People Before Profit blog

International notes

Fri, 27 Feb 2004 05:47:00 +0000

Spain: Dockers hurt during demonstrations

At least 50 people were hurt Feb. 17 in clashes between police and dockers in various Spanish cities, Prensa Latina reported.

Nearly 14,000 workers employed by Izar, the country’s largest naval construction firm, are demanding new labor contracts, and their protests have resulted in violent clashes with anti-riot police in recent weeks.

The most serious clashes were in Seville, where trade unions reported 38 workers injured, while government authorities said 12 policemen had been hurt.

Trade union committee president Ignacio Sanchez told reporters the main disturbances occurred when police entered the industrial facilities. Some 300 dockers in Seville used rocks to confront police, who in turn fired rubber bullets and tear gas. The unions are demanding that the company not close any workplaces or cut jobs in the next few years.

Bulgaria: Steelworkers face dangerous conditions

Workers at Bulgaria’s largest metallurgical factory, Kremikovtzi, are facing increasingly dangerous working conditions since the company was privatized in 1999. All 8,000 workers at the plant belong to the “Metalicy” trade union, affiliated with the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF).

Equipment is outdated and faulty, the IMF said, while personal safety units and protective clothing are lacking, and sanitary conditions are appalling. Accidents are frequent and four deaths were reported in January.

In addition, workers’ wages and the contributions to their social insurance have not been paid regularly for the last two years. The union has repeatedly pressed management to improve conditions, but without success. When the workers struck last May, the local’s president and entire executive committee were fired.

IMF General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi called on management to pay all outstanding salaries, update health and safety measures, and halt dismissals. The union is preparing to strike the plant again if its demands are not met.

Nicaragua: Banana workers march

On Feb. 10, over 5,000 Nicaraguan former banana workers ended a 10-day march by setting up a protest encampment in front of the National Assembly in Managua, Resource Center of the Americas reported. The workers left Chinandega Jan. 31 and walked 140 kilometers (84 miles) to urge the government to step up support for their demand that U.S. corporations compensate workers who suffered health problems from the pesticide dibromo chloropropane (DBCP, or Nemagon). In December 2002, a Nicaraguan judge ordered the companies to pay compensation to 50 former banana workers.

The workers are also protesting a countersuit by Shell Oil, Shell Chemical, Dow Chemical and Dole Food Company, accusing the workers of conspiring to make a fraudulent claim. DBCP exposure has side effects ranging from respiratory and vision problems to cancer, sterility and severe birth defects. The chemical was used on Central American banana plantations in the 1960s and ’70s, and illegally into the 1980s after it was banned.

Iran: ICFTU protests killing of workers

Expressing “extreme concern,” the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has called on the Iranian government to identify and prosecute those responsible for the killing of at least four workers and injuries to some 40 more on Jan. 24 in the village of Khatoonabad and the city of Shahr-e Babak. The ICFTU demanded the release of all workers and their relatives arrested in the Jan. 24 protest. It also filed an official complaint with the International Labor Organization.

The workers, who had been building a copper smelting plant in Khatoonabad, struck and held a sit-in when the subcontractor employing them broke a promise to permanently employ all 1,500 workers, retaining only 250 workers. Special police units opened fire on workers and their supporters in front of the plant.

When workers, family members and local residents protested the attack, some 80 people were arrested and 15 held for questioning.

Nepal: Children protest child labor

To highlight the plight of over 2.6 million Nepalese children forced to work hazardous and exploitative jobs, child workers plan to send palm prints of more 1,000 children to the World Congress on Child Labor in Florence, Italy, in May.

Recent studies have shown that of the country’s 2.8 million child workers, comprising 40 percent of Nepal’s children, some 127,000 work in hazardous occupations. Eighty-eight percent of economically active girls, and 80 percent of boys, work 14 or more hours daily.

Children who migrate to urban areas are forced to work as domestic servants, porters, rag pickers or bonded laborers in carpet factories, children in rural areas face the threat of being recruited as child soldiers by Maoist armed insurgents. One-fifth of sex workers in Nepal are under 16.

Nepal’s constitution and laws bar employment of children under 14.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

German parties in a crisis

Thu, 19 Feb 2004 12:45:00 +0000

BERLIN – Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany no longer leads his Social Democratic Party (SPD). While remaining head of the government, he has turned over running the party to his right-hand man, Franz Muentefering, and replaced the party’s colorless general secretary with a man once ousted from the party for his radical views.

