> > WW News Service Digest #38 > > 1) Texas prison hunger strike > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) On the picket line: 2/10/00 > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Battle over vouchers and privatization of schools > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Protest in Davos, Switzerland > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >This digest is sent to you because you are subscribed to ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To switch to the non-digest, standard mode, E-mail to ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >Message-ID: <009c01b1fe6f$2df0e120$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Texas prison hunger strike >Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1988 20:23:56 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >TEXAS PRISON HUNGER STRIKE: > >HEROIC ACTIONS PUTS WORLD >SPOTLIGHT ON INHUMANE CONDITIONS > >By Gloria Rubac >Houston > >"Two, four, six, eight, support the prisoners, not the >state!" > >"Isolation is a violation! Stop the torture now!" > >Every work day for three weeks these chants by supporters >of striking prisoners have bounced off the downtown Houston >building that houses offices of the Texas Department of >Criminal Justice. > >>From Jan. 1 to Jan. 21, some 1,000 Texas prisoners on >death row and administrative segregation participated in a >hunger strike. The action called attention around the world >to the cruel and inhumane conditions some Texas prisoners >are forced to live under. > >Over 100 of the 450 men on death row in Texas have been >transferred to a new super-maximum prison. The rest are >scheduled to be moved this spring. They live in total >isolation in six-foot-by-10-foot cells that don't have bars >in the front--just a solid steel door. > >The prisoners are never allowed human contact. They eat >alone, shower alone and go to recreation alone. They are no >longer allowed to participate in the work program, to have >group recreation, to make arts and crafts in their cells, to >attend religious services or to watch TV. > >Unless they have visitors, there is no contact with the >outside world except through letters. > >As recently as last March, the federal courts ruled that >Texas' administrative segregation is cruel and unusual >punishment. Yet this cruelty continues. According to lawyers >and psychiatrists, Texas prisoners in administrative >segregation live in conditions worse than those in the >infamous Pelican Bay prison in California. > >The strike, initiated by Lionel Rodriguez and other men on >death row, spread to seven other prison units. > >Outside the walls, support for the hunger strikers was >visible from day one. Daily demonstrations took place in >Houston. > >On Jan. 15, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement >held a protest in front of the prison administration >building in downtown Huntsville. Members held up banners and >leafleted passersby in support of the prisoners. > >Prison officials originally denied the hunger strike was >taking place. But as the prisoners' hunger strike >progressed, the heroic action was covered by newspapers from >the Dallas Times to the Los Angeles Times. The Houston >Press, an alternative news weekly with a wide circulation, >gave the hunger strike a full page of coverage. Even the >Huntsville Item--published in the city where the state's >executions are carried out--covered it. > >After such widespread media coverage, offficials admitted >the strike was happening. > >Support for the prisoners spread to other countries, as >well. In several cities in Italy, activists went on a hunger >strike in solidarity and sent letters to Texas prison >officials. > >An action took place in London in front of the United >States Embassy. Solidarity messages came from far and wide-- >San Francisco to Detroit, Australia to Germany. > >The men on death row are now planning new strategies to >focus attention on their life under sensory deprivation. >They plan to continue to advance the struggle and build up >the pressure in order to win changes in their living >conditions. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00a201b1fe6f$41f1baa0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] On the picket line: 2/10/00 >Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1988 20:24:31 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ON THE PICKET LINE > >SF BIKE MESSENGERS STRIKE > >For the second time in less than a year, San Francisco >bicycle messengers at DMS Corp. walked off the job in >January to press their demands for higher commissions and >better benefits. Bike courier pay is usually based on the >number of pieces delivered. This system lines the pockets of >company owners, but forces the cycling workers to travel at >dangerous speeds to earn a living. > >The DMS messengers want pay increases of 35 percent for >all commissioned couriers, including bikers, drivers and >walkers. They also want hourly workers' wages to be raised >from $10 to at least $15 an hour. Finally, DMS strikers have >demanded that they be allowed back on the job without >retaliation when their walkout ends. > >The January strike was the latest fight in a broadening >campaign to organize San Francisco bike couriers. Bike >messengers at DMS held a one-day walkout last April over >commissions and benefits. Meanwhile, they are trying to >unionize both messengers and dispatchers at DMS. In June, >bike messengers and drivers at UltraEx Inc., another San >Francisco courier service, broke new ground by voting to >join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. > >"All the workers are trying to do is get a modicum of >respect and some decent working conditions," said ILWU >Organizing Director Peter