>
> WW News Service Digest #72
>
> 1) On the picket line: 4/13/2000
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2) Los Angeles labor rallies for public education
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 3) Revolutionary legacy of Kamau Wilkerson lives on
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 4) Forum on Korea: U.S. role in crushing 1948 uprising
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 5) WW interview with Colombia's FARC-EP, part 2
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>ON THE PICKET LINE
>
>Gov't vs. Basic
>Veg strikers
>
>Seven hundred fifty workers, mostly Latina immigrants, are
>entering their ninth month on strike against Basic
>Vegetable in King City, Calif. The strikers, members of
>Teamsters Local 890, have stood strong against all sorts of
>attacks from company, cops and courts. The latest attack,
>they say, will not stop them either. In mid-March the King
>City Council voted to file a lawsuit against Local 890. The
>lawsuit seeks to force the union to take down picketers'
>tents outside the vegetable-processing plant.
>
>Local 890 President Frank Gallegos said: "This is very
>disturbing. From the beginning of this strike the city has
>claimed to be neutral, even though we have always felt that
>they were going as far as they could to help Basic against
>the strikers. Now they are abandoning any pretense of
>neutrality and just aligning with the company against the
>residents of their city. This makes no sense to me, and it
>could well be seen by the strikers as an act of provocation
>by the city, forcing them to picket in the rain." Gallegos
>also pointed out that "there have been numerous instances
>of strikers being threatened on the picket line" and that
>there is "no indication that Basic or the city have done
>anything to deal with those incidents."
>
>While strikers cope with thugs outside the plant, the
>problem inside is bugs. Bacteria, that is. As a result of
>the company's efforts to keep operations running on a scab
>basis, "questions continue to crop up around the quality
>and safety of Basic Vegetable's products," according to the
>union. Local 890 recently issued a "customer alert" about
>quality control and product safety, charging that because
>of lax procedures bacterial contamination in a recent
>truckload of onions was discovered only after the truck had
>left the plant. Soon after, according to the union, Basic
>announced that it was laying off key laboratory personnel
>to cut costs. "It sounds like Basic needs to be increasing
>lab staffing, not cutting it," the union commented.
>
>OVERNITE STRIKE TALKS
>
>The Teamsters union's strike against Overnite, the
>country's biggest non-union trucking company, has brought
>the bosses to the table. According to a Teamster statement,
>union negotiators met with Overnite executives in Kansas
>City, Mo., on March 23 and 24. The next sessions are set
>for April 4-6.
>
>The union reported: "While we don't have a crystal ball to
>determine whether the tentative agreements reached will
>lead to a full comprehensive agreement, there are some
>basic issues agreed to that will be important for all of
>Overnite's workers--even for those workers who have been
>too intimidated to stand up to Overnite's unlawful assault
>on its workers' rights."
>
>Noting that "without a contract, what the boss gives, the
>boss can take away," the union statement listed "contract
>articles tentatively agreed to" that include: non-
>discrimination language, loss and damage, bonds and driving
>insurance, pay period, fair day's work for fair day's pay,
>lodging, gear, sanitary conditions. According to the
>Teamsters, "areas where progress is reported [and] most of
>the language is agreed on" include: seniority and layoff,
>discipline, suspension and discharge, grievance procedures,
>equipment and safety, inspections, time reporting, meals
>and sub-contracting.
>
>UPS JOBS
>
>Two-and-a-half years after the Teamsters' momentous strike
>against United Parcel Service, the company is finally
>honoring the contract agreement that ended that lockout. In
>late March, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa notified the
>nearly 2,000 union members at UPS that "the company has
>agreed to create the 2,000 jobs called for in the second
>year of the contract." In February, a federal arbitrator
>had already ordered the firm to create the 2,000 jobs
>called for in the first year of the contract. UPS must pay
>back wages and benefits and create the jobs by June 8.
>According to the union, this was the biggest arbitration
>award in Teamster history.
>
>INT'L FIGHT IN ALABAMA
>
>One of the hottest organizing fights in the South has won
>solidarity from the international labor movement. Last
>summer a ceramics plant in Sylacauga, Ala., was taken over
>in a merger that created Imerys, a transnational
>corporation based in France. Immediately after the merger,
>workers were stunned when company officials announced they
>would no longer recognize their union, PACE--the Paper,
>Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers. Further,
>the bosses said, they were combining the operations of the
>unionized plant and a nearby non-union plant. PACE
>officials started organizing at the second plant. They
>sought a company pledge not to interfere with a
>unionization vote. The bosses refused--and began their own
>campaign, to crush the union drive and scare off union
>supporters.
>
>It hasn't worked. In January, organizers announced that a
>majority of workers had signed cards authorizing PACE to
>represent them. They are, according to a union statement,
>"building a wall of solidarity." That wall bridges the
>Atlantic Ocean. The 20-million-member International
>Confederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General
>Workers' Unions has mobilized members in Europe, and
>especially in France, for actions against Imerys.
>
>On March 25, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs spoke at an
>Imerys rally in Sylacauga. He promised to "make it so hot
>for Imerys that they will be looking for a solution."
