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Anti-union politician goes down

Fri, 27 Sep 2002 04:41:00 +0000

Worker’s Correspondence

Dave Herbert, longtime member of the Oklahoma Senate, a Democrat, should have talked to the delegations of union people who came to his office in February 2001, after he introduced anti-union legislation that led to “Right to Work/scab” status. One of the unionists who came to talk to Herbert was an electrician named Joe Smith.

Smith was only 32 years old, had never been in the state capital before, and hadn’t even voted recently. But he knew that his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, would be seriously damaged if Oklahoma prohibited union contracts that required the people who directly benefit from unions to pay their fair share of the cost. Joe is a third-generation IBEW stalwart.

Senator Herbert snubbed the union lobbyists. They hadn’t expected much more. Democrats have controlled both houses of the state legislature for many years. In every session, right-wing forces tried to get a “right to work/scab” bill through, but unionists and their allies had always held successful rallies against it.

Herbert’s legislation was different. It allowed the legislature to duck the issue by putting “right to work/scab” up for a general vote in the fall of 2001. Labor and its allies mobilized from all over Oklahoma and the contiguous states. Smith, an Assistant Business Manager of IBEW Local 1141 in Midwest City, took a leadership role.

Joe and the others fighting for workers’ rights were opposed by big money, every Chamber of Commerce in the state, and the dominating Gaylord family, which owns the Daily Oklahoman and many other media outlets. Even so, unionists maintained their confidence until the developments of Sept. 11. After the tragedy in New York, the Oklahoma governor and other anti-union spokespersons released statements associating an anti-union vote with “patriotic duty!”

“Right to Work/scab” won the vote in Oklahoma on Sept. 25, 2001. Yet, the political fallout continues today.

One important part of the political shift in Oklahoma took place in Dave Herbert’s State Senate district. Young Joe Smith decided to take him on. Unionists and other friends rallied to help Joe win an upset victory by a 400-vote margin. On Nov. 5, Smith looks forward to vanquishing his Republican opponent, then putting his anti-union predecessor out of the capitol building, where he can do no further harm.

Former Senator Dave Herbert might then have time to contemplate the motto that Oklahoma adopted at statehood in 1907: omnia vincit labor. Labor conquers all.

– Jim Lane

Letters

Fri, 27 Sep 2002 03:22:00 +0000

Voting is just the beginning I had the opportunity to listen intently to voters on issues that are dear to them during my petition signing drive last July. Many voters feel strongly about issues that they embrace. Voters don’t just one to send people to Harrisburg to speak for them, they want candidates and politicians to listen to what they have to say. Three million of the eight million Pennsylvanians vote, according to a candidate for governor. Many voters have lost interest in the electoral process because the only ones getting attention from politicians are special interests. Some voters complain about their inability to reach politicians after they get elected. If town meetings would be held periodically through out the state to hear the concerns of voters and non voters alike, that would spark interest in the electoral process. Voters want to be heard. They want politicians to stay in touch with them. We should make some serious efforts to make sure that no one is left behind.

Ernst FordPhiladelphia PA

Quotable quotes A friend sent me this quote a little while ago. Can’t the PWW/Mundo use and print it regularly? “Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and fallen and bruised itself, and risen again; been seized by the throat and choked into insensibility; enjoined by the courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by militia, shot down by regulars, traduced by the press, frowned upon by public opinion, deceived by politicians, threatened by priests, repudiated by renegades, preyed upon by grafters, infested by spies, deserted by cowards, betrayed by traitors, bled by leeches, and sold out by leaders, but, notwithstanding all this, and all these, it is today the most vital potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission of emancipating the workers of the world from the thralldom of the ages is as certain of ultimate realization as the setting of the sun.”

Julia LutskyQueens NY

Will the UN stop Bush? In supporting George Bush’s threat to go to war with Iraq, Bersculoni, the rightwing prime minister of Italy, who is also the richest man in the country and its leading media baron, praised young Americans for helping to save Italy and Europe from “totalitarianism” over half a century ago. Of course, Bersculoni, assuming he was talking of the Second World War, neglected to mention that the war was against fascism and its Axis alliance, whose junior partner was the first fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. Today, the so-called National Alliance, the latest, version of Italy’s postwar neo-Fascists is part of Bersculoni’ government. The United Nations was born in the struggle to prevent the attacks on small nations by strong ones which had led to World War II,for Hitler in the name of a New Order in Europe, for the Japanese a “Greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere.” Mussolini and the Japanese walked out of the League of Nations in the 1930s. Bush is trying to compel the UN to rubberstamp his policy, and, in a collosal gesture of arrogance, saying that if they don’t, he will act alone militarily and they, like the League of Nations, will become irrelevant. If the UN cannot stop the Bush administration from going ahead with its war plans, then and only then will it be a failure.