Rumors abound that the Cabinet will soon be reshuffled. The right-wing opposition has called this the “beginning of the end” of the Social Democratic/Green coalition government. Schroeder denies any weakness but the explanation of these changes is clear enough.

When it came to social security, health care, pensions and workers’ rights, Germany was once a model. Though very many are without work, liberal and lengthy jobless insurance, plus retraining programs and government subsidized jobs – somewhat like the WPA program in the U.S. during the Depression – kept many people going, especially with health costs kept quite low.

Until Jan. 1 you walked into a doctor’s office and waited your turn without pulling out your wallet; your health insurance tax had already been taken from your paycheck, your boss had added his share, doubling the amount, so you were covered for most treatment. Now, every three months, when you walk into a doctor’s or dentist’s office, the first thing you hear is: “10 Euros, please!” And no treatment until you shell out.

The price system for prescribed medicines has also been altered. A few prices were reduced but most have gone up. So have the costs for hospital and dental care. The justification for this so-called reform was to permit cuts in the monthly insurance, both for wage and salary earners and for employers who must match the amount, thus somehow encouraging more hiring and cutting the number of jobless Germans to less than the current 4.5 million.

But the 400 different semi-official and approved private insurers, or a fair share of them, now say: “Sorry, pharmaceutical prices, hospital prices and lots more are too high. We’re not cutting rates, we may even raise them.”

The reforms also deal directly with the unemployed. Next year jobless pay will drop much earlier to welfare payment levels, hardly above bare subsistence. In the eastern states, where German unification was followed quickly by the near destruction of industry and jobless rates stagnate at 15 to 25 percent or more, this will reduce large numbers of the long-term unemployed to poverty. The jobless will be compelled to take any job assigned them, even at the lowest wage rate, or lose all assistance. Employers will naturally take advantage of this, thus endangering the entire wage structure.

The big employer organizations are already demanding a longer workweek at the same pay. Cuts in pension payments, already beginning, will have a similar effect. Because of these cuts, planned for this spring, and the many additional medical costs, plus increased fares and rent, many pensioners are worried.

Is it any wonder that the popularity of Chancellor Schroeder’s SPD has dropped to an all time low of 24 percent? Strangely enough, although the Greens call for even more stringent changes, the junior partners in the governing coalition (who hold no key economic cabinet posts, however) have not lost out in the polls. They now stand at about 11 percent. That, plus the 24 percent of the SPD, is far from the majority needed if the present coalition is to be reelected in two years’ time. The right-wing parties, now at about 50 percent, are looking on with glee and already making plans for a takeover in 2006.

Only one really left-of-center party is represented in the Bundestag, the Party of Democratic Socialism, (PDS). Since the election of 2002, however, when it failed the 5 percent hurdle required for proper representation, only the two young women who won direct mandates in their East Berlin districts are now seated there and they have been pushed to the furthest edge of the chamber, with one telephone, no staff, virtually no right to speak, ask questions or otherwise participate. If it is to regain credibility as an effective party, the PDS must get over 5 percent nationally in the 2006 elections, especially among East German voters who have usually given it 15 to 25 percent in the five eastern provinces and more in East Berlin.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

You cant beat the bosses without passing the hat!

Thu, 19 Feb 2004 12:03:00 +0000

Congratulations to People’s Weekly World supporters and fund drive organizers who worked hard to raise money for the 2003 Fund Drive. From Alaska to Maine and Hawaii to Florida, checks came in to the PWW from 48 states (and several countries). In amounts ranging from $3 to $3,000, supporters of the people’s press raised a total of $165,682.

Along with the dedicated core of long-time readers, many who contributed to the 2003 Fund Drive were first-time contributors. Many reached in their pockets when the hat was passed at one of the events held by Friends of the People’s Weekly World in various states all over the country.

How do supporters of a modest working-class weekly with a loud voice raise $165,000? Many states held small grassroots events, in addition to several large banquets in the big cities. Here are just a few of the ways our readers supported the voice of working people: Maryland Friends of the PWW hosted a house party and showed the video, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Connecticut supporters held African American History Month and May Day celebrations. New York City was the site of a series of PWW forums. Others held yard sales, picnics or barbecues. New Jerseyans sponsored a film festival and raffle.

