4) Ernesto Jofre: Brought class struggle from Chile to U.S.
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) What's at stake in airline industry showdown
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) International Working Women's Day from Manila to Istanbul
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
T
ERNESTO JOFRE 1937-2001
BROUGHT CLASS STRUGGLE FROM CHILE TO U.S.
By Milt Neidenberg
New York
A unique and unusual labor leader has died--Ernesto Jofre,
the manager, secretary-treasurer, and inspiration behind
Local 169 of UNITE, the garment and textile workers' union.
His local stood head and shoulders above the official labor
movement in this city and state. Jofre headed the 5,000-
member Amalgamated Northeast Joint Board of the union, and
was recently appointed an international vice-president.
Jofre's commitment to the labor movement and to low-paid and
immigrant workers was formed in his early years. A Chilean
socialist and member of the Copper Workers Union, he
supported Salvador Allende, who was elected president of
Chile in 1970 on a socialist ticket.
When Allende was assassinated in 1973 on the orders of the
fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet, with the aid and support
of the U.S. CIA, Jofre was arrested, jailed and tortured for
three years.
His dream of a prosperous and democratic Chile stayed with
him to the end of his life as he worked diligently to
support Ricardo Lagos, a socialist who won the presidency
last year. He believed Lagos would help fulfill his dream.
But Bush and the International Monetary Fund have other
plans--to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement
into a new Free Trade Area of the Americas in order to
exploit Chile and the entire hemisphere.
Jofre was exiled to the U.S. in 1976 and soon joined Local
169. Over the next quarter of a century he rose from
organizer to the leadership of the union.
What made him extraordinary was how quickly he applied what
he had learned as a political/labor leader in Chile to the
social and economic conditions in the U.S. He opposed the
policies of AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland, who worked
closely with the CIA to crush the progressive, revolutionary
and socialist movements in El Salvador. Jofre was the
principal organizer of the New York Committee on Human
Rights and Democracy, which exposed brutal attacks on the
peasants and workers and their unions.
Jofre organized so successfully that Kirkland was forced to
send his key labor lieutenant from the infamous American
Institute for Free Labor Development to New York to combat
Jofre's efforts to build a solidarity movement. The CIA
subsidized this AFL-CIO department to undermine progressive
movements in Latin America.
For many of us who met Jofre and supported him during those
trying days, it was the beginning of a long and comradely
relationship. He organized his members and networked with
other unions to bring union delegations to the May 3, 1981,
historic March on the Pentagon. Workers World and other
organizers brought 100,000 protesters to Washington. One of
the major issues was the U.S. intervention in the civil war
in El Salvador on the side of a fascist dictatorship and
counter-revolution.
In later years, Jofre supported many issues initiated by the
International Action Center. He provided his union hall for
an organizing meeting for this year's Jan. 20 Bush counter-
inauguration demonstration; for a Mumia planning meeting;
and meetings that organized successful delegations to bring
medicine and food to the Iraqi people, defying State
Department mandates. He contributed generously to the Key
Martin/Chris Hani Memorial Fund of Peoples Video Network to
fight the AIDS crisis and address other critical issues in
South Africa.
Local 169 was a mixed bag when it came to electoral politics-
-a contradiction that remains to this day. To his credit,
Jofre supported and set up office space for candidates who
ran openly as lesbians and gays. On the other hand, he was a
founding member of the Working Families Party, which created
another line on the voting machine for Democratic
candidates.
The top Democratic leaders that Jofre endorsed--like Al
Gore, Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Hillary Clinton--are in
the same party that, under former President Bill Clinton,
was responsible for the Welfare Reform Act that scapegoats
and victimizes the most oppressed section of the poor and
the low-paid workers--the very people Jofre championed. The
labor movement has been attacked by both capitalist parties,
the Democrats as well as the Republicans.
Ernesto Jofre's legacy, however, lies in his dedication and
tireless devotion to the cause and the plight of low-paid,
immigrant workers.