Norman Markowitzvia e-mail

Uncover the truth It is refreshing to read that there are signs of increasing opposition in Congress and among members of the public against Bush’s naked aggression on the Republic of Iraq. As you know, yesterday, the New York Daily News broke a story that the Bush Abomination is running around trying to round up support for their war, to create the illusion of international support by selling shares in the Iraqi oil fields once they’ve conquered those oilfields. They’re also peddling weapons and offering to deposit large sums of money in the Swiss bank accounts of corrupt foreign leaders. Bush’s corruption is the biggest scandal since Iran-Contra, when the Reagan administration sold guns to the Ayatollah and used the proceeds to finance their mercenaries in Nicaragua. It is time for the media to blow the lid off this one. The major networks aren’t likely to do much of anything, but independents such as PWW, Pacifica and others can blow this thing a mile high and, in the process, head off Bush’s obscene war, thus saving thousands of lives.

Jerry Greenbergvia e-mail

Editorials

Fri, 27 Sep 2002 03:13:00 +0000

No tribute to gods of war

We think that Senator Tom Dacshle (D-S.D.) and Rep. Dick Gephardt (D.-Mo.) have got it wrong – that by acting quickly to give President Bush power to intervene militarily in Iraq, they will be able to return to “their issues” in time to win the Nov. 5 elections.

Why the rush to judgment in a situation where polls show growing opposition to military action undertaken outside the United Nations, where the letters to the editor of most newspapers are running overwhelmingly in support of using diplomatic measures to deal with the Iraq situation and where correspondence addressed to members of both House and Senate show overwhelming opposition to military intervention?

We are among those who charge that the Bush administration has launched the drive for war with Iraq in order to remove its failed domestic policies as the defining issues in the Nov. 5 election. We know – as does the president – that were it not for Iraq, the public discourse would be focused on Enron and WorldCom. But having said that, there is little reason to believe that Iraq will drop off the radar screen if Bush is given power to act as he will.

If Congress gives Bush an inch he will take a mile. Instead of being “should” we go to war – and there has been little debate on that – the question will become “when” – and that will drown out all debate about Social Security, a prescription drug plan under Medicare, better schools, the right of workers to organize, corporate greed, taxes and regulation of security markets. These are our issues and we do not want them sacrificed to the gods of war.

The way to defend these programs, the way to counter those who, if war comes, will say “we can’t afford that,” is to demand that Congress say “no” to a war that will cost as much as $200 million.

There’s still time to get your representative or senator in line!

**************************************************************************

Taking the Peace Road – a necessity

As the Bush Gang of Thugs – Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell and Perle – drive for war with Iraq, they claim the road to peace and democracy goes through Baghdad.

These “Pax Americana” architects are thriving on destabilization and destruction in the entire region. Destroying the road to real peace and democracy which goes through Jerusalem by way of ending the occupation of Palestinian lands.

How can peace and democracy flourish while U.S.-made Israeli tanks, bombs and bulldozers surround President Yassir Arafat’s headquarters while Palestinian civilians are killed by the Israeli army?

The Palestinian and Israeli conflict must be settled based on UN resolutions. The fulfillment of these resolutions is the only basis for peace and democracy in the Middle East.

The Bush administration – extremely clever in their diversionary policies – succeeded in changing the public’s focus from this conflict to Iraq, taking attention away from their failed foreign policy in the region and their attack on the role of the UN in peacefully resolving conflicts.

Their aims are the same. Strategic control of the Middle East for corporate oil profits and to derail the people’s struggles for self determination, democracy and peace.

But the people see, as the Israeli army attacks the Palestinian leadership, the peaceful resolution of this conflict looms large as the key to stability for the region.

The threat of U.S. war with Iraq has given a green light to reactionary terrorists as well as the state terror tactics of the Israeli army.

To leave the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Palestine and Israel in the hands of the ultraright Sharon government, is morally wrong.

A growing majority is in favor of negotiated, peaceful settlements in all of the Mideast situations.

The U.S. people can put a brake on the Bush administration’s plans for world war by working overtime to defeat Bush’s party in upcoming elections. Send the message to Bush: the 2002 elections are a referendum on your policies at home and abroad.

Labor boosts Wellstone campaign

Fri, 27 Sep 2002 02:18:00 +0000

If the election were held today, Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone would defeat his GOP opponent by a 47 to 44 margin, according to a poll conducted for Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). Candidates for the Independence and Green parties would each win 2 percent, with 5 percent of Minnesotans are still undecided.

Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, said despite the polls, the Minnesota labor movement was not taking anything for granted. He scribed the Labor 2002 campaign in the twin cities and throughout the state as an “all out effort. I’ve never seen anything like it in the 15 years I’ve held elected union office. We’re registering our members, leafleting work sites and making phone calls and will step up these activities as the elections get closer. Our goal is to get 70 percent of our members to the polls. If we do that, Wellstone will win.”

