>arrangement has worked relatively well because the usual >peak seasons for power consumption are summer in California >(air-conditioning) and winter in the Pacific Northwest >(heating). Thus it is particularly ominous that California's >power crisis has erupted in what is usually the slow time of >year for electricity demand. > >ANARCHIC CAPITALIST GROWTH > >But overall demand has increased sharply, particularly in >areas like Silicon Valley, where the computer industry and >its huge appetite for electricity have boomed, raising >electricity demand by 14 percent in the last year alone. > >Gov. Davis has nothing to say about this anarchic and >unplanned capitalist growth. Instead the governor has >repeatedly called for people to keep their holiday lights >turned off. > >The Power Exchange is required to purchase electricity from >the generating companies at deregulated "free market" >prices. The power-generating companies have manipulated >supply, particularly at times of high demand, frequently >causing prices to spike at several hundred times what they >were a year ago. One way of driving down supply and driving >up prices has been to shut down many plants at the same time >for "routine maintenance." > >Some of the sellers of electric power own no generating >plants at all. They are brokers, speculators like the Morgan >Stanley Capital Group, which buy and sell blocks of power to >utilities or other brokers. > >As a result of deregulation, profits for the power companies >and brokers are astronomical. A few examples: Southern >Energy's Pittsburg, Calif., plant, purchased from PG&E in >1998, will exceed $106 million in profit this year, compared >to $21.6 million last year. Reliant's Oxnard facility's >profits this year will be more than $90 million, compared to >$17.3 million last year. Duke Energy's Morro Bay and Moss >Landing plants will reap a combined $343 million in profit, >compared to $65 million last year. > >Now the big utilities that forced through deregulation are >screaming for relief, with PG&E claiming that it is losing >$1 million per hour. They want a second giant bailout from >residential customers. And Gov. Davis wants to give it to >them, despite the fact that for five years they have been >making super-profits from their 50-percent-above-national- >average electric rates. > >Davis's attempt to appear as a "champion of the people" is >based partly on his fear that the energy crisis could cost >him dearly in popular support. But more than that, Davis is >speaking for Silicon Valley and other capitalists who see >the huge increase in power costs as exacerbating an already >serious economic downturn. > >And while deregulation is the immediate cause of >California's power crisis, one which may preview what is to >come in other deregulating states like New York, the deeper >problem is the system of capitalist property itself. This >crisis has to raise the fundamental question of how a small >band of piratical profiteers have come to own the world's >energy resources. The answer, in short, is that they stole >them. > >A real resolution to the recurrent energy crises will come >only when private ownership of the world's energy and other >resources is ended and replaced with a system based not on >profit but on human need--socialism. > >- 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, 20 Dec 2000 20:28:23 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable >Subject: [WW] U.S. Mercenaries March into Colombia >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >COLOMBIA: U.S. MERCENARIES JOIN WAR AGAINST THE POOR > >By Teresa Gutierrez > >While President-elect George W. Bush was proposing Gen. >Colin Powell as the next U.S. secretary of state, repression >in Colombia was intensifying. > >Two people were killed when paramilitary gunmen shot at a >leading labor activist Dec. 15. A bullet grazed the head of >the shooters' target, Federation of State Workers President >Wilson Borja. > >Borja, who heads Colombia's biggest labor union, was >participating in peace talks between the U.S.-backed >Colombian government and rebel groups. > >Just a few days earlier, Borja told reporters he had >received death threats from a right-wing paramilitary group >that accused him of being aligned with one of the rebel >groups, the National Liberation Army (ELN). > >In response to the shooting, Colombian unions called for a >general strike on Dec. 18. > >Paramilitary death squads operate in Colombia with impunity. >According to the "2001 Human Rights Watch Report," the >paramilitaries are responsible for 78 percent of the >country's human-rights violations. > >At least 35,000 Colombians have been killed, most by the >paramilitaries. None of the death-squad leaders have been >jailed. > >Nonetheless, the U.S. and Colombian governments insist on >including the paramilitaries in the peace process, even as >they carry out attacks aimed at derailing it. > >U.S. MERCENARIES FLOOD COLOMBIA > >The paramilitaries are not the only extralegal force >operating in Colombia today. > >A Dec. 3 expos=E9 in the St. Petersburg Times revealed that >retired U.S. military officials are playing a role in >Colombia. > >There are currently 250 known U.S. military "advisers" in >Colombia. By outsourcing military functions, however, the >Pentagon actually has many more military operatives in the >country today, hidden from the view of U.S. workers. > >The Clinton administration and the Pentagon have hired >former U.S. military personnel to do their dirty work. > >Specifically, they hired Military Professional Resources >Inc., a high-level group of former U.S. generals and >colonels, to carry out some of the objectives of Plan >Colombia. > >Plan Colombia is a multi-faceted program drawn up by the >U.S. government. It aims to eliminate resistance in >Colombia. Those who struggle against exploitation and >repression are its targets. > >The plan seeks to derail peace efforts proposed by the >guerrilla forces. It also seeks to liquidate the >Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the >ELN. > >MPRI, an Alexandria, Va., based company, has a $6-million >contract with the Colombian government, according to the St. >Petersburg Times. > >This privatization of the military isn't new. In fact, MPRI >was used for the U.S./NATO war in the Balkans. According to >Jane's Intelligence Review, MPRI assisted the Croatian >Ministry of Defense in its war against the Serbian people. > >The Pentagon says that MPRI's role is to improve the >Colombian army, provide advice on new laws and revamp the >National Police. These are also stated goals of Plan >Colombia. > >MPRI says it is working with the armed forces and the >National Police in planning, operations, training, logistics >and intelligence. > >Human-rights activists, members of the U.S. Congress and >even military personnel have criticized Washington's