>Bridgestone/Firestone reached tentative agreements with the >company early on Sept. 4. > >The contract, if ratified, will cover all nine of the >company's plants in the United States. Preliminary reports >indicate it includes 12- to 25-percent wage and pension >increases, better heath care and other insurance benefits, >as well as improvements in grievance and arbitration >procedures. > >--Gery Armsby > > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 22:45:05 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Chinese Workers Seize Managers to Save Jobs >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >POLICE KEEP HANDS OFF: CHINESE WORKERS SEIZE >MANAGERS TO SAVE JOBS > > >By Deirdre Griswold > >Factory closings, once a rare occurrence, are on the rise in >the People's Republic of China as the government attempts to >modernize industry and the infrastructure. There are reports >in the Western media of angry demonstrations by workers >protesting the loss not only of their jobs but of social >services connected to their employment. > >One such incident occurred in Tianjin in August. Workers at >the Meite Packaging Factory began protesting at the plant >gates when they heard that the company planned to shut down >and relocate the plant. Originally a state-owned firm making >pipes, it had become a joint venture packaging beverages and >then, in a final restructuring, was bought out completely by >the Ball Corp. of Broomfield, Ohio. > >Even after many days of protests, the new managers refused >to meet with the workers. Maybe these managers believed the >U.S. news media, which have been constantly telling us that >workers in China are docile and have no rights. If so, they >got a big surprise. > >According to the Aug. 31 New York Times, the workers--most >of them middle-aged--marched into the plant and seized six >foreign managers, including one from the United States. They >held them hostage for 40 hours, until they had won some >improvements in severance pay. > >"The police did not enter the factory during the ordeal, >calling it an 'internal' matter," reported the Times. > >This incident tells us a lot about the situation in China >today. > >It reconfirms that what the Chinese leaders call "market >socialism," to the extent that it allows private ownership >and foreign capitalist investment, brings back to the >country the evil social effects of capitalism along with the >technology that China wants. This is a great danger to the >socialist spirit of the people--their solidarity, their >willingness to struggle in the interests of China's >development and future generations. > >But it also shows something very important about the Chinese >state. Even though the socialist state that arose from >China's revolution now allows two competing modes of >production--public ownership and private ownership--it is >not comfortable in the role of enforcer for bourgeois >property rights, especially when the private owners >represent foreign interests. > >So the state did not rush in and end the hostage situation >by force, as happens so often in capitalist countries. > >IS A JOB A RIGHT? > >In recent decades, many millions of workers in the >capitalist world have seen their jobs disappear as companies >close down, move away or restructure. The immediate reason >given is often the need to incorporate new technologies to >improve productivity and efficiency. But for the workers who >lose their jobs, there's no gain in either area. It's the >bosses' profits that are being protected and enhanced, not >the workers' ability to earn a living. > >In the United States, the more conscious workers have fought >to have their jobs considered a legal property right that >cannot just be taken away unilaterally by management. The >courts, however, have sided with the bosses. > >It's not that the courts better understand what is "right." >It's that the courts are bourgeois courts, and rarely if >ever rule in a way that threatens capitalist property. To >them, jobs belong to the owners of the companies to dispose >of as they see fit. The only right the workers have is to >sell their labor power to the bosses. That is, if the bosses >are in the market to buy. > >Workers in China have had a very different history ever >since the Communist Party, at the head of a huge army of >peasants and workers, defeated the rule of the landlords and >imperialist-backed capitalists in 1949. China was in the >throes of a social transformation. The goal was a society >where the land and the factories would belong to the people. >It was assumed that everyone had not only the duty but the >right to work and to share equitably in the fruits of their >common labor. > >Hundreds of millions of Chinese belonged to work units--in >agriculture, industry and the services--that not only >guaranteed them a job but also provided access to food, >shelter, education and medical care. > >As the Times article admits, "Until a decade ago, nearly all >urban Chinese workers received housing, health care and >pensions through state jobs." These are benefits that >workers in the most advanced capitalist countries have not >been able to win. > >All this was a monumental task, not only because of China's >vast population, but because of its extreme underdevelopment >compared to the imperialist dominators of the planet. The >Chinese people made heroic efforts to raise their standard >of living. Gains were made, but the hostility of the >imperialists made it nearly impossible to get the scientific >and technological expertise, much less the plant and >equipment, that were propelling forward the capitalist >countries in a second industrial revolution. > >In the 1970s, after a sharp internal struggle, China's >leaders embarked on a new course that allowed aspects of >capitalism to grow as a way of developing the