[PEN-L:8762] Re: QUERY: Service Sector Wages

[Doug Henwood]

Lost who the original requester was:

>>I am trying to collect data on service sector wages in California for the
>>1970-1990 period.

Contact the BLS directly. They're very helpful at providing this sort of
thing. Call the state establishment data desk at 202-606-6559 or email the
help desk given on their web site.


Doug

--

Doug Henwood
Left Business Observer
250 W 85 St
New York NY 10024-3217 USA
+1-212-874-4020 voice  +1-212-874-3137 fax
email: 
web: 

[PEN-L:8761] Re: QUERY: Service Sector Wages

[Anders Schneiderman]

>Dear PEN-Lers:
>
>I am trying to collect data on service sector wages in California for the
>1970-1990 period.  Can anyone refer me to a useful source?  I have already
>accessed the available data for California from the BLS web site.  It
>contains very useful information about manufacturing but nothing about
>services.

I don't know what they have on line, but I think CA's EDD (Employment
Development(?) Division) should have the info.  If you can't find anything,
email me and I'll try to track down the email address of somebody I think
still works there.  Or you could just try giving them a call; for the most
part, folks in Sacramento govt. are incredibly nice (compared to, say,
Albany NY or DC).  Also, you might want to see what you can get through the
UC system if Chico's library has access; I think they may have info
available via the UC's internal network.  The other great place to get help
for tracking down this kind of info is your local public reference
librarian (if not, try calling UCBerkeley's business library). 

Anders Schneiderman
Progressive Communications

[PEN-L:8760] QUERY: Service Sector Wages

[ZAHNISER STEVEN SCOTT]

Dear PEN-Lers:

I am trying to collect data on service sector wages in California for the
1970-1990 period.  Can anyone refer me to a useful source?  I have already
accessed the available data for California from the BLS web site.  It
contains very useful information about manufacturing but nothing about
services.

Thanks!

Steven Zahniser
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [PEN-L:8754] Re: mkt socialism and sustainability of economicgrowth

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 09:46 AM 2/24/97 -0800, ajit sinha wrote:
>

>This point comes back to the issue I had raised earlier. A lack of a
>critique of the forces of production by socialist economists is no longer
>posible. In this whole debate over market versus planned socialism we are
>only concerned with what to produce and how to distribute. My point is how
>to produce is the central question for socialism now--this is what would
>determine the "freedom" or lack of it of the workers and humanity in
>general, as well as sustainability of life.


It does not come as a surprise to me in the light of the "regression to the
middle" that passes for education in American schools, colleges and
universities.

As I see it, our "educational system" is a best vaccination system against
critical thinking even invented; like antibiotics, it introduces critical
thought in small, sanitized doses to stimulate our immune system to fight
the more potent forms.

Now an examination question:

What was the last time you heard a scholarly debate on substantive issues
("courtesy" questions do not count!) at:

a) your department___
b) a scholarly conference___
c) a scholarly presentation
wojtek sokolowski 
institute for policy studies
johns hopkins university
baltimore, md 21218
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (410) 516-4056
fax:   (410) 516-8233


 REDUCE MENTAL POLLUTION - LOBOTOMIZE PUNDITS! 
+--+
|Wenn ich Kultur hoere, entsichere ich meinen Browning.|
| -Hanns Johst | 
|  | 
|When I hear "family values," I reach for my revolver. |
|(no apologies to Hanns Johst) |
+--+

Re: [PEN-L:8752] President Zyuganov?

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 09:44 AM 2/24/97 -0800, Lynn Turgeon wrote:

>   Heclaimed a consensus exists in Russia which opposes the extension of
>NATO to include Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. If pursued by the West,
>it would break down the existing balance of power and encourage a push towards
>a military solution by the worst elements within Russia itself. He clearly
>identified with George Kennan's recent warning on the Op-Ed page of the NYT.
>Because of the hardshipand death brought about by the Nazi attack in 1941
>onevery Russian family, including his own, Zyuganov's moderation disappeared on
>this subject.