>Workers broke into chants of "What time is it? Union time!"
>and "PACE will be in your face" and marched together to the
>Sylacauga plants.
>
>END MET OPERA TRAGEDY
>
>Six months before, they had been arrested for trying to
>tell their story to opening-night ticket holders at the
>Metropolitan Opera. Now, on the evening of March 30, food-
>service workers and their supporters came back to Lincoln
>Center to protest union busting at the Met. This time,
>again, the New York Police Department denied the workers
>the basic right to express themselves. Cops pushed
>demonstrators across the street so they couldn't get
>anywhere near opera-goers. Despite the repression, the
>union protest was loud and angry. Members of Hotel and
>Restaurant Employees Local 100 chanted, "What do we want?
>Justice," in English and Spanish. Members of the clergy
>representing the New York City Labor-Religion Coalition
>joined student activists from the Farm Workers union and
>others for the rally and candlelight vigil.
>
>The National Labor Relations Board has issued two charges
>against the Met's food-service company, Restaurant
>Associates, for blocking the workers' right to organize.
>The most recent complaint, issued March 23, charges the
>bosses with discriminating against and even firing workers
>who were active in the union drive.
>
>OFFICE DEPOT DOESN'T DELIVER
>
>Now here's a company where the bosses are using their
>anti-union noggins. To remain "union free," they realized,
>it's just not good enough to block organizing and stop
>workers from talking union in the offices and warehouses.
>It's a wide world out there. The workers could hear union
>talk anywhere. So the sharp shooters at Office Depot have
>taken their anti-union safeguards a step further. The
>company refuses to deliver its products to unions. That's
>right. If a union orders a file cabinet, or even just some
>file folders, Office Depot routes the order through UPS--at
>an extra charge to the union--rather than making the
>delivery itself. How come? An Office Depot representative
>said the policy was instituted after Office Depot drivers
>making deliveries to union offices had been engaged in
>conversation about the benefits of unionization.
>
>In February, the California Labor Federation and
>Electrical Workers Local 47 filed a discrimination lawsuit
>against Office Depot, which pulled in $10.3 billion in
>sales last year.
>
>
>
> - 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: <005201bfa419$271d9110$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Los Angeles labor rallies for public education
>Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 20:50:52 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>LOS ANGELES: LABOR RALLIES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION
>
>By J. La Riva
>Los Angeles
>
>Thousands of union workers descended on Los Angeles March
>28. They were united and their message was clear: "Save
>public education! Make L.A. County work for working
>families!"
>
>The action began at the Los Angeles Unified School
>District headquarters. Hundreds of teachers rallied there--
>members of United Teachers Los Angeles and the Service
>Employees International Union.
>
>Teachers and school support staff march ed over a mile to
>meet with thousands of sister union workers at Pershing
>Square. They carried banners that read, "No to merit pay"
>and "Safe, modern classrooms."
>
>Although the marchers blocked two commuter lanes and
>brought traffic to a standstill, drivers honked in support
>and cheered them on.
>
>The local media has joined a campaign attacking the
>teachers started by LAUSD Interim Superintendent Ramon
>Cortines and Chief Operating Officer Howard Miller.
>Cortines and Miller are intent on imposing quick fixes,
>grabbing headlines and making names for themselves.
>
>But the community is solidly behind the thousands of
>teachers and other workers who are fighting for the future
>of public education and a decent living wage in Los
>Angeles.
>
>When UTLA members marched into Pershing Square, they were
>met by the cheers of workers from 20 other unions. All the
>unions represented are negotiating for new contracts this
>year and next.
>
>The grassroots coalition of workers, parents, community
>activists and students vowed to continue its united
>struggle to make L.A. County work for working families.
>
>RICH STATE, POOR SCHOOLS
>
>Although California is one of the richest states in the
>country, it ranks 43rd in money for public schools.
>
>Many of the state's schools are overcrowded and broken
>down. More than half are over 25 years old. Many classrooms
>go without sufficient heat. Paint is peeling off walls,
>classrooms are dirty, facilities are overcrowded and
>textbooks are in short supply.
>
>While administrative salaries have increased 62 percent in
>the last five years, spending on classrooms has increased
>by only 38 percent.
>
>And Los Angeles faces a 7,000-teacher shortage.
>
>The school district's recent demand for merit pay is the
>latest attack on teachers. It punishes working-class and
>poor families. The proposed "merit pay" for teachers will
>be linked to student results on racist and class-biased
>tests, exit exams and grade retention.
>
>The teachers want all students to receive a quality
>education. But they are also aware that punishing the
>youths because of problems like lack of materials,
>overcrowded schools, unassisted new teachers, dismantling
>of bilingual education and conditions of poverty is not the
>answer.
>
>While the district imposes linguistically and culturally-
>biased tests like SAT-9 on the student population,
>students, teachers and communities become scapegoats for
>the real problems facing schools.
