People Before Profit blog

OHSA finds Beth/Lukens guilty in steelworker death

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:51:00 +0000

VALLEY, Pa. – Wanda Smith, 41, a production steel press operator for Bethlehem/Lukens Steel Plate and member of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 1165, went to work December 17, 2001, with her Christmas list almost completed and baking nearly finished. But at quitting time, cookie dough remained untouched in her refrigerator.

Smith did not walk out of the gate. She died at her press, due to company negligence, concluded the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a three-month investigation.

According to Chester County Coroner Dr. Rodger Rothenberger, Smith was crushed beneath a moving transfer car weighing between four-and-a-half and five tons. She died instantly. The coroner testified that a malfunctioning switch activated the car.

Based on its finding, the agency ordered full repair of the press and fined Bethlehem/Lukens $49,500 for “serious violations.” OSHA law defines violations as “serious” when “there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and an employer knew or should have known about it,” said OSHA spokeswoman Kate Dugan.

The OSHA investigation found that Bethlehem/Lukens Plate did not stop production at the press when the company knew that the switch engaging the fatal car was malfunctioning. According to safety engineers, Bethlehem knew that it had to “lock out,” turn off the electricity to the press, provide workers with protective equipment and provide, in conjunction with the union, a safe job procedure for operation of the press.

Bethlehem/Lukens also broke the law when it failed to install guards on the press to protect workers. Only companies can assign repair work on machinery.

In 2000, a year before Smith was killed, OSHA cited Bethlehem for failure to add guards on the press for worker protection. Because the company had a previous violation and failed to correct, $35,000 of the $49,500 in fines was the maximum for this single infraction. Company lawyers can have the fines reduced if the company fixes the press.

The USWA and the company are meeting to improve safety in the production area. The company has until July 6 to fix the press and pay the fines.

Health damage result of Mideast crisis

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:48:00 +0000

War is the great threat to medical and public health. The tragedies that take place on a daily basis in the Gaza Strip and West Bank are testament to this fact.

Palestinian children are facing a major mental health crisis that is directly related to their living in a war zone. In The Lancet, the British medical journal, researchers looked at children exposed to home bombardment and demolition. The study, which also looked at political violence that is associated with such assaults, found that it “was the strongest socioeconomic predictor of post-traumatic stress reactions.”

The study also found that children who were not directly exposed to the direct assaults, seeing the events on television or on radio reported anticipatory anxiety and strong expressions of distress.

The study was also concerned with the health care professionals who are not sufficiently trained to diagnose these children. “In communities affected by war and other forms of political violence, children’s emotional problems can be detected early by professionals and volunteers working in health care, and relief operations and education, rather than by specialists in mental health.”

Clearly, the bombing, military violence and bulldozing of people’s homes by the Israeli military has brought major public health and mental health problems to everyone in its path of destruction, but children are bearing a higher cost than most.

International public health agencies, working with the Palestinian Authority, must be dispatched to administer to these children in need and, by doing so, stop the reckless anti-people activities of the Sharon government.

The damage caused by the Israeli siege on the Palestinian people is beginning to have a human face. Children’s mental health is being damaged. On a more clearly brutal side, the use of rubber and plastic bullets paints another picture.

Rubber bullets have become a common form of crowd control. The bullets are intended to inflict superficial injuries, but are often seen as acceptable since they don’t kill. However, a study in The Lancet makes it clear that rubber bullets are very dangerous and must be eliminated as a weapon of crowd control.

“Rubber bullets were used for the first time by British forces in Northern Ireland in 1970,” the study said. Between 1970 and 1975, over 55,000 rubber bullets were fired in Northern Ireland. Plastic bullets were used by South African security forces before the end of apartheid. The Israeli military used plastic and rubber bullets between 1987 and 1993 against Palestinians.

The scientific study shows photos of the penetration of the skin by these bullets. They are very dramatic and clearly show that while the death rates from the bullets are not high – only when the bullet hits the skull or neck – the damage is very extensive.

The researchers concluded their study by saying that while there is a need for crowd control, rubber bullets are too dangerous. “We found a substantial number of severe injuries and fatalities inflicted by use of rubber bullets when vulnerable upper-body regions such as the head, neck and upper torso were struck. This type of ammunition should therefore not be considered a safe method of crowd control.”

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Airport workers demand living wage be paid

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:45:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. – A lively crowd of more than 50 pickets from several Bay Area unions and community groups marched and chanted slogans in front of the Port of Oakland Building June 18, demanding that the Port Commission take action to implement the Charter Amendment. The Charter Amendment was adopted by a vote of 78 percent of the voters on March 5, requiring that Port Contractors pay workers a living wage of $10.50 an hour.

Measure I, as the amendment is known, was accepted by the State of California on April 25, but the Port Commission has not informed the businesses affected of their obligations under the new law, nor have they included living wage requirements in new and renewed lease agreements entered into since April 25. None of the companies affected by Measure I are presently complying with the law.

Roughly 200 workers at the Port-run Oakland Airport are struggling to get by on the $7.50 an hour paid by the car rental companies and other Port contractors. For a 35-hour-week, that means a difference of $104 a week in pre-tax income, and as Raeann Hernandez, an airport rental car worker, put it, “Every day that goes by, I feel that my rights are being violated. It’s not fair that I am struggling to make ends meet while working two jobs, when there’s a law now that could make a real difference for me and my family. Hopefully, with our petition, and this demonstration, they will see that this is important to a lot of people.”

The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), which played a key role in organizing the mass campaign that led to the passage of Measure I, with the backing of the Alameda Central Labor Council, led the demonstrators into the regular meeting of the Port Commission. There, EBASE Co-Director Amaha Khassa told the commissioners that EBASE and its supporters expect action to implement Measure I before the next meeting of the Commission in two weeks, on July 2.

Khassa told reporters, “If there’s no action to implement Measure I before July 2, we’ll be back with a bigger picket line on that date.” Area unions participarting in the protest included delegations from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Service Employees International Union, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, Teamsters Local 70 and the Alameda County Central Labor Council.

The author can be reached at ncalview@igc.org

Israeli government builds evil fence

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:42:00 +0000

TEL-AVIV – The Israeli government has begun to erect a so-called “Defensive Fence,” part concrete, part wired net, all with barbed wire and equipped with sophisticated electronic warning systems. In its first stage, the wall will run approximately 70 miles, roughly parallel to the 1949 armistice line (the “Green Line”) but within the eastern, Palestinian side of the line. In several places, it will leave on its western, Israeli side settlements that were set up on confiscated Palestinian soil. The construction of this walled fence will take more than a year and will cost an estimated one billion shekel ($210 million).