Had Stalin preferred a more moderate position, say, one closer to that of
Neville Chamberlain (what a great moderate he was!), we would be saluting
the Nazi flag today.  As for myself, I prefer a strong Russia, even if that
means Zyuganov or even another Stalin as her president -- that would make
our so-called "elected representatives" listen to our concern instead of
pursuing a new world order.  IMHO, American liberals should kiss the soil
where Stalin is buried, for if it were not for him, the New Deal they are so
proud of would be just another raw deal a la welfare "reform" dished out by
Southern boll weevils in Washington oligarchy.

That brings us to the following multiple-choice question: 

How would the American society look like today, if the growing power of the
USSR and her efforts to "export revolution" did not scare the shit out of
the Washington oligarchy? 

We would have:
a) military oligarchy a la Guatemala & El Salvador
b) debt slavery a la India 
c) race relations a la South Africa
d) social safety net a la Wild West
e) religious freedom a la Iran
f) class structure a la Brazil
g) all of the above

wojtek sokolowski 
institute for policy studies
johns hopkins university
baltimore, md 21218
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (410) 516-4056
fax:   (410) 516-8233


 REDUCE MENTAL POLLUTION - LOBOTOMIZE PUNDITS! 
+--+
|Wenn ich Kultur hoere, entsichere ich meinen Browning.|
| -Hanns Johst | 
|  | 
|When I hear "family values," I reach for my revolver. |
|(no apologies to Hanns Johst) |
+--+

Sieg Heil, Bill Gates!

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

That Windows 95 is a crappy product is a well-known fact.  Today, however, I
experienced a much more scary face of this Bill Gates' concoction -- the one
that brings the Big Brother closer to your home & office.

As I tried to cancel a print job I accidentally sent to a printer, Windows
95 came with the following message:

"YOU DO NOT HAVE A PERMISSION TO DO THIS OPERATION"

I'm absolutely serious.  Windows 95 asked me for a PERMISSION (sic!) to
cancel what it was doing!  I'm only wondering what do I need to do to secure
that permission, kiss His Majesty Bill Gates' ass?

If you have any problems with Windows 95, please post it.  Let's give the
Fuehrer Gates some bad publicity before we all end up in an electronic
Auschwitz of his creation, when we will have to ask him for a permission to
even touch the keyboard.
wojtek sokolowski 
institute for policy studies
johns hopkins university
baltimore, md 21218
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (410) 516-4056
fax:   (410) 516-8233


 REDUCE MENTAL POLLUTION - LOBOTOMIZE PUNDITS! 
+--+
|Wenn ich Kultur hoere, entsichere ich meinen Browning.|
| -Hanns Johst | 
|  | 
|When I hear "family values," I reach for my revolver. |
|(no apologies to Hanns Johst) |
+--+

[PEN-L:8759] Thoughts from Lincoln, Jefferson

[D Shniad]

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves 
me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.  ... 
corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption 
in high places will follow, and the money power of the country 
will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices 
of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands 
and the Republic is destroyed." 
 
-- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln,   
Nov. 21, 1864 (letter to Col. William F. Elkins) 
Ref: "The Lincoln Encyclopedia",  
Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY) 
 
"The end of democracy, and the defeat of the American Revolution will 
occur when government falls into the hands of the lending institutions 
and moneyed incorporations." 