>
>The school district, as well as local, federal and state
>governments, can't pretend to be interested in free public
>education. If they were, Interim Superintendent Cortines
>wouldn't have made his most recent proposals for upcoming
>teacher contract negotiations, such as sweeping take-backs
>in health benefits, increases in obligatory time on the
>school site, a one-percent pay increase and the flawed
>merit-pay scheme.
>
>If district officials really cared about educating
>children, they would demand that the government provide
>clean, safe, uncrowded classrooms, sufficient textbooks and
>equipment, support for new teachers and better pay to
>attract and retain qualified teachers.
>
> - 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: <005801bfa419$3d90a310$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Revolutionary legacy of Kamau Wilkerson lives on
>Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 20:51:30 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>REVOLUTIONARY LEGACY OF KAMAU WILKERSON LIVES ON
>
>By Workers World Houston bureau
>
>Defiant. Audacious. Pride-filled. Warrior. These were just
>a few of the many adjectives used to describe Ponchai
>"Kamau" Wilkerson at a special memorial held in his honor
>April 2 at the Shape Community Center, in the heart of
>Houston's African American community.
>
>Kamau was a 28-year-old revolutionary of African American
>and Thai heritage who was executed this past March 14 in
>Huntsville, home of the Texas death machine. Kamau was the
>defense minister of Panthers United for Revolutionary
>Education. He had organized a library in his cell to help
>bring revolutionary politics to other death-row inmates.
>
>Kamau spent more than 10 years of his young life on death
>row. Like many other indigent African American and Latino
>men, he was not represented by adequate legal counsel. In
>fact, one of Kamau's attorneys is the leader of the
>Republican Party in Houston and is pro-death penalty.
>
>Kamau put up a heroic show of resisting his execution even
>as they strapped him down to the gurney. As the lethal
>poison flowed throughout his body, he spat out a key,
>shocking prison officials and muttering the words, "The
>secret according to Wilkerson."
>
>Ester King of the Houston chapter of the National Black
>United Front and Gloria Rubac of the Texas Death Penalty
>Abolition Movement chaired the memorial, which began with
>an "elevating the spirit of Kamau" ceremony by Alafia
>Gaidi, an African traditional priest.
>
>Talented guitarist and singer Gawad performed a moving
>rendition of Kamau's favorite song, "A Change is Gonna
>Come." Poet Walei read a poem Kamau had written on the
>despicable crimes of capitalism and imperialism.
>
>Njeri Shakur, an activist with TDPAM and Kamau's best
>friend and companion, received a standing ovation when she
>was introduced. She spoke about the day when she and others
>were in court as Kamau received the date for his execution.
>As he was attempting to make a political statement, the
>judge ordered prison officials and cops to physically
>assault Kamau in order to silence him.
>
>Njeri verbally came to Kamau's defense and was charged
>with contempt of court. She was sentenced to 30 days in
>jail. The judge stated that she wanted to send Njeri to
>jail so that she would not be able to organize against
>Kamau's execution. The 15 days that Njeri spent in jail
>coincided with the day Kamau was assassinated.
>
>Njeri remembered Kamau as a consummate soldier and a great
>embarrassment to the state of Texas. "Kamau was all about
>change. Prison is where young men find out who they really
>are. As a result, Kamau was unruly every day that he spent
>in prison," she stated proudly.
>
>KAMAU AND GEORGE JACKSON
>
>Monica Moorehead, representing Millions for Mumia and the
>International Action Center, had met with Kamau in 1996 and
>1998. She spoke on how the lives of Kamau and the martyred
>prison leader, George Jackson, mirrored each other. "The
>prisons may have confined them physically, but George and
>Kamau became liberated in the most profound ways,
>politically and ideologically," she said.
>
>"Once they experienced this liberation," Moorehead
>continued, "no matter how much the prison authorities
>attempted to break them, both George and Kamau became more
>defiant. The authorities soon found out that out of
>repression comes resistance. From then on, both Kamau and
>George became the authorities' worse nightmares, a high
>compliment, indeed."
>
>Kofi Taharka, a leader of NBUF, gave an eyewitness account
>on how Kamau and another PURE member, Howard Guidry, took a
>guard hostage this past February for almost 24 hours. They
>were forced to do so to publicly expose all the brutality
>suffered by prisoners at the hands of sadistic guards and
>wardens. This included sensory deprivation and lack of
>recreation and decent food. The prisoners also demanded a
>moratorium on the racist death penalty.
>
>Anti-death-penalty activists in Italy and Japan sent
>solidarity statements to the memorial. Workers World Party
>sent statements from a number of branches including
>Cleveland and Providence, R.I. Gloria La Riva, who also met
>Kamau in 1996, wrote on behalf of the San Francisco branch,
>"We in Workers World Party salute Kamau's great
>revolutionary spirit, which was never, ever defeated ...we
>pledge that like Kamau, we will never give up."
>
>Death-row inmates Stacey Lawton, Eric "Mpaka" Cathez and
>Harvey "Muenda" Earvin spoke lovingly of their fallen
>comrade. Earvin, prime minister of PURE, wrote, "We
>respectfully addressed him as `The Minister' because he was
>
__________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki - Finland
+358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
___________________________________
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
___________________________________