Some supporters raised money through ads honoring a local political leader; several cities sponsored a speaking tour by Canadian health care activists. Some folks gave a one-time contribution; others sent donations monthly.

Readers in Illinois, home to the editorial office of the PWW, raised more than $13,000. New York State turned in $32,115. More than $24,000 came from California. Readers in Connecticut sent in over $10,000; in Washington State, more than $11,000. Massachusetts, New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania readers sent in almost $9,000. Michigan raised $8,000, Ohio more than $7,000. Contributions came from most Southern states, too.

Supporters in Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Washington state, Colorado, Wisconsin and Maine all over-fulfilled their goals. Many of these states have writers who also contribute stories to the paper.

PWW Editor Terrie Albano expressed her appreciation for all the hard work. “Thank you to all our readers for your efforts to help us keep going,” she said.

“Just as every vote counts in the coming elections, every dollar counts in our fund drive. What’s more, a dollar for the People’s Weekly World goes a long way,” Albano said. “So as you read through these pages, if you agree the articles speak for you, please reach in your pocket and help support the paper.”

As the old song goes, you can’t drive a car without gasoline, you can’t clean a paintbrush without kerosene, you can’t hit a ball without swinging a bat, and you can’t beat the bosses without passing the hat!

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

International notes

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 05:45:00 +0000

Haiti: Gov’t calls for end to terror

Haiti’s Prime Minister Yvon Neptune Feb. 8 called on opposition leaders to end the terrorist violence committed by their followers in several regions of the country, especially Gonaives, Saint-Marc and Grand-Goave, the Haitian news agency AHP reported.

“The opposition cannot wish to attain power through guns,” Neptune said. “If it wished to participate in efforts made by the government to reinforce democracy, it must renounce violence.”

In recent weeks, the opposition coalition Platform of the 184 has repeatedly refused to join peaceful efforts to resolve the crisis. Several opposition leaders have declared that street demonstrations are not enough to overturn the elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The opposition spokesperson in Gonaives – where opposition activists have repeatedly attacked government facilities – said Feb. 6 that street protests can’t prove anything because the government’s supporters always take to the streets in greater numbers.

Sierra Leone: Disarmament process complete

Sierra Leone last week completed a five year program to disarm and rehabilitate over 70,000 combatants who participated in the brutal civil war starting in 1991, the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks reported.

In his final report, Francis Kaikai, executive secretary of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR), said after disarming 72,490 fighters, including 6,845 children under 18, and demobilizing 71,043 ex-combatants, he was “no longer aware of any illegal armed groups posing a threat to the state of Sierra Leone.”

Many former combatants were given job training and needed tools, helped to find farm or other work, or sent to schools and colleges.

Over 10,000 UN peacekeepers are still deployed in the country, but all are due to leave by the end of this year. An agreement in July 1999 led to setting up the NCDDR. But fighting only finally stopped in 2001.

Germany: Metal workers stage warning strikes

Tens of thousands of metal workers held brief strikes around the country as talks between IG Metall – the country’s largest industrial union – and employers in the trend-setting southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg stalled Feb. 5. Negotiations were slated to resume Feb. 11.

The workers walked out after union representatives initially rejected an offer of a 1.2 percent raise for manufacturing workers over the 15 months following Jan. 1, with another 1.2 percent raise over the next 12 months. The 2.5 million-member union is demanding a 4 percent pay hike this year.

Union Vice President Berthold Huber told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that if agreement isn’t reached by the end of this month, the union would “have to prepare for a fight.”

Cuba: Idaho legislators visit

Two conservative Republican members of Congress – Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Butch Otter – started a visit to Cuba Feb. 6, together with 15 agricultural representatives and the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation. The legislators have been calling for an end to the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba.

The group planned to hold talks with the Cuban government about sales of Idaho farm products.

“I’ve always believed that trade is the key to prosperity, in America and around the world,” Otter told the Idaho Press Tribune. Craig observed, “This is an excellent opportunity for Idaho agriculture to bolster sagging markets by greatly increasing the ability of Idaho farmers to sell livestock products, specialty products and other commodities to Cuba.”

South Korea: Auto workers demand leader’s reinstatement

Workers at Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest auto maker, started a series of partial strikes Feb. 4 to demand reinstatement of a fired union leader. The unionist had told overtime workers to stop work for three hours on Dec. 6 without consulting beforehand with management and union members. Management claimed the action constituted an illegal strike.