His optimism, dedication and compassion in organizing these
workers encouraged the IAC and other progressive and
community representatives to provide organizers and other
volunteers to join with Local 169 in organizing oppressed
food store workers.
These workers put in long hours with no benefits, earning
less than the minimum wage. They have been terrorized and
threatened with deportation by the powerful Korean Green
Grocers Association, the employers that Local 169 took on.
Jofre's vision of the future for the labor movement was with
the most oppressed and low-paid workers: immigrants, people
of color, women, service workers. His life and contributions
and the lessons he brought from Chile demonstrate that the
U.S. labor movement is entering a new period. Leaders are
rising up from the multinational and oppressed work force to
be the engine of renewed class struggle.
Ernesto Jofre believed in this vision. He matched his words
with his deeds. A standing room crowd of supporters filled a
large union hall here on March 11 to pay homage to his deep
impact on the labor movement.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the March 22, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
BUSH WHACKS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS
WHAT'S AT STAKE IN AIRLINE INDUSTRY SHOWDOWN
By Greg Butterfield
After President George W. Bush imposed a Presidential
Emergency Board on contract negotiations at Northwest
Airlines, members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal
Association demonstrated outside the White House March 12.
They chanted "No intervention" and "Bush not fair to labor."
Some 10,000 Northwest mechanics were ready to strike at
midnight March 12 in response to management stonewalling.
They've been fighting for a new contract for over four
years.
The mechanics are demanding a major pay increase,
retroactive to 1996.
Under the 1926 Railway Labor Act--a largely anti-union law
regulating the transportation industry--Bush's pro clam
ation makes it illegal to strike for 60 days. If there's no
agreement by May 12, the workers can strike.
But already congressional leaders, in collusion with Bush,
have threatened to outlaw any strike and impose the
emergency board's recommendations.
AMFA President O.V. Delle-Femine said Bush intervened "just
as negotiations were coming together and significant
movement was being made ... The momentum to settle by
[Northwest] was impeded." (Associated Press, March 12)
"People in labor should be able to go on strike," said Tom
Helisek, a mechanic at the Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport, a major Northwest hub. "Before, we
were just fighting the company. Now I guess we're fighting
the government."
The struggle unfolding at Northwest is the tip of the
iceberg.
A showdown is in the making between unions and management at
three other big U.S. airlines: American, Delta and United.
STRIKES POSSIBLE AT FOUR AIRLINES
Strikes are possible at all four airlines this spring,
encompassing over 130,000 workers.
Flight attendants at United and pilots at Delta recently
voted to authorize walkouts.
Workers at other airlines are also affected. TWA is about to
be gobbled up by American, while US Airways is set to merge
with United. Both are demanding concessions from the
workers.
Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines workers have set up
informational pickets at Houston's Hobby Airport to beef up
their negotiating position.
While there are specific issues at each company, all of the
workers involved--from mechanics, flight attendants and
pilots to ramp workers, baggage handlers and ticket agents--
say it's time for the profit-hogging airlines to start
paying them back.
The airlines used pay and benefit cuts to bail themselves
out of financial trouble in the early 1990s. Airline profits
have boomed since the middle of the decade. But most workers
have gotten nothing in return.
It was American Airlines--based in Bush's home state of
Texas--that originated the industry-wide wage and benefit
grab.
When Bush moved against the Northwest mechanics, he
threatened these workers, too. "I intend to take the
necessary steps to prevent airline strikes from happening
this year," he said on March 9.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune called it "a saber-rattling
message to unions at other airlines."
STORM CLOUDS AHEAD
Bush's intervention at Northwest and his threat to quash any
strikes is a storm warning for the airline unions. It's also
a signal to the whole labor movement that a militant, united
fight-back is needed.
What does the appointment of a Presidential Emergency Board
mean?
It means the repressive capitalist state--the organized
might of the whole owning class--has intervened to determine
the outcome of collective bargaining between workers and
management in one industry.
