forces on the streets to FIGHT against Ridge's system of death! The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal intends to make it plain that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has committed political AND economic suicide because of their plans to SILENCE and KILL the peoples communicator, Mumia Abu-Jamal! It's clear that we cannot rely on the state courts to right the wrongful conviction of Mumia. And, if you think the federal courts will provide relief, remember these same courts said it was "OK" for the government to bomb Osage Avenue in 1985, "lawful" for 11 babies and their mothers and fathers to be incinerated, "reasonable" force to serve faulty, illegal misdemeanor warrants by vaporizing six city blocks! Join us as we build for a MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION on Saturday, November 7th at the State Office Campus at Broad and Spring Garden Sts. at 12 noon. If our numbers block traffic on Broad St., TOO BAD! If we inconvenience what little tourism is left in Phila., TOO BAD! There will be international observers and media on hand to make sure that the WORLD sees that Philadelphia, the self proclaimed CAPITAL OF DEATH, is exposed for the blatant hypocrisy of it's DEATH MACHINE! We call on all Asians, Blacks, Caucasians, Drivers, Elected, Faculty, Gays, Homeless, Indigenous, Jobseekers, Kids, Latins, Men, Naturalists, Orientals, Preachers, Quakers, Reporters, Students, Trades, Unionists, Volunteers, Women, X-Offenders, Youth, AND everyone who gets this message to join us in righteous battle against this system for the sake of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Bring your banners, posters, flyers, wheat paste, sound systems, caravans, and your creative talents because Mumia needs them now MORE THAN EVER! MOBILIZE AND BUILD FOR THE NOVEMBER 7 DEMONSTRATION IN PHILADELPHIA! _______________________________________________________ "Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future. Faith is the courage to dance to it today." ________________________________________________________ A Statement From Death Row by Mumia Abu-Jamal, SCI-Greene, Waynesburg,PA October 31st, 1998 Once again, Pennsylvania's highest court has shown us the best justice that FOP money can buy. Ignoring right reason, their own precedent, and fundamental justice, they have returned to the stranglehold of death. In their echoes of the tortured logic of Judge Albert Sabo, they have reflected a striking fidelity to the DA's office. If it is fair to have a tribunal who are in part admittedly paid by the FOP-and at least one justice who can double as DA one day and a judge the next in the same case--then fairness is just as empty a word as "justice." To paraphrase Judge Sabo, it is "just an emotional feeling." In recent months the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld death sentences in cases where an impartial reading of transcripts or pleadings would make an honest affirmation all but impossible. They have ignored all evidence of innocence, overlooked clear instances of jury taint, and cast a dead eye on defense attorneys' ineffectiveness. What they have done in my case is par for the course. This is a political decision, paid for by the FOP on the eve of the election. It is a Mischief Night gift from a court that has a talent for the macabre. I am sorry that this court did not rule on the right side of history. But I am not surprised. Every time our nation has come to a fork in the road with regard to race, it has chosen to take the path of compromise and betrayal. On October 29th, 1998, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court committed a collective crime: it damned due process, strangled the fair trial, and raped justice. Even after this legal legerdemain [sleight of hand] I remain innocent. A court cannot make an innocent man guilty. Any ruling founded on injustice is not justice. The righteous fight for life, liberty, and for justice can only continue. Mumia Abu-Jamal [Note: FOP = Fraternal Order of Police or something similar] ***** "Messages sent on the IWW-news mailing list are the opinions of the individual senders; they do not necessarily represent the views of the IWW. IWW-news is for posting information which is relevant to the struggle of the working class against our bosses. Visit http://www.iww.org/ for more information." To subscribe/unsubscribe from the IWW-news mailing list please send e-mail to iww-news-request@iww.org with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" as the subject of the message. From culturex@vcn.bc.ca Mon Nov 2 19:14:40 1998 Mon, 2 Nov 1998 18:13:56 -0800 (PST) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 18:13:48 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley Subject: FWD:FW: Pity the Norwegian Working Class (fwd) To: publabor@relay.doit.wisc.edu, labor-l@yorku.ca, labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, united@cougar.com, labmovs@sheffield.ac.uk bcfed@bc.symapatico.ca, End Legislated Poverty Dear Labour Lists: Should a home maker be compensated at fair market value for his or her services in the home? There are at least two designations for "Home Maker" in the CCDO which is the "Bible" of personnel officers across Canada (Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations). Should they not be fairly compensated? FWP. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 12:35:17 +1100 (EST) From: Bill Bartlett To: Workfare-Discuss@icomm.ca Subject: FWD:FW: Pity the Norwegian Working Class > Norway Pays a Price for Family Values > Parents Receive Stipends To Stay Home With Children > > By T. R. Reid > Washington Post Foreign Service > Sunday, November 1, 1998; Page A26 > > OSLO, Norway-Like countless other women around the world, > Suranhild Aenstad decided to leave her job and stay at home > after her first child was born. Unlike most other young mothers, > though, she paid no financial penalty for choosing family over > office. > > Aenstad was "hired" by the Norwegian government for a new line > of work -- staying home to raise her own daughter. The state paid > the new mother a yearly salary of $18,800, or 80 percent of what > she made as a secretary. With the savings on clothes and > commuting, Aenstad came out slightly ahead. > > Last spring the baby, Serine -- a buoyant blue-eyed blond with a > smile as brilliant as the autumn sun glistening on the Oslofjord > beneath her nursery window -- celebrated her first birthday. At that > point, Suranhild Aenstad turned the household duties over to her > husband, Martin, who quit his job to stay home. So now it is he > who receives a monthly paycheck from the government for raising > his own child. > > Politicians in Norway love to talk about "family values," and in that > they're no different from politicians almost everywhere else. > What's different here is that Norway has put its money where its > mouth is. > > The United States pays a small percentage of its mothers a > monthly stipend to help them raise and feed their children. These > payments carry a stigma. They are known as "welfare," and > generally are available only to mothers who prove they can't find > work. The Clinton administration and most states have programs > in place to reduce the number of "welfare mothers," and > governors routinely boast about how much their welfare rolls are > being reduced. > > Norway, in contrast, treats the monthly payment to parents as a > salary. Income and social security taxes are withheld, just as with > any paycheck. The payment is designed for working parents, to > encourage them to leave the job for a while and raise their > children. The government takes pride in statistics showing that > the number of recipients has been growing rapidly. > > "We have made a fairly basic decision -- although, let's admit it, it > took us years to do it," said Valgard Haugland, the leader of > Norway's Christian Democratic Party and the minister of Children > and Family Affairs. > > "We have decided that raising a child is real work. And that this > work provides value for the whole society. And that the society as > a whole should pay for this valuable service." > > It should be noted that this kind of thing is easier for Norway than > it might be for nations facing tighter budget strictures. This > beautiful northern land, where the icy fiords wrap their deep blue > fingers around leafy green hills, is the world's second-largest > exporter of oil, after Saudi Arabia. Even with the past year's drop > in petroleum prices, Norway has run up a big budget surplus while > expanding its generous network of cradle-to-grave state benefits. > > Norway's package of parental payments has been put together > gradually. More than a decade ago, the government established > the initial "maternity right," which pays a parent who leaves a job > to raise the baby 80 percent of his or her regular salary. This > program gradually has been extended, and now lasts for the first > 12 months of the baby's life. When the year is up, the custodial > parent has a legal right to return to work -- not just any job, but > the > same job, with at least the same pay as before. > > "This is wonderful for me, that I could be home with Serine and > know that my career is protected," said Suranhild Aenstad, 24, > who was a secretary in a downtown office when Serine was born. > > "But it is not perfect. Women can suffer. We all know that some > companies don't hire a woman if they expect you are going to > take maternity leave in a few years." > > Haugland, the cabinet minister who is known as the "mother of > parental payments" because of her support for the proposal, > agrees that this can be a problem. "Of course we have made it > illegal for an employer to turn down a young applicant for this > reason," she said. "But how do you prove it? They will never say > they rejected somebody because of maternity leave." > > At the moment, however, losing out on a job is not a serious risk. > Norway's labor market is so tight -- with the economy strong and > unemployment at 3 percent -- that most employers will take any > qualified worker, no matter what the parental future might bring. > > While the first-year "maternity right" is accepted across the board > in political circles, there has been more controversy about the > new "parental payment" plan, which pays for child care beyond > the first year of life. As of this fall, the government is paying > custodial parents during a baby's second year. Funding for a > third-year parental payment is proposed in the 1999 budget > pending before the Storting, or parliament. > > The parental payment is considerably smaller than the first-year > maternity right, paying a little less than $5,000 per year. Parents > who don't choose to take it can go back to work and send their > children to government-subsidized day care, which is known here > as kindergarten. The law also says that medical treatment is free > for the first seven years of a child's life -- but that's not such a > big > deal in a country where medical care is subsidized and patients > generally pay no more than $10 for a doctor visit. > > Almost all political parties in Norway are more liberal than the > major U.S. parties. But those on the left, by Norwegian standards, > have objected to the budget proposal that would extend the > parental payment to a child's third year. > > This is partly because the more liberal parties have an > ideological commitment to conformity, and they say children > should be sent to licensed day care facilities instead of being > raised at home. > > In addition, the liberals object to the notion of paying parents who > choose not to take a job outside the home. When parliament was > debating the issue this month, Thorbjorn Jagland, the Labor Party > leader and former prime minister, complained that the parental > payment is a giveaway. "Why would you pay somebody who does > not hold down a job?" he demanded. > > Sitting in his cozy apartment here, with 18-month-old Serine > bouncing happily on his knee, Martin Aenstad begs to differ. "I've > had jobs, and now I'm raising my daughter. And I can tell you that > being a house-father is hard work. > > "At least when I was on the job, they gave me a lunch break. If > Serine is hungry or crying or has a full diaper -- well, you try > telling > her that Daddy needs a lunch break." > > > © Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company > > =========================================== -> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally -> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to majordomo@icomm.ca -> List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/ From culturex@vcn.bc.ca Wed Nov 4 19:54:29 1998 Wed, 4 Nov 1998 16:22:07 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 16:21:41 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley Subject: Swedish Anti-Internet Law: http://www.pul.nu/sid2eng.html ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 13:52:01 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley To: Workfare-Discuss@icomm.ca Subject: Swedish Anti-Internet Law: http://www.pul.nu/sid2eng.html Please have a look at the web site. This is a real killer for Swedish activists of all political persuasions. Possibly other EU citizens too. FWP. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 12:04:31 -0500 From: Greg Pearson To: int-law@listhost.ciesin.org Subject: Re: INT-LAW Swedish Anti-Internet Law. Franklin Wayne Poley wrote: > Can anyone on int-law confirm for me that Sweden is trying to pass a law > which would permit imprisonment for up to two years for anyone even > mentioning the name of a political adversary on the internet without > explicit permission? (and that the idea is to extend it to all of the > E.U.). This has been circulating on the net. Is it only a rumour? I suspect that what you are referring to is a misquote of an alleged new Swedish privacy law that, among other things, makes it a crime for non-journalists to mention people's names online without their permission. It applies to everybody, regardless of their status or lack thereof as somebody's "political adversary". It was passed in response to the EU's Directive on Data Privacy, which is probably where the the (backwards) idea that it should be extended to the EU comes from. There is a web site devoted to the issue published by a pair of Stockholm University journalism students, the English version of which can be found at http://www.pul.nu/sid2eng.html This is where my information on the subject comes from. I say "allegedly" because, as the source material is in Swedish which I do not read, I am unable to provide independent confirmation from other sources. However, a Swedish-language version of the paper appears to be hosted on the Stockholm University web site and I have no reason to doubt its accuracy. --Greg Pearson The World Justice Information Network http://www.justinfo.net ---- int-law@listhost.ciesin.org : Use this address for postings and replies - Email text body 'unsubscribe int-law' to: majordomo@listhost.ciesin.org -> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally -> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to majordomo@icomm.ca -> List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/ From culturex@vcn.bc.ca Thu Nov 5 18:55:00 1998 Thu, 5 Nov 1998 17:53:42 -0800 (PST) Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 17:53:19 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley Subject: [BCPolitics] Re: [Is Sweden's New Anti-Internet Law Part of a Fascist Trend There?] (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 15:35:36 -0800 (PST) From: Franklin Wayne Poley To: Pierre Lasson Subject: [BCPolitics] Re: [Is Sweden's New Anti-Internet Law Part of a Fascist Trend There?] From: Franklin Wayne Poley Thank you for the information, Pierre. I didn't know the extent to which this law had spread to other countries. It is the greatest threat to the internet, to electronic democracy I have yet encountered so I am going tp pass this information on to various lists where activists are involved from labor to current affairs lists. Electronic democracy IS the (near) future of democracy itself and this law is obviously an attempt to thwart democracy. The best excuse you could make for it is that it protects people being named on the internet from libel. But there are already libel laws so what is its real purpose? It is to thwart democracy. We must watch those responsible for this very closely. I believe this is a fascistic trend and if you can find an individual leading it I will gladly take it up with him or her BY NAME on the internet. Sincerely-FWP. On 5 Nov 1998, Pierre Lasson wrote: > > Franklin, > the Swedish law is indeed based on a EU directive: > http://www2.echo.lu/legal/en/dataprot/directiv/directiv.html > > Some five countries have already implemented it. Others, like Germany and > France, have not. Mr Bangemann at the Commission has warned all member > countries that they face penalities if they disregard the directive. > This is the law of the EU. The approval of the Parliaments of the member > countries is only formal. > > As you see below, Simon Davies in the UK sees the law as a protection against > companies and organizations, while in Sweden, both activists and government > representatives > focus on the limitations on free speech. > But there can be only one law. > The Swedish law is to a great extent a translation of the EU directive. > > --------------------------------------------------------- > > EU Privacy Law Giving Business the Jitters > > > Reuters > 23-OCT-98 > > BRUSSELS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Alistair Tempest, head of a European > group representing companies involved in direct marketing, has had to > reassure a lot of people lately that the world will not collapse on > October 25. > > That is the day a new European Union law imposing strict controls on > the way companies and public agencies use data about individuals takes > effect. Most controversially, it requires governments to block > organisations from transferring data to non-EU countries that don't offer > similar privacy protection. > > "I get constant calls from people saying it's terrible, it's > absolutely dreadful, it's Black October 25," Tempest said. "They have > desperate images of (EU officials) pulling telephone wires out. This isn't > going to happen." > > But the new measures-- which give consumers broad rights to know and > control how information about them is used-- have sent jitters through the > business world, especially multinational companies that must ship > everything from personnel files to information about consumers around the > globe. > > They fear they are about to face a multitude of EU-wide versions of a case > involving American Airlines (AA) in Sweden, which already has a tough > national privacy law. > > Swedish authorities ruled in 1995 that AA could not ship certain > personal information about its passengers, for example health > conditions, to its SABRE global computer reservations system without > their specific permission. > > AA has appealed, but has lost two lower court rulings. > > THE LAW'S PROVISIONS > > The 15-member EU adopted the data protection directive in 1995 as part of > its effort to create a single market. With some EU countries enacting > strict privacy laws of their own, it feared that the absence of common > rules would lead those with tougher measures to block the flow of data to > the others. > > The law, which applies to the public and private sectors, covers > computerised data and some paper files. It says data can be collected only > under certain conditions, for example if an individual has unambiguously > consented or the information is needed to implement a contract the person > has requested. > > "Sensitive" data, however-- such as racial origin, political opinions, > religion, health or sexual activities-- can be processed only if the > individual has explicitly agreed. > > Individuals must be informed how details of their lives are used, have > access to the data and be able to ask that it be corrected or erased. They > also have the right to prevent data from being shipped to direct > marketers. > > National authorities must be appointed to monitor the law, investigate > complaints and order changes to data processing operations. Individuals > also have the right to win compensation from an organisation that has > misused data. > > Except under specifed circumstances, data may be transferred only to > third countries that provide an "adequate" level of protection-- a > provision that has especially riled companies that do business in the > United States. > > The United States, which has no plans to enact a comprehensive privacy > law, has been trying to prove to the EU it can provide adequate protection > through industry codes of conduct. Talks between the two sides are > continuing. > > A DELAYED IMPACT > > The EU directive is not expected to have a huge immediate impact, > partly because only five EU states have implemented it so far-- > Greece, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Britain (which, however, still > needs to adopt secondary legislation). > > Furthermore, many European companies are already used to coping with > tough national data protection laws-- in Sweden, for example, which > adopted an EU-style law in 1974. > > Dutch Data Protection Commissioner Peter Hustinx said his unit > receives about 1,000 formal complaints a year under national law, many > dealing with use of data about employees' health. > > Hustinx, who heads a working party of national data protection > officials that has been charged with helping to implement the EU > rules, said industries will be given some breathing space to adapt to the > new regime. > > "I don't expect much to happen on Monday morning," he said. "This is > an exercise for the long term and will certainly take some time to > settle." > > He said his committee is working with business sectors to develop > codes of conduct that will clear the way for them to ship data abroad. > > The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents > the global airlines industry, for example, hopes to win EU clearance > for proposed changes to strengthen its existing "recommended practice" on > personal data, said Monique De Smet of IATA's Brussels office. > > The Federation of European Direct Marketing (FEDMA) has also submitted a > draft code of conduct to the EU. Tempest, FEDMA's director-general for > public affairs, said it hopes the text will clarify certain provisions in > the EU directive. > > For example, one measure requires companies to notify individuals when > they collect personal data from a third party. FEDMA wants to ensure that > organisations compiling mailing lists must notify only those whose names > they actually intend to use. > > "You shouldn't have to write to them to say, 'I'm just about to launch (a > magazine), your name has appeared on a list I've rented but we're not > interested in selling you this magazine," he said. > > When it comes to sending data to third countries without strict laws, > Hustinx said his committee is open to voluntary codes of conduct, as long > as they have some teeth. > > "(It must) deliver sufficient compliance mechanisms, things like > redress and compensation," he said. > > PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL READY TO POUNCE > > In contrast to the business community, privacy-rights advocates have > welcomed the EU directive with glee. > > Simon Davies, director of Privacy International in London, said the EU law > would make a noticeable difference in countries such as Britain that have > not traditionally had strict privacy controls. > > "Some information practices will have to be fundamentally altered," he > said. "The question of consent and the implications for direct marketers, > the Internet and a variety of government agencies is just huge." > > He said Privacy International will be closely monitoring > implementation of the EU law, which it sees as a global model, and > will take court action to enforce it if necessary. > > Davies said the group had targeted 25 agencies and multinational > companies, ranging from Microsoft and American Express to Coca Cola > and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. It wants them to provide > information about their internal privacy controls and the specific nature > of their data flows outside Europe. > > He said the group will also target European Internet service providers > since some Web sites require consumers to provide personal information > before allowing them to register. > > "We would argue that the ISPs are going to have to close down sites," he > said. > > > Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved. > > > > > culturex@opus.vcn.bc.ca wrote: > Pierre: I am utterly shocked and dismayed by this. So far the three email > opinions I have received are all in agreement. You could spend up to two > years in jail just for naming a political adversary in a public email. In > my three decades long adult lifetime I haven't come across any > legislation as draconian: antidemocratic to the point of fascistic. > It will play havoc with all kinds of legitimate political activity on the > internet such as welfare-workfare reform, labor union activism and > partisan political contests. But I have to see its long-term objective as > staving off the advent of direct electronic democracy itself and > preventing the use of internet to hold politicians accountable. > Well, if we can't harangue the individual Swedish politicians, we'll > have to harangue the whole damned country! What are they going to do > then-declare war on Canada? > FWP. > > On 1 Nov 1998, Pierre Lasson wrote: > > > Please forward, if you think it merits attention. > > I cant post to CTRL. > > > > > > I can confirm that Malecki is right. > > A EU-directive from the 24th of October 1995 was implemented in Sweden the > > 24th of October 1998. > > This law is the law of the Union. Greece and Italy have also implemented the > > law. Portugal and the UK are close to doing so, if they haven't already. > > > > No EU country can refuse to pass the law. This is a binding EU-directive. > > Some countries are stalling. If they don't pass the law, any EU citizen can > > sue for damages, according to Prime minister Goran Persson. > > > > It is called the Data Privacy Act. The good thing with the law is that > > restrictions are placed on companies and organizations. They will have to > > apply for permission before creating registers. This is appreciated by some > > privacy groups. > > But the governments appoint the bureaucrats who are to decide about > > permissions. They will have enormous power. > > > > The law makes all mention of names without consent in email illegal in the > > entire EU. This is a law that cannot be upheld, of course, but critics can > be > > targeted and the potential threat stifles debate on usenet and on the > > mailinglists. > > Although personal use of information has a certain protection, a paper > > register with too much information on a football team, for example, may be > > illegal. It certainly is illegal if it is spread around without permission. > > The use, not the misuse, is criminalized and > > uncertainty is created. > > This law is a danger to free speech. Some of us feel as if some kind of coup > > has taken place. > > The Union shows totalitarian tendencies. > > > > Some groups have been given privileges: journalists, writers and "artists". > > We have a new aristocracy with a monopoly on free speech. > > > > The debate over here has centred on the restrictions on the individuals, not > > the organizations. In at least one other country, the restrictions on the > > individual have been played down, so as not to create an uproar. > > I recommend a visit at www.pul.nu > > There is a text in English there. > > > > > -Caveat Lector- > > > > > > To follow up on this please contact Bob Malecki directly. > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > > Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 10:39:33 -0800 (PST) > > > From: Franklin Wayne Poley > > > To: Bob Malecki > > > Cc: Workfare-Discuss@icomm.ca > > > Subject: Re: SV: DW: Sweden Outlaws Discussion Archives? (fwd) > > > > > > On Sun, 1 Nov 1998, Bob Malecki wrote: > > > > > > > >At 16:20 31-10-98 -0800, Franklin Wayne Poley wrote: > > > > > > > > > >>What do Europeans on the list think of this new law? If you can't > > > > >>mention the villains by name at risk of two years in jail, there will > > > > >>be quite a slow down in anti-workfare activism on the net. > > > > > > > > The law which came into effect last week is already in big trouble. All > > > > political parties here in Sweden have condemned it and are claiming that > > > > it denies the right to free speech. > > > > > > > > Most people here are completely ignoring it and some have made it a > > > > principle to fight it quite publically. So the law although now in place > > > > is not being implemented and is now been sent back to be worked over. > > > > > > > Thank you for the valuable feedback, Bob. You know I almost didn't post > > > this because I thought the very idea of such legislation was so far > > > fetched, even fascist, that it must have been misinformation. I'm serious. > > > That is why I almost just went for "delete and forget about it". Plus I > > > haven't seen it elsewhere on the discussion lists. It is of staggering > > > implications for the future of direct electronic democracy which is surely > > > the future for all of the European and North American democracies. > > > Imagine-up to two years in jail in Sweden for haranguing your political > > > enemies on the internet! With the rest of the European Union considering > > > that law for adoption. FWP. > > > > > > -> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally > > > -> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to majordomo@icomm.ca -> > > > List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/ > > > > _snip_ > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________ > > Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1 > > > > *** British Columbia-the world's first direct electronic democracy under > development http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/BCPolitics; > http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex *** > > > > ____________________________________________________________________ > Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1 > *** British Columbia-the world's first direct electronic democracy under development http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/BCPolitics; http://users.uniserve.com/~culturex *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Help support ONElist, while generating interest in your product or service. ONElist has a variety of advertising packages. Visit http://www.onelist.com/advert.html for more information. From xcruz@webtv.net Sat Nov 7 04:05:32 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhUAuNL21+jmpo+NxnhcVqp0HcVPbTgCFFYLeGpmwJgxW0C4HdPDEkfmf7mH From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 04:05:25 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Fwd: UCLA: Labor Organizing and Economic Development (fwd) --WebTV-Mail-62656614-3905 --WebTV-Mail-62656614-3905 [207.79.35.93]) by postoffice-122.