> WW News Service Digest #183 > > 1) Baltimore: Big bankers impose big cutbacks > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) What future for pensions? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Campaign against bioterrorism: Dangerous to your health > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Revolutionaries use campaign to battle for ideas > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) WWP candidates denounce right-wing ballot measures > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 6) Fidel Castro on U.S. elections > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 7) Milwaukee student paper asks: Is voting the answer? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 8) Gus Hall > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >BALTIMORE: BIG BANKERS IMPOSE BIG CUTBACKS > >By Sharon Black Ceci >Baltimore > >City workers and community activists are deeply alarmed by a >recent plan formulated by the Greater Baltimore Committee. >This committee is Baltimore's shadow government. Composed of >big business and bankers, it makes the proposals that city >government implements. > >While the vast majority of the city is poor and working >people--mostly African American and with a growing number of >Latin and Asian people--this body hardly represents its >interests. The committee is made up of representatives from >BankAmerica, Crestar Bank, Advance Bank, Provident >Bancshares, Warren & Company and the Abell Foundation. > >It is this committee that the mayor looks to for policy. The >recent proposals--modeled on the attacks unleashed on New >York's workers and poor people--were announced by Mayor >Martin O'Malley and the Sun newspapers. > >The plans are Draconian and have long range consequences to >both the community and the workers who will be impacted. > >CUTS AND PRIVATIZATION > >Fire departments are to be shut down under the plan. Fees >for emergency services such as ambulance rides are to be >doubled. All ambulance service will be privatized. > >The committee recommended cuts in vacation and benefits to >Emergency Medical Service workers who are already badly >overworked. The committee stated, "The union contract >provides for too much vacation and too many holidays." Their >proposal is to eliminate night-shift differentials and >reduce sick leave. > >The committee has proposed sweeping changes in the Health >Department, calling for full-scale privatization and >contracting out of all services. They want to combine the >Mental Health and Substance Abuse systems. They want to >increase the work done by food and air quality inspectors >who cannot keep up now with the rate of inspections. > >The city administration has already implemented plans to >turn off water to those who cannot afford their bills. This >is after raising the cost of water. The shadow government >has proposed cutting trash collection to one day a week. > >Nothing remains untouched in this report. From housing to >recreation centers, everything is on the chopping block. > >City workers have already mobilized, understanding that the >program will have dire consequences for them. At the City >Council's second hearing on the plan in September, over 500 >workers rallied in opposition. The protest was organized by >Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council >67. The All-Peoples Congress, a city-wide community group >that has been rallying against police killings, has also >protested. > >LESSONS TO BE LEARNED > >The recent announcements of cuts shows how deeply the >struggle against racism and workers' rights are linked. > >A cursory look at Baltimore's recent history illustrates >this correlation. > >The mayoral election is one example. O'Malley, who is white, >was the candidate of big business and the product of racism. >His election was an overturn of the right of the African >American community to representation. While none of the >candidates had a real peoples' program, the election must be >viewed in the context of a growing, backward movement to >disenfranchise the Black community. > >During the recent mayoral election, the Sun newspapers-- >which are the voice of big business--conducted a >sophisticated campaign that was racist at its core. The >newspapers printed expos� after expos� of the African >American candidates for mayor, but left O'Malley untouched. >He was essentially portrayed as the "knight in white armor." > >What should be remembered by all workers is that O'Malley >also rode into office on an "anti-crime" platform. While he >had to moderate his rhetoric, he appealed to people's fears >and to the legitimate pain of many who have seen the city >decay and the condition of their lives deteriorate. Never >mind that the very corporate interests that he represents >are the ones that are responsible for that decay. > >O'Malley's first act was to oust African American Police >Commissioner Ron Daniels and replace him with Ed Norris, a >white police official from New York. This was done right >after the Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo police brutality >cases in that city. > >And it was done after the business community hired a high- >priced consulting group, Maple and Linder, who were the >architects of New York's "zero tolerance" plan. While >children go without school books, each consultant was paid >$4,000 a day for 56 days. > >Community groups like the All-Peoples Congress and Unity for >Action waged consistent and vocal opposition against the >plan. > >But a massive propaganda campaign was launched that included >city hearings stacked with police, meetings with >neighborhood groups and mailings of massive amounts of >brochures touting Ed Norris and his new aggressive police >style. The promise: End killings in the community and clean >up all the open-air llegal drug markets. > >INCREASED POLICE ABUSE > >Almost a year has gone by and the scourge of drugs remains. >Community residents in the poorest neighborhoods have told >Workers World that the only thing police have succeeded in >doing is moving the drugs from one corner to another. The >murder rate in Baltimore City has remained the same. What >has increased is police abuses, violations of civil rights >and killings, like that of Joseph Wilbon. > >The so-called fight against crime is nothing but a smoke >screen. The recent cuts prove that the bosses, bankers and >billionaires care nothing about workers and their >communities. What is motivating them is greed and the desire >to raid public services for private companies. > >The antidote for this vile poison is a united fight-back by >the community and the unions. The Greater Baltimore >Committee has not yet heard from the vast majority of >Baltimore. In the final analysis the committee represents a >small, privileged clique that will ultimately be swept away >when the mass of the people are energized and on the move. > >- 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: <006b01c0408d$34223f80$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] What future for pensions? >Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 23:14:37 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WHAT FUTURE FOR