McCarty said there was “more at stake” in the Minnesota senate race than whether or not Wellstone wins.”Electing Wellstone is key to who controls the Senate,” he told the World in a telephone interview. “That’s important to working families and is one of the reasons the AFL-CIO sees the Minnesota election as a ‘must win.’ If the Republicans win this seat they will flaunt it as proof that militant, grass roots politics is a loser, hoping to discourage any candidate from following Wellstone’s lead.”

“Our issues are the same as those of working families everywhere,” he said. “We want to be able to live decently, provide for our children and for our seniors. McCarthy said unions in the area were planning an all day event on Nov. 4 as part of a campaign to put a thousand election workers on the street the next day.

The Minnesota race, pitting Wellstone, arguably the nation’s most liberal senator, against a turncoat Democrat and former St. Paul mayor, has drawn national attention – and special attention from the White House. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been in the state in behalf of the GOP candidate who was hand picked by the president

Larry Sillanpa, editor of the Labor World Newspaper, published by the Duluth Central Labor Council, calls Wellstone “the best labor senator” he will ever get a chance to elect. “We know what we have in Paul,” he said. “The differences between the two major candidates are so evident that people are not going to take a chance on Wellstone losing.”

Dave Moerke, president of the South West Minnesota Labor Council in Worthington, said his members, scattered over 10 counties along the Iowa border, are “just as enthusiastic” about the Wellstone campaign as those in the metropolitan areas. “We share the same concerns and determination,” he said. Moerke said that given its limited resources – 25 affiliated locals with a total membership of 2,000 and no paid staff – the council would depend on mailings and would participate in phone banking with other organizations.

Although the Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) does not endorse political candidates, Ron Hauglie, MFU field director said the organizations 40,000 family farmers were concerned about access to affordable health care, the price they get for their products and the special problems of education in rural areas.

In a recent issue of “Frontline Report,” the newsletter of his campaign, Wellstone said he was running for reelection to help achieve “real positive consequences for working families. But we must not stop there,” he said. “Progressive public officials, grass roots activists and concerned citizens must set our sights and our efforts on an agenda to bridge the broad and growing chasm that divides a prospering, affluent group from the vast majority of American who continue to struggle to make ends meet.”

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Cesar Chavez stamp unveiled

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 08:36:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – Civil rights and labor leader Cesar E. Chavez was honored here Sept. 18 as a stamp in his honor was unveiled. The stamp’s unveiling was attended by members of Congress, labor and civil rights leaders.

“For America’s working families, Cesar Chavez signifies enormous hope in the face of daily struggle,” said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO. “A stamp in his honor challenges us to remember that his life’s mission is not over until every worker has a living wage, adequate health care and dignity on the job.”

The legacy of Chavez, a founder of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is celebrated as an official state holiday in California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, as well as in dozens of cities and counties throughout the nation. The stamp will be incorporated into programming and events around Cesar Chavez Day 2003. The stamp will be issued in April of next year, to coincide with the 10th anniverary of Chavez’ death.

UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said that “it is well to remember that you can’t honor the man without honoring his work. The greatest monument to Cesar Chavez is the union he built and the courage to work for change that he inspired in his own people. Those of us who succeed him are more committed than ever to finish the unfinished work of Cesar Chavez.”

Chavez’ work transcended any one movement or cause. He inspired millions of Americans to seek social justice and civil rights for the poor and disenfranchised. He advocated for nonviolent social reform. He was an environmentalist and labor leader. Ultimately, he forged an extraordinary and diverse national coalition of students, consumers, trade unionists, religious groups, women and minorities.

Chicago closes shelters

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 07:08:00 +0000

In a city where tents and makeshift homes are part of many working-class neighborhoods, activists, residents, homeless and handicapped citizens protested the recent closings of more downtown shelters and low-cost hotels. On Aug. 24, 150 strong, the group of mostly homeless men and women came together to march through downtown, alleging that the city has misappropriated funds that were intended to keep their shelters and low-cost housing alternatives open. Activists say that the Chicago housing crisis is deepening.

In the latest protest against the housing crisis the Coalition for Fair Community Development (CFCD) protested the closing of another South Loop affordable housing alternative, the Roosevelt Hotel, where one could find housing for $300 a month. The CFCD blames Mayor Daley.

Activists say that in the past few months Daley has been under pressure to take action against the crisis. Daley has been criticized for several of his housing- related policies: the demolition of public housing, supporting gentrification, and involvement in squashing proposals in the city council for an affordable housing set-asides program. A new allegation of misuse of city funds has recently been added to the list.

