People Before Profit blog

Workers strike at Domino Sugar refinery

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 05:45:00 +0000

BALTIMORE – The 330 workers at Domino Sugar’s refinery are usually busy this time of year making the holidays sweet. This year, they are walking the picketline to protest takeaways demanded by Domino’s new owners, Florida sugar barons Pepe and Alfonse Fanjul.

It is the first strike since 1949 at the refinery, which produces six million pounds each day of granulated cane sugar. The raw cane is shipped by barge from Florida for processing at the huge refinery in Baltimore’s inner harbor.

Alex Hamilton, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 392, told the World the problem arose when Domino’s new owners proposed merger of retirement and health care plans at Domino refineries in Baltimore, Chalmette, La., and Brooklyn, N.Y. – where members of the International Longshoremen’s Association were on strike in 1999-2000 – but refused to open the books at the other refineries.

'They flatly refused to provide the information,' he said. 'This is the fourth change of ownership for this company and we have never had a problem like this before. There was no give and take.'

Domino management, he charged, handed out reports predicting a flood of cheap Mexican sugar under NAFTA if they didn’t bow to company takeaways.

The workers voted 263 to 3, Dec. 8, to reject the company’s 'pig-in-a-poke' contract and 252 to 16 to authorize the strike. 'We have maintained 24-hour a day picketlines ever since,' he said.

The Fanjuls, sugar barons in pre-revolutionary Cuba, now own 400,000 acres of cane fields in Florida and the Dominican Republic. With a fortune estimated at half a billion dollars, they live in mansions in Palm Beach, Fla. Their majority ownership of American Sugar Refining marks a new stage in the vertical integration of the sugar industry from growing the cane to refining and marketing. Pepe is a major contributor to the Republicans while Alfonse bankrolls the Democrats.

'People wouldn’t be out walking the picketline in this cold if they didn’t feel strongly about the issues here,' Hamilton told me in the union’s modest row-house office a block from the plant. 'The Teamsters and the railroad workers are honoring our picketlines.' Local churches and community groups are donating cash and food to help the striking families during the holidays.

Based on the handful of trucks crossing the picketline each day, 'we estimate they are at about one-fifth of normal production,' he said.

William Brizendine, with 33 years at Domino, held up a picket sign emblazoned with the word 'greed' as a tanker inched toward the gate. 'The worst thing is what they want to do to our pensions,' he told me. 'All the Enron workers, all the Eastern Stainless workers lost everything. We’re not going to let that happen here if we can stop it.'

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com

Peace actions mark Human Rights Day

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 04:14:00 +0000

Drawn, they said, by a combination of fear and hope, about 200 Louisville, Ky., peace activists braved the evening’s chill and rain to take part in candlelight vigils against an Iraq war.

The fear, they said, comes from a belief that President Bush already has decided to invade Iraq. The hope stems from their stance that they are part of a growing movement that could still stop it.

The protests in Louisville were held in conjunction with those in more than 100 U.S. cities, Dec. 10, to mark International Human Rights Day.

Some anti-war activists were arrested at federal buildings in Chicago and New York, while college students held protests on campuses nationwide, similar to one attended by about 75 students Dec. 9 at the University of Louisville.

'The movement nationally has just swelled in numbers,' said Pat Geier, coordinator of the Louisville Committee to Stop The War Against Iraq. 'We still are hopeful that we can put some pressure on the Bush administration to allow the [UN] inspection process to work.

'But,' she acknowledged, 'it is a real uphill struggle.'

Joe Cambron, who served in the Army in the Persian Gulf war, also attended the vigil, noting that, 'I’m against any unilateral involvement' in Iraq.

'I feel that we need to let the UN inspections work and let the United Nations solve this problem,' Cambron said.

The vigils follow a growing list of anti-war statements issued by some religious organizations. Catholic bishops and several major Protestant denominations – with the exception of the Southern Baptist Convention – oppose war with Iraq.

The Kentucky Council of Churches, Louisville Catholic Archbishop Thomas Kelly and Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – have challenged the legitimacy of launching a pre-emptive attack on Iraq.

In Denton, Texas, home of the University of North Texas (UNT), about 30 peace activists were part of the Dec. 10 actions. The gathering was festive and welcomed by the surrounding community. One storefront had a banner hung from its rooftop that read, 'No War in Iraq.'

Members of UNT’s Anti-War Operations League (AWOL), Denton Peace Action and other rallygoers held signs regarding the war and human rights as a drum circle jived in the center of the crowd. Free food was provided by Denton Food-Not-Bombs. The police presence was minimal, and one officer even stated that he supported what the protesters were doing. 'I support what you all are doing. [You] have put me in a difficult position,' refering to the fact that the gathering had no permit, and the officer was wondering if he would have to make the protesters disperse. Moments later, a fender bender down the street took the officers away, and they never returned to the rally.

In downtown Buffalo, N.Y., 300 peace activists, students and people of faith attended a rally against U.S. military involvement in the Middle East. Despite very cold weather and brisk winds people stood and chanted and sang for over an hour. The Western New York Peace Center organized the rally with the support and endorsement of many other groups.

Allen Jamieson, an American Indian activist, spoke out against the war, citing our country’s history of stealing land and resources. He said this was a war for oil, which was a theme for most of the speakers. After the rally there was a candlelight vigil.

Other anti-war initiatives taking place around the country include the following:

Cities for Peace is a rapidly growing effort to get city councils and other civic bodies to pass resolutions against a war on Iraq. So far over 20 cities have passed such resolutions (see related story, page 4). To get your town or city involved go to www.citiesforpeace.org.

MoveOn.org is circulating an online petition and publishing full-page newspaper ads. Over 600,000 have signed the petition.

Numerous artists and Hollywood stars signed onto a statement to George W. Bush opposing a pre-emptive military invasion of Iraq and asking for 'the valid U.S. and UN objective of disarming Saddam Hussein' be achieved through legal diplomatic means. 'There is no need for war,' the statement said.

The weekend of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday will be filled with local actions and national marches in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

Jack York and Martin Wallace contributed to this story.

Uptown youth march for peace and justice

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 04:09:00 +0000

HARLEM, N.Y. – Nearly 1,000 young workers, high school and college students marched here Dec. 14 demanding an end to Bush’s war drive and citywide campus budget cuts.

With the slogan 'We Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere!' the march was called by Uptown Youth for Peace and Justice, a coalition representing anti-war groups, community organizations, youth groups, immigrant rights groups, labor unions and churches.

Karim Lopez, a march organizer, said, 'this march is historic because it is by and for young people. Young people face a special kind of oppression and exploitation. As youth we are given the worst jobs, with the worst pay, and the most money is made off of us.'

Lopez not only called for an end to the war being waged on Iraq but also for an end to the war against youth.

Undeterred by rain, marchers wound their way through the Washington Heights and Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan. March organizers charge that the neighborhoods, with Black and Latino residents, are targeted with the brunt of budget cuts and military recruitment. Local residents joined in anti-war chants and waved peace signs from their windows.

Maaret Klaber, a 17-year-old high school student, made giant origami cranes to give to protesters. Klaber told the story of a little girl in Japan who was dying of radiation after the dropping of nuclear bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. She added, 'I just wanted to carry that traditional symbol for peace.'

'It is in our interests to stop this war,' said Alcy Montas, a member of the Uptown Young Communist League.

'A lot of women, especially women of color, helped organize this event,' she said. 'We are a part of this and we are doing something, as women, to stop this war. We are in this together. And women will be affected by this war.'

Harlem Councilman William Perkins, who submitted a resolution to the New York City Council, said the Bush administration was also waging a 'domestic war.'

'Our economic system,' he said, 'is maintaining a state of poverty in our communities.'

Along with the New York City Council, 20 other city councils have submitted resolutions opposed to war. The marchers also gave their support to the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100.

Gary Bono, a TWU member, told marchers, 'Bush has declared war on the working people of the world and on working people here.' Adding, 'there is no money for schools, hospitals, houses and workers. But, there is money for war.'

'This is jsut the beginning,' Lopez said. 'Young people are organizing in New York City and around the country to fight for their rights and to say, 'we won’t fight your dirty war in Iraq.'