Democrat Bill Clinton set a precedent for Bush's move. In
1997, Clinton flexed his presidential power to halt an
American Airlines pilots' strike minutes after it began.
This is a threat to the basic, democratic rights of workers
to bargain collectively and strike.
So why is the owning class lining up against the airline
workers?
An economic downturn is looming, ripe with mass layoffs and
more hardships for working people. The bosses fear a
successful strike wave in the airline industry could ignite
a broader movement for job security, better wages and social
justice.
The outcome of the airline workers' struggle--whether a
victory or a defeat--will have a major impact on workers in
every industry.
INDUSTRY-WIDE PERSPECTIVE NEEDED
Along with its important goals of organizing the unorganized
and defending immigrant workers' rights, the AFL-CIO needs
to develop a perspective toward industry-wide collective
bargaining in the transportation sector.
The AFL-CIO must struggle to find ways to include the AFMA
and other independent unions in this effort. Isolation is
the biggest threat the unions face--whether or not they are
AFL-CIO affiliates--especially when they're up against a
common front of the bosses.
The basis for unity is building opposition to labor's common
enemies. These include Bush and the government, including
both Republicans and Democrats; the repressive state
apparatus of police, courts and prisons; and, of course, the
giant banks and corporations.
If airline workers are going to stop the assault on their
wages and union rights, then the relationship of forces must
be made more favorable. Getting bogged down in individual
bargaining at Northwest, Delta, United or American will
undermine the unions' real strength. That's why an industry-
wide labor strategy is needed.
In light of the current all-out attack on labor rights--
including Bush's intervention against the airline unions,
the repeal of ergonomics regulations, and the plan to expand
NAFTA into the Free Trade Area of the Americas--conditions
may soon be ripe for a congress of the whole labor movement
and its allies.
Building a united struggle of organized and unorganized
workers and the affected communities is the key to victory.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the March 22, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
INTERNATIONAL WORKING WOMEN'S DAY:
FROM MANILA TO ISTANBUL, WOMEN SPEAK OUT
International Women's Day was celebrated on March 8 all over
the world--by workers, farmers, students, political
prisoners, activists, the poor and the oppressed.
Women farmers across Brazil protested capitalist
globalization policies.
Seven hundred women from the Landless Rural Workers Movement
sat-in at a McDonald's restaurant in Porto Alegre. They
burned flags displaying the fast-food chain logo and
demanded an end to their government's capitulation to
imperialist economic demands.
A protest in Belo Horizonte by women pushed officials to
hasten agrarian reform.
In Guatemala, members of the Coordinating Committee of
Women, Children and Youth of the Union of the Quetzaltenango
Workers marched in the streets of Quetzaltenango to demand
their rights. They called for an end to injustice and
domestic violence.
In Nicaragua, women marched through Managua with banners
containing similar messages.
Other International Women's Day events took place in
Venezuela and Peru.
Political prisoner Marcela Rodriguez Valdivieso issued a
statement on March 8 from a prison hospital in Santiago,
Chile. She was a member of the Lautaro People's Rebel
Forces, which fought the CIA-backed Pinochet dictatorship.
She was injured and captured in 1990 during an attempt to
free a political prisoner and was sent to prison for 20
years.
Her message read in part, "I salute the combative and
revolutionary women who struggle for a better world and who
for this reason are persecuted, tortured and jailed. But
above all I send my most heartfelt homage to all the women
who struggled against the cruel and bloody military
dictatorship and who gave their lives to raise the dreams
for a free and just society based on solidarity."
In Colombia, the revolutionary FARC-EP issued a statement
hailing women fighting against the capitalist system and
promulgating socialism. At the same time, ultra-right
paramilitary forces harassed women from the Ruta Pacifica de
las Mujeres who were distributing literature in
Barrancabermeja. And Yolanda Bercerra, director of the
Popular Women's Organization, faced death threats.