The CFCD says that Daley’s administration has been using Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) funds toward the Millennium Park project. Millennium Park is a large recreational development that has overrun its budget by at least $370 million, according to Chicago Tribune investigations. In 2001 the city used $280,000 of TIF money toward Millennium Park, while in 2000 $35 million in TIF funds went to the park. This year, to cover a $123 million city budget shortfall, the city has dipped into social service agencies, public works projects, health and sanitation departments and over $3 million of TIF funds.

TIF money is slated to be used “to help develop blighted areas, build and repair roads and infrastructure, clean polluted land and restore vacant properties,” according to city literature on the program.

Activist A. L. Loy (Alloy) said people are upset because in an area which has seen several shelters and low-cost hotels closing, with more on the way, “Daley (and his administration) seems to focus on a park that can only be utilized by a select few who are privileged enough to live in condos. The money taken from TIF could have gone to keep the Roosevelt open, improve city services in the area, or support local business.”

The North Shore, the site of Millennium Park, is one of Chicago’s most exclusive areas, while the South Loop has traditionally been the home of a number of shelters, low-cost hotels, and industrial sites.

Millennium Park is an assortment of music pavilions, ice rinks, gardens and plazas, which activists say are good for communities but not “when money is being shifted away from truly blighted areas,” according to Alloy.

When the World asked one resident of a threatened South Loop shelter where he would go if his home were to close, he replied, “I’ve lived here since my mother got sick three months ago, I ain’t got nowhere else to go.” The man walked with a severe limp and had a shortened left arm.

This latest protest is one of a string of housing-related complaints that communities have addressed to the mayor. One Green Party activist expressed approval of the growing marching season saying, “We need to keep getting people to come out. It’s the only way things will ever change.”

Brandi Kishner is a contributor in Chicago. She can be reached at brandikishner@yahoo.com

Chicago closes shelters

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 07:00:00 +0000

Letters

Fri, 20 Sep 2002 08:44:00 +0000

Another League of Nations As opposition to the Bush administration’s threats to launch a war against Iraq grows, The New York Times reports that Bush is contacting the leaders of Russia, China and France, who are on record against a war, in order to convince them not to veto any war resolution in the Security Council of the United Nations. What is interesting, though, is the Times statement that the Bush administration, “if it chose to,” could simply ignore any such veto and do what it wanted. In the 1930s, Japan and Italy ignored League of Nations resolutions condemning their aggressions against Manchuria and Ethiopia respectively, and walked out of the League. The United Nations was founded, largely through the work of the United States, in cooperation with its Soviet allies during World War II, to insure that there would be an effective international organization to resolve international conflicts and prevent unilateral military actions. That was the purpose of the Security Council to begin with. A Bush war against Iraq, besides the obvious dangers it brings, would also profoundly undermine the United Nations and put it on the road to becoming the tragic failure the League of Nations was in the 1930s.

Norman Markowitzvia e-mail

A ray of hope

I write to your from capitalist Ukraine. The situation here is horrible. The poverty level is getting higher and higher. Sometimes I think that a real nightmare is slowly but inevitably approaching. It is good that I have access to such source of news and information like yours. It really gives me hope and a ray of light.

Konstantin Kalinovskyvia e-mail

The new steel Steelworkers the nation over were elated when Mr. Bush announced that stringent tariffs against unfairly “dumped” steel would take effect in a few months. Since that announcement Mr. Bush has retreated from his former position, permitted the Commerce Department to issue exemptions for many steel exporting nations, and chastised steel Companies for their refusal to understand and meet the demands of today’s steel market. The European Union threatened to issue severe sanctions against the U.S. if it continues to adhere to its steel tariff, and as a true Republican, Mr. Bush turned away from steel communites, families, and workers, so as to keep the well-oiled machine of capitalistic exploitation from needing repairs. Such a profound change of heart should incur the wrath of the enitre organized labor movement in this country. Angry letters and phone calls should be made to the White House protesting his sudden “about-face” regarding this matter. Bush lied to the thousands of American Steelworkers when he told us that foreign imports were severely damaging our nation’s most basic of industries. He has used the cover of the ever-failing war against terrorism, which has been used as an excuse for the “ever-failing” economy. Bush is no friend of organized labor, and his economic plan for emerging from this maelstrom is far too indicative of the failed, racist, and anti-working class program espoused by the now incapicitated Reagan. Bush is wholly concerned with maintaining his high popularity rating for the upcoming 2004 election, and the concerns of the people, the common people, those individuals who lost their retirement, their “nest egg,” their sense of security in our new, and more exploitative economy, are left without hope, struggling to makes ends meet; just like the steelworkers. This is not the Steelworkers of the 1950s and 1960s: when we elected Presidents. This is a union besieged on all fronts. Management demands ever greater concessions from the workers, from a paltry health insurance program, to reduced wages, they have consistently asked and received numerous concessions from a once proud and militant union. We, as steelworkers, erroneously thought that Bush would assist Steelworkers, but instead witnessed his callous aforethought.