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/po.gso.24Feb98) [207.79.35.90]) by mailsorter-103.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.gso.01Apr98) id DAA04805; Sat, 7 Nov 1998 03:03:57 -0800 (PST) X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAsAhQfs7NPONtof/HUHxKi7lS8DMPJfQIUKHFZMn263Xtf5WyN6hXN/3G4EkA= From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 04:03:57 -0700 (MST) To: naess2@aol.com Subject: UCLA: Labor Organizing and Economic Development (fwd) Date:    Fri, Nov 6, 1998, 3:13pm (MST-1) Reply to:    2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU Sender:    2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU From:    Roberto Calderon To:    xcruz@webtv.net Subject:    UCLA: Labor Organizing & Economic Development (fwd) Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 14:35:36 -0800 From: Anibel Comelo Subject: Labor Organizing & Economic Development Please note the difference in dates and locations for the following two events. For more information, please contact the Labor Center at (310) 794-5981 or (310) 794-5983.                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education invites you to: A Brown Bag Seminar at UCLA 'ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT' SUBSIDIES ARE UP, JOB QUALITY IS DOWN: ARE THERE ALTERNATIVE POLICIES? with Greg LeRoy Wednesday, November 11, 1998 12 - 2 p.m. School of Public Policy and Social Research Room 5391, Faculty Lounge Greg LeRoy is Founder and Director of Good Jobs First, a national clearinghouse to promote corporate accountability for family-wage jobs. LeRoy is also author of No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable, the first-ever compilation of safeguards against corporate abuse of development subsidies.                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUCCESSFUL UNION ORGANIZING STRATEGIES & INITIATIVES IN THE 1990s Presented by: Kate Bronfenbrenner Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 L.A. County Federation of Labor 2130 W. 9th Street Kate Bronfenbrenner is the Director of Labor Education Research Center at Cornell University. She is the co-author and editor of several books on union strategies including: New Research on Union Strategies: Organizing To Win; Union Organizing in the Public Sector: An Analysis of State and Local Elections; and Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor. She was also recently elected Vice-President and Professional Council Chair of the University College Labor Education Association (UCLEA). ** Kate Bronfenbrenner will also be speaking on UCLA campus later the same day at 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. in Kinsey Hall, room 355 --WebTV-Mail-62656614-3905-- From abudak@alumni.ysu.edu Mon Nov 9 15:13:58 1998 From: abudak@alumni.ysu.edu by server1.alumni.ysu.edu with smtp (Exim 1.59 #3) Subject: Lean Management To: CLNews@onecom.com Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 17:07:22 -0500 At the Delphi Plant where I work management is increasing pressure on our union to become more involved in the participation of so-called problem solving along with management. The key to management's approach is the concept known as "Lean" Management. Are there any discussion groups, networks, or individuals that are discussing how to cope with lean manufacturing practices from a labor union perspective? Please excuse the inevitable cross posting, and feel free to respond to me personally at the below address or to this mail list. Thank You. Best Regards, Tony Budak abudak@alumni.ysu.edu From meisenscher@igc.org Tue Nov 10 08:51:57 1998 Tue, 10 Nov 1998 07:50:17 -0800 (PST) Tue, 10 Nov 1998 07:49:24 -0800 (PST) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 07:45:57 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: RN: Mumia is important to our future Apologies for duplicates due to cross-postings. Pass it on! ============================= Dear RN list, Nov. 9 Just this morning I visited a web site from which it is possible to send a message to several addresses, including to the US President and the Governor of Pennsylvania urging action on Mumia Abu-Jamal's behalf: The site comes up relatively easily and is very good. I believe we need Mumia Abu-Jamal. This Renaissance-Network list is intended to help build the links we'll need to make a revolution for a better, livable world a reality. As the passage I copied from the web site (below) shows, Mumia Abu-Jamal's struggle is our struggle. all the best, Jan **************************************************************************** Mumia's Life and All Our Futures from Refuse & Resist! Mumia Abu-Jamal has come to mean something very special to a whole new generation of young activists. They are moved by his penetrating writing. They are touched deeply by his gentle manner. They are emboldened by the utter fearlessness of his dedication to the people in the very face of death. Can we be less dedicated now to saving his life? The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal concentrates the criminalization of Black men, the suppression of dissent, the expanded death penalty, the gutting of defendant's rights, and a whole political atmosphere based on blame and punishment of the most oppressed. Only twice in the 20th century have there been court ordered executions of political dissidents in the United States. And the government has not dared to carry out the legal execution of a prominent Black revolutionary since the days of slavery. The movement to save Mumia has been a formative experience for this new generation awakening to political life. That experience has been much more than just a cause to believe in. It has shown them the power of people working together - - people of different races and nationalities, people coming from different social backgrounds and political outlooks, coming together against injustice and repression. For many, the battle that stayed Mumia's execution date in 1995 was their first real taste of the power of the people. We have now reached a turning point in this movement. The decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to deny a new and fair trial means that a political decision has been made at the highest levels to try to push ahead with Mumia's execution. It means that all the new evidence brought forward in the various hearings since 1995 has been officially rejected. It means that the gross prejudice shown Mumia in the court system has been endorsed. It means that his case will now be in the federal courts with their new political agenda of speeded-up appeals and swift executions. The government has thrown down a challenge. How we respond and whether we succeed is going to shape the political climate of this country for years to come. Power concedes nothing without demand. And justice will not come in Mumia's case simply by wishing for it. Only a mass movement that is characterized by a conscious attempt to build its breadth and diversity, and by a spirit of selfless determination, can stop the wheels of state-sponsored murder. Our movement cannot be narrowly based. It must take in people from all walks of life and varying points of view - - both those who are appalled by this injustice and those who see it as another step in a larger agenda. Mumia's name must become a house-hold word, with the broad public straining to hear the latest news in the battle and moving to take Mumia's side. Our victory in 1995 was won by bringing so many different forces into motion that it threatened a larger anti-Black youth, "law and order" political alignment that government leaders had worked so hard to create. That is, our movement to save Mumia opened so many eyes to this flagrant injustice, that it threatened larger political goals of the leaders of both major parties. They were forced to back off for a time. It was and is possible to do this precisely because, as we say in Refuse & Resist!, it's all one attack. The politics of poverty, punishment and patriarchy is the same politics that wants to silence Mumia's voice forever. Refuse & Resist! calls on people everywhere to make your voices heard in the coming days and weeks. Determination comes in many forms, but its common essence is the refusal to stand by in silence where the ability to act exists. The time is now. download a PDF version of this statement [posted October 31, 1998] Mumia Index | Protests Planned | R&R Main Page Contact Refuse & Resist! 305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165 Phone: 212-713-5657 email: refuse@calyx.com or resist@walrus.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: renaissance-network-unsubscribe@cyberjournal.org For additional commands, e-mail: renaissance-network-help@cyberjournal.org From meisenscher@igc.org Wed Nov 11 22:16:01 1998 Wed, 11 Nov 1998 21:08:32 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 21:03:34 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: [BMD List] Desert Thunder Order of Battle << Subj: [BMD List] Desert Thunder Order of Battle Date: 11/11/98 4:41:12 PM Eastern Standard Time From: johnpike@fas.org (John Pike) Sender: owner-abolition-caucus@igc.org !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BMD-List is a news service covering missile defense and special weapons issues. Special weapons news is archived @ http://www.fas.org/news/ BMD-List is an information service of Special Weapons Monitor http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/ Iraq Crisis Special Report http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/iraq.htm @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 1 - Operation Desert Thunder Order of Battle 2 - SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM S. COHEN SIGNS DEPLOYMENT ORDER TO INCREASE FORCE PRESENCE IN THE GULF REGION 11 November 1998 3 - MORE FORCES TO GULF, UPDATE 4 - MORE FORCES TO GULF 5 - DoD News Briefing Tuesday, November 10, 1998 6- Secretary Cohen News Briefing Tuesday, November 10, 1998 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Operation Desert Thunder Order of Battle http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/desert_thunder_orbat.htm SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM S. COHEN SIGNS DEPLOYMENT ORDER TO INCREASE FORCE PRESENCE IN THE GULF REGION 11 November 1998 -- http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/b11111998_bt588.html The President has approved the recommendations of the Secretary of Defense to deploy additional forces to the Gulf region. The deployments will start within the next several days. Deployment of the entire package of additional forces is expected to take no more than about two weeks. MORE FORCES TO GULF, UPDATE http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/981111-iraq15.htm Voice of America 11 November 1998 -- 3,000 SOLDIERS FROM AN ARMORED BRIGADE ARE ON THE WAY. MORE FORCES TO GULF http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/981111-iraq14.htm Voice of America 11 November 1998 -- PLANS ARE READY TO MOVE THOUSANDS OF U-S GROUND TROOPS, MORE MISSILE DEFENSES AND SEVERAL DOZEN MORE AIR CRAFT TO THE PERSIAN GULF. DoD News Briefing Tuesday, November 10, 1998 -- http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/t11101998_t1110asd-3.html In the Gulf today we have 23,500 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. There are 2,600 soldiers; 14,300 sailors and Marines; 5,600 in the Air Force; and then there are joint headquarters and other joint units comprised of 1,000 people. We have in the area today 173 aircraft including air to air, air to ground, dual role, support, and attack helicopters. That does not include Turkey. Certain naval and Air Force forces -- for instance an air expeditionary force -- [are] on a 96 hour tether which means they are ready to get to the Gulf within 96 hours. Q: Do we have any B-52s on Diego Garcia at the moment? A: No. Secretary Cohen News Briefing Tuesday, November 10, 1998 -- http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/t11101998_t110sing.html Cohen I have recommended to President Clinton that we accelerate the transit time of the ENTERPRISE carrier battle group so that it arrives not on November 26th, but by November 23rd. I also recommended to the President that we sail the BELLEAU WOOD amphibious ready group from WESTPAC to arrive in the Gulf by November 26. Q: So both carriers remain, will remain in the Gulf? A: (Cohen): That is not my intent at this time. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ John Pike http://www.fas.org/ Federation of American Scientists 202-675-1023 307 Massachusetts Ave NE Washington, DC 20002 "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion" >> -- The lefty.techsi.com server is not operated by the owners of the techsi.com domain. Views expressed in this email do not reflect the opinions of TSI, its officers, customers, or minions. To unsubscribe, send email to SocialistsUnmoderated-request@lefty.techsi.com with "unsubscribe" in the Subject line. Send complaints that can't be resolved by unsubscribing to doumakes@novia.net. From xcruz@webtv.net Thu Nov 12 02:11:17 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhQ/GBBhtE/2HKkls8qNxPzN5KpH8wIVAMMvY7t5ppHhRX4/dm3W1Q5xTue5 From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 02:11:10 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Iraq: Will Pentagon Defy World Opinion? (fwd) From:    janet@wwpublish.com To:    "Workers World News Service" Subject:    Iraq: Will Pentagon Defy World Opinion? Date:    Wed, Nov 11, 1998, 11:09pm (MST+2) Sender:    listserv@wwpublish.com WILL PENTAGON DEFY WORLD OPINION? U.S. THREATENS IRAQ AGAIN By John Catalinotto The Clinton administration, as of Nov. 11, appears poised for a terrorist military strike against the Iraqi people. Anti-war forces are also gearing up for a new round of protests. The Pentagon has ordered a second aircraft carrier and an additional 84 combat aircraft and 45 support aircraft to the region. It evacuated inspection teams from Iraq, clearing the way for bombing. And Clinton threatened the Iraqi government in his Veterans' Day speech. Once again, the propaganda machine is being cranked up to portray Iraq as a menacing aggressor. An additional 3,000 U.S. combat troops are being sent to Kuwait, as if that little sheikdom were threatened. The truth is, however, that Iraq is the one being menaced- -by the world's most formidable superpower--and it has actually been invaded by Turkey in recent days. Turkish troops have once again penetrated northern Iraq--an area designated by the U.S. as a "no-fly zone," meaning U.S. and British planes can fly there, but Iraq's can't. Turkey, a close U.S. ally, claims to be pursuing members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), a progressive organization fighting for autonomy for the Kurdish people. A U.S. attack on Iraq runs the risk of provoking a regional upheaval in the Middle East. Yet on Nov. 8, U.S. officials openly discussed two such scenarios proposed by the Pentagon. One was an immediate strike of short duration. The other was a rapid military build-up followed by a longer bombing campaign. The Pentagon says less than half the planes and warships it had in the Gulf last winter are now in the region. This is still 173 planes and 13 ships, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. It has also doubled the number of cruise missiles carried on the ships. This new threat of military action follows eight years of U.S.-led sanctions that have already killed more than 1.5 million Iraqis, including more than half a million children. In an attempt to force the end of these murderous sanctions, the Iraqi government finally announced on Oct. 31 that it would not cooperate with U.S.-controlled United Nations inspection teams. IRAQIS ALREADY DYING FROM SANCTIONS Iraqi officials have said they don't fear U.S. military strikes, since the sanctions are already killing their people at such a high rate. The last time Washington prepared for attack it faced diplomatic isolation, the danger of arousing mass rebellion in its Middle East client states, and--last February--the possibility of widespread protest at home. U.S. policy toward Iraq still gets little to no public support from governments worldwide--except for London, once the dominant colonial power in the Middle East. The UN Security Council will back no resolution calling for an attack on Iraq. But the Clinton administration has arrogantly stated that it has "ample authority" to make such an attack on its own. Despite U.S. isolation and lack of support at home, the prospect of Pentagon military aggression against Iraq-- especially a terrorist missile strike with little likelihood of U.S. casualties--has to be taken seriously. Just this August, with no justification, the Pentagon launched a sneak missile attack on defenseless Sudan and Afghanistan. Unlike the scenario last February, this time Clinton and company have announced no plans for a "Town Meeting" to whip up popular support. The last such meeting, at Ohio State University last Feb. 18, turned into a fiasco for the administration and sparked protest actions all over the country. But, with less fanfare, the administration is taking steps that could lead to war. Defense Secretary William Cohen, traveling with Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering and Gen. Anthony Zinni--commander of U.S. forces in the Persian/Arabian Gulf- -visited Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman in an attempt to win support before meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Nov. 5. All these Gulf states are U.S. clients. They are isolated regimes without popular support. They depend on the U.S. government for their military hardware and on U.S.-based oil monopolies for the riches of their royal families. NO SUPPORT FOR U.S. ATTACK Despite this dependence, none made a public statement backing U.S. policy. There is so much popular sympathy in the region for the Iraqi people that none of these regimes want to identify with a murderous U.S. assault on Iraq. Jordanian Crown Prince Hassan said his country was not keen on a military strike, according to a Nov. 6 Associated Press report, and officials in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates made similar statements. Last February, Mubarak warned on worldwide media that a U.S. attack would arouse such mass anger in the Middle East that it could leave U.S. clients in danger of upheaval. This time, Cohen didn't even publicly ask the Gulf states for open support. Clinton claimed Nov. 5 that these states pledged backing for "whatever decisions we ultimately make," but neither the administration nor the Pentagon would say what support they asked for. Anti-war forces, especially the International Action Center which has led the struggle against U.S. aggression and sanctions since the Gulf war, are gearing up to respond to this latest crisis. An emergency demonstration has been called for Tuesday, Nov. 17, in New York. Other cities are also planning actions. For information on nationwide emergency actions, phone the IAC at 212-633-6646 or check out their web site at www.iacenter.org.                                                  - END - (Copyright Workers World Service. For more information contact via e-mail: ww@workers.org. Web: http://www.workers.org) From meisenscher@igc.org Thu Nov 12 19:47:59 1998 Thu, 12 Nov 1998 18:47:32 -0800 (PST) Thu, 12 Nov 1998 18:42:01 -0800 (PST) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 17:50:33 -0800 To: labor-rap@csf.colorado.edu, Dan Clawson , Ted Stolze , Michael Eisenscher , Jack Kurzweil , Ellen Starbird , Katie Quan , Albert Lannon , Sue Englander From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: SAWSJ Information List, 11-11-98 (fwd) Folks -- If you're interested in supporting the UC Grad. students, read, sign, and pass this along. Thanks, Ellen ######################################################################## 2. ACTION: GRAD AND UNDERGRAD STRIKE LOOMS AT U OF CAL Graduate and undergraduate academic student employees throughout the University of California system are planning a strike for this Fall forced upon them by the university administrators failure to negotiate with their unions. This strike has been precipitated by the UC's refusal to bargain with academic student employees, despite the fact that the unions have majority membership on each of the campuses, as has been verified by the state's Public Employment Relations Board. In addition to refusing to uphold basic democratic principle, the university administration has refused to accept recent legal decisions in favor of the ASE unions at both UCLA and UC San Diego. Last Spring, after the UC exhausted its legal appeals, the union won an overwhelming victory in a state-sanctioned election covering readers, tutors, and associates (graduate students who teach their own courses). Yet incredibly, the UC threatened to ignore the results, and it appears that the administration at UCSD has now followed through on this threat by refusing to negotiate a contract for UCSD associates. While objectionable in and of itself, this suggests the very real possibility that the administration might refuse to accept a legal decision or election at UCLA (where the UC's appeal is still pending) that would extend bargaining rights for teaching assistants. We at the Bay Area Chapter of Scholars, Activists, and Writers for Social Justice (SAWSJ) find the UC's conduct reprehensible. As a matter of democratic principle, we believe that university administrators are compelled to bargain with the these employees. We would like to help the unions pressure the university into bargaining, and hopefully avert a strike. We are circulating a petition including the statement below. Please read the statement, and if you agree to have your name attached to it, please respond by email with your name and affiliation, to: "Ellen Starbird" And please also follow up by asking others to sign the statement below. (Use the SAWSJ address above to send in a contribution snail mail to help defray the costs of printing and advertising.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STATEMENT: "A majority of the University of California's academic student employees (ASEs) has chosen to be represented by the United Auto Workers on all eight of the UC's teaching campuses. Yet University of California administrators are wasting valuable public resources and ignoring democratic principle in attempting to deny their teaching assistants, tutors, and readers the fundamental right to bargain over wages, benefits, and working conditions. The unions have authorized a strike that will affect the entire University of California system this Fall. We support the right to organize, and stand with these union members in calling on the U.C. system to honor their rights. In these times where human rights (such as the right to join a union) are being systematically ignored not only by corporate America, but even by institutions supposedly committed to perpetuating democratic values, we must express our outrage. We join with the Bay Area chapter of Scholars, Activists, and Writers for Social Justice (SAWSJ) in condemning the University of California administration's refusal to bargain. We call upon the U.C. administration to stop wasting tax dollars for union busting! Avert the strike. Bargain with Academic Student Employee unions!" [SIGNED]----------------------------------------------------- --------------A6151E42E27F86EB9706825B-- -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael@ecst.csuchico.edu From xcruz@webtv.net Sat Nov 14 02:50:14 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhUAs46fARAfkmaoH3NtPnHjV8JYPTkCFGLH/BAuFpvoRbYusQcv7DBjHLqg From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 02:50:10 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Iraq Crisis Daily Bulletin, 11/13/98 a3 (fwd) From:    gary@wwpublish.com To:    "Workers World News Service" Subject:    IRAQ CRISIS DAILY BULLETIN, 11/13/98 a3 Date:    Fri, Nov 13, 1998, 7:37pm (MST+2) Sender:    listserv@wwpublish.com International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, #206 New York, NY, 10011 212-633-6646 212-633-2889 fax email: iacenter@iacenter.org web page: http://www.iacenter.org IRAQ CRISIS DAILY BULLETIN November 13, 1998 Starting today International Action Center will be issuing a Iraq Crisis Daily Bulletin. If your organization is having an action and would like it to be listed let us know. 1. Nationally Coordinated Days of Protest, November 17 & 18 2. National & International Day of Mass Action, Sat., November 21 3. Strategy meeting, Sat., Nov. 14, New York City 4. List of Other Upcoming Demonstrations 1. The national day of protest Tuesday Nov. 17th is gaining momentum. There are also protests in the upcoming days: New York, New York City --> Tuesday, November 17, Time:4:30 p.m.: The International Action Center will be demonstrating at Grand Central Station 42nd St. & Park Avenue South to demand No U.S. Bombing of Iraq! and End the Sanctions Now! There will also be an immediate response demonstration within 24 hours in Times Square should the U.S. bomb Iraq before November 17th San Francisco, CA Tuesday, Nov 17, --> 5pm: Powell & Market St., Stop the War, No New Bombing of Iraq, Call to Endorse, call 415- 821-6545 email: npcsf@igc.org Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday, Nov. 17 5:00 p.m.--> Demo at the Westwood Federal Building, Veteran Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. 212- 487-2368 email: npcla@earthlink.net Rochester, Tuesday Nov. 17th, Noon à Federal Building, 100 State Street, Contact 716-436-6458, email: eugenec883@aol.com   If there is a bombing before Nov. 17 there will be an immediate response at 4:00 p.m.. at the Federal Building. Cambridge (Harvard Square), MA --> TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17: Campaign for the Iraqi People -- meeting, 7:00 p.m. @ 11 Garden Street, . (617) 354-0008. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2: Campaign for the Iraqi People -- meeting 7:00 @ 11 Garden Street (church next to the Sheraton Commander). SATURDAY DECEMBER 5: Fund-raiser Concert with hot Bluegrass Band, 7:00-9:00 p.m., $15. Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park, off Brattle, 4 blocks from Harvard Sq. For more info: gustnancy@aol.com Philadelphia, Wednesday, November 18, -->Philadelphia Area Coalition to Stop the War Against Iraq, Protest at Richard Butler's appearance at the World Affairs Council Dinner, 5 - 7 p.m., Wednesday, Marriott Hotel 1201 Market St. (215) 724-1618 OR (215)241-7170 Baltimore, MD Wednesday, Nov 18, CITYWIDE PROTEST gather between 4 and 5 PM at Saratoga & Eutaw Streets, then march to Mt. Vernon Square, Centre and Charles Streets. If you are arriving later than 5:30 PM go straight to Centre and Charles Streets. For information call (410) 235-7040 or email: apcbaltimore@pipeline.com The All Peoples Congress is urging community, church, labor and peace groups to join in activities to demand No U.S. Bombing of Iraq and End the Sanctions Now! Israel à Israeli peace activists will be holding two pickets in front of the U.S. embassy in Tel-Aviv, to protest the new U.S. threats to attack Iraq: - On Sunday, November 15, at 5:00 p.m. - On Tuesday, November 17, at 5:00 p.m. (to coincide with international day of protests against the U.S. threats). Rayna Moss-Wiener Tel. 972-3-6882587 Fax: 972-3-6391311 2. THE IAC IS CALLING FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONALLY COORDINATED ACTIONS ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21. More information and list of Demonstrations to follow. There will be demonstrations in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angles. 