Libero Della Piana contributed to this article. The author can be reached at tonypec@pww.org

AK Steelworkers celebrate victory

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 04:00:00 +0000

MANSFIELD, Ohio – The ongoing campaign to end what steelworkers called the 'state of siege' by Armco/AK Steel corporation, ended with a victory rally here at the county fairgrounds, Dec. 14. Steelworkers won a long-fought victory, Dec. 10, when AK Steel announced it will call back union workers after a three-year lockout.

Members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 169 pledged to last 'One day longer' than AK Steel. They made good on that pledge at their rally and Christmas celebration here.

'AK Steel said you would never be back in the mill. They never once thought you would still be here, united and strong, for however long it took, and you proved them wrong,' USWA District 1 Director Dave McCall said. 'Solidarity of members, unions and community brought us this far, and solidarity must continue for the struggles ahead.'

As he looked out over the hundreds of presents piled in the cavernous Fairgrounds Youth Building, USWA President Leo Gerard told the rally, 'We honor today the wives and mothers who held our families together, the women of steel are the real heroines here today. We honor the children, whose future you fought for.'

Christmas celebrations have been an annual event throughout the three years of the lockout. Thousands of dollars were donated for the families in addition to hundreds of presents for the children. Michelle Lagato, USWA staff coordinator for the Christmas celebrations, and her women’s committee received a standing ovation.

The lockout, started by Armco Steel Corp. Aug. 26, 1999, and continued by AK Steel after acquiring ownership of the plant, imposed nearly intolerable hardship on the 650 members of USWA Local 169, their families, and on the city of Mansfield.

Numerous charges were filed with the city’s police department that scab workers driving Armco/AK Steel trucks had endangered union members and their families in a number of incidents.

Mansfield’s City Council struck back by passing a city ordinance introduced by trade union City Council members, requiring full disclosure of all personnel employed by any security company within the city limits. Securecorp Security, a company based in Poland, and hired by Armco/AK Steel, was guilty of 'importing hired mercenaries' to break the union, according to local steelworkers.

There were many rallies and marches over the course of the three years with broad labor and community support. The Mansfield community rallied around the embattled steelworkers. Charletta Tovares, civil rights leader, called for 'labor and civil rights unity' at a big dinner held by the Mansfield NAACP.

Though the steelworkers forced AK Steel to an agreement to end the lockout, celebration and joy were mixed with worry and concern throughout the ranks of steelworkers and their families.

Many of the workers voiced concern that while AK Steel caved in and they had an agreement, the company has not changed its spots. Shortly after an agreement was reached, the company sent notices to 29 union members that they were permanently terminated.

This attempt by AK Steel to continue to employ scab workers while at the same time recalling union members on a selective basis follows the pattern being used by Cargill in the lockout of salt miners in Cleveland. Both the USWA in Mansfield and the Teamsters in Cleveland have pledged that the fight will continue until all union members are back to work.

Local 169 President Randy Reeder praised his members and their families for holding together. 'We’ve won a victory, the union is back in the plant,' he said, 'but the struggle goes on.

'We’re walking back in there with our heads held high,' he said. 'They thought they had everything on their side, but we had our determination, our unity, our union, and they couldn’t bust us, but the struggle goes on.'

Rich Emmil, one of the traveling pickets called the Road Warriors, told the World that he had been to 124 local unions and federations during the struggle, spreading the word and raising thousands of dollars for the fight. Emmil said he was a poor union man before the lockout, 'but this fight made us all step up and be counted!'

Ray Delarwelle, from Local 169’s negotiating committee, said, 'More than anything, I have to say our union has been fantastic. I really can’t tell you how proud I am to be a union steelworker.'

Gary Massey, a rank and filer from Local 169, said 'Imagine this company suing us for lost profits. We ought to sue them, we had people beaten up, arrested, harassed, families broken, deaths, but the courts side with them. This country has its values upside down.'

Bonnie Rooks, 78, a locked-out steelworker and Road Warrior, received special honors. 'We were in the steelworkers’ protest in D.C., the Charleston Five protest in South Carolina,' she said. 'I remember John L. Lewis and the CIO. We grew up fighting for working people,' she said.

Accepting an award from Leo Gerard, Bonnie said her goal in life is to 'kick some ass for the working class.'

Bravo, Bonnie, and to the steelworkers in Mansfield, Ohio.

The author can be reached at wallyk@ncweb.com

ILWU caucus votes for tentative agreement

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 03:48:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES – The Longshore Division Caucus of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union overwhelmingly approved the tentative agreement signed by the ILWU negotiating committee and the Pacific Maritime Association on Dec. 12.

The Caucus, a representative assembly of each local, voted by 92.4 percent to recommend to the rank and file that they approve the agreement in next month’s membership vote.

'I applaud the Caucus for their deliberative and decisive action. I am proud that our union remains true to its democratic roots and provides a forum for serious discussion and debate,' said ILWU President James Spinosa after the vote.

'Given the forces lined up against us – being locked out by our employer and having the Taft-Hartley injunction placed upon us – we didn’t just survive to fight another day, we came out with a contract any union would be proud to achieve,' Spinosa said.

'We beat back attempts to slash our health care coverage and succeeded in gaining pension raises for our retirees and widows. The Caucus recognized that this is truly an historic contract and we are urging all ILWU members to vote for ratification,' said Spinosa.

Steve Stallone, ILWU communications director, described the Caucus atmosphere as unified. 'There was a great comraderie of having gone through this attack and having come out on top. We worked together to make this work. It is the opposite of what the PMA thought, we are more united than ever before.'

Stallone gave much credit to the AFL-CIO for its solidarity throughout the battle. 'From 20 full time staffers, including field researchers, weekly strategy meetings, to Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka’s sitting in on negotiations for six weeks, the AFL-CIO made a difference,' Stallone said. 'The ILWU and the AFL-CIO are closer than ever before in our history.'

Stallone said when Trumka spoke to the Caucus he described the agreement as the envy of all other unions, and having a big impact on other contracts. Trumka hailed the courage and discipline of the ILWU in the face of the attack from the Bush administration and the PMA, and brought a rousing, emotional response, Stallone said.

The tentative agreement reached will more than double the cost to the employers of maintaining the current health package – the best union health package in the country – improve wages and establish new safety provisions. It also provides a pension plan, which will be the best plan in the history of the labor movement. 'This is the richest contract in ILWU history,' Stallone said.

ILWU officers are touring the coast to address membership meetings about the agreement and to answer questions. The membership vote will take place by secret ballot from Jan. 6, 2003 until Jan. 13 at longshore and clerks locals. Results will be reported Jan. 24.

Stallone said the 7.6 percent that did not approve the contract were mostly concerned about union jurisdiction issues related to the new technology. Acknowledging that there is some ambiguity in the language, which may force arbitration fights, Stallone said Federal Mediator Peter Hurtgen told a press conference that his interpretation of the language is that those jobs would be union jobs.

The author can be reached at evnalarcon@aol.com

Thousands rally to back NYC transit workers

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 03:44:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Over 4,000 transit workers and thousands of others marched on City Hall Dec. 16 as contract negotiations went down to the deadline between Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Later the union announced a tenatative agreement, negotiated under the threat of millions of dollars of fines and possible jail sentences if the TWU was forced to strike.

The City Hall demonstration, sponsored by the TWU and the Municipal Labor Coalition, was one of a series of mass actions seeking to counter a fierce media attack on the union and workers’ concerns.

At the rally labor leaders and elected officials urged workers to 'speak with one voice' in public worker contract negotiations and in confronting private sector layoffs.

Bob Masters of the Communication Workers told the crowd, '$6 billion in tax cuts have gone to the richest 10 percent of New York State.' Barabara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress, an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) local representing 20,000 City University of New York employees, said, 'They’ve given billions in tax breaks and now they want to balance the budget on our backs.'

Two days before the deadline, the State Supreme Court issued an injunction, invoking the state’s Taylor Law, which makes it illegal for city workers to strike and imposes heavy fines on any strikes. Not satisfied with these provisions, Mayor Michael Bloomberg filed a lawsuit demanding a $1 million fine against the TWU on the first day of a strike, doubling each day, with a $25,000 fine on each striking. Despite this interference in the collective bargaining process, the union membership voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary. Alberdo Candelaria, a train operator for 16 years, told the World, 'We are not doing this to inconvenience riders. We are struggling for our survival.' Vivian Kronegay, a train operator since 1993, told the World, 'The MTA wants to cut wages and benefits while Bloomberg is raising property taxes. How do you take care of your family.'

