> > WW News Service Digest #128 > > 1) FARC shows world how to stop coca production > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Workers around the world: 7/13/2000 > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Philadelphia: Are gov't demands forcing workers to strike? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Rhode Island hospital boss imposes arbitration to avert strike > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >COLOMBIA CONFERENCE: >FARC SHOWS WORLD HOW TO STOP COCA PRODUCTION > >By Monica Somocurcio > >As the U.S. government moves forward with "Plan Colombia" >to deepen its intervention in that country's civil war >under the cover of a "war on drugs," the Revolutionary >Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) has >unveiled its own proposals to stem the production of >illicit crops. > >A June 29-30 Conference on Illegal Drug Crops and the >Environment, hosted by the FARC-EP in the town of Los >Pozos, discussed real ways to eradicate coca production >without harming the peasant population's livelihood. >Government representatives from 21 countries, the Vatican, >the United Nations, the European Parliament and the >Colombian government attended the event. > >The conference was a significant show of the respect the >FARC-EP has earned in its 36 years of armed struggle for a >socialist society. The conference was held in the >demilitarized zone of five provinces that the Colombian >government has evacuated for talks with the FARC-EP. > >Representatives from 50 farmers' organizations spoke at >the conference. They explained to the international >delegates--including ambassadors and other high-level >diplomats--what they need to be able to live without >farming coca. > >They also spoke out categorically against the U.S. >government's military aid. "Plan Colombia is a declaration >of war against peasant farmers," one farmer from the state >of Cauca told the Washington Post. > >"Since when do you fight misery using chemicals, weapons >and invading troops?" > >On June 30, the U.S. Congress approved a $1.3-billion >"drug eradication" aid package for Colombia. The package >includes 18 Black Hawk helicopters and 42 Huey II >helicopters--modern versions of the ones used in the >Vietnam War--as well as Green Beret training for the >Colombian Army. > >The package is part of a larger U.S.-organized aid package >whereby the United States, the European countries and other >capitalist countries are to contribute money to prop up the >Colombian ruling class--battered by the revolutionary >insurgencies and a growing economic crisis. > >Ninety percent of the $1.3 billion in the U.S. aid package >is devoted to buying arms for the Colombian Army and >providing them with training and technical assistance. Only >10 percent of the funds are allocated for crop >substitution. > >A key proposal from the FARC-EP demonstrated that the >revolutionaries have a program to eliminate illicit crops >in the municipality of Cartegena del Chaira. The FARC-EP >offered to oversee the manual destruction of coca plants in >the area--without fumigation--if this was combined with >crop substitution and improving the local infrastructure. > >The revolutionaries called for forming a local authority >comprised of community, union and environmental >representatives that would oversee the implementation of >the plan. Funds for the program would come from European >donor countries. > >The proposal--which detailed each step of the crop >substitution and economic empowerment process--was >immediately rejected by the Colombian government. The U.S.- >backed government refused to surrender its authority over >the coca-producing region. > >The U.S. government was invited to the conference, but >refused to attend. That in itself contradicted Washington's >claim that it is interested in combating drug production in >Colombia. > >The real aim of U.S. military aid was clearly exposed at >the conference. It is not to eradicate drugs, but to fight >the largest and most successful revolutionary insurgent >army in Latin America. > >"If the U.S. approach to guerrillas prevails, the FARC, as >the people's army, will fight back," said FARC-EP leader >Manuel "Tirofijo" (Sureshot) Marulanda. Marulanda, dressed >in combat fatigues, was on hand to receive the >international delegation. > >Commander Ivan Rios said that the FARC-EP will arm coca >farmers and might buy missiles to shoot down U.S.-supplied >helicopters if the Colombian government carries out an >offensive with the new U.S. aid. > >The capitalist countries that sent representatives are no >friends of the FARC-EP, of course. Many tried to give FARC- >EP leaders lectures on "human rights"--even though the >Colombian armed forces and their U.S. backers are among the >most flagrant violators of human rights in the world. > >One fact about these two eventful days in Colombia cannot >be overlooked or underestimated: 21 powerful capitalist >countries felt obliged to send delegates to what can be >considered liberated territory in Colombia. > >This speaks to the strength of Colombia's revolutionary >movement--something the U.S. must contend with as it >becomes increasingly involved in Colombia's civil war. > > - 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: <019b01bfe8d0$a60a55c0$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Workers around the world: 7/13/2000 >Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2000 07:32:47 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD > >ECUADOR: TEACHERS DECLARE VICTORY > >Teachers across Ecuador returned to work June 30 after >winning concessions from the