A similar fence is already near completion within Jerusalem. There, it does not follow the 1949 dividing line at all. Instead, it entrenches the Israeli annexation of settlements established since 1967, isolating the 220,000 Palestinian residents of eastern and northern Jerusalem from the outside world and the rest of the West Bank.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his hard-liner Likud associates assert that the new fence, although it runs close to the pre-1967 line internationally recognized as the border of the State of Israel, is not a future border between Israel and Palestine. They state repeatedly that the Israeli army and other security services will rule both the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

The most extreme voices say the wall would herald the end of their dream of a “Greater Israel from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean coast.” If fences are necessary, they maintain, they should be built around each Palestinian town and village.

Sharon and his myrmidons assure these groups that Israel will rule forever over the whole of pre-1948 Palestine. If and when a Palestinian state becomes a fact, it would remain under Israel’s “security hood,” its border guarded by Israeli forces, its civilian authority under Israeli control.

The Palestinian Authority has sharply condemned the fence. They say it will separate several Palestinian localities and their agricultural land from the rest of the Palestinian West Bank and annex them to the Israeli side, and it will prolong the de facto imprisonment of more than three-and-a half million Palestinian people in huge reservations, encircled by barbed wire, tanks and heavily armed occupation troops. President Yasser Arafat termed the fence a “fascist method of racist encirclement.”

The leadership of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel has condemned the fence, including the unilateral decision to build it, its annexation of Palestinian land, and the fact that it will divide towns and separate Israeli Arab towns from the West Bank and Gaza.

A Gush-Shalom ad, published in several dailies under the headline “The Evil Fence,” states, “East of the fence the occupation will continue, the settlements will multiply and the oppression of the Palestinians will get worse, engendering more resistance, hatred and attacks. ... The fence will not bring peace; in fact, it is meant to be an alternative to peace. Its advocates argue that there is no partner for peace, because they are not ready to pay the price for peace. That fence will create a huge prison for the Palestinians, a ghetto for the Jews.”

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Struggling against profit-driven globalization

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:36:00 +0000

BHOPAL, India – Many people around the world may not have heard of the Narmada River Valley, yet the struggle unfolding there will directly affect over one million people and the biodiversity of South Asia.

Three Indian state governments – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra – in association with the National government decided to implement the Narmada Valley Development Plan (NDVP). This plan seeks to generate electricity and irrigation for these states through the building of 30 big dams, 135 medium dams and 3,000 small dams on the Narmada River and its tributaries. The Narmada stretches 1,312 kilometers, passing through these three northern states, which are among the most agriculturally and industrially productive in India.

The NDVP has given rise to one of the largest anti-globalization movements. For the last 16 years, under the leadership of Medha Patkar and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the one million Valley inhabitants, mainly tribal and Adivasi peoples, are struggling for their very existence. If the dams go through as projected, the Narmada Valley will be submerged under water, displacing 1 million people, and covering thousands of acres of forest.

As a mainly agrarian country, India needs to utilize its water resources to its maximum. But irresponsible and corrupt politicians are exploiting the situation for their narrow interests. No governments, present or previous, have a program for rehabilitation. Originally the Valley residents were not against the project, but demanded only proper compensation. But now, because of all the maneuvering by profit-motivated interests, the people are totally against this project.

The struggle for justice in Narmada River Valley even forced the World Bank, which was the major funding agency of the dams, to withdraw their support.

Ultra-right and centrist parties rule the three state governments, while the national government is led by the ultra-right BJP. Their programs are making the situation worse. For example, recently the Narmada Control Authority, another governmental body, illegally gave permission to raise the height of one dam, Sardar Sarovar, disregarding any previous findings.

The true beneficiaries of the NDVP are the rich farmers who own thousands of acres of land, industries owned by politicians, including the gigantic sugar mills owned by a former Gujarat chief minister, and various multi-national corporations.

Bhopal, capital city of Madhya Pradesh and the city where Union Carbide committed the world’s worst industrial murder in 1984, is the current center of a month-long hunger strike by four NBA activists, including NBA leader Patkar. Madhya Pradesh police have tried to suppress the strike with an iron hand. Instead of talking to NBA, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister DigVijay Singh resorted to putting all participants behind bars.

Leaders of center and right political parties are trying to attack Patkar because of her growing popularity and her principled, social justice, grassroots and non-violent approach. The mass base and support of the NBA is a severe threat to these political parties and their ideologies.

Left parties, though, along with trade unions, youth and women’s organizations and various environmental groups are part of this ongoing struggle. At the recent convention of the Communist Party of India, Patkar spoke to the delegates, urging unity and coalition-building on this front. The NBA is urging all concerned to write to the Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Prime Minister and President, insisting they “refrain from killing people and human rights by drowning them without resettlement with an alternate land.”

More than 8,000 families in north India face the danger of submergence in this year’s monsoon season, which starts in July. Raising the height of the Dam Sardar Sarovar before this will affect more than 60 villages of Madhya Pradesh, 33 villages of Maharashtra and hundreds of families in Gujarat. The NBA calls this a “state-sponsored ‘massacre by water.’”

“This will be the man-made flooding and submergence of the people. The extent of such a disaster will depend on the rainfall this monsoon,” the NBA said in a June 15 press release.

Many are gathering in this region June 29 to peacefully and dramatically show the life and death issues at stake in the Narmada River Valley. For more information visit: www.narmada.org

Terrie Albano contributed to this article.The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Activists gather to support Venezuelan democracy

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:33:00 +0000

NEW YORK – On Sunday, June 9, the Harlem/Washington Heights Friends of the People’s Weekly World held a forum on the dramatic events in the country of Venezuela.

An enthusiastic audience of activists from the community, including participants from various U.S.-based Hispanic organizations, heard Blair Bertaccini, a trade unionist, Latin America scholar and solidarity activist, who recently returned from attending the Congress of the Venezuelan Communist Party, and Wilson Spencer, well-known left activist in New York’s Dominican community.

The two speakers gave a comprehensive picture of the exciting political process in Venezuela. Both speakers emphasized the need for the U.S. people to put an end to the Bush administration policies in support of the Venezuelan oligarchy. Such policies, they said, are designed to undermine and destroy the democratic process in Venezuela.

At the end of the presentations there was a lively question-and-answer session with many enthusiastic speeches in solidarity with the courageous people of Venezuela.

Everyone present agreed that the newly developing U.S. movement for peace and justice needs to include in its agenda the urgent question of solidarity with the people of Venezuela.

Demanding equality at Wal-Mart

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:33:00 +0000

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The National Organization for Women (NOW) lived up to its activist, “in-the-street” tradition at its national conference here last weekend. Delegates and guests took to their feet and grabbed their picket signs following a speech from United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) Vice President Susan Phillips.

Retail sales account for one of every five jobs in the U.S., Phillips told NOW delegates and guests, and are the leading source of employment for non-college-educated women. Cashier is the growing job title in the U.S.