The MTA had demanded no wage increase and pension and health care takebacks. The tentative three-year contract agreement includes a $1,000 lump-sum payment in the first year with a 3 percent increase in the second and third years.

Health care was a primary concern of TWU members. The tentative agreement provides improved health benefits including establishment of a retirees’ prescription plan and coverage for domestic partners and part-time traffic checkers, as well as creation of a child care trust fund and more funding for worker training.

The tentative agreement also addresses two key union issues: improved safety procedures and reform of the harsh disciplinary system which in the last three years has resulted in 48,000 disciplinary citations against the MTA’s 34,000 workers. Candelaria commented, 'They want to run trains with one worker as motorman and conductor. If something happens to the motorman it creates a dangerous situation for all the passengers as well as the workers.'

The MTA and the city waged a media scare campaign aimed at the seven million transit riders, threatening a fare increase as an outcome of any wage or benefit increase for the workers. Now the city and MTA claim the agreement makes a fare hike inevitable. The MTA has been sharply criticized for keeping its books hidden and for its continuing contracting out, part of the privatization schemes being pushed by right-wing Republicans as the way to deal with escalating budget deficits.

With the city projecting a $6 billion deficit, Bloomberg used the transit negotiations to open an attack on work rules in upcoming municipal contracts. Although the agreement includes the merger of bus lines which will result in savings for the MTA, management failed in its drive to require workers to do jobs not part of their regular assignments, referred to as 'broadbanding.' TWU Local 100 president Roger Toussaint said the city is now spinning the agreement to try to 'corral all the other labor unions in the next rounds of negotiations.'

Mike Schulman, co-chair of the New Action Caucus of the AFT, told the World, 'Budget deficits face every union now. We need to tax on those who can afford to pay. For example the real estate industry has been getting handouts for years. We can’t continue to support money for the war machine while are billions drained from public coffers and people sacrifice.'

The tentative agreement was approved by the TWU executive board by a vote of 31-9, with two abstaining, and will be sent to the membership for approval.

Dan Margolis contributed to this article. The author can be reached at jleblanc@pww.org

Bush warhawks maneuver to justify war

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 03:39:00 +0000

Despite growing world and domestic opposition, the Bush administration is mounting a new high-pressure campaign to force UN support for its drive to war against Iraq.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and weapons inspectors say the inspection process must be allowed to continue and that several months are needed to reach any conclusion about Iraq’s Dec. 7 weapons declaration. Iraq has been cooperating fully with the inspectors, who have thus far reported no sign that Iraq has or is developing weapons of mass destruction.

Nevertheless Bush is expected to declare Iraq in violation of UN Resolution 1441 requiring it to accept the inspectors and to declare that it does not have chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Although the administration either cannot or will not provide evidence that Iraq has or is developing weapons of mass destruction, Bush and his advisers are proclaiming that the declaration 'has nothing new,' and is missing important information. Many observers suggest this is a 'Catch-22' maneuver that puts Iraq into an impossible situation of having to prove a negative.

Weapons inspectors say it’s not surprising that Iraq resubmitted previous reports since it says it has not been working on weapons of mass destruction since the 1991 Gulf War. If Iraq had submitted new information, it would have put itself in the position of contradicting its own declaration.

Edward Peck, former chief of mission to Iraq and deputy director of the White House Task Force on Terror in the Reagan administration, told the World, 'You cannot prove a negative.' If we are looking for five-pound bags of anthrax virus, for example, no one in the world is capable of certifying that such things do or don’t exist, he said. 'It seems reasonably clear this administration has been out to get Saddam Hussein since it came into office and Sept. 11 provided an opportunity.' Peck said the administration has offered no proof of any of its charges against Saddam Hussein, but will do 'whatever needs to be done' to justify a war, even though Iraq is both 'economically destroyed and militarily incapacitated.'

Bill Christison, former director of the CIA’s Office of Regional and Political Analysis, told the World, 'A high-level group in the government desperately wants this war to take place.' They will hide behind security claims to conceal intelligence that doesn’t fit their plans, he added.

Christison, who worked for the CIA from 1950 to 1979, wrote in Counterpunch recently, 'It is beyond belief that the U.S. would ever have intelligence good enough to make launching a preemptive war morally acceptable. There is always an element of guesswork with respect to a potential enemy’s intentions.

'Even if you have a 90 percent degree of confidence in your judgment of what another country … truly intends to do, initiating a preemptive war and killing innocent people is still a prohibitively immoral action,' Christison said. 'Any way you slice it, you are killing people on the basis of a guess.' He said for a nation to believe that its intelligence services can provide a 100 percent degree of confidence is just one more form of arrogance.

Although chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has said he is not in the 'abduction business,' the Bush administration is ramping up its insistence that inspectors interview Iraqi scientists outside of Iraq, hoping that some of these scientists will furnish information that administration hawks can use to justify war.

The White House expects this ploy to give the U.S. an excuse to say Iraq is in 'material breach' of UN requirements. If inspectors refuse to comply with U.S. demands, Bush can try to use that to discredit the inspection process. If Iraq resists handing over scientists, Bush can claim that is a violation.

Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) denounced the Bush administration’s drumbeat for war and advocacy of political assassination, saying, 'I believe we have lost the moral high ground with the talk of war, assassination and first strikes coming out of Washington.' War must be a last resort, Boxer said. 'I don’t care what scenario you set, two days, 10 days or 30 days. It’s brutal, it’s harsh and innocent people will die,' she said.

Actor and director Sean Penn, on a visit to Baghdad, said Dec. 15, 'If there is a war or continued sanctions against Iraq, the blood of Americans and Iraqis alike will be on our hands.' In October, Penn took out a $56,000 ad in The Washington Post opposing the sacrifice of 'American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented pre-emptive attack on a separate sovereign nation.'

The author can be reached at suewebb@pww.org

AFSCME, Cleveland Fed.: No rush to war

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 03:32:00 +0000

With passage of resolutions by AFSCME and the Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, more than 80 labor organizations and labor leaders have spoken out in opposition to the Bush administration’s mad dash to war with Iraq.

In their resolution, the national executive board of the 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) called on the Bush administration to 'fully support and respect' the United Nations in resolving the Iraq crisis.

In their call for a 'thorough debate on the issues,' AFSCME leaders expressed regrets that some have challenged the patriotism of those who raise concerns about the Bush war drive. In a thinly veiled reference to the defeat of Georgia Sen. Max Cleland on Nov. 5, the resolution blasted those who attempted to 'taint' the debate over the Department of Homeland Security by equating a stand for the basic right of workers with a lack of patriotism. 'Such efforts obstruct and undermine honest debate about important, complex issues to which the American people are entitled,' the resolution emphasized.

In a statement following adoption of the resolution AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said, 'We must assure that war is the last option, not the first, used to resolve this [Iraqi] conflict. It is vital that the president provide Americans with clear evidence so a sound judgment can be made before our forces are sent to war.'

McEntee said the United States should not go to war with Iraq 'until there has been a thorough debate of the issues and the American people are fully informed and supportive' of such a venture.

In its resolution the Cleveland Federation of Labor, representing some 100,000 union members in 57 affiliated local unions, said UN experts were 'combing' Iraq for evidence of weapons of mass destruction and so far had found no proof that Iraq has such weapons. In their call for the Bush administration to devote 'more attention to the economy than a first strike, preemptive war,' delegates to the federation’s monthly meeting pointed to the fact that millions of people are unemployed and more millions are without health care insurance.

The resolution called on the Bush administration 'to suspend its plan for war with Iraq' and, instead, to 'intensively seek' a peaceful resolution to U.S./Iraq differences within the United Nations framework.

The resolution pledged the federation to carry on an educational campaign to educate union members and working people on the difference between the war on terrorism and an unjustified war against Iraq.

In closing, the resolution said the Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor would continue to speak out in opposition to war with Iraq. 'If our nation goes to war, absent demonstrably legitimate concerns about weapons of mass destruction, we will continue to express our opposition to that war,' the resolution concluded. It was adopted unanimously.