government. Three million >students had gone for seven weeks without classes as their >teachers fought for better salaries and against >privatization of education. > >The National Union of Educators (UNE) won a basic salary of >$29 per month. The government also agreed not to privatize >the public school system and to maintain the funding levels >for education. Other government changes in education policy >would be subject to debate with the full involvement of the >country. > >Ecuador is suffering an economic depression. The effect of >this depression is magnified by the government's pro- >International Monetary Fund policies of austerity and >privatization. President Gustavo Noboa has introduced the >"dollarization" of the economy, making the U.S. dollar the >national currency. > >Two presidents have lost their positions in the last three >years due to popular uprisings against this IMF-imposed >economic misery. In January, a popular government led by >Indigenous people and progressive military officers was cut >short after the intervention of the U.S. government and >Ecuador's military high command. > >The teachers' strike took place at a time when bosses and >politicians were jittery about their fates, as the >capitalist class tried a third time to impose the >neoliberal economic policies. This was reflected in the >repression that the teachers faced. > >On June 21, elite police units stormed the UNE offices in >Quito and arrested UNE President Aracely Moreno. Eleven >other union leaders were also arrested in a major sweep. > >In the face of this repression, 200 teachers and their >supporters launched a hunger strike to demand the >unionists' release. The leaders were released as part of >the strike settlement. > >SOUTH KOREA: RIOT POLICE ATTACK STRIKES > >South Korea's government unleashed its notorious riot >police on striking workers June 29. Over 2,000 riot police >stormed the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, where workers had been on >strike for three weeks. Over 1,100 workers were arrested. > >The workers were fighting to win full-time status at the >hotel. The number of workers employed in part-time >positions has soared since the 1998 financial crisis in >south Korea. Workers were also asking to raise the >compulsory retirement age so that older workers could >continue to provide money for their families. > >Days after the attack at the Lotte Hotel, the government >again mobilized riot police to attack strikers at the >National Health Insurance Corporation in Seoul. The workers >struck on June 28 for better wages and to get the company >to hire more workers. > >On June 30, the 2,000 workers detained the NHIC's >chairperson, offering to release him when their demands >were met. Instead, the government mobilized 3,000 riot >police for an assault on the corporation's headquarters. > >Cops poured through the front doors as well as through >seventh-story windows in the July 1 operation. Sixteen >hundred workers were arrested in that assault. > >The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions staged several >protests against the brutal police assaults. A KCTU >statement blamed the attacks on the U.S.-backed south >Korean government's need to make a show of force on two >fronts: "an effort to create a semblance of social unity" >in talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and >against the south's working class. > >Doctors recently won a weeklong strike, prompting criticism >from bosses and bankers against capitulation in the face of >the workers' demands. > >Bosses are clearly worried by a new round of workers' >protests. Bank workers have threatened to strike on July >11. Strikes have increased by nearly 30 percent this year, >according to the south's Ministry of Labor, and both the >KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions have >threatened general strikes in the coming months. > >BRAZIL: MASSIVE GAY PRIDE DEMONSTRATION > >At least 120,000 people joined the Gay Pride Parade in Sao >Paolo, Brazil, on June 25, according to independent >journalist Rex Wockner. Slogans called for an end to hate >crimes. > >"We are going to march so that people see how many of us >there are, how different we are from each other, and how >we're just like the rest of the world," according to a >parade pamphlet. > >EUROPE: LESBIAN, GAY, BI, TRANS PRIDE > >Huge demonstrations of gay pride across Europe pushed for >extending democratic rights for lesbian, gay, bi and trans >people. > >A June 24 rally of 400,000 marched in Berlin's Christopher >Street Day Parade. The main demand, according to >independent journalist Rex Wockner, was passage of a >comprehensive registered partnership law. > >In France, where partnership laws are already on the books, >200,000 marchers in Paris raised their voices to win >adoption rights for lesbian and gay couples. Marchers also >called for laws to ban anti-gay discrimination. > >SOUTH AFRICA: SIT-IN VS. PRIVATIZATION > >Seventy municipal workers from the South African Municipal >Workers Union and their allies occupied the city manager's >and executive committee chair's offices of Johannesburg's >City Council on June 22. The workers were protesting the >council's privatization plans. > >After 24 hours, the sit-in declared victory. The City >Council signed a written agreement declaring a moratorium >on implementing the plan. > >On June 28, 10,000 union workers held a victory celebration >in downtown Johannesburg. > >Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and >the South African Communist Party also participated in the >occupation. > > > > - 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: <019c01bfe8d0$a716e3c0$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Philadelphia: Are gov't demands forcing workers to strike? >Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2000 07:33:38 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PHILADELPHIA CONTRACT TALKS: >ARE GOV'T DEMANDS FORCING WORKERS TO STRIKE? > >By Joe Piette >Philadelphia > >Thousands of city workers marched and rallied June 27 in >front of Philadelphia City Hall to demand a fair contract >that would make up for "give-back" contracts over the last >eight years. During that time city officials bragged of >budget surpluses as high as $200 million. > >The city's contracts with the workers--who are represented >by District Councils 33 and 47 of the American Federation >of State, County and Municipal Employees--expired June 30. > >Joining the rally were delegates to AFSCME's national >convention and hundreds of hospital workers whose contracts >at four hospitals also expired June 30. > >City officials are pressuring union representatives to >settle. They desperately want to avoid a strike during the >Republican National Convention, which begins at the end of >July. > >Thousands of anti-death-penalty activists and other >protesters have already promised to disrupt convention >events that week. > >Raising clasped hands together as a sign of unity during >the rally were DC 33 President Pete Matthews, DC 47 >President Thomas Cronin and President Henry Nicholas of >District Council 1199C of the National Union of Hospital >and Health Care Employees. > >STRIKE THREAT LOOMS > >AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee spoke. He pledged the >national union's full support if a strike proved necessary. > >McEntee and several other speakers bitterly criticized the >city government's plan to spend $1.2 billion on two sports >stadiums while claiming there were meager funds for city >workers. > >The possibility of a strike still loomed when negotiators >for the 19,000 city workers ended their bargaining session >with city representatives July 1. Union members continued >to work after the June 30 contract deadline passed. > >Negotiations between the city and DC 33, which represents >blue-collar workers, were scheduled to resume July 5. >Leaders of DC 47, which represents technical workers, have >asked for a state mediator to intervene. > >Administration demands against union members' health care >plans seemed to be the main issue preventing a settlement. > >On June 30 three hospitals agreed to five-year contracts >with 1199C. Negotiations with the fourth, Children's >Hospital, ended July 1 with a six-year agreement. Control >of the union's pension plan had been the main sticking >point. > >The union announced a compromise with Children's Hospital >on the pension issue. Under the settlement, workers with 15 >or more years of seniority would remain on the union's >pension plan. Other workers would be covered under a plan >administered by ChildrenHospital. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <019d01bfe8d0$a94869c0$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Rhode Island hospital boss imposes arbitration to avert strike >Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2000 07:34:41 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >RHODE ISLAND: >HOSPITAL BOSS IMPOSES ARBITRATION TO AVERT STRIKE > >By Michael Shaw >Providence, R.I. > >An impending nurses' strike at Rhode Island Hospital was >averted just before the July 1 deadline. Hospital President >Joseph Amaral suppressed the looming strike. He invoked an >unusual contract provision that gives management the right >to call for binding arbitration when faced with a strike. > >Amaral made the move after members of the United Nurses >and Health Professionals union voted 1,226-76 against the >bosses' final contract offer. Union members were prohibited >from walking out. > >Carrying signs reading "Keep quality alive" and "Safe >staffing," 600 chanting nurses rallied outside the hospital >July 1 to protest the move to arbitration. > >UNAP President Linda McDonald denounced Amaral's decision, >saying, "It is shameful that the hospital kept the entire >state in suspense for the past week--causing enormous >disruptions in our health-care system--simply so that it >could try to browbeat its employees into accepting an >unacceptable contract." > >McDonald said she was confident the union would fare well >in the arbitration process, and that the arbitrator would >reject hospital management's "final-offer" contract >language. > >The union said that current contract provisions allowing >mandatory overtime and wage scales below those of other >area hospitals had made it difficult for Rhode Island >Hospital to recruit personnel. > >Understaffing has increased mandatory overtime, which >nurses say forces them to work while dangerously exhausted. > >The nurses' demands have gained wide public support. > >The threatened strike on a busy holiday weekend sent shock >waves through state government and the health-care >industry. Rhode Island Hospital houses the region's only >Level 1 trauma center. It's also home to the busiest >emergency department in New England. > >The hospital bosses prepared for a strike by reducing >patient intake by half. They hired extra security guards >and recruited 200 scab nurses from Colorado. These were >costly measures. > >Commenting on the hospital's unwillingness to bargain in >good faith, McDonald said, "They do everything to spend >money, except at the bedside." > > - 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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