Thomas Jefferson 

[PEN-L:8758] Update on campaign against victimisation of branch secretary at (fwd)

[D Shniad]

> From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Feb 24 09:30 PST 1997
> Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 17:02:00 GMT
> Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> From: "Lawrence, Elizabeth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject:  Update on campaign against victimisation of branch secretary at
>   Accrington and Rossendale College
> 
> Update on campaign against victimisation of NATFHE branch secretary at
> Accrington and Rossendale College, Lancashire, England
> 
> Last Monday 17 February, I posted an account of the events at Accrington and
> Rossendale College since last Summer, including the campaign over the rights
> of part-time lecturers and the victimisation of the Branch Secretary,  Pat
> Walsh.  At the time of writing the members of the branch had voted, in a
> secret ballot confirmed by a vote at a branch meeting, to take strike action
> to demand Pat's re-instatement.  I regret to report that since then there
> has been another branch meeting, on 20 February, which voted not to take
> strike action.  No doubt various pressures have been brought to bear on
> union members within the college.  The union meeting on 20 February was
> leafleted by members of the college management.  Pat Walsh, the Branch
> Secretary and the member whose defence was being discussed, was not able to
> be present at the meeting, since the college has barred him from the
> premises.
> 
> The events at Accrington and Rossendale College show how the anti-union laws
> in Britain hamper unions in taking industrial action.  The week's notice
> which unions are required to give employers before starting any industrial
> action has been used by elements in the college to overturn the ballot
> result.  The irony of this situation is that if a trade union loses the vote
> for industrial action, the union cannot then call members out on strike
> following an affirmative vote at a branch meeting.  Such an action would
> immediately lead to a court injunction against the union.
> 
> The campaign against the victimisation must continue, despite the setback
> that the branch feels unable at present to take strike action.  Please
> continue sending letters of protest to the Principal and Chair of Governors.
> 
> Elizabeth Lawrence
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 

[PEN-L:8757] Deng Xiaoping

[SHAWGI TELL]

 Deng Xiaoping, the architect of what is called market
socialism in the People's Republic of China died on February 19
at the age of 92. Since the 1920s he has been associated with the
struggle of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for China's
liberation and its reconstruction. Heads of imperialist
governments such as Jean Chretien, U.S. imperialist chieftain
Bill Clinton, the president of France and many others in the
"west" have praised him for "opening" China to the "west."
 Deng Xiaoping was born in 1904 at the height of the
humiliation and division of the Chiense people by the "western
democracies" which had reduced China to a country of coolies
while using various regions of China for their own ends. Deng
began his political activities at the time it had become clear
that the bourgeoisie was no longer revolutionary. He participated
in the activities of the CPC, even as its General Secretary at
certain times but he failed to cope with the main question of the
20th century which is that a country can only secure its national
liberation and become truly independent and its people sovereign
if they carry out a thorough-going socialist revolution. On the
basis of Deng's market socialism the Chinese revolution stopped
half-way.
 At this time of Deng's death, the question of which path the
PRC will follow, capitalism or socialism, is not settled. It has
actually become even more acute as the contradictions within the
PRC and internationally seek their resolution. The PRC, like the
rest of the world, has become one of the major areas of
contention between monopolies and the imperialist countries. Who
will control its vast developing market? This struggle for the
capturing of the economies of other countries has once against
begun in all earnest. A dependent economy cannot sustain an
independent political state. The people of the PRC and the world
know it all too well. The subjugation and division of the PRC is
foremost on the agenda of various imperialist powers.
 With market socialism in place, the friends of this "opening
to the West" are hoping that the PRC will also, finally, adopt
their political system. For the PRC to accept their political
system, they will have to once again accept the division of the
PRC. They will have to submit to all the "western" institutions
which place individual right, the making of the maximum
capitalist profit, in the first place. This will threaten the
PRC's sovereignty as is the case with all the clamor about
"reform" under the pretext that the PRC is "violating human
rights." 
 The PRC also has friends who would like to see it march on
to socialism and communism through revolution. This would also
open great prospects for many countries in the world which have
come under the clutches of monopoly capital and the imperialist
countries. These friends of the PRC would like to see the
harmonization of the individual and collective interests with the
general interest of Chinese society. They would like to see a
prosperous and socialist China, a country which would be a factor
for peace and progress in the world.
 The death of Deng Xiaoping has, once again, brought the
question of which way forward for China to the fore. The PRC has
experience of market socialism. This socialism, besides other
things which are negative, has opened up the PRC for imperialist
take-over and foreign interference. The PRC also knows what is
socialism, the organization of all social productive forces of
China for the completion of the socialist revolution and
socialist construction. This is the only way the PRC can defend
its sovereignty and contribute to the forward march of entire
humankind.
 The "leaders" of the "west" have concluded in their
self-serving enthusiasm for China's market socialism that the
great question , "which way forward for China" has already been
settled. Not only has this question not been settled for the PRC
but it has not been settled for any country in the world either.
Far from having been settled for China, it has actually become
acute with the death of Deng Xioping. Every political force
within the PRC and internationally will have to reckon with it.


Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[PEN-L:8756] Highest Industrial Labor Costs In The World

[SHAWGI TELL]

 According to German manufacturers, industrial firms in eastern
Germany face the highest unit labor costs in the world.
According to Gesamtmetal, the heavy industry and electronics'
employers' association, last year the disparity between
productivity and wage levels also increased. Labor costs rose 11.5
percent and slightly outpaced productivity growth of ten percent.
In west Germany, on the other hand, gains in productivity (6.5
percent) stayed ahead of a five percent increase in labor costs.
Employment in heavy industry and electronics dropped 5.5 percent in
eastern Germany last year where about eight percent of the national
total works.


Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[PEN-L:8755] pen-l?

[MIKEY]

friends,

Is pen-l down or what?

michael yates

[PEN-L:8754] Re: mkt socialism and sustainability of economic growth

[Ajit Sinha]

> Also in 1992, a WARNING TO HUMANITY was issued by the Union
> of Concerned Scientists that began:  "Human beings and the
> natural world are on a collision course. Human activities
> inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the
> environment and on critical resources.  If not checked, many
> of our current practices put at serious risk the future that
> we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms,
> and may so alter the living world that it will be unable
> to sustain life in the manner that we know.  Fundamental
> changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our
> present course will bring about."
_

This point comes back to the issue I had raised earlier. A lack of a
critique of the forces of production by socialist economists is no longer
posible. In this whole debate over market versus planned socialism we are
only concerned with what to produce and how to distribute. My point is how
to produce is the central question for socialism now--this is what would
determine the "freedom" or lack of it of the workers and humanity in
general, as well as sustainability of life.


> And finally, in 1993 THE GROWING WORLD POPULATION, a joint
> statement by 58 of the world's scientific academies said:
> "In our judgement, humanity's ability to deal successfully
> with its social, economic, and environmental problems will
> require the achievement of zero population growth within
> the lifetime of our children."


It is fashionable to make "population" a or rather the "problem". This in
many cercumstances a dangerous idea. It leads to policies that attempt to
directly control population, which basically means controling the people of
poor countries. Population, in my opinion, is more of an effect rather than
the cause of poverty and environmental degradation. One needs to separate
population from environmental problems as a first step to be able to deal
with the real issues seriously.

Cheers, ajit sinha

[PEN-L:8753] Social Justice E-Zine #24

[goforth]

  
 ***
 ***
  *

When I dare to be powerful; to use my strength in the service of
my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am
afraid.  --Audre Lorde


   SOCIAL JUSTICE #24
January 12, 1997
   Kim Goforth
   Ray Goforth




IN THIS ISSUE:

1) OPENING NOTES ON THE ZINE.
2) BURMA/MYANMAR BANS MODEMS AND FAX MACHINES
3) LETTER FROM BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA  
4) LIBYA EXECUTES POLITICAL PRISONERS
5) ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, USA APPROVES LIVING WAGE PLAN
6) UKRAINE SETS DEADLINE FOR CHERNOBYL SUBSIDY