The growing opposition to war within the ranks of the labor movement found further voice in an anti-war resolution adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council on Dec. 9 that called upon the labor movement 'to stake out a clear, forthright and fighting stance against Bush’s war.'

The resolution, adopted without a dissenting vote, added that 'national security,' in the hands of a thoroughly anti-labor Bush administration, is being used as a bludgeon against labor, with the intent of rolling back all the gains workers have won since the 1930s, including collective bargaining itself, as well as social programs like welfare, Social Security and unemployment insurance.

The resolution called for revival of the movement led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that brought together the labor, anti-war and civil rights movements during the upsurge of the 1960s, saying such a coalition was needed to defeat Bush’s war and the racism that underlies and promotes it.

It concluded by saying the San Francisco Labor Council would 'work to ensure that organized labor and the national AFL-CIO take a clear and early stand against Bush’s war.'

Although AFSCME is the first international union to express opposition to Bush’s campaign for war with Iraq, labor’s opposition to that war has grown steadily since summer. At least a half dozen national labor leaders, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, have expressed concern and reservations while opposition has blossomed in local unions and AFL-CIO labor bodies across the country.

The growing labor opposition to war with Iraq is reflected in a Los Angeles Times opinion poll that found, 72 percent of respondents – including 60 percent of Republicans – said the president has not provided enough evidence to justify starting a war with Iraq.

The poll also indicated that Americans do not agree with the president’s argument that any error or omission in the arms declaration Iraq sent to the United Nations earlier this month is adequate to justify war. Even if UN inspections turn up evidence of Iraqi weapons programs, almost half of respondents said they would oppose war. Only 41 percent would favor war.

The author can be reached at fgab708@aol.com

Racism puts Bush, GOP on defensive

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 03:28:00 +0000

For Mississippians stung by the whip of racism, the firestorm engulfing Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is long overdue. Charles Tisdale, publisher of The Jackson Advocate, an African-American newspaper, told the World, 'With a record as bad as Lott’s, I can’t see why people are surprised. I’ve known Lott for 35 years. He’s always been a racist.'

The recent furor erupted when Lott saluted retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) at his 100th birthday party, attended by the Washington elite. It would have been better, Lott said, if Thurmond had won the presidential election in 1948. Thurmond was running on the Dixiecrat Party ticket with the slogan, 'Segregation now, segregation forever.'

Lott defenders portray his comments as a joking reference to a bygone era. But Tisdale responded, 'The schools in Mississippi are as segregated in 2002 as they were in 1962. The public schools are 93 percent Black. White children go to separate schools.'

The outrage over Lott’s racism 'is not going to go away,' Tisdale said. A few weeks ago Lott was the Republican standard bearer, he noted. 'Lott never should have been elected to the U.S. Senate. He got elected through a racist subterfuge, pitting white against Black and Black against Black to divide the Democratic vote.' Klan elements have firebombed Tisdale’s offices 29 times in the past quarter century, for his advocacy of racial unity and equality.

Lott, struggling to preserve his job, appeared on Black Entertainment Television, telling host Ed Gordon, 'There has been immoral leadership in my part of the country for a long time.'

He promised to do a 'better job' if he stays on as Majority Leader. He endorsed affirmative action to remedy job discrimination, an about-face that ignited fury among ultra-rightists.

The 39-member Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) released a statement Dec. 12 criticizing Bush for waiting a week before speaking out. 'It is astounding that he has not called for Lott to step aside as incoming majority leader,' the CBC said.

The CBC scorned Bush’s claim that segregation 'is a thing of the past,' adding, 'we have not eliminated segregation … when Americans of color are more likely to die because of a discriminatory health care system … when American school children of color are less likely to receive an empowering education … when Americans of color are ‘redlined’ out of our dreams of home ownership, when we are ‘racially profiled’ … or when we are unlawfully denied our right to equal opportunity in the workplace and the business world.'

The controversy has wiped the war on Iraq from the front pages and thrown the Bush administration on the defensive. Fearful that the uproar will cost him votes in 2004, Bush went to Philadelphia and criticized Lott but stopped short of demanding he step down. But Sen. Don Nichols (R-Okla.), an extremist who has long lusted for Lott’s job, called for a vote by the Republican Senate Caucus Jan. 6 to remove Lott, not because of racism, but because Lott is so damaged that he will be unable to push through their far-right, anti-people agenda.

Other Republican racists are being exposed, including Attorney General John Ashcroft. In the Southern Partisan in 1998, Ashcroft hailed Confederate leaders as 'patriots' even though their treason in defense of slavery cost half a million lives in the Civil War.

As the furor refused to go away, Bush shifted again, ordering his chief strategist Karl Rove to find some way to force Lott out, which is ticklish because they fear Lott may resign his senate seat, as GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) did. Mississippi’s Democratic governor would presumably name a Democrat to replace Lott, reducing the GOP Senate majority to one.

Many organizations called for Lott’s resignation. The AFL-CIO said Lott’s pro-segregation statements 'were shockingly out of step with the fundamental values of American society and unacceptable for a national leader. An individual who could make those statements cannot lead the United States Senate.'

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said, 'Lott’s statement is the kind of callous, calculated, hateful bigotry that has no place in the halls of Congress.'

People for the American Way (PFAW) initiated an online petition to both Bush and Senators urging that Lott be ousted. PFAW President Ralph Neas pointed out that Lott voted against the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday and against extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He cast the lone Senate vote last year against confirming Judge Roger Gregory, the first African American ever seated on the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals.

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said this party 'sounds like a toast to the ‘good old white boys.’ Lott clearly yearns for a time before women and people of color crashed the party.'

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com

International notes

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 08:39:00 +0000

South Korea: Crowds mourn two girls killed by U.S. vehicle

Over 300,000 people participated in demonstrations at 57 different locations in South Korea and abroad, to mourn two 14-year-old girls killed last summer by a U.S. armored vehicle. The gatherings were the largest in a series of protests since the U.S. military court last month acquitted two servicemen who operated the vehicle of negligent homicide charges.

The two, Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, were walking along a rural road on June 13 when they were struck and killed instantly by the armored vehicle.

President Bush’s repeated apologies for the incident have not satisfied the South Korean people’s demands for revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs legal status of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. Talks on SOFA are now going on between the two countries.

South Africa: COSATU celebrates anniversary

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) held its 17th anniversary celebration Dec. 2 in Johannesburg. COSATU’s President, Willie Madisha, said the labor organization’s long history of struggle on behalf of the working class, and the hard years of repression and resistance under apartheid, 'brought home to every trade unionist the fact that we cannot separate our engagement on the shop floor from the broader struggle to transform our society and our economy to benefit the majority of our people.'

Since the birth of the democratic South Africa eight years ago, Madisha said, COSATU has continued to play a crucial progressive role especially on issues such as the basic income grant, HIV/AIDS and the recent introduction of the historic Minerals Development Act.

COSATU is part of the tripartite alliance with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party.

Germany: Public workers threaten strike

Germany’s main public services union Ver.di has warned again that thousands of its public sector workers could stage full-blown industrial action after talks with employers broke down. The union is demanding a wage increase of at least 3 percent for the country’s 3 million public sector workers. Ver.di head Frank Bsirske said if agreement is not reached in talks this week, 'we will move toward widespread action.'

The union also wants see pay levels harmonized between western Germany and the eastern states of the former German Democratic Republic, where wages have been sharply lower since unification over 12 years ago.

Mexico: Workers seize factory

Some 250 workers last week seized a maquiladora factory in Ciudad Juarez to prevent machinery from being removed by U.S. owners intent on closing the plant without giving legally required severance pay and Christmas bonuses.

Directors of the A & R de Mexico plant called city police to report dozens of workers were refusing to let management remove machinery and furniture in trucks. When the police found a labor dispute was involved, they declined to intervene, but stood by in case of further confrontations.

The workers said the plant had been closed for nearly a month when management said there was no money to pay back salaries, bonuses and liquidation. The workers then organized a coalition, blocked the plant’s entrances and demanded the city impound the machinery to prevent its removal to the U.S.

New Zealand: Maori health worker wins compensation

A Maori mental health worker fired after taking unauthorized leave to attend a cultural festival has won over $30,000 in compensation for loss of salary, and stress and humiliation.