With 3,100 stores and 1 million workers, 72 percent of whom are women, Wal-Mart pushed out GM and GE as the largest corporation in the world. However, there is an “iron ceiling” at Wal-Mart – only a third of the managers are women. On average, retail workers are paid $9 an hour or $18,720 a year, but at Wal-Mart workers are paid an average of $10,920 a year, $3,000 below the poverty line. Only 40 percent of Wal-Mart workers can afford to participate in the company’s health care plan; 80 percent can afford the pension plan, which is an undefined plan invested in the stock market. “Or do I hear Enron?” Phillips remarked. Only the federal government is sued more than Wal-Mart, with charges of sexual harassment and discrimination, violations of child labor laws, Labor Board violations and exclusion of contraceptive health coverage at the top of the stack.

“We are going to organize Wal-Mart, with your help,” said Phillips. “Wal-Mart is dragging down the wages of all retail workers across the country. We need to join hands with our sisters across the cash register and build a national movement of women talking about their paychecks and dignity at work!”

The busloads of conference participants marched to the front doors of a Wal-Mart store and held a short rally in the driveway, and distributed flyers and brochures. Fists went up supporting Wal-Mart workers and NOW’s efforts and several cars turned around and left the parking lot as speakers addressed shoppers and NOW members.

The conference named Wal-Mart a “Merchant of Shame,” part of NOW’s Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign, a project demanding equal rights on the job. “NOW’s campaign spurred Smith Barney, Mitsubishi Motors and other leading corporations to work toward creating truly women-friendly and family-friendly workplaces,” NOW President Kim Gandy told reporters.

“We’re shining a spotlight on Wal-Mart’s workplace abuses,” she continued. “This is a public pressure campaign against one of the largest employers in the U.S. The women and men of Wal-Mart deserve a workplace that respects their rights. Consumers across the country need to be able to spend their dollars with a clear conscience.”

Marj Sutherland: Spear bearer for justice

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:30:00 +0000

Marj Sutherland, born May 24, 1941, a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party, and a life-long communist, died last week at age 61 from lung cancer.

Marj lived a life committed to social and economic justice, peace and for socialism, making her mark engaging in the great struggles of the day. With courage, passion, utter commitment, devotion and sincerity, Marj contributed to the work of uniting people in struggle for the betterment of all humankind.

Marj’s unshakeable faith in humanity was forged in the civil rights struggles. In 1964, she traveled to the south as part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, created to build the collective strength for voting rights and other basic democratic rights denied to African Americans.

In words written to her family from Mississippi, she said voter registration and registration for the Freedom Democratic Party was “one of the hardest tasks of the movement ... it involves plain, hard, tedious, tiresome, exasperating, patience-trying, infuriating, hellish work ... it is also most satisfying.”

She wrote: “... here you see all the ways that oppression is maintained, practical ways, bread-and-butter ways, life-and- death ways. And so when you win with even one person, it is deeply satisfying ... we do win and are winning, step by step, one man at a time – but winning.”

Marj came of age in the oppression of McCarthyism. When Marj was a teenager, her mother, Irene Hull, was named by the Veldi Internal Security Committee (Senate) as an “enemy of the government.” Years later, Marj overcame such intimidation and was interviewed for the Tacoma News Tribune as a member of the Tacoma Communist Club.

In the early 1990s, Marj was a key activist in helping form the Washington State chapter of Jobs with Justice (JwJ). She led actions against Newt Gingrich and his “Contract on America”; organized Tacoma residents to rally behind striking Boeing machinists; and helped connect labor activists to anti-poverty organizations in the community.

Marj was not only a hard worker, “she was an extraordinarily clear thinker,” said Jonathan Rosenblum, union organizer. “I can remember many occasions when we’d have to make an important decision about building the JwJ coalition, or about how to conduct an action. When the picture would seem confusing or complex to many of us, Marj would cut through the haze with uncanny clarity. She had a tremendous knack for helping to figure out how to build militancy and unity at the same time. And she put forward her ideas simply and crisply.”

Marj emersed herself in too many struggles to even list. But a few of the highlights of her life include: a lifetime of struggle for peace, including efforts to end the Vietnam war and to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons; friendship and solidarity with Cuba (including two trips with the U.S. Cuba Friendshipment caravan); support for economic justice, including efforts to extend unemployment compensation, raise the minimum wage and create jobs.

A word must be said about the cause of her death. Since her first cancer diagnosis, Marj regretted that “it took [her] 40 years to quit smoking.” Throughout her illness, she counseled family and friends who were smokers to quit.

While her death leaves a huge hole for others to step forward to fill, her life’s work leaves us with myriad examples of how to fill that hole.

Marj is preceded in death by her husband, Milford Sutherland; and she is survived by her mother, Irene Hull daughter and son-in-law Laurie and Greg Arnold, grandchildren Kendra and Quinn, sisters Beverly and Sally and the Sutherland/Lindberg family of which she was an important part.

A memorial is planned for Sunday, July 28, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. For location please call: 253-627-6402. Donations can be sent in her name to the People’s Weekly World and Communist Party.

Labor rallies against secession in Los Angeles

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:28:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES – Over 1,000 union members, community activists and concerned residents jammed the auditorium of Los Angeles Valley College on June 22 to denounce two proposed city secession initiatives that will appear on November’s ballot. If passed by the voters, both the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood districts would break away from the City of Los Angeles and form two separate cities.

The anti-secession rally, which was co-sponsored by the LA County Federation of Labor, kicked off what promises to be a fierce campaign against the ballot proposals. A number of political, labor, and community leaders took to the stage to voice their concerns about secession.

Many fear that the new cities, not being bound by any union contracts, would try to slash payrolls by contracting out city jobs or reducing salaries or benefits. In addition, there is no guarantee that they would continue to honor current LA city laws regarding rent control, living wages and anti-discrimination protections.

“Over and over again, we’ve been able to introduce progressive legislation in Los Angeles. That may not be the case in a new city,” said Miguel Contreras, head of the LA County Federation of Labor.

Former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, whose mayoral campaign last year garnered strong support from organized labor, pleaded with the audience to join him to “save Los Angeles.”

“Many of the people in this room come from corners all over the earth”, remarked Villaraigosa. “The reason this city is so special is because of the diversity of the people in it. You don’t break up the family just because there’s a problem. You have to work together to solve your differences.”

In a show of unity, Villaraigosa was joined at the podium by his opponent in last year’s election, current LA Mayor James Hahn.

“The secession supporters say breaking away will help taxpayers and make government more efficient. But nothing can be further than the truth,” said Hahn. “City services will be cut or lost, and I think we’ll lose many protections for seniors and workers if this city breaks up. The people who are selling [the initiatves] are selling snake oil.”

Thousands of union members are expected to pitch in as volunteers for the November campaign, ready to staff phone banks or walk precincts.

“We have been talking to our members for well over a year on this, and I have yet to find a city worker who thinks secession is a good idea,” said Julie Butcher, general manager of the Service Employees International Union Local 347, which represents over 9,000 city workers. The city’s police and firefighter unions also oppose secession.