country. Now >the "iron rice bowl" of social guarantees has been broken as >enterprises deemed "inefficient" by the government are shut >down. > >But along with the growth of capitalist forces in China >comes a rising class struggle by the workers. Their anguish >can be seen in this incident at the Meite enterprise. Also >discernible, however, is the possibility that this new >unfolding struggle by the masses, so clearly directed >against capitalist norms, can eventually push forward >China's socialist revolution to a new level. > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 22:45:06 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Who's a Murderer, Giuliani? >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: WHO'S A MURDERER, GIULIANI? > >The United Nations Millennium Summit opened Sept. 6 in New >York. Over 150 heads of state gathered there. It was during >the preparations for this event that New York Mayor Rudy >Giuliani again showed himself to be an enemy of all working- >class and oppressed peoples. > >Before the summit, Giuliani repeatedly attacked Cuban >President Fidel Castro and Palestinian Authority Chairperson >Yassir Arafat in the news media. He called them both >"murderers" and told them to stay home. > >Happily, both struggle-leaders ignored Giuliani's harangue >and came anyway. > >There is far more at stake than diplomatic embarrassment in >Giuliani's words. They are first of all an incitement to >violence by right-wing and pro-fascist elements against >President Castro and Chairperson Arafat. > >New York's Cuba solidarity movement has mobilized to defend >the Cuban delegation throughout their visit, not trusting >the New York Police Department to protect them. > >On what grounds did Giuliani level the "murderer" charge? He >offered no evidence. He merely repeated the usual ruling- >class slanders leveled against representatives of national >liberation movements and socialist countries that oppose >the global domination of U.S. big business. > >Lest any worker here be taken in by Giuliani's lies, it >might be useful to compare the Cuban leader's record with >the mayor's. > >Since his days as a student activist, Fidel Castro has been >a tireless fighter for social justice. The 1959 revolution >he led and continues to embody created a socialist society >where no child goes hungry; where free, quality medical care >and education are the rights of everyone; where racism and >sexism are outlawed; and where a union job is a right. > >In every international forum, Castro speaks out for the >rights of the poor and downtrodden, for the environment, and >against the domination of the Third World by the >International Monetary Fund and other imperialist >institutions. > >What about Giuliani? This former Reagan administration >prosecutor has presided over the biggest shift of wealth in >New York's history--from the pockets of the poor to the bank >accounts of the rich. Under his administration 500,000 of >poor women, men and children--mostly people of color--were >driven off welfare. > >A recent report by the Community Service Society showed that >poverty increased for New York's working families during the >late 1990s while Wall Street profits boomed. The city's >homeless shelters and emergency assistance units are >overflowing. Its food pantries are bare. > >Over 45,000 people, including many single mothers, were >forced into slave-labor workfare jobs--cleaning parks, >typing data and doing other work that used to be done by >union members. These workers are constantly terrorized with >threats of dismissal. They are forbidden to join unions. > >Marsha Motipersad was one victim of Giuliani's assault. An >older Black woman, Motipersad was forced into a strenuous >workfare assignment in 1997 even after doctors advised >against it. She dropped dead of a massive heart attack on >the job. > >Who's calling whom a murderer? > >So blatant is Giuliani's "drop dead" attitude toward the >poor that the federal government had to step in. New York >welfare offices were turning away qualified families >applying for food stamps and Medicaid. > >Then there's police terror. As New York's Black and Latin >communities know all too well, the Giuliani administration >gave the NYPD carte blanche to declare open season on youths >of color. > >Some of the country's most notorious police brutality cases >belong to his administration--the torture of Abner Louima, >the killings of Anthony Baez, Amadou Diallo and Patrick >Dorismond, to name just a few. > >In every single case, Giuliani has sprung to the racist >cops' defense while trying to smear the victims' >reputations. > >To further its imperialist goals, Washington must sometimes >put on a veneer of diplomacy. For example, President Bill >Clinton planned to meet with Arafat during the summit in >hopes of reviving negotiations between Israel and the >Palestinian Authority. > >But Giuliani's words reflect the real hatred that Clinton >and the other administrators of the capitalist state hold >for the movements of poor and working people here and around >the world. > >Proof of this could be seen thousands of miles away. On >Sept. 4, Prime Minister Kim Yong Nam and other >representatives of the socialist Democratic People's >Republic of Korea cancelled their trip to New York for the >Millennium Summit after being harassed by U.S. security >officials in the Frankfurt, Germany, airport. > >U.S. officials told the north Koreans they would have to >submit to humiliating strip searches before boarding a plane >to New York. Later the U.S. State Department claimed they >just wanted them to remove their jackets. Socialist Korea >rightly denounced Washington's insult and declared the >United States to be the real "rogue state." > >Millions around the world know Fidel Castro as socialist >hero and Yassir Arafat as