Angela Birminghamvia e-mail

The real reason

Hasn’t anyone realized that Bush wants a war with Iraq so that he might gain votes for the Republican candidates in the November elections. This clown is happy to sacrifice the lives of America’s youth (what does he care, after all the sons and daughters of his rich owners – the wealthy privileged one percent – won’t be among them) so that he can increase the fascist might of himself and his evil Party. What Bush is up to ranks among the greatest abominations in history.

John W. Michaelvia e-mail

Editorials

Fri, 20 Sep 2002 08:34:00 +0000

No war with Iraq

Smarting from setbacks at the United Nations, the Republican Party has launched a desperate campaign to regain the political initiative. In elections across the country GOP congressional candidates are beating the war drums faster and louder in an effort to make war with Iraq the defining issue in this year’s elections.

Senate races in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota are prime targets in the GOP drive to regain control of both houses of Congress by knocking off Tim Johnson, Tom Harkin or Paul Wellstone – or better still, all three – by playing up the fact the trio voted against Congressional approval of the Gulf War in 1990.

Reduced to its simplest terms the issue is a no brainer: Do we waste billions of dollars – current estimates say 200 billion – on a war with Iraq or do we spend them to create jobs, to provide universal health care, to train more teachers or on a prescription drug plan under Medicare? One thing is certain – we can’t do both.

We are not surprised by the GOP’s decision. After all, if you can get away with stealing an election, concocting the lies and half-truths to justify war with Iraq is easy.

Recent polls have shown that voters are concerned about domestic problems – that, as the Wall Street Journal says, “Economic anxiety trumps war talk,” a fact underscored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) who says communications with her office are overwhelmingly against attacking Iraq.

“Any talk of war is morally wrong,” Lee said. “A military strike should not be authorized by Congress.” Although Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against intervention in Afghanistan, others like Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) say their support of intervention was wrong.

The task before us is as simple as it is urgent: Congress must put handcuffs on the Bush/

Cheney/Rumsfeld gang. The surest way to do that is to flood their telephones and e-mail with the demand, “No war with Iraq. Give peace a chance!”

***********************************************************************

Happy Birthday

The Constitution, signed Sept. 17, 1787, was subject to a rigorous debate in the newly born United States of America. Out of the debate came guarantees that were enshrined in the Bill of Rights, protecting the people from a tyrannical government.

But the Constitution, radical and progressive as it was, also gave birth to a nation divided against itself: divided between freedom and slavery, with the right to vote and hold elected office limited to propertied white males.

Today, 215 years after ratification - and many battles – the democratic rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights have been strengthened: A bloody Civil War abolished slavery and gave us the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. Women won the right to vote with the 19th amendment in 1920. The Poll Tax was repealed by the 24th amendment in 1964. Eighteen-year-olds, although drafted to serve in the U.S. military, couldn’t vote until 1971 and the 26th amendment.

These reforms were won in the fires of class and social struggles.

Once again today, the sons and daughters of past generations uniting with our country’s many new arrivals, are engaged in a titanic battle to save and expand the revolutionary essence of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to save it from a new form of tyranny – not a tyranny of Britain’s King George or slavocracy, but the tyranny of corporations and the Bush Administration who thumb their noses at the Bill of Rights and trample on the rights of all the people, including the right to live in peace.

Under cover of the Sept. 11 tragedy, they push their agenda without regard to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness no matter one’s race, nationality, gender, religion, citizenship-status, sexual orientation or ability.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…” will stand up to such tyranny and demand our economic, civil, environmental and human rights – to ensure universal tranquility and equality.

Happy Birthday, U.S. Constitution.

Detroit labor takes stock on Labor Day 2002

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 06:28:00 +0000

A parade of several thousand union members flooded Detroit’s downtown streets on Sept. 2 to celebrate Labor Day 2002 and to remind Detroiters that “we are the union.”

After the parade participants joined other thousands at the 6th annual LaborFest, a gathering of unions, political organizations, community organizations, and the friends and families of labor union members. Entertainment was provided by the Motor City Rhythm and Blues Pioneers, the Latin Counts, and the UNITE chorus. Food and drink, games, floats, information booths, and exhibits are the usual fare at Detroit’s Labor Day celebrations.

Labor Day 2002 comes in the middle of times of struggle, as the labor movement across the country demands “no more business as usual,” that the Bush administration bring corporate criminals to justice, provide compensation for swindled workers, and take measures to curb the deepening recession. It was against this background of struggle that Detroit workers took the day to celebrate the wins and losses of the last year.

Theatrical workers and health care workers saw bargaining agreements reached for the first time. Transit workers in the Detroit-Windsor tunnel won a new contract after several weeks of being locked out. A newly formed UNITE local is on the verge of an important victory in the local garment industry.