3. International Action Center, led by Ramsey Clark, will hold strategy sessions for anti-war activists Saturday, November 14 at 1:00 p.m. at our offices, 39 West 14th Street, Room 206, Between 5th and 6th Avenues. This strategy session will continue preparations for Nov. 17 protests in NYC, Los Angles San Francisco and around the country. We will also entertain proposals for a national coordinated action plans over next two weeks. 4. Other demonstrations. MEMPHIS, TN -->Thursday and Friday Nov 13 4pm-6pm: both from at the busy intersections of Poplar/Highland and Union/McLean. More info at 901.458.9907. for freedom de Cleyre cooperative San Jose, CA à Friday, Nov 13 at 5PM 2 Peace Center, Coalition to Lift Iraq Sanctions, American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice and other groups will demonstrate against the bombing at the federal building in San Jose, CA: The Federal building is at the intersection of San Carlos and 2nd St. in downtown San Jose, CA Time and Date: Emergency Iraq Demonstration: No New Bombing, Lift the Sanctions Peninsula Peace and Justice Center is calling for an emergency demonstration to oppose any renewed bombing of Iraq: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1:00 PM CORNER OF EMBARCADERO AND EL CAMINO, PALO ALTO RAIN OR SHINE, WHETHER OR NOT ANY BOMBING HAS OCCURRED PPJC (650) 326-8837 - Volunteer phone bankers are needed to help turn people out. If you can devote an hour or more to phoning, please call the Peace and Justice Center to volunteer. WHITE HOUSE VIGIL à "Don't Bomb Iraq -- Lift the Sanctions Now" White House Sidewalk Friday, November 13 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.. This vigil is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House. They have maintained a Friday vigil since last February. We urge everyone to be present to make our voices heard. Let's not wait until after the bombs fall. Baltimore à Friday, Nov 13, 4 to 6 PM, informational flyering and street rally at Saratoga and Eutaw Streets. Activists will be distributing flyers to bus and subway station pedestrians, along with carrying placards and signs. For information call (410) 235-7040 or email: apcbaltimore@pipeline.com The All Peoples Congress is urging community, church, labor and peace groups to join in activities to demand No U.S. Bombing of Iraq and End the Sanctions Now! Oslo, Norway, Saturday, November 14, there will be demonstrations at the US Embassy 0430pm day after military actions (0200pm on Saturdays). The initiativ is taken on behalf of the 28- organisastions-coalition set up last February. Contact: Arnljot Ask , tel 47.22.989060 Austin, TX, Saturday, à November 14th at 10:00 am, in front of the Texas State Capitol, 11th & Congress. Ex-president George H.W. Bush will be speaking at the Texas Book Festival about his recent book on the war against Iraq. The demonstration is called by the Anti-War Committee and the Austin Committee to End the Sanctions on Iraq. liana@bga.com Amherst, MA --> Sunday, November 15, 2:00 p.m. Amherst Town Common Greenfield, MA--> Sunday, November 15, Noon Call Traprock Peace Center for info 413-773-7427 Minneapolis, MN Thursday, Nov. 19, --> 4:30 p.m.: Federal Courts Building, Fourth St. & Third Avenue in Downtown. Stop the War against Iraq. Now New Bombing, End the Sanctions. Call 612-827- 5364 or 612-333-4719. SEATTLE -->Friday Nov. 20 6:30 (UW Main Campus -- Room to be announced) NEW EVENT IN The works for SEATTLE: Town Hall Meeting The Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC), Student Action Network, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and others present a Town Hall Meeting with Jerry Haines (member of the 16th Voices in the Wilderness delegation to Iraq), veteran Jeff Gustafson (cofounder of EPIC), Ruth Wilson (author of "10 lies about Iraq") and others to be announced. A march will follow the town hall meeting :) Call for room or to help organize. 206-747-7673 Attention all activist worldwide if you would like you local information included in the Bulletin please send information to: iacenter@iacenter.org send the information attention to Deirdre Sinnott, Brian Becker, Sarah Sloan or Sara Flounders From xcruz@webtv.net Sun Nov 15 05:51:08 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAsAhQMRAzSI5ZTk7DPiltWlh9Z+GPc0gIUPuORsIt63jaidSh+J0CLsGxjRBQ= From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 05:51:00 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Fwd: IRAQ ACTIONS: Complete alpha list --WebTV-Mail-1798930422-509 --WebTV-Mail-1798930422-509 [207.79.35.91]) by postoffice-122.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/po.gso.24Feb98) mailsorter-101.iap.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with Nov 1998 07:04:43 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 03:53:54 -0800 To: bad@eng.hss.cmu.edu From: "Dr. I Crow X" Subject: IRAQ ACTIONS: Complete alpha list Reply-To: "Bad Subjects" Sender: Website: http://eserver.org/bs/ >X-arrival-time: 911104872 >Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 23:39:12 EST >Reply-To: rnradmin@calyx.net >Originator: rnr_announce@calyx.net >Sender: rnr_announce@calyx.net >From: Refuse & Resist >Subject: IRAQ ACTIONS: Complete alpha list >X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas >X-ListProcessor-Instructions: Send an email to listproc@calyx.net with the subject blank and the BODY containing nothing but the word HELP for instructions. >X-Comment: Refuse & Resist! Announcement List. See http://www.calyx.net/~refuse for more about R&R! > >[The following info comes from the Anti-intervention Network via Vietnam Veterans Against the War - Anti-imperialist - vvawai@oz.net] > >IRAQ ACTIONS: Complete alpha list > >There are a few new actions: Spokane, WA; and actions on the 17th in >Seattle and Los Angeles. > >Even if the bombing is averted for now, the anti-intervention network >encourages people to keep these day of/day after actions in place (and >expand them to include U.S. bombing of ANY country) and continue to protest >the sanctions against Iraq. > >If you know of day of/day after actions that do plan to stay in place, >please respond to this e-mail so we can continue to keep a current list and >respond even quicker to future U.S. military threats across the globe. > >INTERNATIONAL: > >OSLO, NORWAY, Day after attack, 4:30 pm if attack occurs on a weekday or >Sunday, 2 pm if >Saturday >at the U.S. Embassy, Called by Arnljot Ask (Coalition of 28 organizations) > > >IN US: > >ANN ARBOR, MI, Demonstrate the "day after" a military attack, at 5 pm, at >the Liberty >and 5th Federal Building, if the "day after" is a weekday, or at 12 noon, >if the "day >after" is a weekend. > >AUSTIN, TEXAS, Day of attack if by 5:00 or day after attack otherwise, >State Capitol >building, Also: Saturday November 14 at the State Capitol. George Bush will >be there >promoting his new book > >BALTIMORE, MD, emergency demonstration at Charles & Centre Streets, 5:30 PM >to 7:00 PM >on the day of aggression. If the aggression occurs after 5:30 PM, gather >the following >day. Bring appropriate signs and banners that speak out against U.S. >terrorism. Call >410-323-7200 or 410-243-2077 for information. BERN's next meeting is >scheduled for >Monday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 PM at 327 East 25th Street, Baltimore, Maryland. >Baltimore >Emergency Response Network > >BOSTON, Day after attack, 4:30 pm, at Park Street T-Stop, The Campaign for >the Iraqi >People > >BURLINGTON, VERMONT, Day AFTER attack, 12 noon, Federal Bldg (Pearl St & >Elmwood), >Instant Anti-War Coalition, If you live near UVM, meet at the Royall Tyler >steps at >11:15 to walk to Fed Bldg. > >CHICAGO, Day of attack, 4:30 pm, Federal Bldg, Adams & Dearborn, >312-641-5151, 8th Day >Center for Justice > >CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, Day of/Day after attack, 6 PM, at State House Plaza >(weekly >vigils against the sanctions at same location every Wed at noon), 603-228-0559 > >DALLAS TEXAS, Anti-War Rally, Monday, November 16, 1998, 2-3 P.M. Federal >Building >Downtown, 1100 Commerce, Dallas Peace Center and other Dallas peace and justice >organizations, The Dallas Peace Center, 4301 Bryan Street, Suite #202, >Dallas, Texas >75204, (214) 823-7793 - phone, (214) 823-8356 - fax, mapa@igc.apc.org > >DAYTON, OHIO, Federal Building In Dayton 5 PM, Same day if attack is before >noon, Next >day if attack is after noon, Monday if attack is on weekend, Dayton Peace >Action And >Dayton Pledge Of Resistance, 937-233-3425, 937-277-7102 >Demonstration at 4:30, at Newest Federal Building (corner of 4th & 3rd streets) > >GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, Day of Attack, 4:30 pm, at 13th & University, bring >signs & black >arm bands > >HARRISONBURG, VA, 16 students at James Madison U are now in day two of a 7 >day fast in >solidarity with the Iraqi people who have been suffering from U.S.-led >United Nations >sanctions since August 1990. Our fast is also in protest of the >possibility of bombing >Iraq. We are asking students around the country to wear a tourqious ribbon in >solidarity with the sixteen fasters at JMU and their message that neither >war nor >inhumane sanctions are the answer to the problem with Iraq. > >HARTORD, CONNECTICUT, The day after attack, 11:30-12:30 at the Federal >Building, 457 >Main Street, Hartford > >HONOLULU, HAWAII, Day after attack OR Monday if bombing occurs on a Friday >or the >weekend, 4 PM, Federal Bldg--on the Nimitz side, Called by Vietnam Veterans >Against the >War Anti-Imperialist, Honolulu Chapter > >LOS ANGELES, CA, Day of attack, 5pm, Westwood Federal Bldg, 213-487-2368, >International >Action Center >and >Nov. 17th 5 p.m. >Westwood Federal Building > >MEMPHIS, TN, On going acitons for info 901.458.9907, de Cleyre cooperative > >MINNEAPOLIS, Demonstration against war threats on Iraq, Thursday, November >19th, in >front of the newest Federal Building (corner of 4th and 3rd streets in downtown >Minneapolis), Iraqi Peace Action Coalition--a combined group of Peace and >Justice groups >in the Twin Cities including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination >Committee, Women >Against Military Madness, Progressive Student Organization, Committee in >Solidarity with >the People of El Salvador and MANY others (over 40 groups have endorsed >previous >actions). > >MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, Day of attack if it occurs before 4:30pm, or, Day >after attack >if it occurs after 4:30pm > >NEW YORK CITY, Protest U.S. Threats To Bomb Iraq, demonstrating on Tuesday, >November 17 >at 4:30 p.m. in Grand Central Station, AND, immediate response >demonstration within 24 >hours in Times Square should the U.S. bomb Iraq before November 17th, The >International >Action Center, AND, Day after attack, 4:30-6 pm, at Times Square, Called by >International Action Center AND, organizing meeting, Nov 16, 6:30 pm, at >A.J. Muste >Institute, 339 Lafayette, 3rd Floor (East Village at Bleeker & Lafayette) > >ORLANDO, FLORIDA, emergency response meetings, every Wed at 10 pm, front >lawn of Rollins >College (1000 Holt Ave), 407-987-6943 > >PHILADELPHIA, PA, Day after attack, noon--nonviolence vigil, Philadelphia >City Hall >(west side, 15th & Market), 610-544-1818, Brandywine Peace Community > >PORTLAND, OREGON, Demonstrate 4:00 pm-6:00 pm on the day of the attack (the >next day if >bombing begins after 4:00 p.m.), Federal Building, SW 3rd and Jefferson, >Contact: Peace >and Justice Works, (503) 236-3065, (503) 236-3065 (Office), >pjw@agora.rdrop.com, >http://www.rdrop.com/~pjw/Iraq.html > >SACRAMENTO, CA, Sacramento, California, "Don't Bomb Iraq" Rally, Friday, >Nov. 13, 4:30 >PM, at 16th and J streets in Sacramento, info, Sacramento-Yolo Peace Action >at (916) >448-7157 > >SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Day after attack, 5pm, at Market & Powell, 415-821-6545, >International Action Center > >SAN JOSE, CA, Day after attack, 5pm, Federal Bldg (San Carlos & 2nd St), >Coalition to >Lift Iraq Sanctions, 408-297-2299, 650-493-9044, 408-428-7379 > >SEATTLE, Day AFTER any U.S. attack on any country (this is to have a >meeting about what >to do but if enough people show up for a rally of somekind there will >probably be that >also), 5 PM, Federal Bldg (2nd & Marion), Citizens Concerned for the People >of Iraq, >Communities Against U.S. Military Aggression, 206-789-5565, 206-547-0952, >ALSO: ===Town Hall Meeting===, Friday Nov. 20, 6:30 (UW Main Campus -- Room >TBA), The Education for >Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC), Student Action Network, and others present a >Town Hall >Meeting with Jerry Haines (member of the 16th Voices in the Wilderness, >delegation to >Iraq), veteran Jeff Gustafson (cofounder of EPIC), Ruth Wilson (author of >"10 lies about >Iraq") and others to be annouced. A march will follow, Call for room or to >help >organize. 425-747-7673 >NEW: March and Rally >Tues. Nov 17th 5pm >Seattle Central Community College >Broadway and Pine >March downtown to Federal Bld. > >SPOKANE, WASHINGTON >demonstration at the Federal Building: >12 Noon the day the bombing starts, or 12 Noon the next day if the bombing >starts in the afternoon or evening. > >ST. LOUIS, Vigil at 8 pm beginning at the Robert A. Young Federal Building >(Spruce and >Tucker in downtown St. Louis), evening of any US air strike against Iraq, >St. Louis >Forum for a Just Peace, 314-862-5773 >Tim Craine, Committee to Oppose Gulf War II, tcraine@hotmail.com > >TUCSON, ARIZONA, Day of attack (Day after if news breaks after 12 noon), >4:30 pm, Tucson >Federal Bldg, (also weekly vigils to end the sanctions every Thurs >4:30-5:30 at Fed >Bldg), 520-323-8697, Nuclear Resister > >WASHINGTON DC, Day of/Day after attack, first 5pm after U.S. attack, at the >White House >(16th St & Pennsylvania Ave NW--on the sidewalk), International Action Center, >202-588-1205 > >WORCESTER, MASS, Demonstration on Day of (or day after) Attack at 5 PM, >Lincoln Square, >Contact: St. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker (508) 757-3588 > > >_________________________________ > >Refuse & Resist! - 305 Madison Avenue #1166 - New York, NY 10165 >voice: 212-713-5657 - email: refuse@calyyx.com - http://www.calyx.com/~refuse > >for subscribe/unsubscribe info about rnr_announce, send the email message > >INFO RNR_ANNOUNCE > >to: listproc@ns2.calyx.net > > > ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++ ++++ see: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ Dr. Crow http://www.angelfire.com/sc/doctorcrow/index.html --WebTV-Mail-1798930422-509-- From xcruz@webtv.net Sun Nov 15 17:30:33 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhRpTSAE0ndYxdYfPPT1cJuPBK0XowIVAIN7JRqsBbGpRLj3eNTBow9bnkV1 From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 17:29:48 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Fwd: La Ford y Argentina --WebTV-Mail-665611374-689 --WebTV-Mail-665611374-689 [207.79.35.92]) by postoffice-122.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/po.gso.24Feb98) [129.113.172.2]) by mailsorter-102.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) 15 Nov 1998 16:51:00 -0600 (CST) Approved-By: rvazquez@INCONNECT.COM Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 15:40:56 -0700 Reply-To: Hispanic Networking Sender: Hispanic Networking From: Robert Vazquez Subject: La Ford y Argentina To: LARED-L@LISTSERV.TECHRSCS.PANAM.EDU ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 09:14:53 EST From: Raulmax@aol.com To: LARED-L@LISTSERV.TECHRSCS.PANAM.EDU Subject: La Ford y Argentina Saludos desde Borinquen April 2, 1998 Ford Motor Co Complicit in Argentina Torture According to "WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS", MARCH 29, 1998: Some Argentine workers who were disappeared under the military dictatorship were detained and tortured in a clandestine detention center at Ford Motor Company's factory in an industrial suburb of Buenos Aires, according to legal documents submitted on Mar. 16 in a Madrid court by union representatives of the Congress of Argentine Workers (CTA). The documents reveal that the victims were selected for detention, torture and execution in consultation with management at Ford's Argentine subsidiary, which provided the military with facilities in Ford's General Pacheco plant and even donated vehicles to transport prisoners to military prisons and torture centers. Evidence against the US automaker was presented as part of a 5,000-page report detailing dirty war repression against workers and union members. The case in Spain was initiated two years ago by relatives of some of the estimated 600 Spanish citizens who disappeared in Argentina during the military repression. The Spanish court has claimed the right to try the Argentine military leaders under international law, citing as precedent the prosecution of fugitive Nazi war criminals. The union document described the repression by Ford and other major Argentine companies as an attempt to "implement state terrorism and genocide with the objective of socially disciplining the working class and thereby obtaining a higher rate of profit..." Within a year after the junta seized power, Argentine wage levels were cut in half, all union contracts were suspended, factory committees were outlawed and tens of thousands of union activists were fired. --WebTV-Mail-665611374-689-- From christopher.rhomberg@yale.edu Wed Nov 18 17:35:54 1998 Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 19:37:12 -0500 To: LABOR-RAP@csf.colorado.edu From: Christopher Rhomberg Subject: support UC grad student employees Dear All, here is a petition in support of the UC grad student employees, circulated by the Bay Area chapter of Scholars, Artists and Writers for Social Justice. Please take a minute and respond to the address indicated . The SAWSJ address is: ================================================= SCHOLARS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE November 11, 1998 -------------------------------------- Phone: (413) 545-3541 Fax: (413) 545-0110 Office Email: sawsj@lrrc.umass.edu Information List E-mail: sawsj@sage.edu Web site: www.sage.edu/html/SAWSJ 2. ACTION: GRAD AND UNDERGRAD STRIKE LOOMS AT U OF CAL Graduate and undergraduate academic student employees throughout the University of California system are planning a strike for this Fall forced upon them by the university administrators failure to negotiate with their unions. This strike has been precipitated by the UC's refusal to bargain with academic student employees, despite the fact that the unions have majority membership on each of the campuses, as has been verified by the state's Public Employment Relations Board. In addition to refusing to uphold basic democratic principle, the university administration has refused to accept recent legal decisions in favor of the ASE unions at both UCLA and UC San Diego. Last Spring, after the UC exhausted its legal appeals, the union won an overwhelming victory in a state-sanctioned election covering readers, tutors, and associates (graduate students who teach their own courses). Yet incredibly, the UC threatened to ignore the results, and it appears that the administration at UCSD has now followed through on this threat by refusing to negotiate a contract for UCSD associates. While objectionable in and of itself, this suggests the very real possibility that the administration might refuse to accept a legal decision or election at UCLA (where the UC's appeal is still pending) that would extend bargaining rights for teaching assistants. We at the Bay Area Chapter of Scholars, Activists, and Writers for Social Justice (SAWSJ) find the UC's conduct reprehensible. As a matter of democratic principle, we believe that university administrators are compelled to bargain with the these employees. We would like to help the unions pressure the university into bargaining, and hopefully avert a strike. We are circulating a petition including the statement below. Please read the statement, and if you agree to have your name attached to it, please respond by email with your name and affiliation, to: "Ellen Starbird" And please also follow up by asking others to sign the statement below. (Use the SAWSJ address above to send in a contribution snail mail to help defray the costs of printing and advertising.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STATEMENT: "A majority of the University of California's academic student employees (ASEs) has chosen to be represented by the United Auto Workers on all eight of the UC's teaching campuses. Yet University of California administrators are wasting valuable public resources and ignoring democratic principle in attempting to deny their teaching assistants, tutors, and readers the fundamental right to bargain over wages, benefits, and working conditions. The unions have authorized a strike that will affect the entire University of California system this Fall. We support the right to organize, and stand with these union members in calling on the U.C. system to honor their rights. In these times where human rights (such as the right to join a union) are being systematically ignored not only by corporate America, but even by institutions supposedly committed to perpetuating democratic values, we must express our outrage. We join with the Bay Area chapter of Scholars, Activists, and Writers for Social Justice (SAWSJ) in condemning the University of California administration's refusal to bargain. We call upon the U.C. administration to stop wasting tax dollars for union busting! Avert the strike. Bargain with Academic Student Employee unions!" [SIGNED]----------------------------------------------------- From meisenscher@igc.org Wed Nov 18 21:42:35 1998 Wed, 18 Nov 1998 20:42:14 -0800 (PST) Wed, 18 Nov 1998 20:34:50 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 20:35:57 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Michael Eisenscher Subject: Nation's Highest Living Wage Passed in San Jose Published Wednesday, November 18, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News Council passes living-wage, labor-organizing package BY BARRY WITT Mercury News Staff Writer San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer and local labor leaders scored a historic victory late Tuesday as the city council adopted the highest new minimum wage rates in the country for employees of city contractors and an apparently unprecedented requirement to help unions organize those companies' employees. Before a joyous, overflow crowd of union, church and community activists, the council voted 7-3 to require various city contractors to pay a ``living wage'' of at least $9.50 an hour if the company provides health benefits or $10.75 an hour if benefits aren't provided. There was a narrow 6-5 council majority favoring the living wage, but a vote had not been expected until next week when supporter Margie Fernandes returned from a conference in Portugal. Passage became possible Tuesday night when Councilmen David Pandori and John Diquisto reversed their positions and said they would support it. The labor peace proposal seemed threatened with defeat, but Councilwoman Alice Woody reversed her position of a day earlier and said she would support it. In the end, the only council members to oppose the package were Pat Dando, Frank Fiscalini and George Shirakawa. ``Tonight is our opportunity to feature the other side of Silicon Valley,'' Amy Dean, chief executive of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council told a rally outside City Hall before the meeting. ``Tonight is to talk about the faces and complexions that are not published in the business pages.'' Hammer described the living wage as ``a step toward addressing the plight of those struggling to provide for their families in a high-cost region such as Silicon Valley.'' She called it a ``first step'' and urged her successors to expand it. Hammer leaves office next month. The living wage rates are $3 an hour less than what supporters had been seeking but are still the highest among any of 17 other cities nationwide -- including Los Angeles and Oakland -- that have adopted similar requirements. The related ``labor peace'' measure will require companies seeking city service contracts to provide ``assurances of protection against labor discord'' over the life of the contract. The assurances have not been spelled out, but the options officials have outlined would make it easier for unions to organize workers. City Attorney Joan Gallo has said such assurances could include not only a signed union contract but also allowing unions to attempt to organize under a ``card check'' procedure -- which unions prefer over the traditional secret ballots. Under a card check, the union would be recognized if a majority of workers sign cards approving union representation. City officials could point to no other city in the nation that has a similar requirement for bidders on city contracts, and its inclusion in the living-wage proposal was fought bitterly by city business interests. Radio station owner Bob Kieve, a board member with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the labor peace provision would send a message to contractors that ``you can be assured you're going to hold on to your (city) business only if you give labor anything that it demands.'' He suggested the council had become ``an auxiliary of the Central Labor Council.'' More than 500 living-wage supporters turned out at the council meeting. Only two business leaders spoke against it. The wage requirements would apply to contractors providing services ranging from auto repair to security. Contracts valued at less than $20,000 and contracts issued by the city's Redevelopment Agency would be exempt. The policy also leaves out low-wage workers at San Jose International Airport. In total, City Manager Regina V.K. Williams estimated that 500 employees of city contractors would get raises over the next 18 months at a cost to those companies of about $2 million, with an unknown portion of that amount being passed back to the city. Another 200 or so part-time city employees, mostly summer recreation workers, also would get raises because their pay now falls below the new living-wage standard. City officials have said the largest group of workers who will be affected are those employed by Volume Services America under its food service contract at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Volume's contract expires at the end of this year -- although it may be extended through 1999. Companies proposing to take on the contract after that time will have to comply with the living-wage policy. The policy also includes a requirement that any company awarded a new contract by the city would have to offer jobs to the employees of the city's former contractor. The services covered under the policy are automotive repair and maintenance; food service; janitorial; landscaping; laundry; office/clerical; parking-lot management; pest control; property maintenance; recreation; security' shuttle services; street sweeping; and towing. ©1997 - 1998 Mercury Center From dbacon@igc.org Mon Nov 23 21:44:05 1998 Mon, 23 Nov 1998 20:37:58 -0800 (PST) Mon, 23 Nov 1998 20:28:47 -0800 (PST) Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 20:29:51 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: dbacon@igc.org (David Bacon) Subject: the state of our unions THE STATE OF OUR UNIONS By David Bacon 11/22/98 Bay Area media unions, like those everywhere else in the country, live today in the shadow of Detroit. Newspaper workers at the Detroit News and Free Press have been on strike for three years, since walking out in 1995 over corporate demands for deep concessions. Although the National Labor Relations Board has ruled the strike was caused by illegal bad faith bargaining by their employers, thus giving strikers the right to immediate reinstatement with back pay, the two newspapers continue to run with strikebreakers. Only a handful of strikers have been rehired. The Detroit strike is not an isolated case of unionbusting -- it has been the key battle in a long series of labor wars between media workers and the huge corporations that have come to dominate the industry. The battle of Detroit was preceded by newspaper strikes in Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre. San Francisco experienced its share of the conflict with a 12-day strike in 1994. These labor wars haven't been confined to newspapers. In the early nineties NBC, now a subsidiary of General Electric, took on the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) in a strike which lasted nineteen weeks. As this article goes to press, Disney has taken up that battle, locking out NABET technicians around the country. These labor wars are one product of the increasing monopolization of the communications industry. Giant corporations like Gannett and Knight-Ridder, owners of the Detroit News and Free Press respectively, have deep pockets, with resources sufficient to run a struck newspaper at a loss for a long period of time. While losing money at one