Olney. The ILWU strongly supports >organizing efforts among bike couriers. Olney made this >message clear by walking the picket line outside DMS along >with delegations of bike messengers from other delivery >companies. > >NORTHWEST MAKES FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SICK > >Northwest Airlines has had a bumpy ride since contract >bargaining with the carrier's 11,000 flight attendants was >called off in December. Many Teamster flight attendants were >furious that the National Mediation Board, a supposedly >neutral body, halted the talks and sided with management, >calling union demands "unrealistic." > >Shortly thereafter, Northwest had to cancel more than 300 >flights when many flight attendants called in sick. This >sent the fourth-biggest U.S. carrier scurrying to court to >get a temporary restraining order to block what it called a >"sickout." The airline told a federal judge that the higher- >than-usual illness rate at holiday time amounted to >"guerrilla warfare" by flight attendants. > >The current struggle comes after flight attendants voted >in August to reject a tentative five-year agreement. Both >the James P. Hoffa administration of the Teamsters >international union, and Billie Davenport, president of >flight attendants' Local 2000, had recommended ratification. >Nevertheless, 69 percent of Northwest flight attendants >turned thumbs down on the proposal because wage and benefit >increases were too low and work rules too vague. Most flight >attendants felt the union could do better--especially with >the strong 99.4 percent strike vote taken in June. > >As flight attendant actions have shown, when talks resume >Northwest will have to come across with adequate wage, >benefit and work rule proposals if it expects smooth flying >any time soon. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00a801b1fe6f$5f250280$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Battle over vouchers and privatization of schools >Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1988 20:25:20 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VOUCHERS AND PRIVATIZATION: >BATTLE OVER CONTROL OF SCHOOLS WIDENS > >By Lyn Neeley >New York > >Public education, the oldest and largest government >entitlement program in the U.S., is under attack. In this >city, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has threatened to abolish the >Board of Education, take control of the schools and >privatize them, and institute merit pay for principals and >teachers. > >Another blow to city schools was a ruling by State >Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills that 40 of New York >City's alternative schools must now administer standardized >tests, essentially putting an end to alternative curriculums >and forms of assessment. > >On Jan. 24, Giuliani told the state legislature in Albany >that he wants to "do away with the Board of Education" and >turn over control of the city schools to the mayor. He said >he wants to "make the next election for mayor about who can >do the best job running the school system." > >In his State of the City speech on Jan. 13, Giuliani >proclaimed "I am softening," referring to his statement that >"I want to blow up" the New York City Board of Education. >Instead, hizzoner said, "So now we won't blow it up; we'll >sell it." Giuliani was talking about the board's >headquarters in Brooklyn. > >In his speech, Giuliani reintroduced his proposal for >private corporations to run city schools so they could >"compete with the board and see who does a better job. >Privatize it," he said. > >TO EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR PERFORMANCE > >Giuliani's major achievement this year--according to >Giuliani--was the introduction of merit pay and the loss of >tenure for New York City school principals. These were the >terms of a new contract he helped broker between the Board >of Education and the union representing principals. > >At his year-end press conference, Giuliani proclaimed the >contract was a historic change in the way schools can be run >and "made the first crack in the job protection system." He >called it a good model for all city employees with "the best >earning the most." > >This is an old trick by bosses to divide workers and >weaken the solidarity needed to demand higher pay and better >work conditions for all. > >Principals will now be held up for review, their salaries >and jobs dependent on how well they "perform." What this >really means is that they are now exposed to the whims of >superintendents and school boards, and how well the students >do on standardized tests. > >Giuliani has already instituted merit pay programs in two >school districts in Brooklyn for teachers and principals in >schools that score well on standardized tests. > >Nationally, Republicans like George W. Bush are advocating >programs of "rewards and consequences" with an emphasis on >consequences for teachers, students and schools based on >standardized test scores. Bush promises a $100 million >Achievement in Education fund for states showing progress on >test scores. States that do not would lose 5 percent of >their federal grants. > >This month the New York City teachers' contract comes up >for renewal. Giuliani said teachers don't deserve across- >the-board raises--only increases based on merit. > >Teachers in the city already make 25 percent less than >teachers in suburban areas. Randi Weingarten, president of >the United Federation of Teachers, said, "The Board of >Education says it needs 54,000 new teachers in New York >City. How are we going to find them under these >circumstances?" > >AND THE RICH GET RICHER > >On Jan. 26, Commissioner Mills ruled that 40 alternative >schools in New York City will be forced to administer >Regents exams and promote students based on their scores. He >rejected the renewal of a five-year waiver that allows 40 >alternative schools to assess students' work on a variety of >criteria, including individualized projects and portfolios. > >The Regents test "does not really evaluate literacy. It's >very formulaic," said Jane R. Hirschmann, chair of a >consortium of parents with students at the alternative >schools. "It's a test that all children will have to get >prepared for. Teachers will have to teach to the test." > >Raising scores is completely different from helping >students to learn. Barbara Minor wrote in Rethinking >Schools, Winter 1999/2000: "Governors and corporate leaders, >aided by conservative think tanks, took over the standards >movement and transformed it into a top-down process that >establishes an official version of knowledge and sets back >efforts to forge a multicultural vision, in the process >valuing discrete facts, memorization, and `basics' over >critical thinking and in-depth understanding." > >A single standard test for graduation makes it harder for >students to get a high school diploma and increases the >number of failures among students. This is especially true >in urban areas where 40 percent of the children are already >at risk of school failure. Giuliani has also made it harder >for students to succeed in college by cutting out >remediation programs at City University of New York schools. > >Standardized tests drive the wedge deeper between students >from wealthier, educated families and those from low-income >families, a disproportionate number of whom are Black or >Latino living in urban areas. The fewer people eligible to >attend college, the larger the pool of uneducated, low- >skilled workers forced to accept the low-paid jobs now >proliferating in the U.S. > >VOUCHER THREAT > >Giuliani sees the principals' contract as the beginning of >the transformation of the public school system, a process >which he says must be furthered by introducing vouchers to >provide parents with public tax money to pay for private >schools. Progressive teachers are opposed to vouchers >because they divert attention from much-needed reforms in >public schools like smaller class size, improved teacher >training and more innovative curriculum. > >An editorial in the Fall 1998 issue of Rethinking Schools >says that "Vouchers are beholden to the rules of the >marketplace. As is clear in all other social arenas, >housing, health care, employment, the marketplace always >favors the individual choices of those with power, money and >privilege. The true powers behind the voucher movement--the >leaders of the religious right and the Republican party, the >titans of corporate America such as John Walton of Wal-Mart >and the free market ideologues of the right-wing think tanks >[like the Bradley Foundation, which funded the racist book >"The Bell Curve"--L.N.], have been adept at selling the myth >that vouchers are merely an attempt to provide low-income >kids, especially African Americans, the same chance as >affluent whites to attend private schools." > >Last month Giuliani forced Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew to >resign after Crew refused to support Giuliani's plan to >implement vouchers in New York. Giuliani lobbied for Robert >R. Kiley of New York City Partnership to be interim >chancellor. Kiley shares Giuliani's philosophy of merit pay >for teachers, vouchers and a market-based education system. > >Kiley said he would work with prominent business leaders >to begin writing curriculum for proposed mandatory summer >school and serve as consultants to audit standardized tests. > >When the Board of Education chose Harold O. Levy over >Kiley as interim Chancellor of New York City, Kiley asked >exasperatedly, "Why are people objecting to this? They don't >like capitalism? They don't like profits?" > >Kiley is on an advisory committee to the board of Edison >Schools Inc., the largest private company managing public >schools in the U.S. > >PRIVATE SCHOOLS DON'T HAVE TO BE ACCOUNTABLE > >While public schools are being heavily scrutinized and >forced to give standardized tests, voucher schools don't >have to be accountable to hire certified teachers, give >state tests, disclose racial breakdown of students, provide >financial records, have open meetings or release any >information on academic performance. > >Milwaukee voucher schools have not been forced to comply >with anti-discrimination policies such as providing services >for disabled students or agreeing not to discriminate on the >basis of race, sexual orientation, pregnancy or marital >status. > >Although lack of accountability makes it hard to evaluate >the success of private schools, evidence is surfacing that >shows voucher schools around the country range from dismal >failures to getting results no better than those of local >public schools. > >Responding to a well-known fact in Milwaukee that "in some >cases, Catholic schools have been used by some white parents >to avoid desegregation efforts in the public schools," >Rethinking Schools conducted a survey of private schools. >Although only two of the schools were willing to open their >files, they found that one of the schools had only one >African American among its 200 students. At the other >school, located in a multiracial neighborhood on the city's >west side, there were 26 African Americans among its 446 >students--only 6 percent. At a nearby public school, 76 >percent of the students were African American. > >A federal judge was forced to throw out a voucher program >in Cleveland because conditions in the schools were so bad. >The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper originally exposed one >school which taught almost