The author can be reached at RayLeos@aol.com

Wellstone backed as womens advocate

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:24:00 +0000

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) is nationally known as an outspoken progressive, and George W. Bush and the ultra-right are chomping at the bit to oust him in November. Their hand-picked candidate, former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, is trying to woo women voters. But Jill Pearson-Wood, board president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Minnesota chapter, said her group is backing Wellstone, who is seeking a third term.

“Paul is the only national legislator that we’re aware of that has voted right on all of NOW’s positions all the time,” Pearson-Wood said. “He’s not only been a supporter of our issues, he’s also been a leader on making them a reality. Throughout his political career, he’s consistently been out in front as an advocate for women.”

Wellstone is an outspoken advocate of reproductive choice, while Coleman is closely associated with anti-abortion organizations.

“If there were only one reason for a woman to vote this election, it would be the issue of choice,” Ann Lewis, Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Votes Center chair said. “Right now, there is a one-vote margin for Roe [v. Wade] in the Senate. That’s it.”

Amy Bodnar, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council director, said her members appreciate Wellstone’s unflagging support of workers’ rights. “As women in the work force, we believe in a living wage, and Paul has been proactive in making sure that, as much as possible, people in our state get paid a living wage,” she said. “He has also been proactive in protecting workers’ right to organize.”

International notes

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:18:00 +0000

Colombian strike protests killing

Colombia’s USO oil workers’ union struck for two days last week to protest the assassination of one of its officers, Cesar Blanco Moreno, a union official in Bucaramanga.

Their strike was announced the same day the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) released a report showing 223 trade unionists were killed or disappeared worlwide last year – 201 of them from Colombia.

The ICFTU said Colombia was the most dangerous country in the world for trade union activity because those who carry out the murders enjoy impunity.

Blanco had been seriously injured in a 1998 attempt on his life.

The ICFTU report also said over 4,000 trade unionists were arrested worldwide last year, 1,000 were injured and 10,000 fired for union activity.

Greek workers fight pension cuts

In the latest strike protesting the government’s drive to cut social security benefits, Greek port workers conducted a militant four-day strike last week, shutting down ferries and other shipping.

Thousands of workers gathered at the port of Piraeus June 21 for a rally and march to the Maritime Ministry.

Workers returned to their jobs this week, after the government issued an emergency order that would mobilize them under military control.

Public sector workers also struck for 24 hours last week, halting international and domestic flights, closing many government offices and stopping train service.

The main Greek labor federations joined in calling the actions.

Peruvian dockers urge fair hiring system

Dock workers, clerks and some truck drivers stopped work for 48 hours last week to protest Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo’s veto of a law setting up a registry and rotation system to give dockers the right to work in a fair and equitable way. FEMAPOR, the Peruvian dock workers’ union, said the law, passed overwhelmingly by the Congress, reinstated a legal framework abolished by former President Fujimora.

At the same time, demonstrations sweeping southern Peru over privatization of the electrical companies forced the government to halt privatization. Repression of the anti-privatization protests resulted in deaths of two demonstrators, and the port union said dockers also feared the possibility of repression by the armed forces.

South Africa celebrates Freedom Charter

June 26 marks the 47th anniversary of the adoption of South Africa’s Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People.

“Though clearly a product of its times, the Freedom Charter remains to this day a point of reference as we work to build a new South Africa,” President Thabo Mbeki said in a statement. One of the reasons the charter is still valid, he said, is that it was “truly a product of popular participation” and was drawn up on the basis of demands of people throughout the country.

“The Congress of the People itself, which adopted the final draft, was attended by delegates drawn from all our racial groups and from both urban and rural areas,” Mbeki said. “In a real sense, it was the precursor to the democratically elected parliament which today is our supreme lawmaker.”

Millions strike in Spain

Spanish trade unions said an estimated 10 million workers joined in a 24-hour general strike June 20, to protest government plans to slash unemployment benefits and make it easier to fire workers. The national labor federation said over 80 percent of workers stayed off the job.

The strike took place the day before conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar hosted a European Union summit in Seville.

Canadian G-8 summit draws protests

Some 2,000 demonstrators marched in Calgary Sunday in the first of a series of anti-globalization rallies. Organizers urged protesters to return for demonstrations later in the week.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is hosting leaders from Japan, Italy, Germany, Britain, the U.S., France and Russia at the Kananaskis mountain retreat, west of Calgary.

Protest marches are also slated for Edmonton, Toronto and Victoria this week, along with a large “Take the Capital” protest on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill.

China-Taiwan informal trade talks urged

The Chinese government is proposing that authorities in both China and Taiwan entrust civil groups to jump-start talks on direct links of trade, transportation and mail services.

Meeting with delegations from Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang and People First Party and business leaders, Li Bincai, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, said such links could be achieved through people-to-people, industry-to-industry and company-to-company consultation. He said this is the most practical way to establish such links since official and semi-official contacts are lacking across the Taiwan Straits, because the Taiwan authorities refuse to accept the one-China principle.

Congress cant ignore corporate control of the media

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:15:00 +0000

One of our best-kept secrets is the degree to which a handful of huge corporations control the flow of information in the United States. Whether it is television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books or the Internet, a few giant conglomerates are determining what we see, hear and read. And the situation is likely to become much worse as a result of radical deregulation efforts by the Bush administration and some horrendous court decisions.

Television is the means by which most Americans get their “news.” Without exception, every major network is owned by a huge conglomerate that has enormous conflicts of interest. Fox News Channel is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a right-wing Australian who already owns a significant portion of the world’s media. His network has close ties to the Republican Party, and among his “fair and balanced” commentators is Newt Gingrich.

NBC is owned by General Electric, one of the largest corporations in the world – and one with a long history of anti-union activity. GE, a major contributor to the Republican Party, has substantial financial interests in weapons manufacturing, finance, nuclear power and many other industries. Former CEO Jack Welch was one of the leaders in shutting down American plants and moving them to low-wage countries like China and Mexico.

ABC is owned by the Disney Corp., which produces toys and products in developing countries, where they provide their workers atrocious wages and working conditions.

CBS is owned by Viacom, another huge media conglomerate that owns, among other entities, MTV, Showtime, Nickelodeon, VH1, TNN, CMT, 39 broadcast television stations, 184 radio stations, Paramount Pictures and Blockbuster Inc.

The essential problem with television is not just a right-wing bias in news and programming, or the transformation of politics and government into entertainment and sensationalism. Nor is it just the constant bombardment of advertising, much of it directed at children. It’s that the most important issues facing the middle-class and working people of our country are rarely discussed. The average American does not see his or her reality reflected on the television screen.

The United States is the only industrialized nation on earth that does not have a national healthcare program. Yet, despite 41 million people with no health insurance and millions more underinsured, we spend far more per capita on healthcare than any other nation. Maybe the reason is that we are seeing no good programs on television, in between the prescription drug advertisements, discussing how we can provide quality healthcare for all at far lower per capita costs than we presently spend?