Emmaline Heather Burberry, employed by Good Health Wanganui for 21 years, had provided nursing and awhina (spiritual healing) services at the festival for 17 years. The day before last year’s festival, her employer denied her request for leave, though the company had approved it each previous year, and she was owed 20 days’ leave.

The employment court said that while Burberry took 'a serious step' when she took two days unauthorized leave, the employer had no right to fire her, especially since she had made adequate arrangements for care of her patients. The court said Good Health Wanganui should have considered cultural issues before taking action.

Israeli occupation robs Palestinian records, lands

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:59:00 +0000

TEL AVIV – Indicative of the political strategy of the Sharon regime is the systematic robbery of archival material. 20 year ago, in the Lebanon capital Beirut, temporarily occupied by the Israeli army under 'Defense Minister' Sharon, the Palestinian Institute of Culture and Statistics was emptied by Sharon’s troops, all the documents and files, as well as works of art, had been confiscated and shipped to Israel. No one knows what has become of it.

During this recent re-occupation of the West Bank towns, all offices and institutions have been systematically ransacked and robbed of archives and statistic material by special Israeli army and security service experts. All files, computer hard drives and diskettes have been either destroyed or confiscated. These stolen materials include all historic official landed property registration files of Palestine, beginning from the latter half of the 19th century Turkish Ottoman rule and the 20th century British and Jordanian regimes. These materials are of irreplaceable scientific, cultural and traditional value for the Palestinian people. There is a specific purpose in destroying any official evidence of Palestinian property.

In the southern West Bank town Hebron (El-Khalil in Arabic) reside about 160,000 Palestinians and a group of 450 Jewish ultra-religious, who constantly clash and cause trouble for their Palestinian neighbors, under the protective umbrella of massive Israeli army and police forces. Recently an armed clash between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers led to settlers from the nearby Kiryat-Arba settlement to set up a new 'settlement outpost' on the spot of the clash. They aim to create a 'secure Promenade' between their Kiryat-Arba settlement and the Hebron 'Cave of the Patriarchs' settlement. In order to fortify this almost three mile Kiryat-Arba-Hebron road, the Israeli occupation army has started to demolish Palestinian houses along it.

Hebron’s city hall stated, in a press communication, that these houses and neighborhood, designed to be destroyed by the occupation power, are part and parcel of this old city, and of special cultural and historic value.

On Dec. 5, the Israeli Peace Now Movement protested this newest anti-Palestinian drive in Hebron. Settlers attacked them and during the melee, police arrived and took sides with the settler gang, and temporarily detained some of the peace activists.

Peace activist and Gush-Shalom peace bloc leader Uri Avnery sent a letter to the Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein asking him to act to prevent the expropriation. Avnery asked the AG to inform the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defense about the illegality of this newest move in Hebron. Avnery also sent a letter to the commanding officer of the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank, General Moshe Kaplinsky, warning him, that since he signed the order to expropriate the land and to destroy the buildings he may be charged with war crimes.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

The United Airlines bankruptcy

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:55:00 +0000

On Dec. 9, United Airlines, the world’s second largest, filed for bankruptcy. USAir, Swissair and Sabena preceded it to court this year.

As with other bankruptcies, United’s is ultimately due not to mismanagement, but to 'overproduction': the capitalist class has produced 'too much' to assure profits. Jetliners sit parked in the Arizona desert.

Overcapacity was already a problem a decade ago when United’s management proposed a 'solution' – an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Unions would give up $4.9 billion in wages in return for stock.

Class-conscious workers pointed out that this was a ploy to get the unions to support cutting wages, benefits and work conditions. The offer bitterly divided United’s unions. But it ultimately passed in 1994. United became the largest ESOP company in the U.S. With wages cut, United’s shares rose, briefly exceeding $128. Some workers thought they had become wealthy, although the ESOP put sharp restrictions on share sales.

With industry 'deregulation' of the 1980s, the capitalist class had also begun financing airlines with no unions and poorer wages, benefits and work conditions. Southwest Airlines and JetBlue are examples. This in turn set the stage for even more 'overcapacity.' United’s ESOP had not resolved any of capitalism’s contradictions.

The downturn in the U.S. economy in the fall of 2000 quickly exposed the 'overcapacity,' not only in the airline but every industry. Profits fell, unemployment rose. Fewer and fewer businesses and individuals booked flights.

Sept. 11 added to airlines’ woes. For weeks on end, flights were flying half-empty or worse. More jetliners went off to the Arizona desert. The debt, though, continued to accumulate.

The capitalist class’s response to airline 'overcapacity' is telling. It immediately moved not to build demand, but to cut thousands of jobs, mostly unionized. It turned to the state for welfare – for the airline bosses, of course, not the workers, and above all to service debt. The government made airline loan guarantees dependent on the unions accepting even more cutbacks.

When the Machinists union at United finally balked at further cutbacks last month, lenders forced the airline into bankruptcy. The bankruptcy courts are likely to make even tougher demands on the workers. United’s shares are essentially worthless. After giving up billions in wages and benefits, tens of thousands of United employee 'stockowners' have lost their savings. The capitalist class’s claims, above all through debt, 'contractually' come before workers’ jobs, health care, even their stockholdings.

What next? Former airline executive Michael Levine, now a Yale Law professor, told the Boston Globe, 'United must use a bankruptcy filing to wring more productivity concessions out of its workers.' United’s pilots, he said, fly an average of 50 hours a month; Southwest Airlines’ pilots fly 72 hours a month. 'Where the game gets fought is if United dares to change work rules while in bankruptcy,' Levine said. 'That is the only good that can come out of the filing. USAir is trying to do that now, but they’re not big enough. If United lowers its operating costs permanently, its size would create enormous pressure on American, Delta, Northwest and Continental to reduce their costs, too.'

So the exploiters’ response to their system’s contradictions is for the workers to work 72 hours for 50 hours’ pay! The Communist response is to reduce work hours with no loss in pay and no layoffs! Uncompensated-for productivity increases easily make that possible.

The capitalists’ response to their system’s contradictions is to attack the unions. Our response is to defend and strengthen the unions. The capitalists’ response to their system’s contradictions is to say – 'Pay the debt before paying for health care or pensions.' We say: 'Health care and pensions before debt!'

In fighting against the capitalists’ unending demands for cutbacks and layoffs, United unions actually point the way in making certain that productivity increases go to benefit humanity, not hurt it. The task of tasks is to centralize and generalize such struggles, with the goal of bringing an end to this inhumane capitalist system. Only then will production serve people’s needs. In the final analysis, that’s what Communism is all about.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Chicago City Council to consider anti-war resolution

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:51:00 +0000

CHICAGO – Growing opposition to President Bush’s plans for war with Iraq was again revealed by the enthusiastic response to an anti-war resolution submitted to the Chicago City Council in early December. If the resolution is approved, Chicago will be one of the growing number of towns and cities to approve an anti-war statement.

The resolution, sponsored by 11 members of the council at the urging of Chicagoans Against War With Iraq (CWI) and other peace groups, quickly got support that crosses ethnic, racial and political lines. The latter point is important because progressive measures often get the support of fewer than a dozen council members.

Within a week after its introduction, the measure had won the endorsement of 24 of the council’s 50 members and supporters predict that more will sign on in the next few weeks. The resolution will be debated in early January, with a vote by the full council expected soon thereafter.

Alderman Joe Moore, principal author of the resolution, told the World that 'public response to the resolution has been overwhelmingly positive. There are few issues that have generated as many supporting telephone calls in recent years.' Moore urged Chicago readers of the World and other activists to call their aldermen to urge support of the resolution.

But there has been opposition. The Chicago Sun Times, one of the city’s two daily newspapers, viciously attacked the resolution and Mayor Richard Daley made disparaging comments when it was introduced on Dec. 4. However, the resolution’s sponsors feel that if Daley receives enough letters, faxes, e-mails and phone calls from his constituents, his opposition can be neutralized.

The resolution touches on all the arguments against the war:

* That the issues between Iraq and the world community have not proven to be 'irresolvable' by traditional diplomacy;

* No evidence has been presented that Iraq poses an imminent threat to the U.S.;

* Unilateral U.S. military action would risk the lives of thousands of Iraqis;

* A unilateral U.S. strike would violate international law and the UN Charter;

* A U.S.-led war against Iraq would 'purloin' billions of dollars from the economy;

The resolution concludes with a declaration by the Chicago City Council opposing 'a preemptive U.S. military attack on Iraq unless it is demonstrated that Iraq poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States.' The measure also urges the United States to 'work through the UN Security Council and [to] reaffirm our nation’s commitment to the rule of law in all international relationships.'

