WW News Service Digest #336
1) Mass detentions push up prison stocks
by WW
2) How Minnesota unions resisted war fever
by WW
3) CUNY board attacks staff union for anti-war teach-ins
by WW
4) 'Star Wars' protests turn into rallies against Aghan war
by WW
5) Zimbabwe moves to reduce food prices
by WW
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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 25, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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OMINOUS GROWTH INDUSTRY:
MASS DETENTIONS PUSH UP PRISON STOCKS
By Monica Moorehead
The House of Representatives passed "anti-terrorism"
legislation on Oct. 12 that gives the government sweeping
new powers for wiretapping, surveillance and investigation.
Civil liberties advocates had argued against the bill,
warning that its passage could usher in dangerous
infringements on privacy and constitutional rights.
But one small minority group is salivating at the passage of
this legislation. These greedy investors in private prisons
have dollar signs for eyes. They are anticipating a huge
boom in profits as private prisons, already crowded with a
reported 700 new detainees, are expanded to detain more
thousands who may be accused of connections to "terrorism."
The Bush administration and all the repressive arms of the
state are using the tragic events of Sept. 11 as an excuse
to legalize racist profiling on a broad, sweeping scale.
Those particularly vulnerable are Arabs, South Asians and
all who practice the Islamic faith, as well as Black,
Latino, Native and other peoples of color and immigrants.
The newly created Office of Homeland Security will be the
main administrator of these unconstitutional mass
detentions. This office will have a $15 billion budget and
will combine the repressive forces of the FBI, CIA, INS and
other agencies.
And who will head up the Office of Homeland Security? The
former governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, who signed more
death warrants than any other governor. Not all have been
carried out. Mass protests have led to the vacating of two
execution warrants Ridge signed against the best-known U.S.
political prisoner on death row, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
George W. Bush himself, as governor of Texas, was dubbed
Governor Death because he presided over the most executions
of any state.
As governor, Ridge not only was a vicious pro-death penalty,
anti-labor, anti-environmental politician, but he had very
close ties to Pennsylvania's corporate elite. In Bush's
eyes, that made him the perfect choice to head up this new
cabinet post. As the head of the Homeland Security Office,
he will be able to have a direct say on how the Bureau of
Federal Prisons will divide up prison construction projects
among the privately owned prison corporations next year.
PRIVATE PRISON STOCK SOARS
Wall Street can also depend on the judicial arm to do its
bidding. The U.S. Su pre me Court is scheduled to make a
ruling very soon that could bar inmates from suing private
prisons for civil rights violations.
The role of these corporations is to build privately run
prisons on behalf of the U.S. and governments abroad. Wall
Street sustains itself by buying and selling stocks based on
speculative bidding on which can bring in the highest profit
margins. Once the "anti-terrorism" bill came before
Congress, the value of stocks in some private prison
corporations zoomed by as much as 300 percent.
The Bureau of Federal Prisons is now in the process of
taking bids on prison construction contracts. The BFP has
allowed Georgia to bid on two prisons and is seeking bids
for three more prisons in the Southwest desert next year.
The country's largest prison corporation, Corrections
Corporation of America, is expected to make the biggest
gains. Just a few months ago, the CCA was facing bankruptcy.
It found a new business life after Sept. 11, when its stock
value shot up by 308 percent. This corporation maintains 65
prisons in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that incarcerate 61,000
human beings, including 500 in Leavenworth Federal Prison.
There is no question that the prisons-for-profits investors
received a shot in the arm with the Sept. 11 events. But
these bloodsuckers also cash in on economic hard times.
James MacDonald, a prisons-security analyst at First
Analysts Securities, stated, "Crime always goes up in a bad
economy. Where there are good times and jobs are plentiful,
people who get out of prison can usually find work and don't
have to go back to their old ways. When the economy fails,
so do the former inmates." (New York Post, Oct. 4)
The Sept. 11 tragedy is helping to expose in an
unprecedented way how the capitalist system takes full
advantage of a catastrophe--not to benefit the people, but
to carry out the aims and objectives of a tiny clique of
bosses, bankers and their puppets to achieve political,
military and economic domination over the entire world.
The growing anti-war movement should take up the slogan:
Money for jobs, schools, health care and human needs--not
for prisons, racist repression and war.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 25, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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NYC RESCUE WORKERS SUPPORTED STRIKE:
HOW MINNESOTA UNIONS RESISTED WAR FEVER
By Deirdre Griswold
After two weeks on strike, 23,000 Minnesota state workers
got a contract and returned to work on Oct. 15. They got a
wage increase and a less costly health package despite
intense pressures not to walk out while the U.S. was at war.
The workers didn't buy it.
Two union members from New York City representing rescue
workers at the World Trade Center had addressed a rally at
the State Capitol on Oct. 10. "I believe we union members
are a family, and family supports each other. I'm here to
tell you that your brothers and sisters in New York support
you," said James McHugh, a New York highway maintenance
supervisor and member of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees who had been at ground zero
after the Twin Towers collapsed.
Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former Navy Seal, had attacked the
timing of the strike.