   Welcome to the latest issue of SOCIAL JUSTICE E-ZINE.  The
name Social Justice encompasses the struggles of people
everywhere who work for gender equality, democratic government,
economic opportunity, intellectual freedom, environmental
protection, and human rights.
   Social Justice is an electronic magazine (e-zine) designed for
free distribution through the internet. SJ now reaches
approximately 10,000 e-mail recipients in sixty-one (61)
countries.  Stories from SJ are broadcast on radio stations in
the United States and Australia.  An additional three hundred
(300) people a month visit the web version of the magazine.  Feel
free to make copies and share with friends (or enemies).  Think
of this as a regular magazine without the recycling.  If there's
nothing you want to read in this issue, just hit delete.
   Those wishing to be added to the subscription list (or
conversely, those who want off the list) should write to us at:

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Some of our other projects:

Feminist Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/2995
Human Rights in China: http://members.tripod.com/~hric/zhu.html
Political Economy: http://members.tripod.com/~political_economy
Progressive Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/2915
SJ #24 Web: http://members.tripod.com/~goforth/socialjustice.html

*
*

  BURMA/MYANMAR BANS MODEMS AND FAX MACHINES
  by Ray Goforth

United Press International reports that the country of Burma
(also known as Myanmar) has made owning, using, importing or
borrowing a modem or fax machine without government authorization
a crime, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Burma's military government ("State Law and Order Restoration
Committee") has promulgated "The Computer Science Development
Law" which empowers the Ministry of Communications, Posts and
Telegraphs to specify what exactly can be restricted, UPI
reports.

The government-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reports that
the 15 year sentence is prescribed for anyone who sets up a link
with a computer network without the prior permission of the
Ministry of Communications, or who uses computer network and
information technology "for undermining state security, law and
order, national unity, national economy and national culture, or
who obtains or transmits state secrets."

One foreigner has already fallen prey to the new law.  In July of
1996, Leo Nichols died in prison after he was sentenced to a
lengthy term for illegal possession of fax machines.

The new Computer Science Development Law is but the latest in a
long series of repressive measures utilized by the SLORC.  Human
Rights NGO's have documented the use of forced labor on public
works projects and the SLORC is widely believed to control a
substantial portion of the world's heroin trade.  Myanmar's
democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi has not been
allowed to take office and remains under house arrest.

The United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Human
Slavery has domumentation on forced labor in Myanmar and the use
of prisoners to lay railway lines, including the famous railway
given the name of Ye-Tavoy. Children, because of their
agility and small size, had been used to prepare the bricks. The
documentation denounces the connivance of foreign investors who
financed tourist projects exploiting the forced labour of
prisoners.

Given the seeming imperviousness to global criticism demonstrated
by the SLORC, many human rights activists are calling for an
economic boycott modelled upon those launched against the South
African apartheid regime.

The Daily newspaper reports that two cities in California (Santa
Monica and San Francisco) and the state of Massachusetts are now
refusing to do gover

[PEN-L:8751] Re: market socialism, planned socialism

[HANLY]

Recently Michael Perelman wrote:


If buying and selling is so natural, why are drugs, prostitution and child
pornography illegal?  Why can't I sell my children or buy a kidney?


Of course with respect to drugs and prostitution libertarians would
claim they ought to be legal--and perhaps many non-libertarians may also
agree. On the child pornography issue libertarians would point out that
children are not of age to give rational consent to contracts, and
children of course are potential free contractors and not chattels to be
marketed. However, conditions for families in many countries make selling
children into prostitution a means of avoiding starvation--as in Thailand.
Not too long ago while slavery was still legal children could be sold
I expect, not by parents but owners of the parents. It is amazing the
extent to which different cultures have tolerated markets as natural that
we find abhorrent even "against nature". I would hope
that in a hundred years netdenizens will wonder how we tolerated market
health care, labor markets, etc.

