> > WW News Service Digest #61 > > 1) On the picket line: 3/23/2000 > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Behind the epidemic of nurses' strikes > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Gov't allowed Davidians to burn to death in Waco, Texas > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Indonesian labor leader hits imperialist sweatshops > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Eyewitness north Korea: Survivors recall massacre by U.S. troops at Sinchon > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Mar. 23, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ON THE PICKET LINE > >By Mary Owen > >CALIFORNIA: TEACHING ASSISTANTS >AUTHORIZE STRIKE > >Teaching assistants at the University of California Irvine >have joined student workers at four other UC campuses and >authorized a strike to jumpstart stalled contract talks. >The teaching assistants--members of the United Auto >Workers-affiliated Student Workers Union at UCI--voted 502 >to 65 on March 3 in favor of a walkout if talks fail. The >same day, assistants at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley voted >overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Student workers at >UCLA and UC Davis approved walkouts the previous week, with >UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz set to vote soon. > >No strike date has been set, but a walkout would likely >occur at the end of the winter quarter in mid-April, >according to union spokesperson Connie Razza. That's when >professors rely on teaching assistants, readers and tutors >to grade tests and term papers. Razza said the strike votes >were prompted by unfair labor practices--specifically UC's >failure to provide information on union negotiations and >pulling back proposals. > >The union represents a total of 10,200 teaching >assistants, readers and tutors at various UC campuses. Two >years ago the student workers held a four-day strike for >union recognition, after which the California Public >Employee Relations Board ruled the students were entitled >to collective bargaining. Culminating a 16-year struggle, >UC officials recognized the union last year. Bargaining for >a first contract has been ongoing since June 1999. > >NORTHWEST AIRLINES: UNION FIGHTS FLIGHT ATTENDANT FIRINGS > >The union representing Northwest Airlines flight attendants >vowed to fight the firing of a dozen workers following an >alleged sick-out during the New Year's holiday. Northwest >characterized the higher-than-normal absence rate as "guerilla >warfare" because it forced the carrier to cancel several >hundred flights during a peak travel time. But Teamsters Local >2000 President Billie Davenport said none of the sick calls >were false, and the union will file grievances on behalf of >fired flight attendants. > >"From what I can tell, they are being discharged because, >purely, the company didn't believe them," said Davenport. >The dismissed flight attendants are from Detroit, New York, >Los Angeles and Honolulu. Davenport said the union will >take action to get them back on the job. > >The firings come on top of a number of anti-union actions >at Northwest aimed at stifling the flight attendants' >struggle--including a lawsuit against the union over the >alleged sick-out and unprecedented, court-authorized >searches of flight attendants' home computers, supposedly >to find evidence that the sick-out was organized. The union >contends the high number of sick calls over New Year's was >due to a flu outbreak and fears of flying during the Y2K >rollover. > >WAL-MART SLASHES UNIONIZED >MEAT-CUTTING JOBS > >Three weeks after meat cutters at a Texas Wal-Mart voted >in a union, the retail giant announced plans to end meat- >cutting operations at its 180 stores. "The Wal-Mart story >is a classic case of the legal cat-and-mouse game being >played out nationwide as the labor movement seeks to gain a >foothold in the traditionally nonunion service sector," said >Washington Post labor writer Frank Swoboda. > >In February, a dozen meat cutters at Wal-Mart's >Jacksonville, Texas, store voted seven to three to join the >United Food and Commercial Workers Union--the first union >victory by Wal-Mart workers nationwide. Wal-Mart is trying >to cover its union-busting meat department cutback by >claiming the move is part of a national trend toward pre- >wrapped meat. But it's hardly a coincidence that the >company-wide action came just weeks after the landmark >union victory. > >The union accused Wal-Mart of trying to deny meat cutters >at its other stores a chance to vote union. Jackson ville >was the first step in a UFCW organizing campaign that was >picking up steam. Meat cutters in nearby Wal-Mart stores >had petitioned for union elections. Meanwhile, the UFCW >says Wal-Mart can't make any changes to the Jacksonville >meat department without first bargaining with the workers >in the newly elected union. > >FLORIDA: FARMWORKERS PROTEST WAGES, CONDITIONS > >Several dozen farmworkers and some 200 supporters >completed a 15-day march on March 4 to protest low wages >and horrendous working conditions in Florida's tomato >industry. Their 230-mile journey began in Fort Meyers and >ended at the headquarters of the Florida Fruit and >Vegetable Association in Orlando. The protest was the >latest in a series of actions by the Coalition of