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Trent Lott must resign

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:47:00 +0000

'There’s not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Negro race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our schools and into our homes.'

– Strom Thurmond, at his acceptance speech after being nominated to run for president on the States’ Rights Democratic Party in 1948.

These are the words of Strom Thurmond during his campaign for U.S. president 54 years ago. For Trent Lott to pay homage to that campaign, praise it and declare its goals as good for our country is a disgrace. It is a clear sign that racism lives in the heart and mind of the GOP Majority Leader of the Senate. Trent Lott should resign.

This was not a 'bad choice of words' as he is claiming. Lott has publicly made the same point before.

Lott should resign because of his long association with the racist Council of Conservative Citizens (formerly the White Citizens Council) in Mississippi. There is ample photographic and written evidence to show that association.

Lott has had a life-long association with racist politics and movements. He was a pro-segregationist as a youth and in college. He has promoted and used racism during his entire political career. His voting record is clear: he opposed civil rights; he opposed labor’s, women’s and the rights of gay and lesbian people. He has been a pro-big business right-wing racist all of his life. The Republicans and the media have been hiding the true nature of these racist views. It’s time to put an end to their racist cover up.

The current 'Southern strategy' of the Republican Party includes an alliance with the Klan. Lott’s presence in the top circles of the Republican Party speaks volumes about the true nature of that party. Shame on the GOP leaders who say he should go because he’s too damaged to push through their far-right agenda, not because of his racist views.

On the other hand, those Republicans who continue to support his leadership show utter contempt for the struggle for racial equality.

We urge everyone to keep the pressure on – telephone your elected officials and join the efforts of civil rights and progressive groups that are calling for his resignation.

Organizing the unorganized

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:24:00 +0000

An interview: Stewart Acuff, AFL-CIO organizing director (see below for related story)

In a recent issue of Work in Progress, the AFL-CIO announced that its 66 affiliated unions had added 216,585 new members since Jan. 1, far short of the 400,000 needed to counter membership declines due to retirements and job losses. Add to that the decline in union density – the number of workers who belong to unions as a percent of those eligible for union membership – and it is easy to see why the AFL-CIO is organizing a conference to discuss past experience and examine new organizing strategies. To that end, some 150 union organizers will be coming to Washington on Jan. 10-11.

In a telephone interview on Dec. 13, Stewart Acuff, AFL-CIO organizing director, said the experience of the last several years is mixed. 'But,' he added, 'that’s the way it is with all organizing efforts. Given the stakes and the extent of employer opposition, there are bound to be setbacks. You might even say that some efforts have failed. But the real failure would be a failure to make the effort – to try to organize.'

Acuff said there has been enough experimentation with different organizing strategies to make it possible for the labor movement 'to find its way out of the swamp. That’s the purpose of the January conference – to help the process along by looking at ways we can work together to push back against employer opposition and, second, to examine what we have to do to change our unions to enhance our organizing capabilities.'

'We can’t wait for the law to change before we start organizing the millions of unorganized workers,' Acuff continued. 'The January meeting has the challenge of figuring out how to work in a hostile environment in order to achieve the level of success that will create and maintain the political will to do the hard, slow work of organizing. That’s not easy but more and more unions are taking up the challenge.' He added that the organizing climate has become 'even more hostile' under the Bush administration.

He does not think, however, that Bush’s anti-labor actions – ranging from denying 100,000 government workers the right to belong to unions to open intervention on the side of employers in the recent contract battle of West Coast dockers – has 'chilled' the desire of workers to join unions. 'True, the administration has made it harder for workers to achieve their desire for respect and dignity and a quality future for their families, but that doesn’t chill the desire. Given half a chance – and workers don’t get even half a chance very often – workers are ready and willing to fight to organize a union. Given a choice, they will always choose dignity and hope over fear and despair. A union gives them that choice.'

Acuff sees the process of building a stronger labor movement culminating in a situation where the right to belong to a union is recognized as a human right and is protected by law. 'And that will only come when we have the power to make it happen. Power,' he emphasized, 'that’s what organizing is all about. Power at the bargaining table and in the legislative/electoral arena.'

Acuff said the first stage in that process is developing organizing strategies that will enable unions to organize 'in spite of the law and, where possible, outside the law. It just doesn’t make sense that we get 70 or 80 percent of the workers to sign authorization cards, petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election and then get our brains beat out.'

He said there are a number of possible strategies, among them 'card check recognition' where employers agree to recognize the union once 51 percent of the workers sign union cards. 'They can sign a card on their kitchen table at home or in the union hall or at church, as in the case of immigrant meatpacking workers in Omaha.'

Acuff pointed to card- check organizing as an example of the 'reciprocal relationship' between organizing to win union representation at the work place and organizing for political/legislative objectives. 'In many instances local government agencies are involved in offering incentives – say a loan or tax breaks – to an employer for locating in their jurisdiction. So the central labor council steps in and asks, ‘What about the right of workers to have a union?’ When we demonstrate the power at the polls that we’ve demonstrated in the last 10 years, worker-friendly public officials can see they have an interest in unions being successful in organizing at the workplace. They understand that’s where our power at the ballot box comes from. And they can use the power of their office to help us organize.'

Acuff said there is no 'one size fits all' solution to organizing and pointed to the several successful 'recognition' strikes, including among industrial laundry workers in Chicago. 'To be successful, these strikes take determination on the part of the workers involved and support from the rest of the labor movement and community. But it can be done and sometimes it’s the only weapon we have.'

Acuff said state and local labor bodies can play a central role in creating a climate within the labor movement that encourages organizing, that builds union and community support for organizing campaigns and mobilizes union activists and allies to show their support with demonstrations and 'do not patronize' campaigns. 'There’s no better morale booster than when strikers see a delegation of other union members join their picket line.'

Stewart Acuff, the son of a minister, grew up in West Tennessee. He burst on the national scene when, as president of the Atlanta Central Labor Council, he and a delegation of several hundred union members staged a sit-in in Newt Gingrich’s home office. 'I still remember that day; it was in March 1993,' Acuff says. 'Newt had been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives after leading a campaign that brought 73 newly-elected Republicans to the House, thus making it possible for the Republicans to take control for the first time since the early post-war days. He was riding high with his ‘Contract on America’ and we decided to take some of the wind out of his sails. To say the least, he was surprised.'

The author can be reached at fgab708@aol.com

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Some food for thought

The labor movement in every country is structured differently. In most European countries unions are structured in such a way that one union represents all workers in a given sector of the economy. For instance, IG Metall, the German Metal Workers Federation, unites steelworkers, autoworkers, machinists and other manufacturing workers in a single union of more than two million members. Some 15 such federations make up the DGB, the German counterpart to the AFL-CIO, with 66 affiliates and a total membership of 13 million.

The U.S. labor movement is further weakened by virtue of the fact that several unions – as many as a dozen in construction, transportation and government – represent workers in these sectors. This has led to a situation where unions have become 'general worker unions,' and creating a situation where jurisdictional lines are blurred, thus complicating united organizational drives and making coordinated and industry-wide negotiations more difficult.

Statistics on union density – the proportion of eligible workers who belong to unions – which ranges from less than half a percent in mining to 16 percent in durable manufacturing and 35 percent among educational workers – and 13.9 percent overall – tell the story.

There are other numbers worth pondering:

* The 15 largest unions represent 10 million of the AFL-CIO’s 13 million members while the nine largest represent 8 million workers;

* Only 18 affiliates have more than 200,000 members, while 40 have fewer than 100,000;

* The average membership of the 50 smallest affiliates is 58,000.

Although size is not the sole determinate of power – as proven by the recent struggle of 10,500 West Coast dock workers – it is an age-old truism that in numbers there is strength.

– Fred Gaboury

U.S. strategic interests on Korean peninsula

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:14:00 +0000

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea this week called on the U.S. to negotiate a nonaggression pact between the two nations, saying it is the only way to avoid war. The statement was the latest in a series of DPRK initiatives in an attempt to normalize relations with Washington.