use of >MPRI. > >Col. Bruce Grant of the U.S. Army War College concluded that >MPRI operations are illegal because they circumvent >congressional oversight. Although Congress approved hiring >MPRI, it doesn't get reports of the group's activities. > >Critics rightly point out that MPRI is accountable to no >one. > >Despite the propaganda campaign here, Plan Colombia has >absolutely nothing to do with fighting drugs. In Colombia >only the right wing and the rich support it. > >If the Colombian and U.S. governments can carry out their >plan in the shadows, away from public scrutiny, it's >definitely to their advantage. But a general strike called >in response to the assassination attempt shows that Pentagon >repression can't stop the Colombian people's just struggle. > >- 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, 20 Dec 2000 20:28:23 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] An Ode to the Old Year and New >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >AN ODE TO THE OLD YEAR AND NEW > >We've protested, been arrested, got amBUSHed and GOREd. >Now Gov. Death's in the White House & can't be ignored. > >Jeb Bush and five judges, our votes they have cheated. >But the people united will not be defeated! > >They've thrown out our ballots, so we'll vote with our feet. >All out for J20, corporate greed we will beat! > >Palestine and Vieques have shown us the way. >So gather in DC come this inauguration day! > >We'll take to the streets to say NO to racism, >Free Mumia, end U.S. wars, & stop globalization! > >Demand money for health care, for jobs & education, >No more executions or prison industrialization! > >For Iraq and for Cuba, we say "Lift the Blockade!" >Expose Plan Colombia--Uncle Sam's latest charade! > >>From Seattle to Philly, LA to DC, >Wherever fat cats assemble, class struggle's the key! > >--Workers World Philadelphia bureau > >- 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, 20 Dec 2000 20:28:21 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Big Layoffs Announced Just Before Holidays >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SCROOGED AGAIN: BIG LAYOFFS ANNOUNCED JUST BEFORE >HOLIDAYS > >By Gary Wilson > >Scrooge was an amateur compared to the bosses of the giant >corporations in the United States. > >Large-scale layoffs were announced all across the country in >mid-December. Aetna and Gillette cut 5,000 and 2,700 workers >respectively. Whirlpool recently announced 6,000 jobs would >be cut. > >Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been cut since Oct. 1. >The cuts have been deepest in auto, retail, industrial goods >and financial services, according to the job placement firm >Challenger, Gray & Christmas. > >"It's like, 'Merry Christmas. You're laid off,'" a worker at >Gillette's South Boston plant told the Associated Press. > >While layoffs are accelerating, there are fewer new job >openings of any kind. That will mean rising unemployment. > >STEADY DECLINE IN LIVING STANDARDS > >During much of the 1990s boom, there were a great many >layoffs. However, there was not an equal increase in the >unemployment rate. In fact, the unemployment rate declined. > >That happened because the impact of the layoffs was softened >by the new jobs that were available, mostly in the service >industries. Unemployment may not have increased, but there >was a steady decline in the general standard of living for >the working class in the U.S., while the ruling class >recorded unprecedented gains. > >Most of the new jobs were at a lower rate of pay. Few >included benefits like medical insurance. > >According to the Economic Policy Institute, workers' wages >were substantially eroded during the Clinton years because >most corporate employers cut or even completely eliminated >health insurance and pensions. > >The economic recession that is on the horizon or has already >begun, depending on which capitalist economist you listen >to, is the result of a capitalist crisis of overproduction. >The business press calls it a "problem of overcapacity." > >No matter what it's called, a crisis of overproduction or >overcapacity almost always leads to higher unemployment as >capitalists cut back or shut down production and layoff >workers. > >For the workers and their unions, the challenge is to find a >way to protect jobs and workers' job rights. > >The bosses always blame layoffs on economic conditions or >some other factor. No matter what is said and no matter what >is blamed, the solution is always to cut back and layoff >workers. > >There is no reason that this solution has to be accepted. > >WORKERS' CONTROL COULD PROTECT JOBS > >Advocates of workers' control are proposing solutions that >protect workers' rights and jobs, while maintaining the >productive capacity of every business. > >Right now there are absolutely no restrictions to layoffs. >Bosses can give almost any reason they want, or no reason at >all, and eliminate a job. It doesn't matter if a company has >made record profits during the year. The boss can still say >that the company is in trouble and jobs have to be cut. > >It's time to challenge this clear injustice. Workers should >not have to leave the job without having a say in the >decision. Workers have a right to their jobs, a right to >protect the investment of their labor in the company. > >Every company is built on the labor of the workers. That >makes the workers the primary investors in the company. The >workers should have all the rights of primary investors, >including the right to take action to protect their >investments, that is, their jobs. > >In Detroit, where the Big Three auto companies are >projecting layoffs and cutbacks, protecting jobs is quickly >emerging as the number one issue for auto workers. > >The Detroit A Job Is A Right Campaign, a group that has >fought plant closings and layoffs since the mid-1980s, >supports workers' control to defend jobs. > >PREVENT ILLEGAL ACTIONS BY BOSSES > >At DaimlerChrysler, for example, says Jerry Goldberg of the >campaign, "the workers must be independently represented in >any government investigation of the Daimler buyout. In fact, >the workers should be made the trustees to manage and >control the com panyassets and stop Daimler's plundering." > >What happens if the bosses attempt to shut down plants and >cut jobs before any investigation is completed? > >In that case, workers as the legal trustees of the company >should be ready to take control of the plants and equipment >to prevent any illegal action by the bosses. This may >require that the workers stay in the plants and offices to >protect their interests. > >"Ultimately, only workers' control can protect the jobs and >interests of the DaimlerChrysler workers," Goldberg said. > >- 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 geopolitics. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