Despite the great “economic boom” of the 1990s, the average American worker is now working longer hours for lower wages than 30 years ago, and we have lost millions of decent-paying manufacturing jobs. Where are the TV programs addressing our $360 billion trade deficit, or what our disastrous trade policy has done to depress wages in this country? And while we’re on economics, workers who are in unions earn 30 percent more than non-union people doing the same work.

There are a lot of programs on television about how to get rich by investing in the stock market. But have you seen any “specials” on how to go about forming a union?

The United States has the most unfair distribution of wealth and income in the industrialized world, and the highest rate of childhood poverty. There’s a lot of television promoting greed and self-interest, but how many programs speak to the “justice” of the richest 1 percent owning more wealth than the bottom 95 percent? Or of the CEOs of major corporations earning 500 times what their employees make?

If television largely ignores the reality of life for the majority of Americans, corporate radio is just plain overt in its right-wing bias. In a nation that cast a few million more votes for Al Gore and Ralph Nader than for George Bush and Pat Buchanan, there are dozens of right-wing talk-show programs. Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy, Bob Grant, Sean Hannity, Alan Keyes, Armstrong Williams, Howie Carr, Oliver North, Michael Savage, Michael Reagan, Pat Robertson, Laura Schlessinger – these are only a few of the voices that day after day pound a right-wing drumbeat into the heartland of this country.

And from a left perspective there is – well, no one. The Republican Party, corporate owners and advertisers have their point of view well represented on radio. Unfortunately, the rest of America has almost nothing. As bad as the current media situation is, it is likely to be made much worse by a recent decision in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that responded to a suit by Fox, AOL Time Warner, NBC and Viacom. That decision struck down a federal regulation limiting companies from owning television stations and cable franchises in the same local markets. The court also ordered that the Federal Communications Commission either justify or rewrite the federal rule that limits any one company from owning television stations that reach more than 35 percent of American households.

The bottom line is that fewer and fewer huge conglomerates are controlling virtually everything that the ordinary American sees, hears and reads. This is an issue that Congress can no longer ignore.

Rep. Bernie Sanders is an Independent from Vermont. This article is reprinted from The Hill.

Religion isnt the problem the right wing is

Fri, 28 Jun 2002 02:11:00 +0000

In decrying the human rights abuses continuing in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, some have asked why “the Jewish people” are doing to the Palestinians what they would not want done to their own people, terrifying things that have happened historically. Good question – if “the Jewish people” were guilty of the current atrocities occurring under the reign of terror imposed by Ariel Sharon.

They are not – any more than “the Muslim people” are guilty of the horrific assaults in the U.S. on Sept. 11 or “the Christian people” are guilty of firebombing abortion clinics.

Religion has been described as the “opiate of the masses.” It also can be an hallucinogenic drug akin to LSD in the hands of the right wing. Folks are duped into thinking they “see God’s will” when they are actually watching the machinations of the world’s greatest charlatans, those who use “God” as a football to help them score touchdowns, with the ultimate prize being capitalist domination of the masses and the resources of the world.

The right wing of all major religions pervert an innocent belief in a higher power. They impede the progress of humanity for purposes having nothing do with God but with greed. They understand how easy it is to “slip a Mickey” into the fount of faith from which others drink. However, many people use faith to gain strength for battles against this very same right wing, the imperialist polluters of those faiths.

Faiths are polluted not with the aim of getting all God’s children to heaven, but to whip them into a frenzy that would see them kill or be killed, grabbing for their ruling class another people’s lands and resources, a cheap labor force and, oh, maybe, while the imperialists are at it, an oil pipeline near the Caspian Sea. Those temporal concerns outweigh any other concerns by those who use religion as a tool to sway the masses to join wars “against terrorism” or “against the infidels” – wars that kill, starve, terrorize and turn to ashes the lives of workers worldwide.

Millions of workers’ lives are caught in the crossfires that blaze around the world. Those wars blaze, not because some higher being wants them, but because the small percentage of human beings who control the world’s wealth decree that they happen. Only by seeing through the machinations of the right wing of the world – and saying no to the right wing’s wars – will we move past the stage where vicious humans can use God as a stalking-horse for imperialist and/or reactionary power.

Behind the smokescreen of Christianity, the Christian Right works to deny women the right to control their own bodies and supports imperialism. Behind the smokescreen of Islam, the Islamic right wing denies rights to protesters and women and is a reactionary force. Behind the smokescreen of Judaism, right-wing Zionists continue to rain assault and murder on people in a territory of the world that, according to religious clerics, was promised by God to three different religions. It seems as if all of those claims would create a God who is less than honest, sort of a jokester.

We must be serious. It’s time to stop using “God’s promises” as a weapon of mass mayhem and destruction towards humanity.

There is much to be done on the earth. Every day, 30,000 children under the age of five die of preventable causes. Combined, 3 billion humans in the world have less in total assets than the richest 300 people in the world. Whose “will” is that?

Let’s look at the human thievery, chicanery and warmongering criminality that would create such ungodly statistics. What’s happening here is no great mystery. The small percentage of the world’s people who have grabbed land, hoarded wealth and amassed weapons through owning the means of production are determined in their greed to have it all, even if it means blowing up most of the world and the world’s workers to do so.

For the imperialist/reactionary charlatans, their true definition of hell is a united international working class willing to battle toward socialism. Let’s give it to them, right here on earth.

Barbara Jean Hope is a reader in Philadelphia. She can be reached at bjhope2000@cs.com

Coalition demands prescription drug bill

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:58:00 +0000

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The chambers of Cleveland’s City Hall were filled with the chants of 400 people rallying June 24 for prescription drug coverage. The meeting, hosted by Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, urged passage of two bills before the Ohio legislature, HB-290 and SB-127. The bills would create a prescription drug program for the state.

Campbell opened the meeting stating that 2.2 million Ohioans need prescription drug coverage because they have none. “Seniors, grandparents and the children they care for, working mothers and their children, and many others who are not eligible for Medicaid, all need HB-290 and SB-127,” she said. “The Ohio Legislature failed to act on these bills.”

Ohioans are becoming more and more angry that the Ohio State Legislature, at the behest of Governor Bob Taft, bottled the two bills up in committee and wouldn’t allow a floor vote, despite enormous pressure building up for the legislation.

Twenty statewide organizations have joined together in a coalition supporting the bills, including the AARP, Ohio Council of Churches, the Ohio Public Health Association and nearly all unions, including the Ohio State AFL-CIO and most state affiliates.

The coalition continues to grow, with 48 cities, eight counties and 290 grassroots organizations joining it.

“Widows, retirees, unemployed with children, can’t pay for prescription drugs; many are going to Canada,” said Kevin Patton, the Republican mayor of Solon, one of the first cities to endorse the bill. “Government must intervene and act now!”

State Rep. James Trakas, chairman of the Republican Party in Cuyahoga County, spoke for the bills. Calling on action at both the state and federal levels, Trakas said, “We have in Cuyahoga County some of the greatest hospitals in the world, and a medical industry creating one wonder drug after another, but what good are they if people do not have access to the drugs?”