'The only way to prevent a catastrophic crisis of a war on the Korean peninsula is to conclude a nonagression treaty between North Korea and the U.S. at an early date,' the government newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a Dec. 16 report.

Why did George W. Bush include the DPRK in his fictional 'axis of evil' analogy? In a phrase, it’s because of U.S. plans for a strategic missile defense system.

The DPRK has been yearning to strengthen its economy that has been constrained by international regulations disallowing economic aid from U.S.-controlled multilateral financial institutions. Pyongyang was hoping the 1994 U.S. – DPRK Agreed Framework would facilitate this. Under the agreement, the United States lowered trade and economic barriers along with guaranteeing that two 1,000 megawatt light water reactors (LWR) would be built by 2003. For the United States, the purpose of the agreement was to decrease the likelihood North Korea would create nuclear weapons with nuclear waste created by its graphite-moderated nuclear reactors. Graphite-moderated nuclear reactors contain a plutonium reactor, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make nuclear weapons; it is more difficult to convert LWR waste into weapons-grade material.

Contrary to the agreement, construction of the LWRs is far behind schedule. The first reactor is not expected to reach completion until at least 2008 if there are no further delays, even though the 1994 agreement specified that both reactors would be built by 2003. The holdup has prompted North Korea to take bold actions hoping to keep the project on target. The first such action took place in 1998 when North Korea test fired a Taepo-Dong-1 missile which resulted in the project being even further delayed. But this action did not directly violate the agreement. Even as recently as February 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that North Korea has so far 'stay[ed] within the agreement.' Despite this, the construction of the LWRs remained behind schedule. The recent admission by North Korea of enriching uranium may be another attempt to force the United States to hasten the production of the LWRs. The DPRK has further reason to doubt U.S. sincerity in living up to the Agreed Framework. It came as a surprise to North Korea when they were labeled as part of the 'axis of evil,' a term used to justify possible U.S. military action. By admitting to a nuclear weapons program, North Korea may be hoping to initiate new negotiations. The DPRK could possibly offer to give up their bomb program if the U.S. lives up to its commitments of normalizing ties, releasing aid, and allowing North Korea access to international financial institutions.

The Bush administration may not be interested in removing North Korea from the threat list. A perceived North Korean threat is necessary to justify building the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) system, intended to counter China’s growing military and political power. With China’s economy growing at seven percent, it is only a matter of time before it dwarfs Japan in power and strategic influence. This worries sectors of Japan’s government, especially the military establishment, and also concerns the Bush administration, who do not want to see U.S. regional power and economic interests threatened by China. Since neither the U.S. nor Japan are willing to admit to building the new missile system to counteract a 'Beijing threat,' The DPRK is currently being used as the primary reason for creating the TMD in Japan.

In addition to the TMD, the U.S. is also discussing the implementation of the Navy Theater Wide Defense (NTWD) system that could be installed on U.S. and Japanese Aegis warships. These mobile missile defense systems could severely weaken China’s military threat and reduce Beijing’s political clout. China is concerned that its ballistic missiles, pointed at Taipei to prevent their independence, could be rendered ineffective by a NTWD protecting Taiwan. While official recognition of China’s threat to the U.S. would cause unwanted political ramifications, the touting of North Korea as a public threat provides a convenient justification for the development of both these new missile defense systems.

Much of the information in this article comes from a report by The Power and Interest News Report (PINR), an analysis-based publication that seeks to, as objectively as possible, provide insight into various conflicts, regions and points of interest around the globe. To see the full report go to www.pinr.com

Afghan refugees face unbearable conditions

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:09:00 +0000

Afghanistan is bracing for the repatriation of 1.5 million refugees from Pakistan, according to an agreement to be signed in Geneva next month, which was announced Dec. 13. Beginning this spring, 400,000 refugees will be repatriated each year for the next three years.

In July, despite protests, the UN announced that it was supporting campaigns to repatriate and even enforce the repatriation of Afghan refugees worldwide.

John Fifton, from Human Right Watch (HRW), told the World, 'The large scale repatriation of refugees, is not part of a well structured plan, it is just bad policy.'

The Asia Advocacy Director of Amnesty International said, 'It’s horrible in some camps, some [refugee] camps are 20-25 years old,' adding that the situation in the oldest camps has especially deteriorated. HRW reports that refugees repatriated from camps in Iran believe that due to the continuing U.S. bombing campaign their condition would have been better if they had stayed in the camps.

The U.S.-led war has aggravated the refugee crises, already existing from the long-standing civil war. A drought, which has dried some rivers for the first time in a thousand years, agriculture that has almost drawn to a halt, snow and freezing temperatures are also a danger to refugees and aid workers in some regions. Land mines left over from the U.S.-backed struggle of ultra-right forces against the People’s Democratic Party government of the 1980s are a continuing threat. The country has never had peace long enough to build a viable modern infrastructure and U.S. bombing has destroyed much of the infrastructure left.

Thus, even now food aid cannot reach all people because so many don’t have roads through the mountainous regions. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) spokeswomen, Tehmina Faryal believes that 'human rights are trampled over around the world but it is worse in Afghanistan,' citing the extreme corruption and continuing internal conflict. 'Warlords [are] controlling the country, assaults on women continue and the religious tyrants are reasserting themselves,' she told a reporter at a recent protest in Pakistan against enforcing repatriation of Afghan refugees. Two recent HRW reports give evidence of such widespread abuse.

The number of Afghan refugees worldwide exceeds five million people according to United Nations reports; three to four million are in the regions near Afghanistan, most of which are in Pakistan and Iran. Both Pakistan and Iran have tried to completely close their borders in an attempt to dry up the still flowing river of refugees. Thousands of refugees are in Austria and the U.S., while there are at least a half million in Europe. Furthermore, HRW reports that as many as one million people are internally displaced in Afghanistan, many streaming into urban areas for relief from the famine of the countryside.

In November, Afghan officials asked the UN not to rush repatriation efforts in light of the still tenuous state of the country. As pressure on refugees to repatriate grows reports of refugees’ fear for the stability and future of their nation have increased. The recent shootings of university students demonstrating for better conditions, continued corruption and criminality have deterred many refugees from rushing home too quickly.

Also in November, the EU announced it would begin repatriating 1,500 Afghan refugees a month in addition to separate campaigns of other European nations, including Britain, France and Denmark. Austria’s methods of repatriation have been the most controversial, offering asylum seekers tickets back home immediately and threatening forced deportation if refugees don’t repatriate 'voluntarily.' Less than 100 Afghans have accepted the French and Danish offers.

The Bonn agreement signed over a year ago has not yet been fully implemented. Last year Afghanistan officials asked for $1.6 billion for reconstruction, but never got more than $1 billion. This year they will only be appealing for $815 million according to the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Nigel Fisher. The appeal will be announced this week in Oslo. Activists, human rights workers and the Afghan people hope that this time the country might get the help it needs.

The author can be reached at bkishner@pww.org

As racism pervades the body politic, A new civil rights movement grows

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 06:00:00 +0000

Trent Lott’s racist remarks earlier this month may have served to strengthen a growing civil rights movement to defend affirmative action. The Supreme Court agreed on Dec. 2 to hear Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, which have been described as the most significant civil rights cases since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The cases’ outcome will decide whether or not the nation’s colleges and universities can continue to use affirmative action in their admissions policies.

Determined students, civil rights activists and lawyers are organizing based on the belief that the overwhelming majority of the country will not 'turn back the hands of time' and allow a resegregation of institutions of higher learning. That belief holds up in the wake of condemnations and calls for Lott’s resignation as Senate Majority leader by a large number of organizations and elected officials. Lott, in his remarks to a 100th birthday party for unapologetic segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), professed a longing for the days of legal segregation, known as Jim Crow.

The cases before the high court are based on two separate lawsuits, one brought by a white student, Barbara Grutter against the University of Michigan (U-M) law school; the other was brought by Jennifer Gratz against the U-M undergraduate school. Lee Bollinger was U-M’s president when the suits were filed.

Both Gratz and Grutter claim they were denied entrance because of 'racial preferences,' which according to their legal strategists, violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is the main legal force representing Grutter and Gratz.