PENSIONS? > >By Andy McInerney > >More and more U.S. workers who have pension benefits are >faced with the prospect of seeing their funds invested in >the stock market. For some it is a choice whether to have >their pensions invested in so-called 401(k) plans as opposed >to traditional, federally-guaranteed pension plans. For >others the 401(k) plans are the only option that their >bosses offer. > >With the stock market booming, 401(k) plans seem to be an >attractive option. Workers see some chance of benefiting >from the astronomical profits that in the past were the >domain only of the corporate and financial barons. > >But in the decade since these plans became a common benefit, >danger signs have emerged. > >Take for example the case of Laborers Local 296 in Portland, >Ore. Two members of the construction workers' union have >filed civil lawsuits on behalf of the 15,000-member local to >recover $225 million in lost pension funds. > >According to the workers' complaint, the investment firm >handling the union's pension benefits lost vast amounts of >their money, then tried to cover up the losses with a string >of investments in worthless paper companies. The Portland- >based Capital Consultants and its founder, Jeffrey Grayson, >have a history of shady investment practices. > >The federal Labor Department and the Securities and Exchange >Commission are investigating the allegations, which date >back to 1998. But because the 401(k) funds are not federally >protected, there are no guarantees that the workers and >pensioners will ever see the original sums restored. > >FRAUD: THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG > >The Portland Laborers union case points to a severe danger >in the system of investing retirement funds in the stock >market. Fraud--inherent in the profit-driven system--is only >the tip of the iceberg. > >The modern working class is defined by those who can only >live by selling their ability to labor. This class counts on >wages--the price of labor power--to meet the basic needs of >food, housing and other requirements to live and support a >family. > >But what happens when a worker cannot work? It is a daily >problem that has many forms. Some people cannot work due to >illness. Others are laid off or fired. Even in periods of so- >called "full employment" millions of workers are unemployed. > >And of course workers cannot be expected to work until the >day they die. After some 30 or 40 years of labor, most >workers look forward to retirement, either as a well- >deserved rest or as a requirement of health. > >Rather than abandon these workers to the care of their >families or charity, unions waged hard-fought battles in the >1930s to win pension benefits for retired workers. Bosses >put aside funds in accounts protected by the federal >government's Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. > >Not all workers have pensions. Few bosses voluntarily turn >over profits to guarantee workers' future well-being--even >though the profits are a product of the workers' labor. >Those without pensions often rely on Social Security for >some minimal income after retirement. > >Beginning in the 1980s, bosses began to find a way around >contributing to pension funds. Workers were encouraged to >invest their own income into Individual Retirement Accounts >and 401(k) plans with the incentive of tax breaks. Sometimes >bosses would also contribute to the plans. > >The net result of these plans was a vast expansion in the >amount of workers' incomes tied directly to the stock >market. Banks and investment houses gained access to >billions of dollars to fuel their own profit-driven >adventures. This is undoubtedly one of the engines that have >driven the stock market boom of the past 10 years. > >But by tying vast amounts of funds to the stock market, >workers' retirement funds are also tied to the boom-and-bust >cycles that have characterized the capitalist economy since >its birth. > >ROLE OF THE STOCK MARKET > >Stock markets function to harness funds for capital >expansion. Corporations offer shares of their future profits >in exchange for money to fund their investments and day-to- >day costs. While the shares are then converted into >commodities to be bought and sold, they ultimately reflect >the value of the products and capital of the corporations >that issue them. > >Because stock trading depends on speculation on whether >corporations' profits--ultimately, their production-- >continues to increase, the stock markets become the first >indicators of the boom-and-bust cycle of capitalist >production. This was vividly described and analyzed by Karl >Marx in the 19th century. > >Individual cases of fraud--like that encountered by the >Local 296 members in Portland--are endemic to the stock >market. But the biggest fraud committed by bosses, bankers >and their mouthpieces in the media and academia is the lie >that the working class can ultimately gain by turning over >their resources to the bosses for their speculation. > >The next Wall Street crash will effect the funds of millions >of workers. The impact will be all the more severe with the >eroding social supports and legislation that have been the >legacy of the Clinton administration. > >Unions and other workers' organizations need to prepare now >to defend the resources that have been turned over to the >banks for their profit. It's our livelihood. > >- 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: <007301c0408d$4fb1e980$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Campaign against bioterrorism: Dangerous to your health >Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 23:15:23 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >CAMPAIGN AGAINST BIOTERRORISM: DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH > >By Hillel Cohen > >[Second in a series.] > >The campaign and initiatives currently underway against >"bioterrorism" may be more dangerous to the health of the >people of this country than the very unlikely threat of a >bioterrorist incident. > >The bioterrorism program puts the Pentagon, the FBI and >other police agencies in a leadership role in the making of >major public health policy decisions. These agencies have a >long and bloody record of working against the interests of >the people. Putting them in charge of health planning will >be a disaster for public health. > >Some in the public health field are of course hoping that >the bioterrorism campaigns will provide some trickle-down >money for desperately needed public health infrastructure. >But instead the distorted priorities may wipe out any gains >in that regard. Every dollar spent on bioterrorism >preparedness is a potential health dollar wasted. > >Health providers also risk losing all credibility in the >oppressed and working class communities that need health >services the most. > >There are other, very real dangers from bioterrorism >"defense" initiatives. > >UNSAFE VACCINES > >Right now, U.S. GIs are being forced to take anthrax >vaccines. Anthrax has been considered a potential biological > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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