"Everybody going up the steps at the World Trade Center were
trade unionists," responded Jim Monroe, executive director
of the Minnesota Association of Professional Em ploy ees.
"Let Jesse Ventura and other people talk about patriotism,
but I didn't see any limousines at ground zero."
Israel Miranda, a member of AFSCME Local 2507--the Uni form
ed Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics for the New
York Fire Department--told of working 20-hour days at ground
zero.
"I remember day one. I was by the rubble with pockets of
smoke and fire, it was so hot that I flipped my helmet up.
You know what I saw? I saw thousands of union workers
working together for a common cause," Miranda said as the
crowd erupted in cheers.
"If you stick together, you will get what you want. It's
important for workers like you to get what you need to
support yourselves and your family," he said.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 25, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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CUNY BOARD ATTACKS STAFF UNION FOR ANTI-WAR TEACH-INS
Special to Workers World
New York
The union that represents City University of New York
faculty and staff is under attack for taking a stance
against the Pentagon war on Afghanistan.
The union is the Professional Staff Congress, American
Federation of Teachers Local 2343. Its members have been
working without a contract since Aug. 1, 2000.
Union President Barbara Bowen, 16 members of its executive
board and chapter leaders have endorsed a statement by New
York Labor Against the War that declared in part, "We
believe that George Bush's war is not the answer. No one
should suffer what we experienced on Sept. 11. Yet war will
inevitably harm countless innocent civilians, strengthen
American alliances with brutal dictatorships and deepen
global poverty."
The Delegate Assembly of the PSC organized a series of teach-
ins, forums and meetings throughout the 20 campuses of CUNY.
In particular, it sponsored meetings at Brooklyn College,
Hunter College, Hunter School of Social Work, City College
and a number of other campuses.
It was a teach-in held Oct. 2 at City College that drew the
ire of the New York Post and reports in the New York Times
and the Daily News.
The Post--a right-wing tabloid--characterized the tenor of
the event as a "hatefest," despite the fact that none of the
nine panelists or the 25 or so people who spoke from the
floor excused the attack on the World Trade Center.
The Post featured a photo of speaker Asha Samad-Matias, an
African-born Muslim woman who wears the hijab, under the
headline "America Under Attack."
Her talk had focused on reasons why many Muslims, Arabs and
others in the Middle East deeply resent the U.S. She said
that Islam was not the cause of the World Trade Center
attack and that racism and war are not the answers.
After the Post reporting, Samad-Matias immediately began
receiving hate mail and phone calls. She believes she was
singled out because she is Muslim.
Following attacks in the media on the teach-in, Chancellor
Matthew Goldstein issued a statement denouncing the union
for sponsoring it. CUNY's Board of Trustees held a public
meeting Oct. 15 on whether or not it should endorse
Goldstein's statement. A number of faculty and students
spoke against the board taking action against the union.
The board will reportedly make its final decision on Oct.
22. The CCNY Coalition for Peace and the New York Schools
Against the War coalition are calling for a demonstration
that day starting at 3:30 p.m. at the CUNY Board of Trustees
meeting at East 80th Street and York Avenue.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 25, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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FOCUS HAD BEEN MILITARIZATION OF SPACE:
"STAR WARS" PROTESTS TURN INTO RALLIES AGAINST AFGAN WAR
By Heather Cottin
Peace activists around the world had planned for months to
demonstrate on Oct. 11-16 in opposition to the U.S.
militarization of space called the National Missile Defense
program, popularly known as Star Wars. But when the war in
Afghanistan eclipsed the scheduled events, what happened was
a truly worldwide mobilization of tens of thousands against
NMD as well as the brutal and illegal war in Central Asia.
The International Day of Protest to Stop the Militarization
of Space was organized by the Global Network Against Weapons
& Nuclear Power in Space out of Gainesville, Fla.
On Oct. 11 Baltimore-area activists walked through an open
gate at the National Security Agency at 7 a.m., despite the
fact the area was on highest alert.
They carried a letter addressed to Lt. Gen. Michael V.
Hayden, head of the National Security Agency, demanding a
meeting. However, a security breach alert was sounded, and
at least nine vehicles, soldiers with drawn weapons and
attack dogs soon arrived.
The NSA officials would not permit a meeting with Gen.
Hayden, so two protesters poured their own blood on the
asphalt to represent all victims of the NSA's work. Another
held a sign saying, "Unmask the body of secrets ... No Star
Wars ... Nonviolence now ... In ter na tional Days of
Protest Oct. 12-13, 2001." Another banner read "No war on
Afghanistan, Iraq, whomever; no spying, no Star Wars, work
for peace, please!"
Each demonstrator was arrested and charged with trespass,
carrying a penalty of six months in prison and a $2,500
fine; destruction of government property, one year; and
conspiracy, five years.
In Amherst, Mass., speakers linked news about space-based
weapons to a wide range of issues. They decried the food
drops in Afghanistan in the midst of the world's most
concentrated mine fields. They criticized media war
propaganda, and opposed the training of terrorists at the
School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga. And they praised
the courage of Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, who opposed the
war powers bill in Congress.