paper, the chain (and employers throughout the industry) gain overall by creating a bargaining environment in which they can win concessions, limit the wage and economic demands of unions, and discourage workers from organizing at their non-union operations. That is, in fact, the context of bargaining in the media industry. Increases in wages and conditions are still possible, and workers still win them. But the overall climate is one in which unions fight a succession of defensive battles, trying to protect their jurisdictions, the jobs of their members, and the work rules and conditions established decades ago when unions were stronger, and the industry less monopolized. That environment has a profound effect on Bay Area media workers. But in northern California it has been balanced by the relative success of the newspaper strike four years ago, that beat off the local attack on wages and conditions. In 1994, the San Francisco dailies and their distribution and production arm, the SF Newspaper Agency, brought in the law firm of King and Ballow. "We knew what that meant," recalls Carl Hall, president of the Northern California Media Workers Guild (formerly the Northern California Newspaper Guild). "We could see the strike coming." At the New York Daily News , King and Ballow orchestrated a five-month long walkout in the early 1990s, which newspaper unions made a national rallying cry. According to Ed Rosario, an executive board member of the Bay Area's Web Pressmen Local 4, the key to winning the New York strike was the strength of the delivery unions. "Management could replace its pressmen," Rosario says, "and the people in the newsrooms. But although they could get a shell of a paper printed, they couldn't get it into the hands of any readers without the drivers. King and Ballow's whole strategy rested on trying to break them off from the other unions, and they weren't able to do it." The San Francisco drivers union, Teamsters Local 921, knew that war was coming when, after hiring King and Ballow, the Newspaper Agency began to get rid of the young people who walk the paper routes. "First they get rid of the kids," explains Andy Cirkelis, then secretary-treasurer of Local 921, "and bring in adults to drive the routes instead, throwing the papers from cars. Then they get rid of our drivers, since they can get the adults to come pick up their papers from a central distribution point. Once they weaken the drivers, it's much easier for them to go after the other unions." By the time the strike began, however, San Francisco unions were well-prepared. Cirkelis had won important community support by defending the jobs of youth carriers. Even before the strike started, the Council of Newspaper Unions began publishing its own newspaper, the Free Press. Major advertisers like Macy's and the Emporium hedged their bets by placing full page ads in both the strikers' newspaper, and the much thinner Chronicle and Examiner, which management continued publishing. Tensions ran high as management hired over 350 Huffmaster guards, and began advertising for strikebreakers. In Mountain View, Kirk Wilson, a striking driver, was electrocuted after mistakenly cutting power lines into an Agency distribution facility. After twelve days, however, the two newspapers decided to call it quits. Hall called it "a victory, given what our members were looking at." Rosario says "they were out to destroy us, and we stopped them." The biggest compromise was made by the drivers themselves, who agreed that after 90 days, management could begin to eliminate their jobs by attrition. For two years after the strike conflict continued to rage, particularly between the agency and the drivers and pressmen. In the years since the strike, a new, largely immigrant workforce was hired as independent contractors, to drive delivery routes and throw papers from cars. While the Agency's intention was to undermine the leverage of Teamster drivers, these new employees proved to be more militant that it expected. They've conducted at least two lightening strikes to push up rates, and are now discussing union affiliation. Finally, last year the Guild and other unions agreed to an unprecedented contract extension through 2005, with 3% wage increases annually. "I think the San Francisco papers are interested in avoiding a battle with their employees when they're going to have to fight a lot harder with Knight-Ridder," Hall speculates. In the last year, the chain has moved its national headquarters from Miami to San Jose, making the Mercury-News its flagship publication. In addition, the corporation bought the Contra Costa Times, giving it a big foothold in the suburbs of the northern Bay Area, threatening to surround the circulation area of the other two big dailies. K-R also bought the Monterey Herald. Newsroom workers at both the Mercury News and the Herald are represented by the San Jose Newspaper Guild. After taking over the Monterey daily, management terminated all its Guild-represented employees, and told them they were free to reapply for their old jobs. Some were rehired, and others weren't. Negotiations have been going on for a new contract since then, with K-R demanding massive changes in what had been one of the Guild's best agreements. The Bay Area Guild, with the able coordination of organizer Erin Poh, finally reorganized the Oakland Tribune. The Guild unit there was destroyed a decade ago in the paper's purchase by the Alameda Newspaper Group, a chain belonging to newspaper magnate Dean Singleton. Over the intervening years, workers at the other papers in the ANG chain, including the Fremont Argus, the Tri-Valley Herald, the Alameda Times-Star, the Hayward Daily Review, and the Peninsula Times-Herald have chosen Guild representation. In October, the union finally won a contract covering all of them. The pay scale is still far below the standard in San Francisco and San Jose, and includes a merit pay system under which management can pay different salaries to workers doing the same job. But the Guild sees the agreement nevertheless as a big victory, given the intense opposition it faced for so long, and a chance to improve conditions over time. In the past two years the Guild won contracts as well at the McClatchy newspapers in the valley -- the Sacramento, Fresno and Modesto Bees. There also the company had refused to renegotiate contracts for a number of years, and the union had to agree to a modified merit pay system as the price of renewed agreements. Broadcasting unions haven't been exempt from the labor wars. ABC, and its local affiliates KGO-TV and KGO radio, have been operating without a contract covering their technical staff since the old one expired 19 months ago. Disney now owns ABC, and insisted that it substitute its own health plan for the network's union-negotiated medical coverage. ABC, however, refused to provide details of the coverage, and the plan was recently rejected by thousands of Disney World employees, who have been covered by it for years. When ABC's technical union, NABET, struck for one day to force the network to provide more details, Disney locked the workers out across the country. Strikebreakers were brought in to replace them. When union workers began following the scab crews, holding up picketsigns on camera behind newscasters on location, a California judge prohibited them from picketing and chanting slogans. Behind the immediate issue of the medical plan, however, lie deeper and more difficult conflicts, which highlight the impact of changes in technology and the workforce on media unions generally. ABC is proposing to NABET that the union would not have sole jurisdiction over any piece of equipment containing a microprocessor. These days, cameras, sound boards, and even cart players have chips controlling their operation. Disney's proposal would essentially allow anyone to use most broadcast equipment, seriously eroding the union's control over the work, and most likely leading to replacement of NABET members with other non-union workers. In addition, the network wants even greater freedom than ever to use contract workers instead of hiring its own employees directly on a permanent basis. While the union represents many daily-hire workers, they often don't qualify for benefits, and have no job security. The use of daily hires has been mushrooming in the broadcast industry. The present contract limits the percentage of technical work which they perform for the network to 14%. At NBC, however, the union was forced to agree to 26% in the last contract, due to expire again next year. Now ABC wants 42%. Each network is trying to leapfrog over the other, as the union seeks to keep job security from becoming a distant memory. Technicians at CBS are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as are the local technical employees of KTVU, KRON and KPIX. Despite jurisdictional competition in the past, IBEW members have been prominent in the KGO picketlines, supporting their fellow unionists in NABET. Despite the difficult environment, Bay Area newspaper and broadcasting unions have been able to maintain a wage standard significantly above the salary level for non-union workers. When NABET organized the Spanish-language KDTV Channel 14 a year ago, the station paid technical workers about $8/hour, according to NABET Local 51 president Kevin Wilson. It was a bitter conflict, which saw a popular employee fired for union activity, and a year spent in negotiations. In the end, however, workers at the station won raises up to 35%. "At non-union stations, wages average $10/hour," Wilson says. "Our scale starts at $22." In the Chronicle and Examiner newsrooms, salaries start at over $600/week, and workers get to top scale, close to $1000/week, within six years. The ANG papers pay significantly less. At a non-union newspaper, wages depend on relations with supervisors, and can vary widely. But the bottom is pretty low -- $400/week, according to Carl Hall. Rebecca Rhine, local negotiator for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), believes the only way to protect union salary levels is to find ways of maintaining union strength in the face of the introduction of new technology. AFTRA represents the on-air talent in broadcasting, as well as directors, writers and producers. "In my opinion," she says, "unions don't have the option of stopping technological change. But we can ensure that the new jobs it creates are union jobs." That's still a controversial position in a union town where Harry Bridges, the famous longshoremen's leader, signed an agreement in the mid-1960s which allowed the introduction of new container technology on the waterfront. Longshore jobs declined drastically in numbers in the years following, but Bridges always asserted that the union couldn't stop the advance of technology, only ensure that the strength of the union and its jurisdiction were maintained. "Sometimes it's a battle with our own members as much as anything else," Rhine explains. "It's hard for people who have done their jobs a certain way for many years to adjust and learn new skills. People are always suspicious of anything that seems to increase their workload. But when we say we want to take this new stuff, and become the most valuable workforce in the company, our members get it." Those changes often bring about conflicts between unions, when broadcast employers, for instance, say they want on-air workers, represented by one union, to do editing in mobile TV vans or carry a small videocam, work which belongs to another one. Most media unions, however, are looking hard at the jobs being created by new, especially digital technology. AFTRA already represents radio and television personalities and recording artists, who are often hired to appear on CD-ROMS, and even as voices in voicemail systems. As a result, the union has been able to sign contracts with producers of the new media, when its members take the position that they won't do the work unless it's under union contract, receiving union benefits. "For us," Rhine notes, "it's a constant education process. The good jobs that everyone craves are a result of producers being forced to respect the conditions the union has established." Reliance on the activism of members is the hallmark of a union that's even more non-traditional in the way it organizes -- the National Writers Union, affiliated to the United Auto Workers. The NWU is an organization of free-lancers, who write material ranging from newspaper and magazine articles, to technical manuals, to novels and poetry. Because its members are paid as independent contractors, it's even illegal for the union to try to establish payment schedules for writers. The Federal government interprets that as price-fixing, putting lowly writers in the same basket as monopoly corporations. The union has a few agreements with progressive national magazines like The Nation, Mother Jones and In These Times, which set freelance rates and specify the rights of writers at those individual publications. The union did have a similar agreement with the SF Weekly when it was independently owned, but lost it after the New Times chain bought the paper. Instead of bargaining directly, the NWU relies on providing information to members, including the official payment schedules of publishers, sample contracts for the sale of books and articles, and a history of the problems experienced by writers with different media outlets. "We focus on trying to change conditions genre by genre," says Bruce Hartford, NWU's national secretary-treasurer. "There are way too many publications out there to bargain with them individually anyway." The union maintains an active grievance division, which specializes in collecting payment for writers from deadbeat publications. It also handles complaints which affect writers as a group. Northern Lights, for instance, which charges clients for finding and downloading electronic versions of requested articles, pays nothing to the writers who produce them. The union has been battling the company for royalties. It has also fought a long-running legal battle with the New York Times to win additional pay for writers for electronic publication rights for their articles, rights the newspaper claims it already owns when it purchases the print rights. Here again, the development of a new contract workforce in the media industry creates the potential for jurisdictional conflict between unions. On the one hand, the NWU represents freelancers whose income often depends on selling articles to publications like newspapers, which also employ union reporters. The Guild, on the other hand, has an interest in preventing newspapers from using freelancers on an unlimited basis. The