Residents of Southfield, a major Detroit suburb, won a victory when the city council voted to enact a living wage ordinance. State employees in United Autoworkers (UAW) Local 6000, successfully launched a petition drive to place an initiative called True Collective Bargaining for State Workers on the November ballot.

None of these victories would have been possible without the unity of the UAW, the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, other central labor councils, retiree and senior organizations, and labor-led coalitions such as the Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice. It is significant that each of the struggles was undertaken with a growing knowledge of the need for solidarity to defeat the political forces on the right that push this agenda.

Another important step has been the formation of the Detroit Labor Committee for Peace and Justice (DLCPJ) that enjoys the support of Michigan Congressman John Conyers. DLCPJ has sought to bring the issues of endless war on Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, or anywhere, into the labor movement.

According to its missions statement DLCPJ “oppose[s] draining essential public programs, such as education, health care and the social security trust, for a massive giveaway of tax dollars to wealthy corporations under the guise of national security and economic stimulus.” DLCPJ was initiated by UAW Local 909 and is supported by members of numerous Detroit-area unions and retirees’ organizations. Its program opposes attacks on immigrants and civil liberties and calls for unity in “challenging George Bush’s foreign and domestic policy more aggressively.”

On more local issues, Michigan workers continue to face attacks from the outgoing ultra-right administration of Gov. John Engler. In places like Flint and Highland Park, Engler used local fiscal difficulties as an excuse to intervene and sell off public services to the highest bidders, putting hundreds of union workers out of jobs. His recent attempt to privatize Michigan’s publicly-owned Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance corporation was exposed as a scheme to enrich a few of his big business friends. His attacks on public employees began with attacks on Detroit public school teachers when he pushed Public Act 112, outlawing real collective bargaining rights for school workers, through the legislature.

Dick Posthumus, the Republican nominee for governor, has promised to continue this anti-union trend and attempt to undermine local living wage ordinances by withholding funding for projects that would fall under the jurisdiction of these laws.

The Posthumus-Engler agenda was rejected in the Draft Program of the Communist Party USA, Michigan District, for a labor-led progressive agenda for the 2002 elections and beyond.

In its call for unity of labor and all democratic movements, the Communist program highlighted the anti-worker and anti-people abuses of the Engler years, urged Michigan voters to turn the tide against the ultra-right by continuing to demand greater prescription drug coverage and wider health care insurance coverage. It also called for more money to fund more and better health care facilities.

Additionally, the program urged the defense and strengthening of public education by refusing to balance the state budget at the expense of education funds, retirement benefits for teachers and school workers, and overturning P.A. 112. The Communist Party’s draft program concluded, “we think defeating the right wing in November is good practice for building a hopeful future.”

Workers in Detroit have scored a number of accomplishments this year, but unity against the right wing agenda will be decisive in defeating the main obstacles to preserving the only organizations workers have to defend themselves against “Englerization” and to insure even bigger and more momentous victories. Detroit workers know that their standard of living depends on the strength and endurance of the organizations they have to protect themselves from the worst effects of these trends, their unions.

Joel Wendland is the managing editor of Political Affairs. He can be reached at jwendland@politicalaffairs.net

Letters

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 06:17:00 +0000

Words of peace

Some quotes that are ever more timely for the readers of your great paper:

“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” – St. Francis of Assisi

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” – A.J. Muste

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.” – John Lennon

“Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes – good will among men and peace on earth.” – Albert Einstein

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” – George Washington

“Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.” – Martin Luther

“Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures, peace is our gift to each other.” – Elie Wiesel

Franklin CrouthersSeattle WA

Peace website hacked

The UnitedForPeace.org web site was hacked – totally shredded. Yes, there are bad people out there who would rob you of your right to gather and observe this day while working for peace. The site is back up. Global Exchange has remounted a listing of events at www.unitedforpeace.org Take a look. Go to an event if you can. Don’t let the bad guys win.

Wes BoydPresident, MoveOn.org

Class struggle on the internet

I got this from a labor listserv (www.unionvoice.org/campaign/ilwu/ wbgbzriij).

I think that if you’re in the labor movement you ought to be on the internet because we are facing a real blitz by the right wing and we need to get into gear as quick as they do. So I’m passing this along with the idea of “workers of the world, e-mail! We have nothing to lose but our chains! “West Coast dockworkers are working without a contract because their employer, supported by shoe companies like Payless, Stride Rite, Cole Haan and others, has not bargained to reach a deal. At the same time, the Bush administration has threatened to use troops to operate the dockworkers’ equipment in the event of a lockout or a strike. Tell the shoe companies – who are among the biggest users of the West Coast docks – to join the call for fair and just bargaining.”

Jane Blochvia e-mail

The Boss is still the boss

There’s been some debate in the media about the music written about Sept. 11. The Springsteen CD is very Bruce and very moving because he captures what many feel about the effects of Sept 11. Why doesn’t the PWW interview him? He’s a big star but he really loves the working class.