At Edwards Air Force Base in California, activists marched
to protest both the war in Afghanistan and "nukes in space."
In New York City and Washington, D.C., hundreds raised their
voices against these threats to humankind.
In Canberra, Australia, several hundred gathered in Victoria
Square before marching to the Parliament building.
Australia's participation in the International Day to Stop
the Militarization of Space was expanded in scope and
militancy by a call to stop the war against Afghanistan
In Hiroshima and Tokyo, Japan, peace activists came out to
oppose the war and militarization of space. In Ireland, one
peace activist said, "Together with our sisters and brothers
across the world today, we join our voices in calling on
your government to immediately stop the bombing of
Afghanistan and to pursue your just demands for retribution
through peaceful means."
In London, organizers were surprised at how many people
turned up at the demonstration, which had been changed at
the last moment to an anti-war rally in opposition to the
war in Afghanistan. "The police expected 10,000 but we have
far, far exceeded that,'' said Carol Naughton, chair of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which cancelled a planned
demo against Star Wars in order to host the rally.
The police estimated 20,000 people were on the march from
Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square, but the organizers put
the numbers at 50,000.
At the same time as the London rally, a brave group in
Yorkshire protested at the Fylingdales radar base. They
stood silently in line across the base entrance for three
minutes in remembrance of those who have already lost their
lives, and those who will be killed by bombs, bullets or
starvation "if we do not stop the war in Afghanistan."
In Germany on Oct. 13, three major events attracted over
75,000 people. They thronged the streets to express their
disgust about NMD and war generally.
The biggest demonstration was in Berlin with 50,000
participants, followed by Stuttgart with 25,000. Because of
the war in Afghanistan, NMD was not the main point of
convergence of the demonstrations. The slogan was: "No war--
Get up for peace, for solidarity and social justice."
Many students came out, from more than 70 universities. Many
opponents of globalization attended the rallies. One speaker
received tumultuous applause when he said, "The policy of
the USA and its NATO partners, including the German
government, surrenders completely to the military 'logic'--
that the answer to the mass murder on September 11 is the
'collateral' killing of innocent people."
He went on to invoke the solidarity of the worldwide peace
movement, which now links its opposition to arms in space to
antagonism to the war in Afghanistan.
"We remember the words of the great American and fighter for
civil rights, Martin Luther King, who said more than 30
years ago that the chain reaction of wars that create new
wars must be broken."
One of the organizers said, "It is not true that all Germans
extend solidarity to the U.S. for military retaliation. And
it is even less true that all Germans agree to participation
of the German military in this, or any other, war."
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 25, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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MUGABE: NO MORE "FREE MARKET":
ZIMBABWE MOVES TO REDUCE FOOD PRICES
By Deirdre Griswold
The struggle of the people of Zimbabwe to win back control
of their national economy from the settler descendants of
British colonial rule has taken a new turn.
President Robert Mugabe announced on Oct. 15 that Zimbabwe
would turn away from a free-market economy and exert state
control over prices of food and other necessities to deal
with a growing crisis in the country.
His government says that resistance to its efforts to seize
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless Africans is
what is responsible for a recent steep rise in food prices.
On Oct. 12 the government had imposed a price freeze on
basic foods. When bakeries and other businesses threatened
to close their doors, Mugabe replied that the government
would seize any firms that shut down, withheld their goods
or engaged in illegal profiteering.
"Let no one on this front expect mercy," said the president.
"The state will take over any businesses that are closed. We
will reorganize them with workers, and at last that
socialism we wanted can start again."
Businesses that resisted, he said, could "pack up and go."
Zimbabwe is a fertile land with the resources to provide a
good life for its people. But the majority are mired in
poverty because a small number of rich white farmers still
control 60 percent of the arable land, more than 20 years
after majority rule was won from the former racist state of
Rhodesia.
Winning political power from the white minority did not
change the class and economic structure of Zimbabwe,
however. Control over the best land and much of the
country's commerce and industry remains in the hands of
Europeans, at home and abroad.
Like almost every formerly colonized country in the world,
Zimbabwe also has depended on loans from international
banking institutions to finance its development. These banks
are controlled by the imperialist countries and play a
highly political role in keeping Third World countries
trapped in the debt cycle, where they become a perpetual
source of interest-profits for the Western capitalists.
Since Zimbabwe began the struggle for land reform, the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank--whose predatory
role in the world has been exposed by the anti-globalization
movement--have frozen loans to the Mugabe government.
This has led to a shortage of so-called hard currency, the
devaluation of Zimbabwe's money, and higher prices for
imported goods. The domination of world commerce and trade
by a few hard currencies--like the dollar, the euro and the
yen--is another mechanism to keep economic control in the
hands of the imperialist banks and corporations.
The big-money interests in Zimbabwe have taken advantage of
the resulting economic turmoil to organize political
opposition to Mugabe, particularly in the cities, where a
cash economy prevails.
In the countryside, however, where the vast majority live,
the land issue is predominant. Mugabe's strongest support
appears to have come from landless rural workers. This move
to freeze, and in some cases roll back, food prices will
appeal also to the urban poor.