work done by full-time reporters and photographers can easily be subcontracted to freelancers, and in non-union publications, like the alternative weeklies, it often is. The Newspaper Guild and the Writers Union have cooperated in the past, in trying to present a common front to the newspapers. During contract negotiations with the Examiner and the Chronicle, the Guild has asked the papers to incorporate the standard Writers Union contract language protecting free-lancers. Hall says "the employers always just say no," while Hartford notes that "the Examiner and the Chronicle use the anti-trust law as an excuse to refuse to talk to us directly." Marcy Sheiner, co-coordinator for NWU's Bay Area Local 3 (the union's third largest), says membership is up to about 600. The local has three divisions, for journalists, tech writers, and authors of poetry and fiction. It puts on seminars to help members with everything from tax problems to contracts and grievances. At local progressive media institutions, unions have generally held their own. The union at KPFA, which for years belonged to the independent and progressive United Electrical Workers, decided two years ago to affiliate with the Communication Workers. Philip Maldari, one of three shop stewards at the station, says workers needed more support from their parent union than they were getting from the UE. Last year for the first time, the station's union faced a professional, hired negotiator across the bargaining table. In addition, the Pacifica Foundation (which owns the station) briefly hired the American Consulting Group, a notorious unionbusting firm, to give advice on negotiating strategy. In the end, the union agreed to a new contract with significant wage raises. New workers hired to work on specific programs will become at-will employees, however, with no seniority rights to bump into other jobs if their programs are terminated. While this is standard procedure in commercial radio and television stations, at KPFA, where the salary level is considerably lower, job security based on seniority had historically been viewed as the tradeoff. Unpaid staff were also excluded from the bargaining unit. "We kept our closed shop," Maldari notes, "with no hiring of casual employees, and maintained job security for the vast majority. Our old contract had good provisions, but much of it was unenforceable. So we were very happy, on the whole, with the new agreement, and with CWA." And last year, the Institute for Global Communications became the first union internet service provider when the staff voted to join the San Francisco city workers union, Service Employees Local 790. The variety and number of Bay Area media unions has created the space for experimentation and the development of new ideas about how media workers can be organized, and how to enforce workplace rights in an era of rapidly developing technology. But fragmentation is also, in the long run, the source of enormous weakness, especially given the power of enormous media monopolies. Some media unions are beginning to merge as a result. The International Typographical Union, the country's oldest labor organization, which used to represent linotype operators in the era when newspapers were printed with metal type, joined the Newspaper Guild. Both organizations ceased being independent unions and affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in the last couple of years. NABET also joined CWA. CWA is the union for workers in the telephone and communications industry. These mergers are bringing under one roof media workers whose jobs depend on the network of electronic communications, and the workers who build, service and operate that network. During the 1994 newspaper strike, the most potent weapon of the unions was their unity -- the fact that they all belonged to the Council of Newspaper Unions. Although they had individual contracts, the agreements all expired at the same time, and the unions all negotiated together. When they struck, they agreed that no union would break the common front and return to work without a settlement for all the rest. By contrast, during the ABC dispute, while NABET members picket KGO, AFTRA members, who have no protection in their contract for refusing to cross a picketline, continue to do their jobs as usual. The bargaining power of unions would be greatly increased if they were able to create councils like that at the two San Francisco newspapers, with common expiration dates for their contracts, and language which protects the right of workers who refuse to cross the picketlines of other unions. If that arrangement existed at the television networks, ABC would never have locked out its technicians. Ultimately, it would serve the interests of media workers nationally if they belonged to one union, the organizational solution chosen by media workers in most other countries. The progressive union federation which arose from the apartheid era in South Africa, for instance, uses the guiding principle "one industry -- one union." At AFTRA, which is in the process of voting to merge with the Screen Actors Guild, Rebecca Rhine believes that "we should all be in one union," although she doesn't see that happening in the near future. Meanwhile, Hall also has a vision of "one seamless, scrappy group," facing media employers generally. It's not necessarily unions which have made the most progress in this direction. Ethnic media organizations, including associations of African-American, Latino and Asian-American journalists, cross craft lines and often have a greater connection to communities of color. They also, however, include management personnel, and in the event of bitter workplace conflicts like that in Detroit, have internal conflicts over whose side to take. Nevertheless, newspaper unions made important connections to the broader labor movement, and to community organizations during the newspaper strike. NABET is making them now during its battle with ABC. That's natural -- all unions look for allies when they're under attack. It's much harder, however, to maintain those connections after the struggle is over, and even more so, to respond to attacks on communities on their own set of issues. "Like any union, we respond better and more in mass during a crisis," Hall says. While media unions last June saw a natural self-interest in opposing Proposition 226, for instance, which attacked their ability to contribute to candidates during elections, there was much less interest in opposing Proposition 227, which attacked bilingual education, and was opposed strongly by the Latino and Asian communities. Permanent alliances between unions and working-class communities are being built, but it's still an uphill battle. While union leaders and activists think they're a good idea, they rely on greater political consciousness among union members themselves. Transforming unions from business organizations, in which members exchange dues for services, into social movements requires a change in thinking at the base. Members have to view themselves as participants in a movement to defend the interests of all working-class people, both inside unions and in the broader community around them. Educating members and talking about issues beyond the workplace is difficult in any union. In media unions, it's even harder, especially in those unions whose members produce the media's content -- the writers, reporters, photographers, newscasters, directors, and on-air personalities. There's tremendous pressure to adopt a detached "neutral" or "objective" attitude towards social movements, as those terms are defined by employers. The cost of abandoning that "neutrality," and acting as a social activist as well as a reporter, for instance, can be a career put on hold. The AFL-CIO's education department has recently produced a new education program, called Common Sense Economics, which helps union members understand how large corporations have come to dominate the US economy and political system. If unions begin to use that program, it could go a long way toward helping members to become conscious and well-informed social activists. But media unions don't operate in isolation. What's missing is a progressive pole -- an organization or grouping of media activists, committed to the interests of workers and their unions, but with an agenda that addresses content as well. That pole could help to define the interests of people in the media as workers, while at the same time, developing ties between media workers and other social and community movements. It could help to create a new vision of what it means to be a progressive media activist. - 30 - --------------------------------------------------------------- david bacon - labornet email david bacon internet: dbacon@igc.apc.org 1631 channing way phone: 510.549.0291 berkeley, ca 94703 --------------------------------------------------------------- From xcruz@webtv.net Wed Nov 25 09:39:38 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAsAhQQY4L4sVFALwQDh7ueiJCuc8+gPQIUG6L8JmYXsZnPQchLq0NRf8cYaU0= From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 09:39:32 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: Mumia's Solidarity with ABC Workers (fwd) From:    janet@wwpublish.com To:    "Workers World News Service" Subject: Mumia's Solidarity with ABC Workers Date: Tue, Nov 24, 1998, 8:46pm(MST+2) Sender:    listserv@wwpublish.com MUMIA'S SOLIDARITY WITH ABC WORKERS Supporting the struggle of locked-out workers at ABC television, Mumia Abu-Jamal refused to be interviewed for the network's "20/20" news program. As a result, "20/20" was forced to pull a story about Abu-Jamal, a political prisoner on Pennsylvania's death row, from its Nov. 20 broadcast. Some 2,400 members of the National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians, an affiliate of the Communications Workers union, have been locked out by ABC since Nov. 3. The union is fighting for a new contract from the network and its union-busting parent, the Walt Disney Co. The People's Video Network also honored NABET's picket line. PVN refused to provide ABC with footage of recent demonstrations supporting Abu-Jamal. Workfairness leader Larry Holmes told Workers World: "This was an unprecedented act by a political prisoner whose life is endangered, but who puts class solidarity and political principles first. "Mumia Abu-Jamal is very conscious that the struggle against the bosses and the struggle against the racist death penalty are one and the same. It time for the labor movement to respond in kind by mobilizing to save Mumia's life and demand his right to a new trial." --Greg Butterfield                                                  - END - (Copyright Workers World Service. For more information contact via e-mail: ww@workers.org. Web: http://www.workers.org) From xcruz@webtv.net Wed Nov 25 10:20:08 1998 X-WebTV-Signature: 1 ETAtAhUAgHaAYv1dJYk/YMlCOWrCpad6QogCFCYab6mP44mMxAmQ6oeAhgmG9OI4 From: xcruz@webtv.net (Robert Chavez) Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 10:20:04 -0700 (MST) To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu Subject: University of California Graduate Student Strike! (fwd) --WebTV-Mail-1207577918-541 --WebTV-Mail-1207577918-541 postoffice-122.bryant.webtv.net; Wed, 25 Nov 1998 08:49:10 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: <2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU> mailsorter-101.iap.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with Wed, 25 Nov 1998 08:48:28 -0800 (PST) Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 08:48:28 -0800 (PST) Reply-To: 2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU Originator: 2000seradc@listserv Sender: 2000seradc@galaxy.UCR.EDU From: Roberto Calderon To: xcruz@webtv.net Subject: University of California Graduate Student Strike! (fwd) X-Comment: Discussion/Advocacy of Human, Labor & Civil Rights Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 08:32:51 -0800 From: Anibel Comelo Subject: UC grad student strike Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 12:52:01 -0800 From: usapres@asucla.ucla.edu (SAGE) Subject: RECOGNIZE - UNIONIZE! TAs do 60% of the teaching on campus, and TA working conditions = undergraduate learning conditions. When a TA's workload is increased, when section sizes go up, when the administration refuses to treat TAs with basic respect, the quality of education suffers. A majority of TAs at all 8 UC campuses want a union as a way of having a real say in wages, benefits, and working conditions. For most unions, attaining a verified "card majority" is enough to establish collective bargaining. But unions of academic student employees (including TAs, tutors, readers) UC-systemwide have been denied their collective bargaining rights.... *Even with card majorities. *Even after California legislators like Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa and Senate President Pro Tempore John Burton have written the Chancellor and expressed their support for the union. *Even with legal rulings in their favor from labor judges and the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). SAGE/UAW and its sister unions have done everything in their power to avert a strike. They've held sit-ins, teach-ins, informational pickets. They've written letters and lobbied. They continue to try to open talks with the Chancellor but have been consistently stonewalled. What do UC administrators say to defend their refusal to recognize the unions? Frederic Wan, Dean of Graduate Students at UCI: "If the children want better pocket money, do the parents negotiate with them? Over the issues of whether they wash the dishes and mow the lawn, should the parents bargain with them formally?" (Christian Science Monitor, 11/3/98) Robin Fisher, Associate Dean of Graduate Division, UCLA: "The fundamental issues here are intergenerational conflicts....The authority resides with those folks who are older and more experienced, but the energy resides with those who are younger and who would like to have the authority. This is nothing new, it's just the modern expression of something you would have found in the Medieval university." (Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/13/98) Chancellor Carnesale can voluntarily open talks with SAGE/UAW. You can help avert the strike by contacting the Chancellor to tell him that *TA's play an important part in education at UCLA *TA's should be treated with the same basic respect and rights accorded to every other UC employee and to thousands of TAs across the country. *Union-busting is not okay at UCLA. Chancellor Albert Carnesale's phone number is 825-2151. His e-mail is acarnesale@conet.ucla.edu. --WebTV-Mail-1207577918-541--