“Make support for HB-290 and SB-127 the criteria for supporting anyone running for election this year,” Trakas told the crowd.

Democratic State Sen. Eric Fingerhut emphasized that the Ohio Prescription Drug Act mandates the state to negotiate with the drug companies for a discounted rate for all Ohio citizens who need it and wish to participate. “The drug companies set the prices for prescription drugs and they are fighting the bills,” he said.

Pam Rosado, financial secretary and political director for Service Employees International Union Local 47, brought the crowd to ovation after ovation.“Prescription drug coverage is all about people, seniors, children, poor people,” she said. “The drug companies are all about sales and profits, and they try to push you into buying their drugs whether you need them or not!”

Rosado urged everyone present to call their state legislators and demand they pass the prescription drug bills this year. “Let them know they won’t be in Columbus after November if they don’t support this legislation,” she said.

The author can be reached at wallyk@ncweb.com

Longshore: Potential intervention threat to negotiations

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:55:00 +0000

All eyes in the global transport universe are on the West Coast, where a crucial waterfront battle is brewing in the contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), representing 10,500 longshore unionists, and their employers, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), representing 85 shipping lines and stevedoring companies.

Long before negotiations began, the fight over the contract, which expires on July 1, was developing into one of the most contentious class-struggle battles on the waterfront since the 1972 strike. Before sitting at the table May 13, Joseph Miniace, CEO of the PMA, threatened to lock out dockers if the union did not give in to employer demands.

While the battle has been centered at the San Francisco negotiation table, the fight is now enlarged to Washington, D.C., where Miniace and his lobbying team have been working to convince President Bush to use the Taft-Hartley law to intervene in the case of an ILWU strike or slowdown.

According to Lindsay McLaughlin, ILWU legislative director, the PMA has exploited security concerns after Sept. 11 in an attempt to undermine contract negotiations

“Homeland Security is being used by the PMA as a pretext to create a crisis, so the government will intervene,” McLaughlin told the World.

Under the Taft-Hartley Act, President Bush could invoke an 80-day cooling-off period in the event of a strike if the action is declared a “peril to national health or safety” Employers have said to the press that they believe Bush will do this. The PMA is also lobbying for Congress to adopt port security legislation that carries anti-labor measures.

McLaughlin added that shippers like Wal-Mart have joined with the PMA in creating unwarranted alarm by making “sky is falling” declarations about what would happen to national security and the economy if the contract is not settled by July 1.

Challenging that contention, McLaughlin pointed to the past where several contracts were successfully negotiated in the weeks following the July 1 expiration date without a strike or lockout. “Past practice shows that contract expiration actually facilitates a negotiated settlement,” he said.

While the PMA is raising these false alarms to Congress, McLaughlin reported that at the negotiating table they are out to bust the power of the union. “They are going after everything the ILWU stands for including medical benefits, pensions, the hiring hall, and [making] proposals to outsource our jobs to other countries and right-to-work states,” he said. “The ILWU believes that it is real security issues that need to be addressed, not removal of workers union rights and civil liberties.”

The ILWU has alerted Congress that impending port security legislation does not give longshore workers the right to inspect containers, which is a major security problem. The union states that longshore workers should have the right “to open containers, check seals against the manifest and check any anomaly that sends a red flag.” There are no such provisions in port security legislation now.

Those measures would create more union jobs at the port, which would help stimulate the economy. “What’s wrong with that?” asked McLaughlin.

On the other hand, the port security bills are heavy on criminal background checks of workers with loss of jobs to unionists who committed felonies in the past, even though those felonies do not pertain to security.

“There are threats to security at the ports, and longshore workers do not want to be the next World Trade Center,” stated McLaughlin emphatically. “But real security lies in checking out containers not on checking out American workers.”

While opposing background checks, the ILWU insists that if checks are to be done and jobs lost, then it must be proven that a person is a terrorist security risk as opposed to just having been convicted in the past of any number of non-security-related crimes. The union is also calling for a fair appeal process.

The ILWU has maintained a strong lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., for many months on port security and contract issues. An ILWU lobbying team representing the major West Coast ports is in Washington this week speaking to members of Congress and representatives of the Bush administration.

The AFL-CIO has made the longshore contract battle one of its national priorities and is working with the ILWU to lobby against government intervention in their negotiations.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Longshoremen’s Association, International Transportation Workers Federation, representing five million workers around the globe, and the International Dockworkers Council, representing 30,000 longshore workers, and the AFL-CIO were joining with the ILWU in a Solidarity Day action held at all major West Coast ports June 27.

Both the Senate and House have passed port security bills. The bills are headed to conference and it is expected that a final bill will be put before the Congress by the end of July.

The author can be reached at evnalarcon@aol.com

Women gear up for 2002 elections

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:49:00 +0000

Pledge to ‘link arms’ vs. Right

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The nearly 1,000 delegates and guests to the National Organization for Women’s (NOW) annual conference, held here June 21-23, are united to make a difference in the 2002 elections, at the ballot box and in the streets. The participants, who came from 42 states and the District of Columbia, agreed that the 2002 elections are the main arena for the defense and advancement of women’s equality.

The conference theme, “Linking Arms in Dangerous Times,” highlighted the importance of the elections. Over a quarter of the conference was devoted to small workshops, each designed to motivate, educate, agitate and activate women to flex their political muscle in the days between now and November 5. Reps. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) delivered passionate pleas to halt and reverse the Bush administration’s assault on women, at the polls in November.

The conference did not just network, exchange and plan; five busloads of delegates and guests marched on a nearby Wal-Mart, demanding unionization, fair wages and an end to on-the-job sexual harassment and discrimination. (See story page 6.)

The 2002 elections and NOW’s fight back was the theme of NOW President Kim Gandy’s keynote address. “There are growing dangers following Sept. 11,” Gandy began. “The right wing swung into action immediately. The attacks of Sept. 11 enboldened them. They had the same policies on Sept. 12 that they had on Sept. 9, only now they are on steroids.”

Speaking of right-wing attacks on NOW after Sept. 11, Gandy zeroed in on the Bush administration and Attorney General John Ashcroft as outlawing and declaring “unpatriotic” the democratic right of Americans to question policy and appointments.

At stake in November, in addition to issues of equality and the economy, is the integrity of the federal courts, Gandy said. The Bush administration’s strategy is to eliminate the separation of church and state and hamstring Congress’ ability to enforce existing laws guarding civil and democratic rights.

“What the courts are doing,” Gandy explained, “is declaring that Congress did not have the authority to include enforcement regulations in the Fair Labor Standards Act, the American with Disabilities Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act [FMLA]. Already, seven of the 11 Federal Circuit Courts have ruled that state and local governments are exempt from FMLA.”

Further, Gandy said, the Ashcroft clones are limiting the rights of individuals to bring suit under Title IX, which has brought relief and justice to women in universities and throughout the professions. Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, is in the crosshairs of the ultra right in the U.S., Gandy continued, and their goal is to stack the courts before the people know what hit them.