exclusively with videos produced >by a private Christian school in Florida. Another hired >unlicensed teachers. Among them was a known convicted >murderer. It was housed in a 110-year-old city elementary >school building that had to be closed because of hazards >such as broken windows, peeling lead paint and discarded >junk, including nail-studded boards. > >After conflicting findings in the success of voucher >programs, Wisconsin's legislature cut all funding to >evaluate the voucher program in 1995. Studies in Tennessee, >Wisconsin and nationwide show that while reducing class size >increases student achievement, distributing vouchers does >not. > >Money spent on New York City students is $4,000 less per >pupil than what is spent on students living in more affluent >suburban neighborhoods. Private schools eliminate government >responsibility to provide equitable, quality education for >all children. They drive the wedge further between students >from educated, high-income families and those from low- >income neighborhoods. > >Instead of handing public money over to private firms and >corporations, tax dollars need to be invested in proven >programs that will help all children succeed: lowering class >size, providing up-to-date material, improving resources, >constructing and maintaining school buildings, providing a >safe learning environment, increasing the number of teachers >of color, educating and preparing qualified teachers, and >paying teachers the higher salaries they deserve. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00ae01b1fe6f$75d48140$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Protest in Davos, Switzerland >Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1988 20:25:58 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PROTEST IN DAVOS, SWITZERLAND: >NO SANTUARY FOR BILLIONAIRES > >By G. Dunkel > >The biggest bourgeoisie of the world still remember Seattle >and the defeat of the World Trade Organization. So do the >workers. > >Another skirmish against the worldwide attacks that go under >the name of "globalization" was fought in Davos, Switzerland, >on Jan 29. Davos is an unlikely spot for a protest. It is a >small town deep in the mountains in the part of Switzerland >close to Austria and Italy. A narrow, snow-filled road and a >tourist railroad connect it to the lowlands. > >But Davos has been the location since 1971 of a posh party, >officially and pompously called the World Economic Forum, that >invites the plutocrats of the world--individuals with a net >worth of at least $1 billion--to meet elected leaders like >U.S. President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony >Blair. The organizers charge participants $20,000 each, though >for leaders like Clinton the fee is waived. > >WEF1999 was where the deals that led to the kidnapping of >Kurdish leader Abdullah �calan were worked out between Turkey, >the United States and the African countries where he sought >refuge. > >The World Trade Organization grew out of deals made at Davos >in the 1980s. So WEF2000 was a good symbolic spot to begin the >process of reversing Seattle. Demonstrations in past years had >been trifling, drawing less than 100 protesters. > >The WEF organizers took as their slogan "humanizing >globalization." They even invited some of the groups who had >been in the streets in Seattle, like the AFL-CIO, to attend. > >According to reports in the French newspaper Lib�ration and >UPI, about 2,000 demonstrators showed up from France, Germany, >Italy and England, as well as a large contingent of Kurds. The >Associated Press and some U.S. papers reported the number as >500. The Swiss cops claimed less than 100 showed up. They >wish. > >The Swiss cops felt they had to let the protesters off the >train, but tried to bottle them up about a mile away from the >conference center. The demonstrators tried to break through >the cordon, which was quickly reinforced by Swiss soldiers. >Tear gas and rubber bullets were used and a McDonald's >displaying the slogan "Think globally, eat locally" was >trashed. A few demonstrators and some cops wound up in the >hospital. > >Jean Bov�, a French farm leader accused of sacking a >McDonald's in France last year during a protest against the >globalization of French agriculture, wound up in the hospital. >He had been in Seattle. > >While many diverse groups participated in this action, the >main political theme seemed to be ending the harsh effects of >globalization on poor and working people and on poor >countries. > >The web site for one of the organizers of the demonstration, >www.reitschule.ch/ reitschule/anti-wto/index2.shtml, provides >an interesting list of supporters: a socialist deputy and >trade union organizer, Chiapas support groups, Mumia Abu-Jamal >support groups, various ecology and farmer movements, >unemployed movements in France, and a smattering of groups in >North America and Africa. > >APRIL 16 IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IS NEXT > >A coalition similar to the one that shut down Seattle over >the WTO meeting is planning to go to Washington, D.C., on >April 16 to protest a joint meeting of the World Bank and the >International Monetary Fund. > >The WB and IMF were set up in 1944 to control and regulate >the economic problems of the post-war period. They have been >the prime instruments of a worldwide imperialist order that >enriches the big bourgeoisie of the most developed countries >and impoverishes most of the rest of the world. > >The 60 groups that met in Washington early in January want >to protest the IMF and WB, knowing that, after Seattle, they >can draw more people than normal to Washington. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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