Al Wilson Trenton NJ

Right on!

When you read something in the corporate press that really hits the class struggle nail on the head you just have to say, Amen! Susan Sontag wrote an oped piece, printed in The New York Times on Sept. 10, which put out the the basic idea that the Bush call to war is really a call for absolute U.S. power. Sontag calls for us to reflect on Sept. 11 on where America is going with an administartion that never saw a treaty it could adhere to nor an international law that it respects. Her oped is a call to organize and dialogue at the grassroots for peaceful solutions to a real crisis that must have a solution not an open ended war drive.

A readerNew York NY

Editorials

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 04:59:00 +0000

Déjà vu in Florida

It was “déjà vu all over again” in the Florida primary Sept. 10, with new electronic voting machines breaking down, polling places not opening on time and poorly trained election officials.

Did Gov. Jeb Bush, once again, throw a monkey wrench into the voting process? He had to know that all eyes would be fixed on Florida where millions of voters are still angry and hurting over his role in the theft of the 2000 presidential election.

The voting problems create uncertainty over whether Bill McBride or Janet Reno is the real winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary, with Daryl Jones coming in third.

That certainly serves Gov. Bush, who has already worked hard to whip up dissension among the three Democratic contenders. They have refused to take the bait and have kept their fire directed at the common enemy, Jeb.

The Florida turmoil once again throws the spotlight on the urgent need to reform our electoral system. It must not be limited just to mechanical improvements such as electronic voting machines. The real issue is to democratize our election system.

We must make it far easier to vote. Why not make election day a national holiday? Make it easier for independent candidates and third parties to get on the ballot. Level the playing field by outlawing all corporate contributions to candidates.

The system should be nationalized so that all election expenditures in every state come from public funds. Insure that all candidates have fair access to the media.

Allow voters to register on election day. Restore voting rights for former prison inmates. Strengthen enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. Establish “instant runoff” voting, in which voters cast ballots for their first and second choices.

Instead of “winner take all,” let’s establish proportional representation, in which representation in legislatures is apportioned according to a political party’s share of the vote.

A victory over Jeb Bush and his ultra-right minions on Nov. 5 could be a first step toward a truly democratic system of elections across the United States.

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Post-9/11 changes

The recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll documenting the shift in public opinion since 9/11 is something for all progressives to take note of (See story, page 11).

According to the WSJ, “economic anxiety trumps war talk,” with voters so far resisting the right wing’s call for war with Iraq.

But welcome as the poll is, the battle to defeat the right wing in this year’s election is far from over. While polls can generate enthusiasm and confidence – as this one certainly does – they do not win elections.

That requires hard work – making sure your neighbor is registered, making sure your union or community organization has a plan to register its members, participating in voter education on the issues by signing up for a phone bank or walking a precinct and, when the time comes, making sure they go to the polls. There’s room for everybody and we still have six weeks to get the job done.

President Bush and his advisors have also seen the WSJ poll. They, too, recognize the danger signs and are desperately working to reverse it by launching a campaign based on “more.”

More deceit. More lies and half-truths. More fear with warnings of imminent terrorist attacks. More calls for war with Iraq. More danger for global catastrophe.

There are other signs of change. And although still too few and, in most instances too timid, a number of leading Democrats have begun to speak out.

One of them is former President Jimmy Carter who told the Washington Post that Iraq does not present “a current danger to the United States” and challenged White House policy on a number of issues. “It is crucial that the historical and well-founded American commitments prevail: to peace, justice, human rights, the environment and international cooperation,” Carter concluded.

We agree. In large measure, that’s what’s at stake in this year’s election.

Letters

Fri, 06 Sep 2002 03:57:00 +0000

One year later

Living through the horrific experience of the bombing of the World Trade Center has put so many things into clear relief. The very real threat of terrorism has in fact gotten worse after the bombing of Afghanistan and the policies pursued in the Middle East and now with Iraq.

Secondly, our public health system needs a total overhaul because the anthrax crisis has never really been resolved. And when an outbreak of a disease happens like West Nile virus no one in the government has a comprehensive plan. And third, our civil rights are being flushed down the toilet.

The toxic and hazardous conditions which still face N.Y. workers is also a crime. The EPA hasn’t responded to the crisis of the continuing dangers of asbestos in the air or even on the fire trucks which travel all around this city.

And now we find out that Christine Todd Whitman refused and covered up the environmental crisis in and around Ground Zero because she was more concerned about getting people back to work on Wall Street.

I think the system has proven to be rotten in response to this tragedy and I believe there is a better way. But unless we keep the lessons alive ... we are doomed to be the pawns of the rightwing who control the Supreme Court and the White House and is real scared about losing their control of the Congress. So we have got to get organized on the elections or we’ll be in a deeper mess.