Reaching across generational lines, Rep. Mink detailed the struggle to achieve Title IX protection in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and its impact in opening doors to the professions for women. “Those who have followed us did not experience the same discrimination we did, because of Title IX,” Mink said. “There are more women doctors, attorneys and all the professions than ever before. The Republicans in the House want to gut those protections. We have to defend Title IX but we have to do more.”

Delegates rose to their feet applauding as Mink demanded that higher education opportunities be extended to poor women. “The Republicans in the House have no consideration for single moms. They just raised the hours of work to qualify for welfare from 30 to 40 hours per week. We are hoping to kill it in the Senate.”

This, Mink said, is what Republicans consider opportunity, “education, not funding for child care. They say ‘leave no child behind’ but what have they done?”

Mink called on the delegates to take action. “You have the chance to speak up for poor women and defend poor children ! You have the right, the mandate to demand that Congress leave no child behind, not the House Republicans. To fund education, fund higher education and fund child care. Open the doors of opportunity to all women.”

“We are fighting back. We are beating them!” the NOW president said, calling for the delegates to take action in the elections. “I am asking you, pleading for you to consider doing things you might not have done before. Take a leave and knock on doors in New Hampshire in October; take personal days and plan to see Minnesota in the fall. Paul Wellstone can show you around. Take vacation time in October to work on these elections. In 14 races, we are the margin of victory. We can do it!”

The author can be reached at dwinebr696@aol.com

Carousel victory celebrated

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:28:00 +0000

HIGHWOOD, Ill. – They were all smiles here June 21, as Carousel Linen workers, their families and friends celebrated their victory for union recognition. The 37 industrial laundry workers, mostly young Mexican immigrant women, had been on strike for eight months and had fought for recognition of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

The new contract calls for a 32 percent increase in wages and a 401(k) plan by the third year. Workers had been eligible for individual health care coverage through the company, and for the time being, family benefits can be purchased from the UNITE clinic. The workers also won a grievance procedure with arbitration and for the first time are guaranteed paid sick leave and birthday holidays. The contract calls for immigrant rights protection and contains strong health and safety language.

Not all of the workers were called back to work, because of the economic downturn. They will be placed on a lay-off list.

“These are real heroes,” said Peter Demay, a UNITE organizer, to a packed hall festooned with red, green and white, the colors of the Mexican flag. “We want to recognize what the Carousel workers have done for all of us and especially for other low-wage workers and immigrant workers. You are a beacon of hope that says, ‘yes, you can form a union and win dignity and respect.’”

The workers struck right after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and endured months of anti-immigrant hysteria. They were repeatedly told by Carousel owners that they were being unpatriotic. The workers won after they launched a boycott of Carousel, convincing corporate clients to drop their business until the company recognized the union.

The strike had received widespread solidarity from labor, religious, student and community groups and elected officials in Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. “This was a strike the union and workers of Carousel couldn’t have won alone. It was only through a broad coalition of labor, political, religious and community groups that we were able to win this important victory,” said Demay.

The workers presented plaques expressing their appreciation for the support they received, including to Sarita Gupta and Chicago Jobs with Justice; photographer Tom Gradel, who documented the strike; Erica Hade and the Illinois Federation of Labor; the Chicago Federation of Labor; the Chicago Federation of Musicians; Hank Perritt, a congressional candidate in Lake county; the UNITE retirees organization; the Interfaith Committee on Workers’ Issues and the Illinois District of the Communist Party.

The workers singled out organizers Eddie Acosta, Adan Jesus Quavez and Demay for special thanks. Acosta told the crowd, “As an organizer our job was a lot easier because the women were totally committed to winning this strike.”

Miriam Perez, a strike leader, thanked all those who gave their solidarity. She and all the workers who spoke especially thanked their sister workers at Skokie Valley Laundry, a neighboring union shop. It was through relatives and friends there that the Carousel workers got in touch with the union. They told the Carousel workers what to expect, and by the time the strike started they were ready. The Skokie Valley workers never missed a day coming to the picket line on their lunch break.

“You could count on us throughout the strike and you can always count on us as you build your union,” said Inez Martinez, the shop steward at Skokie Valley. Martinez said new struggles are awaiting the workers. She called for unity against Highwood’s attempt to rezone the location of both laundry shops to make way for restaurants.

“Together we are going to fight the racist attempts of the city of Highwood to shut down our laundries,” she said.

The struggle continues. But on this day, congratulations to the Carousel workers!

The author can be reached at jbachtell@ameritech.net

Labor & community hold Town Hall

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:22:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. – A coalition of three unions, whose contracts with employers expire this summer, held a Town Hall meeting June 19 at a West Oakland Community Center. The meeting focused on the common issues facing labor and the community and commemorated “Juneteenth,” the day when the Emancipation Proclamation was brought to Texas.

The coalition included International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10, whose contract with the Pacific Maritime Association expires on July 1; Teamsters Local 70, involved in national negotiations with United Parcel Service (UPS) against an August 1 deadline; and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 790, representing workers at Oakland Airport and city employees, whose contract expires July 1.

The three unions united in an unprecedented coalition with West Oakland community groups, including West Oakland Neighbors and others, to establish a dialogue on their common concerns and prepare for common support if contract talks break down. A series of speakers from the various unions and community groups spelled out their grievances against corporate and city employers and made clear their common interest in fighting for decent jobs, a living wage and an end to pollution of neighborhoods by diesel trucks and chemical plants.

The meeting was opened by a greeting from area councilwoman Nancy Nadel, who emphasized her support for Assembly Bill 2850, which would place a fine on trucks that run their engines for more than half an hour at port terminals. She also called for support to a protest rally the next day at a local yeast plant that is spreading noxious odors around West Oakland.

Alameda County Central Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Judy Goff praised the community’s residents for their aid in the fight to defeat anti-labor Proposition 226 in 1998, and pointed to labor’s efforts to pass legislation for raising the minimum wage, unemployment compensation, a living-wage ordinance and hiring local workers for new good-paying jobs on the docks.

Community activist and Oakland School Board member Paul Cobb praised the ILWU for its fight to reroute the Cypress Freeway away from West Oakland. “We need to bring the spirit of Paul Robeson to the fight for jobs for West Oakland,” said Cobb.

Amaha Khassa, co-director of East Bay Association for Secure Employment (EBASE), which led the fight for a living wage at the port, pointed out that 65 percent of the jobs at the Port of Oakland pay below poverty-level wages, and that 80 percent of those jobs are held by people of color.

Dwight McElroy, an 18-year maintenance worker and shop steward for the city, was cheered loudly by the crowd when he said, “What gave the city administrators the audacity to come into Oakland and give themselves the highest salaries in the state while cutting city services and eliminating jobs? Not now, not ever, can they balance their budgets on the backs of city workers!”

UPS driver and Northern California Teamsters Black Caucus Chairman Jerome Otis told of management pressures against African-American workers at UPS, and reported on a company policy of hiring 16-year-olds to work on the assembly line at UPS for $8.25 an hour while the company gets a tax write-off and other government subsides for helping “troubled” youths to get jobs.