In Haiti, 5,000 people commemorated March 8 at an event
outside the Fort National Women's Prison in Port-au-Prince.
Speakers addressed the conditions of women prisoners and
expressed their solidarity.
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Mildred Trouillot
Aristide, and Minister of Women's Conditions Ginette Lubin
visited the prisoners. President Aristede said, "We choose
this day to show how much we respect the voice of women, and
we give thanks to women here and around the world." Some
women prisoners were freed on this occasion.
Thousands of women living in revolutionary Cuba, where
International Women' s Day is a very important annual
celebration, massed at a Santa Clara monument to Che
Guevera. The incorporation of women's rights into every
sphere of society, including education and government, is an
integral part of the revolution.
'EQUAL WAGES FOR EQUAL WORK'
In the Philippines, women sneaked into the presidential
compound in Manila, despite a heavy police presence. They
marched with their fists in the air, shouting out their
demands that the Philippine government raise the status of
women and implement needed social programs.
Women demonstrated in New Delhi, India, for social, economic
and political equality, including employment, education and
improved healthcare for the half-a-billion women of their
country. Many of the women, holding infants, shouted, "Give
us food, clothing and shelter," and "We do equal work, we
want equal wages."
Speakers--including Ranjana Kumari, secretary of the Mahila
Dakshata Samiti women's organization--said they marched to
show the government that "women's issues cannot be ignored."
Over 1,000 women demonstrated in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to
protest increases in taxes and utility prices.
Thousands of Kurdish women in Istanbul, Turkey and Ankara,
joined together to celebrate International Women's Day. They
paid homage to the victims of rape and other forms of
violence against women.
That demonstration and other rallies held all over Turkey
demanded more rights for the 12 million Kurds living there
who suffer extreme repression. Police arrested 31 people in
Mersin and Adana.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions issued a
statement on this occasion reviewing women's "massive
contribution." The solidarity statement by this massive
union organization in South Africa salutes "all those
heroines who have worked tirelessly to advance the struggles
of the poor and the oppressed. We continue to be inspired by
these revolutionaries, and believe it is fitting a day
should be set aside to pay them their well deserved
tributes."
Demands by COSATU for women around the globe included
affordable and accessible housing and transportation,
protection against all violence, equal pay for equal work,
paid maternity leave and equal opportunities in the
workplace.
IMPACT OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION ON WOMEN
In Western Europe, "sexual trafficking" has been such a
focus of protests by women that the European Union was
pressured to issue a statement addressing the issue on
International Women's Day.
An estimated 700,000 women and children a year--particularly
poor, desperate migrant workers--are forced physically or
economically into these prostitution networks where they are
subject to rape and battering. Traffickers make big profits
on this inhuman exploitation.
In the formerly socialist countries, women's rights have
been set back since the reemergence of capitalism.
Women's groups in Russia demanded better jobs for women and
criticized soaring rates of domestic abuse and rape.
In Poland, women criticized the lack of right to abortion
and lack of sex education in the schools. Women's groups
there took to the streets on March 8 to push for an equal
share of political representation.
In the Czech Republic, leftist women's groups marked March 8
with a conference and local celebrations. A statement put
out by Social-Democratic Women called for a system of public
health for all--something that women lost with the overthrow
of socialism. It also defended full reproductive rights for
all women--including the right to abortion.
Women in Paris, France, demonstrated in support of Afghani
women who suffer extreme repression in education, employment
and access to health care. Public life for women is
virtually prohibited there.
In other towns in France, and in Greece, Italy, Portugal and
England, the day was observed with actions or implementation
of new legal measures to defend women 's rights.
Throughout the world, women are grappling with the problems
brought on by imperialist globalization, creating greater
inequities, a worsening of the "feminization of poverty,"
and engendering more violence against and exploitation of
women.
Yet women are fighting back--from Manila to Istanbul--with
tremendous spirit, organization and solidarity with their
sisters worldwide, boding well for resistance and struggles
ahead.
- END -
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