A NYC reader

Juarez murders

Please start headlining the Juarez murders. See “Missing Young Woman,” the documentary on PBS. A witness, who was silenced and ignored, reports that it is the police who are doing the killing. The police on drugs.

I’ve never written to any editors about anything in my life before ... but after seeing this documentary, I just could not sit there – over 400 women have been murdered by the corrupt police for years and not for any political reason – just for fun. This is horrible. There are no words.

Lillie Palmervia e-mail

Health care jingle

The cost of stayin’ healthy has doubled in a year My health care provider has fallen on its’ ear They say it was a knock-out with a one, two punch The providers threw the towel in and the doctors went to lunch 45 million people without medical assistance Who’s gonna survive, who’s gonna go the distance Its gonna cause a riot, it’s gonna cause a rumble We got to fight our way out of the Health Care Jungle My health care package was wrapped real tight It came with monthly payments, and the cost was outa sight Now the rents comin’ due, there’s no food upon the plate How can folks stay healthy When they live in such a state Now they offer you a new plan, it only costs a little more But don’t expect the service that you had before But they have to make more profit, that’s easy to see They take from you and they take it from me Then they take it all with bankruptcy

Ed HayesWindsor CA

Fast cash

The PWW needs to get some fancy, dare I say, Madison Avenue-type promos. I know that the paper is great but we need to reach out to people who are new readers to contribute the cash needed to keep the presses rolling. Or maybe the editorial board should solicit ads from small business that don’t have the cash to buy ads in the corporate papers. I love the paper but as my Mom always says, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!”

S. Savonvia email

Peace movement grows

Keep up the reportage on the organizing against the war on Iraq. It helps us get a feel of what’s really going on in the country. The polls say Bush is slipping but sometimes you need to know what kind of organizing is going on to believe it!

K Smythvia email

Editorials

Fri, 06 Sep 2002 03:17:00 +0000

Remember 9/11! Vote for peace Nov. 5

Our nation was changed forever by the horrendous terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 that took 3,000 lives. Many drew positive lessons: that we must emulate the firefighters, paramedics, construction workers and police officers who risked life and limb to rescue victims of all races and nationalities. Several families of “9/11” victims formed a group called “Peaceful Tomorrows” to oppose war, racism and hatred as the answer to the attack.

Yet the ultra-right demagogues also seized on the attack. The Bush-Cheney Administration declared an “endless” war on terrorism. Iraq is now in their crosshairs. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered detention of over 1,200 Arabs and Muslims without charges. The USA PATRIOT Act was rammed through granting vast police powers in violation of the Bill of Rights.

The American people are having profound second thoughts about the direction Bush-Cheney pushed the nation after “9/11.” Within a month of “9/11” the Enron debacle exposed Bush and Cheney ties to corporate malfeasance. Many now ask: Is the war on Iraq about democracy or grabbing Iraqi oil? There is growing concern that Ashcroft must be stopped and the Bill of Rights restored.

Labor Day was the kickoff for 2002 election in which the people will have a chance to ask candidates where they stand on these life and death questions. Do they favor endless wars and bloated military budgets or will they promote policies of peace and disarmament? Will they take action to provide jobs for the unemployed, to protect pension benefits, to enact prescription drugs under Medicare? Or will they lavish more tax subsidies on Big Business and the rich? Will they vote to repeal the USA PATRIOT Act?

The best way to commemorate “9/11” is to start now to mobilize the votes to defeat the corporate ultra-right Nov. 5.

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Back-to-school and (big) business

As millions of our children return to school this week we will all be confronting some daunting problems. Privatization, racism, lack of funding, attacks on union rights and bilingual education, vouchers, high-stakes testing and rolling back curriculum reform are just a few. The key players in these problems are Corporate America, the Bush Administration and his followers in Congress and the far-right extremists on the Supreme Court.

While Bush promised to be the education president, he has turned out to be the mis-education president. Bush and his right-wing ilk see public education as something to downsize and privatize. To get thriving modern, integrated public schools it will take funding, resources and an outlook that public education is a cornerstone of any democratic society.

Rural and urban schools in every state of the nation find themselves facing all the dilemmas caused by 20 years of right-wing attacks on hard-won democratic and educational rights. It certainly is a bleak future for public schools when capitalism insists that “private is better.”

Most of the problems faced by public education are about funding and equity of resources. The right wing’s tired argument of “not throwing money at a problem” wears thin when the government has been throwing money at corporate “problems.” Don’t our kids and schools deserve a bailout as much as the airline industry?

The peace movement first suggested in the ’70s that the Pentagon should hold a bake sale to raise money for its weapons. Aren’t our kids more important to national security than the latest “smart bombs?”

It will take a unified movement of all working class and democratic forces in order to guarantee every child in the United States a 21st century-quality education, and to defeat the right wing agenda for education in November.

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