A stark picture of the government plans for screening 3 million maritime workers was presented by Local 10 Legislative Representative Lawrence Thibeaux. “The so-called Port Security Act that is now in Conference Committee in Congress after having passed both Houses of Congress, is an effort to control and undermine waterfront unions,” said Thibeaux. “They would like to issue a card that every maritime worker would have to carry that would have imprinted every aspect of the worker’s life, fingerprints, whereabouts and activities.”

Audience participation was lively and rich and all were encouraged by Moderators Clarence Thomas, Local 10 secretary-treasurer, and Willie Keyes, West Oakland Neighbors chairman, to turn out for the Port workers Solidarity Rally and Barbecue to be held on Thursday, June 27, at 11 a.m. at Port View Park on the waterfront.

The author can be reached at ncalview@igc.org

Will Bush lose in Texas?

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:00:00 +0000

EL PASO, Tx. – Texas Democrats were exuberant at their convention, held here June 13-15, about their chances to sweep state offices in November. Their senior U.S. Congressman, Martin Frost, told delegates, “If George Bush gets beaten badly in his home state in 2002, that will send a message across the land.”

If the ultra-right loses in Texas, their ability to carry out broad reactionary policies will be severely diminished. More importantly, their chances of reelection would be mortally wounded.

The Texas Democrats have good reasons to be hopeful. In the March primaries, significantly more Democrats voted than Republicans. Texas’ 11-percent African-American population delivered almost 40 percent of the Democratic vote, and the Democrats are running an African American at the top of their ticket – U.S. Senate candidate Ron Kirk. When Bush ran for president, the state where he received the lowest percentage of African-American votes was Texas, according to Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tx.).

In fact, Bush’s overall success in his home state during the presidential race was nothing to brag about. Statewide, he received 59 percent of the vote, and only 52 percent in his home base of Dallas. This meager showing took place against an opponent who did not campaign in Texas at all.

Most pundits consider the “gorilla in the parlor” in 2002 Texas politics to be the growing Latino vote, and the Democrats are running a Latino, Tony Sanchez, for governor. When Bush ran for governor, he claimed to have garnered a tremendous Latino vote, but subsequent statistics showed that he had greatly overstated his success – he received no more than 37 percent.

Another factor that bodes poorly for the ultra right is the growing influence of union-member families in elections, in Texas and across the nation. The Texas AFL-CIO caucus of the Democratic Convention was attended by over 200 enthusiastic union delegates.

In 2002, all Republican candidates will be greatly burdened with their party’s disastrous national policies, and Texas Republicans will have even more onerous baggage because of developments in the state since Republicans took over. Convention speakers pointed out that the Texas treasury had gone from a $6.3 billion surplus three years ago to a $5.7 billion shortfall today.

Texas continues to be the execution champ of the Western Hemisphere, and the Republican governor vetoed a bill that would have prohibited continued executions of juveniles and the mentally retarded.

Medical practitioners and people who emphasize health care problems are voting Democratic, according to the polls. The governor sided with insurance companies against doctors on a “prompt pay” bill. The Republican-appointed Texas Workers Compensation Commission has recently lowered the ceiling on payments for worker injuries so low that many Texas doctors will no longer consider taking such cases.

Governor Rick Perry continued the trends set by Governor Bush in destroying the environment. The Enron scandal also hits close to Bush and his Republican supporters in Texas.

The only thing in current Texas politics that looks worse than Bush and his party’s past is their future. According to the Texas AFL-CIO, the Republican convention in Dallas, the week before the Democratic convention in El Paso, passed a string of stone-age resolutions and planks that included:

* Abolishing the minimum wage

* Abolishing all taxes

* Privatizing most government services

* Returning to the gold standard

* Withdrawing from the United Nations

* Abolishing the IRS

* Ending bilingual education

* Passing “Paycheck Deception” legislation to effectively drive unions out of politics

* Expanding Texas’ awful

“Right-to-Work-for-Less” law into a constitutional amendment and a national statute

* Opposing funds for teacher health insurance

* Privatizing Social Security

* Destroying public education through a “voucher” program

* Prohibiting state regulation of private and parochial schools

The Republican platform reeked so foully that their own top candidate, U.S. Senate candidate John Cornyn, publicly disassociated himself from it before the convention ended! If he wants to be reelected, G.W. Bush will have to pray for very short memories in Texas.

Jim Lane is a labor activist in Texas. He can be reached at pww@pww.org

Juneteenth protest urges city to build first

Thu, 27 Jun 2002 08:53:00 +0000

CHICAGO – For the fifth year in a row, activists and residents here held an all-day Juneteenth protest against the destruction of public housing without viable housing substitutions. Starting the day with a noontime press conference, advocates described how the city’s plan to destroy all public housing without securing alternate housing for Chicago’s over 60,000 public housing residents first, leaves many families out in the cold.

At the rally protesters told how the demolition process has been fast tracked because of the overwhelming anger about the plan. “CHA [Chicago Housing Authority] has scheduled 4,600 units to be demolished in 2002, with only 95 new ones to be built,” said Carole Steele, a CHA resident and president of the Coalition to Protect Pubic Housing. “We say, ‘Build First,’” Steele continued, saying that these “communities will be weathering the storm.”

Advocates for saving public housing communities argue that Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley II, son of corrupt city Boss Mayor Daley I, is doing the bidding of developers who are in a rush to gain control of the valuable public land. “It is unjust to move poor people out at a time when there is such a dearth of affordable housing nationally and locally,” said Rev. Calvin Morris, executive director of the Community Renewal Society. In fact, the availability of affordable housing is minimal in Chicago, according to the city’s own statistics.

The city counters with a program called Section 8, a rent subsidization program for market-rate housing. However, the few residents who qualify for Section 8 have trouble finding owners that will honor the program, despite the legal but unendorsed mandate. In addition the program does not protect renters from the possibility that rents will rise in the coming year, nor does the program put any rent-control restrictions on property owners.

The protest continued with a tent city campout in an area that formerly housed hundreds of families. Two blocks away, Madison Park Apartments had already been demolished, while most of the beautifully crafted and well-maintained Ida B. Wells Apartments were boarded up and awaiting demolition.

At the campout, local children played on the city’s demolition equipment, which had already moved in, while local performers sang songs and played instruments. The crowd especially enjoyed the protest anthem, which called for dumping Daley, while organizers passed around petitions and a survey, and registered people to vote.

Barbara Moore, a CHA resident and housing activist, asked Daley, “Do poor people really have ‘America the beautiful’?”

But her question, like so many others, falls on the deaf ears of the Daley family. As those Daley represents are filling the city’s already stretched homeless shelters, parks and benches, the budgets of Chicago’s support structure for the poor, unemployed and homeless are receiving cuts and closure.

The author can be reached at brandikishner@yahoo.com