Immokalee >Workers aimed at forcing tomato growers to bargain with >them. > >"We want a dialogue with the growers," said Lucas Benitez, >a coalition leader. March coordinator Laura Germino said, >"They're asking for the right to talk to their bosses for a >decent wage." While not a union, the coalition is seeking >collective bargaining rights for the farmworkers. In >December 1999, coalition members participated in a work >stoppage and two seasons ago six tomato pickers went on a >hunger strike that brought national attention to their >struggle. > >Officials of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association >refused to meet with the workers because the tomato bosses >ordered them not to. "We've been told by our membership >that it isn't our place," stated association apologist Ray >Gilmer. The coalition plans to continue activities to build >the farmworkers' fight for justice and pressure the bosses >to negotiate. > > - 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: <008101bf93b2$5e0e7210$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Behind the epidemic of nurses' strikes >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 22:54:46 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Mar. 23, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >BEHIND THE EPIDEMIC OF NURSES' STRIKES > >By Sharon Eolis, RN > >An epidemic has hit the country--an epidemic of nurses' >strikes. Two significant examples have been walkouts at >North Shore and Nyack hospitals, both in the New York >metropolitan area. Nurses at both facilities are >represented by the New York State Nurses Association. The >pivotal bargaining issue in both strikes was the nurses' >demand for sufficient staffing to provide safe, quality >patient care. > >The Nyack nurses have been on strike since Dec. 21, 1999. >The hospital has refused to acknowledge that a staffing >problem exists or to consider NYSNA's staffing proposals. >After two years of negotiations with no end in sight, the >registered nurses were forced to take a stand and walk off >the job. > >Only two bargaining sessions have taken place since the >RNs walked out. Both were ordered by a federal mediator. > >The 450 nurses at Nyack are prepared for a long strike. >This is the third walkout at the facility in seven years. >Due to a national nursing shortage, most of the nurses have >been able to find temporary part-time or per diem jobs in >other hospitals to help them survive during the walkout. > >The nurses at North Shore have won a settlement that sets >up a staffing committee with equal representation of RNs >and management. This is a first step to winning a contract >to protect patients and a work environment where RNs can >provide safe, quality care. The North Shore settlement also >established policies on workplace violence, domestic >violence and latex allergy--a major occupational health >issue for nurses who are required to wear rubber gloves for >many procedures. North Shore nurses also won pay increases >and defeated management attempts to reduce health and >pension benefits. > >BEHIND THE NURSING CRISIS > >Several factors have contributed to the present hospital >nursing crisis. The medical-industrial complex wants high >profits from health care. The insurance industry, for >example, limits the number of days a patient can be >hospitalized. This writer recently had spinal surgery in >which the insurance company approved only an overnight >admission. The actual stay was five days, requiring the >physician to write a justification for the extension. > >In addition, the federal government has made draconian >cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals. These >cuts have disenfranchised millions of poor and working >people--especially women and children in oppressed >communities--from health care benefits and have drastically >reduced the finances of hospitals. > >Roughly 95 percent of nurses are women. In the 1990s, >nurses finally won comparable wages with workers who have >comparable skills, such as pharmacists--a male-dominated >occupation. But in the interests of maintaining profits, >hospital administrations responded to these long-awaited >wage increases by laying off nurses or using buy-outs to >push higher-paid RNs off the payroll. Thousands of RNs lost >their jobs nationwide, and many left the field altogether. >Seeing reduced job opportunities, fewer people applied to >nursing programs. > >All this led to what is now a growing shortage of nurses. >However, the situation could be turned around by a national >health proposal to fund nursing programs and make >scholarships available for people to enter the field of >nursing. > >In spite of these problems, nurses will continue to strike >back to provide safe, quality care to our patients. The >real solution to the nursing crisis is a national health >care system--like the one in Cuba--that provides training >of health care workers and free health care for all the >people. > > - 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: <008701bf93b2$715ac8a0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Gov't allowed Davidians to burn to death in Waco, Texas >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 22:55:19 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Mar. 23, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >FBI FILES SHOW: > >GOV'T ALLOWED DAVIDIANS TO BURN TO DEATH IN WACO, TEXAS > >By G. Dunkel > >Most of the more than 80 deaths at the end of a 51-day >government siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, >Texas, on April 19, 1993, were caused by fires that could >have been prevented, according to recently revealed >internal memos from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. > >The memos have come to light in a wrongful death suit that >the survivors are currently pursuing against the agency and >against the two FBI agents in charge, Jeffrey Jamar and >Richard Rogers. They explicitly spell out that no plans >were made to fight the fires that erupted after tanks >crashed into the compound, spewing out vast quantities of >tear gas. > >A memo sent to Washington on April 9, 1993, 10 days before >the final assault, said that "per ... Jamar and ... Rogers, >there would be no plan to fight a fire should one develop >in the Davidian compound." > >Jamar told a congressional committee investigating the >siege that he held local fire trucks back from the fire for >40 minutes because he did not want to endanger >firefighters. > >According to the plaintiffs' arson expert Patrick Kennedy, >armored fire trucks or forest-fighting helicopters with >water slings could have saved many, indeed most, of the >victims. Kennedy is a well-known expert who investigated >the DuPont Plaza fire in Puerto Rico and the fire that >ended the MOVE siege in Philadelphia. He also complained >that the FBI, by bulldozing the site, destroyed much of the >evidence on what happened. > >Kennedy told the Dallas Morning News that the government's >investigation was "fatally flawed." It failed to follow >national standards and hinged on evidence "that has never >been used in such fire investigations before or since." He >was referring to tape produced by an infrared scanner >located in an FBI plane flying over the scene. > >Four major news organizations are suing the government to >get these civil proceedings opened up to full public >scrutiny, which is normal in such cases. But the government >insists that the majority of the hearings be closed. > >Most of the people who died in the fire were children and >women--the people Attorney General Janet Reno claimed she >wanted to save from the clutches of the Davidians. > >"The truth is ugly," the plaintiffs say in their motion. > >". Jamar and Rogers simply decreed there would be no plan >to fight a fire should one develop in the Davidian >compound." > >The Davidians, who encompassed both white and Black >members, had a particular set of political, philosophical >and religious beliefs. The real issue here is not the >content of these beliefs, nor the beliefs of their >supporters, but how the government acted. > >The Davidian lawyers have made a convincing case that the >government deliberately set out to destroy the group and >their children. It was an example of government terrorism, >a warning to all opponents of the state that if opposition >goes past a certain point it can lead to death. Mobilizing >the masses is the only effective answer to this kind of >state terrorism. > > - 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: <008d01bf93b2$8d3c6330$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Indonesian labor leader hits imperialist sweatshops >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 22:56:06 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Mar. 23, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >INDONESIAN LABOR LEADER HITS IMPERIALIST SWEATSHOPS > >Dita Sari, chairperson of the National Front for >Indonesian Workers' Struggle, addressed the final plenary >session of the AFL-CIO's Working Women 2000 conference >March 12 in Chicago. > >Sari is a key leader of the newly emerging independent >labor movement in Indonesia. The U.S.-backed Indonesian >government sentenced her to five years in prison for >organizing and leading a strike. Thanks to the growing >strength of the workers' struggle, Sari was recently >released from prison after serving three years. > >She opened by saying: "I was a political prisoner. >Speaking to you here today, this is the first time I'm >celebrating International Women's Day as a free person." > >Sari described the devastating conditions currently facing >workers in Indonesia--especially women. Sari laid the blame >squarely on imperialism. > >She said, "The economic crisis of the last two years in >Indonesia has created a crisis of U.S./IMF/World Bank/WTO >domination over the Indonesian economy." > >According to Sari, of the 36 million people who have lost >their jobs during this crisis, 80 percent are women. > >Sari issued a stirring call for solidarity--"not just a >slogan, but an action." She called the anti-WTO protests in >Seattle "a wake-up call," and said that "an express train" >of economic crisis leading to worker struggle is going to >hit in the United States "like it already has in >Indonesia." > >Concluding that "we want to teach the workers how to >fight," the courageous young labor leader closed on an >inspiring note. "We have survived repression, torture, >prison," she said. "But we are alive. > >"Some of my comrades have been kidnapped, some of them may >be dead. But we are very optimistic about the future." > > - 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: <009301bf93b2$ac8062a0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Eyewitness north Korea: Survivors recall massacre by U.S. >troops at Sinchon >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 22:56:58 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Mar. 23, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EYEWITNESS NORTH KOREA > >SURVIVORS RECALL MASSACRE BY U.S. TROOPS AT SINCHON > >By Sharon Ayling > >[Ayling and Brian Becker visited the Democratic Peoples >Republic of Korea in February as a Workers World Party >delegation.] > > > >A visit to the Sinchon Museum in the Democratic Peoples >Republic of Korea was a heart-wrenching experience. > >The museum documents the terrible atrocities carried out >by U.S. soldiers during the Korean War against the civilian >population of Sinchon County in socialist north Korea. > >The large museum is filled with evidence of this mass >murder. In 52 days of occupation, from October to December >1950, the U.S. military killed 35,383 people, or a quarter >of Sinchon County's population. > >Each room brought more horror, as a guide showed >photographs, belongings and weapons connected to >innumerable U.S. war crimes. There was well-documented >evidence of 2,000 people pushed off the Sokdang Bridge, >1,000 women thrown into the Sowon Reservoir, 600 others >found in the Pogu Reservoir, 1,200 stuffed in an icehouse >and then burned to death. > >Over 900 people perished in an air-raid shelter when U.S. >soldiers poured gasoline into the ventilation hole and >ignited it. > >The horror was similar to that seen at Al-Ameriyah Shelter >in Baghdad, Iraq, which the U.S. deliberately bombed during >the 1991 Gulf War, incinerating 1,100 people. Like the >Korean museum, that shelter has been turned into a shrine >to the martyrs and a permanent account of U.S. genocide. > >A short drive to Wonam-ri brought us to two storehouses in >which 400 mothers and 102 children had been butchered. We >were met by a man who was one of two children who survived >that bloodbath. > >The Sinchon Museum carefully documents the systematic >destruction of people's homes and livelihoods in the >county: 5,484 dwellings burnt; 618 factories, public >buildings and irrigation facilities destroyed; 681 >transport vehicles and 214,413 farm implemented destroyed; >9,624 oxen and other domestic animals looted. > >A large section of the museum is devoted to the popular >resistance to this genocide. It includes photos of the >People's Guerrillas, mass leaflets, newspapers, and >especially pictures of popular leaders whom the U.S. had >assassinated. > >One room documents the continuing resistance to U.S. >military occupation of the Korean peninsula. A large photo >shows south Korean student Rim Su Gyong speaking to a mass >rally in 1989 outside the museum. Rim came to north Korea >to support reuniting the north and south of the country, >which are kept separated by the presence of 37,000 U.S. >troops on the border. Her presence inspired mass marches >throughout the north. > >Upon her return home, she was jailed for five years by the >south Korean regime. Brian Becker, who went to the DPRK to >support this struggle and was also on the current Workers >World delegation, stands next to Rim in the picture. > >THE POLITICS BEHIND THE BRUTALITY > >Why were U.S. soldiers so brutal during the Korean War? > >The U.S. occupiers were encouraged to carry out atrocities >by a high command that was furious at being pushed out of >the area by hundreds of thousands of Chinese volunteers >fighting alongside the soldiers of socialist north Korea. >This was at a time when the U.S. corporations' dream of >absorbing Asia as a giant market after World War II was >being frustrated by revolutions throughout the area. Anti- >communism was rising to a fever pitch in the United States. > >News of U.S. war crimes came to international attention >soon after Sinchon County was liberated. Teams from the >Commission of International Association of Democratic >Lawyers and the Women's International Democratic Federation >investigated and confirmed the evidence. They wrote >extensive reports in 1951 and 1952 that became the core >evidence for the current museum. > >As our delegation left the museum, a large group of high >school students arrived for a tour. While it is painful >that these young people must see such horror, it is also >clear why these young people harbor no illusions about the >true nature of U.S. imperialism. > >U.S. war crimes during the Korean War are again coming to >world attention. The July 1950 U.S. machine-gun massacre of >hundreds of peasants at Nogun-ri is the most publicized. >The Western media have now reported 38 instances of U.S. >military attacks on south Korean civilians. > >The terrible massacres that the U.S. carried out in the >north should be added to that count. An estimated 2 million >Korean civilians died during the war, most at the hands of >the Pentagon. > >This summer the U.S. military and the south Korean regime >will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Korean >War with battle reenactments, including mock landings, that >will $39 million. > >All those opposed to this hideous pageant must bring to >world attention the genocide that followed those landings. > > - 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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