the representative of a valiant >people's liberation struggle. Millions of New Yorkers know >what Giuliani is--a rabid attack dog for the murderous >system that puts profits before people's needs. > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 22:45:06 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable >Subject: [WW] Millenium Summit: Solidarity Movement >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >MILLENIUM SUMMIT: SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT > >By Deirdre Griswold >New York > >Over 150 heads of state have gathered in New York for the >Millennium Summit at the United Nations. No two present a >greater contrast than Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro. > >"Fidel excites the progressive movement here because of his >uncompromising stand on social justice," says Teresa >Gutierrez, who has been working on the welcoming committee >that is hosting a public meeting for the Cuban delegation at >New York's Riverside Church. > >Gutierrez, of the International Action Center, was a leader >of the movement to free little Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez from his Miami >captors. She is also helping to organize a large delegation >to the Second World Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity >with Cuba, to take place in Havana Nov. 10-14. > >"The more people learn about Cuba, the more impressed they >are with the great accomplishments made by this small >country, which has been under a U.S. blockade for 40 years," >says Gutierrez. > >Castro will be at the United Nations at a time of >unprecedented prosperity in the United States. Bill Clinton >likes to claim credit for the current low unemployment and >great wealth--wealth created by the large, skilled working >class in this country. > >But his vice president, Al Gore, now has to distance himself >somewhat from the Clinton-Gore administration in his >election rhetoric because statistics show that most of that >wealth has gone to the richest fifth of the population. The >rest are working longer hours in order to pay sharply higher >prices for housing, education, medical care and public >transit. > >Fidel Castro represents a different social system--one that >challenges all the myths about capitalism and all the lies >about socialism. Cuba is much poorer than the United States >because of its history of colonialism, Yankee domination and >the blockade meant to strangle its socialist construction. >But with all this, the Cuban Revolution led by Castro has >produced a society with no unemployment, no homelessness, >and medical and educational systems that provide quality >service free to all. > >In other words, the constant anxiety and fear of utter ruin >that drives so many workers in the United States to work two >and three jobs just doesn't exist in Cuba. There are >shortages, but everyone shares in them, just as they share >the best that Cuba has to offer--its world-class beaches, >its vibrant music and culture, and its cutting-edge medical >achievements. > >WORLD LEAD IN CANCER THERAPY > >According to an article in the July 27 Guardian, a British >newspaper, Cuba now has a world lead in genetically >engineered medicine. The paper reported that "clinical >trials of a cancer therapy genetically engineered by the >Cuban biotechnology industry" were due to begin in London in >August. Western investors, said the article, "have found >that Cuban scientists ... are ahead in some fields of their >colleagues in the U.S. and western Europe in the race to >produce genetically engineered medicines. > >"After months of intensive lobbying, the British >pharmaceutical company Smith Kline Beecham succeeded a year >ago in persuading Washington to give it an exemption from >the [Helms-Burton] act, allowing it to develop and market a >Cuban vaccine against the child-killing disease, meningitis >B. It is the only such vaccine in the world.... > >"[A]s international investors have grown less afraid of U.S. >retaliation, a Canadian venture capital firm, York Medical, >has secured funds for clinical trials of Cuban cancer >vaccines and antibodies.... > >"The vaccine does not prevent cancer in a healthy person, >but it prevents existing tumors spreading. York medical says >that the vaccine has already produced impressive results in >Cuban tests, increasing the average survival time by 200 >percent. > >" 'There's a certain degree of inventiveness in Cuba, of >thinking outside the box,' [York director David] Allan said. >'We all learn the same words, the same things in medical >school, but the Cubans are not bound by what has been in the >past.'" > >Cuba explodes the lie that a socialist, state-owned economy >has to be rigid and static. It shows that human ingenuity >and creativity don't need the profit motive. In fact, the >opposite is true. Capitalism stifles creativity by poisoning >relations among people, breeding racism and sexism, >denigrating the working class and measuring all human >interactions in dollar terms. > >Certainly U.S. capitalism has tried to strangle Cuba's >creativity--even going so far as trying to prevent other >countries from marketing Cuban medicines. But it hasn't >worked. > >Gloria La Riva, Workers World Party's candidate for vice >president and a long-time leader of the solidarity movement >here, plans to be in Cuba in November for the World Meeting >of Friendship and Solidarity. > >"For those who don't get to hear Fidel in New York," she >says, "they'll get another chance in Cuba in November. >Groups like the IAC, the National Network on Cuba and the >U.S.-Cuba Labor Exchange are hoping to bring 1,000 people >from the U.S. to this historic meeting. It will be an >unforgettable experience." > >- 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. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