U-M undergraduate admission policies are based on a 150-point scale. The school awards 20 points for applicants in an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, specifically African Americans, Mexican Americans and American Indians. They also add points for students of any race if they come from an economically strapped family.

Whites are not discriminated against as a racial group, while African Americans, Latinos American Indians, Asian American and other people of color are. That fact was reflected in a 1995 USA Today/CNN/Gallup public opinion poll that asked white Americans whether they had ever been negatively impacted by affirmative action; 98 percent of the respondents said they had never been denied admission to a school as a result of any affirmative action program based on race. (The American Council on Education has this and many other articles debunking reverse discrimination charges on its website, www.acenet.edu)

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati handed down a 5-4 decision in May that the U-M law school policy of considering race in admissions is constitutional. The court has not yet issued an opinion in the undergraduate case.

CIR has a long history of legally challenging affirmative action and other civil rights policies. CIR has challenged admissions policies at the University of Michigan, the U-M Law School, the University of Washington Law School and the University of Texas Law School. A self-described 'nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties,' CIR provides 'free legal representation to deserving clients who cannot otherwise afford or obtain legal counsel and whose individual rights are threatened.'

But according to the People for the American Way, CIR is part of a right-wing network of think tanks and centers funded by the Olin Foundation. 'The Olin Foundation grew out of a family chemical and munitions manufacturing business. It routinely has funded ultra-conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation and the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research. Other organizations on the far right that have received support from Olin are the Center for Individual Rights, Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, Focus on the Family, the Free Congress Foundation, the Independent Women’s Forum and the Institute for Justice,' according to its report.

Many see their challenge to affirmative action not as a matter of upholding so-called individual rights, but part of a larger ultra-right program to roll back any civil rights gains made in the past 50 years.

A team of lawyers representing the university and student defendants will argue race still matters in society and therefore must be a factor in order to guarantee a racially and ethnically diverse student body. An expert testifying for U-M said that a race-neutral admission policy would have reduced the percentage of minority students from nearly 14 percent to 4 percent.

Theodore Shaw, an attorney for student defendants in Gratz v. Bollinger and counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said the cases 'represent the most significant civil rights cases the Supreme Court will have decided in the last quarter-century. This issue is nothing less than whether the doors of opportunity remain open for students of color at highly selective institutions.' The Supreme Court heard the famous Bakke case in 1978, where racial 'quotas' were struck down, but considering a student’s race in the interest of diversity was upheld.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman told the press, 'This is a moment of great significance in our nation’s history. We stand at the threshold of a decision that will have a profound impact on our nation’s higher education system and on our race relations broadly.

'Now is not the time to turn back the clock. Race still matters in our society,' she said. A ruling rejecting the use of affirmative action 'could result in the immediate resegregation of our nation’s top colleges and universities.'

In a press release the Michigan AFL-CIO stated its support of the U-M admission policies. President Mark Gaffney and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Abbott said, 'We in Michigan have seen the results of the MERIT scholarship, wealthy families’ kids do better on the test and are more likely to receive the state aid. That is unfair. Our state and its educational institutions must be forces for equalizing society …We recognize that the greatest economic equalizer in American society is education.'

The Michigan State AFL-CIO will support a march on Washington in conjunction with the Court’s hearing date, expected in late March or early April, the press release stated. 'Americans must go to Washington, D.C., this spring to protect equal access opportunity for all. The labor movement works every day for justice and dignity on the job. We must raise our voice to the Supreme Court to protect these American standards and America’s future in college admissions.'

Affirmative action is high on the agenda of many women’s groups. National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy said in a press statement, 'If it weren’t for affirmative action programs like the ones at the University of Michigan and at virtually every selective university across the U.S., diversity on campus would be an empty promise. Every day for more than 30 years, affirmative action has opened doors for women and people of color – in school and on the job.'

Student groups like the U.S. Student Association (USSA) are part of this rising civil rights movement to defend affirmative action and diversity on the nation’s campuses. USSA, along with the NAACP’s Youth, College and Young Adult Division, is mobilizing to increase access for 'underrepresented' students on campuses and to defend affirmative action policies. They formed 'The National Student Coalition,' comprised of 180 NAACP college chapters and members of USSA, which represents student governments at over 400 colleges.

'Race should be a factor in admissions because racism is a factor in educational opportunity,' said Jo’ie Taylor, USSA president. 'An admissions process that does not recognize racism as a barrier to college perpetuates racial inequalities in society.'

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary (BAMN) is hosting a summit and conference Jan. 20-26 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under the theme: 'Saving Brown v. Board of Education – building the march on Washington to defend affirmative action and integration.'

Rev. Jesse Jackson from Rainbow/Push, Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Terry O’Neill, a vice president of NOW, Gaffney and Professor of Law from Howard University Frank Wu are among the featured speakers, which starts with a march and rally on the Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday holiday.

The author can be reached at talbano@pww.org

Poetry: Top carpenter

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 05:02:00 +0000

Top carpenter

Hello, Jesus, have we met before?

You’re a carpenter. So am I.

I’ve been building shelters ever since you came.

And long before.

I’ve built some stables ...

In Jerusalem? Hell, yes!

Some in Labrabor,

And I’ve thrown up some swaying skyscrapers

Along Chicago’s North Lake Shore.

Union wages? Christ, man,

What do you take me for?

I’m just like you, I want the best for me and mine ...

The cross I bear is waiting

Income damned unemployment line.

And I suffer all those children unto me,

All three!

That’s why I build a stable

To lay a table

For the wife, her old folks, the kids and me.

Well, Jesus, you were one swell guy.

I’m sorry how you had to die.

They got you, Joe Hill, Martin Luther King,

Sacco and Venzetti, the Rosenburgs.

You know why!

Cause you’re the guys that spoke at Union meetings.

Said, 'Share the fishes and the loaves,

And give your riches to the poor.'

'Yes,' said Jesus, 'we have met before,

It was time

We put ten million people back to work

Without starting up a war.'

'When we quit building

Those damned skyscrapers

And went to raising houses for the poor.'

'Yes,' said Jesus, 'I’ve seen you before,

You’re a working man,

I’ve seen you with Peter

On Galilee’s wide shore.'

'It’s guys like you we need real bad,

I wish,' said Christ,

'Our God had made some more.'

– Russell Farrell (The author was a logger and carpenter in Washington and Oregon. He died in 1997 at the age of 86. )

Films worth seeing

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 04:55:00 +0000

Movie reviews

Real Women Have Curves

It’s not often that Hollywood gives us a film that presents working-class folk as real people dealing with the realities of life – in this case a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles. Real Women Have Curves is a delightful comedy with respect for its participants, not ridicule, and with more than one interwoven theme.

Ana is about to graduate from high school. Her English teacher, Mr. Guzman, is trying very hard to encourage her to go to college. Her traditional and controlling mother wants her to go to work in the dressmaking shop managed by Ana’s older sister. Her father, a gardener, is more supportive of Ana’s aspirations for something else. Along the way we see Ana’s developing independence, the class conflict between the dressmaking shop and the firm for which it works under contract, and the growth of solidarity among the workers in the shop – as workers and as women. Ana’s insight helps the other women in the shop develop a recognition of themselves as women to be valued for who they are as individuals and not for their bodies. And, the women begin to appreciate their bodies in the same way that the insightful Ana appreciates hers. And Ana also gets a full scholarship to Columbia University.

See this one and enjoy it.

Far From Heaven

A very affluent white neighborhood in 1957. A stereotypical 'successful' family: the father a high corporate executive, the mother a busy society lady, though with some liberal inclinations that soon begin to set her apart from her peers. Little by little, it all starts to come unraveled, as realities that are not supposed to exist in that kind of social setting begin to assert themselves.

The father, it turns out, is gay. Then, enter a widowed African-American gardening contractor. A friendship develops (with some patronizing on her part) between gardener and society mother, and the racism of the 'proper' people (including her 'best friend') comes fully open. Compared to many of today’s films, the gardener’s character is well-developed and remarkably free of stereotypes. Interestingly, the film industry does not seem to be as ill at ease with confronting racism in another era as it is with recognizing present-day racism.

Far From Heaven is a good look at upper-class hypocrisy, well acted and worth seeing.

– Louise Paul and John Morris (pww@pww.org)