Workers in the 23,500-member union vowed to continue the half-day strikes every day until their demand is met. Management officials said prolonged stoppages would hurt Kia’s earnings, with more than 10 days of partial strikes cutting into the company’s exports.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

International notes

Fri, 06 Feb 2004 04:47:00 +0000

Canada: Wal-Mart workers organize

Workers at the Wal-Mart store in Jonquiere, Quebec, are battling to make their store the retail giant’s first unionized outlet in North America. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union says more than half the store’s 200 workers have signed cards.

In late December the union applied to Quebec’s Labor Relations Committee for certification of the Jonquiere local. Wal-Mart, which is contesting certification, called the union’s proposed unit “inappropriate.” Hearings will be held this month to decide how many jobs will become unionized positions and which jobs will be excluded.

Wal-Mart, which has over 4,300 stores worldwide and annual revenues exceeding $244.5 billion U.S., has become the world’s dominant retailer by slashing prices, and providing rock-bottom wages and benefits for its 1.3 million workers. It is virulently anti-union. Its aggressive stance has not only harmed its own workforce, but puts severe downward pressure on other, unionized retail chains.

Haiti: Gov’t TV station attacked

Demonstrators from the anti-government Group of 184 political coalition violently attacked a government television station they accused of criticizing their group on Jan. 18, the Haitian Press Agency AHP reported. Demonstrators threw volleys of stones at the station’s offices, smashing windows, and also attacked small shopkeepers at a nearby public market. Opposition officials claimed some shots were fired in their direction, but no injuries were reported.

Opposition demonstrations have been accompanied by serious violence since the Jan. 1 bicentennial celebrations commemorating Haiti’s independence – an event that the AHP said drew hundreds of thousands of participants, including international figures, government delegations and foreign diplomats.

Several diplomatic missions, including that of the United States and the Special Mission of the OAS in Haiti, recently praised the government’s good security measures in connection with the opposition demonstrations. But at the same time, supporters of the governing party have been killed, and others have had their property destroyed.

India: General strike set for Feb. 24

At a meeting in Delhi last month, India’s Central Trade Union Organizations set a country-wide general strike for Feb. 24 to protest the right-wing government’s failure to defend public workers’ rights in the face of last year’s supreme court decision gutting government workers’ right to strike.

The joint statement by a number of national trade union federations also emphasized the fightback against the government’s anti-people economic policies at the behest of the IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organization, which are causing galloping unemployment, growing poverty, destructive privatization and plant closures.

Labor federations in the various states are mobilizing unions and organizations of bank and insurance workers, port and dock workers, oil and telecommunications workers, government employees and others for the strike.

Cuba: U.S. & Cuban psychiatrists meet

Nineteen top U.S. psychiatrists joined their Cuban counterparts in Havana late last month for the Second Cuba-U.S. Workshop on Biological Psychiatry.

Dr. Mark Rasenick, Director of the Neuroscience Training Program at the University of Illinois, urged combining U.S. and Cuban experiences in the near future as both sides have a lot to offer each other. He said whenever he visits Cuba he sees new projects underway and new equipment – some of it developed in Cuba.

Dr. Charles Nemeroff, head of Emory University’s Psychiatry Department, said at the end of the visit that the U.S. can learn a lot from everything that’s been done in Cuba in preventive medicine.

Dr. Ismael Clark, president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, emphasized that the U.S. blockade of Cuba and restrictions on exchange of information greatly inhibits the free flow of cooperation between the two countries’ scientific institutions. The Cuban scientific community wants very much to expand its ties with U.S. counterparts, he said.

South Africa-Germany: Unions strengthen ties

South African and German union leaders met in Johannesburg late last month to map out ways to strengthen their solidarity in the face of intensifying globalization.

“We live in one world. Not in the first, second, third, fifth or sixth world,” said Michael Sommer, head of the Confederation of German Trade Unions.

Zwelinzima Vavi, Secretary-General of the Confederation of South African Trade Unions, responded, “Globalization has worked for some; it has not worked for the poor.” Added COSATU President William Madisa, “Germany is a very significant investor in our country. While we welcome foreign direct investment, we demand that workers’ rights be respected.”

Germany, with 450 companies in South Africa employing some 70,000 people, is South Africa’s biggest trading partner after the U.S. Trade between the two countries totaled about $5.9 billion in 2002.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).