Buying kidneys and other organs is accepted practice in countries such as
India. Organs are harvested from persons executed in the People's Republic of
China. (There was an interesting CBC programme on these markets a while back)
  Cheers, Ken Hanly


>From "LYNN TURGEON, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ECONOMICS, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, 
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]"@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu Mon Feb 24 10:46:26 1997
Mon, 24 Feb 1997 09:44:13 -0800 (PST)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 09:44:13 -0800 (PST)
Reply-To: "LYNN"@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu
Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: "LYNN TURGEON, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ECONOMICS, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]"@anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu
Subject: [PEN-L:8752] President Zyuganov?
X-Comment: Progressive Economics

"Long Island Meets Yeltsin Wannabe," was the headline in "Newsday" the
day after Gennady Zyuganov's stopover following an earlier talk at Northeastern
University in Boston, an interview with Dan Rather, to be followed by a meeting
with the new Secretary General of the United Nations, an interview with Charlie
Rose on PBS, exposure to the Council on Foreign Relations, and a national
performance on C-span before a Russian Business group. After a short
introductory speech, he opened himself up to questions from about 400 students
and visitors to Nassau Community College.
In his most recent campaign against the now ailing Boris Yeltsin,he
claimed to have visited 83 of the Russian 90 provinces and to present a program
that answered the needs of 
Russian voters who were undergoing a time of troubles. Children going to
unheated schools, pensioners and workers (including those in the armed forces
and in the nuclear power sector) who were not being paid for months at a time,
and nationality conflicts that had killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of
former Soviet citizens were symptoms of the crisis faced by Russia's population
after five painful years attempting a transition to a market economy.
Zyuganov pictured himself and his program as Mr.Moderation. There was
no attempt made to defend the previous "etatization" before 1990, which had
lead to stagnation under the Communists. What was needed was more balance
allowing for private entrepreneurship and property. Russia would represent a
most favorable climatefor foreign investment. Hence his itinerary would later
include Houston, in oil producing country. He foresaw a "mixed" economy along
European lines with mobility between parts of the former Soviet Union
unencumbered by visas or passports.
Heclaimed a consensus exists in Russia which opposes the extension of
NATO to include Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. If pursued by the West,
it would break down the existing balance of power and encourage a push towards
a military solution by the worst elements within Russia itself. He clearly
identified with George Kennan's recent warning on the Op-Ed page of the NYT.
Because of the hardshipand death brought about by the Nazi attack in 1941
onevery Russian family, including his own, Zyuganov's moderation disappeared on
this subject.
Otherwise, he appeared affable and at times even humorous, a
characteristic of good politicians around the world. Since he had stressed his
intellectual background and major in math and philosophy, a student asked him
who his favorite philosopher was. If anyone expected him to say "Marx or Lenin,
"because of the emphasis on Marxism-Leninism in the earlier Soviet
philosophical curriculum, they would have been disappointed. Instead, the
answer was "Hegel." Presumably, he was fascinated by the dialectic principles
incorporated by Marx in what became Soviet philosophy.
In contrast to his rival, Alexander Lebed, who had been earlier
questioned by "Newsday" on a recent visit to Long Island, Zyuganov came across
as a big supporter of an expanded role for the 

[PEN-L:8750] Action! Motown '97 (fwd)

[D Shniad]

Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 09:26:47 -0600
Reply-To: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:  Action!  Motown '97 (fwd)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 22:14:54 -0500 (EST)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Action!  Motown '97

Sisters and Brothers:

Today the AFL/CIO granted our appeal for a national labor march on Detroit.
 It will be called "Action! Motown 97."  The AFL/CIO also agreed to our
request for the weekend of June 13 and 14 to coincide with Days of Action in
Windsor, Ontario on our border.

If you recall,  Days of Action in Toronto shut down the entire city last year
to protest the anti-labor,  anti-worker policies of the Ontario government.

Details will be forthcoming.

Thanks to all of you who appealed to President John Sweeney on behalf of the
striking workers. I am convinced that the use of the Internet played an
important role in convincing our International leadership of the necessity of
this action, not only on behalf of the strikers but the entire labor
movement.

We will be contacting you with more information about what you can do to help
build for this event in only four short months.

daymon j. hartley
locked out and fired former striking free press photographer

[PEN-L:8749] fyi (fwd)

[D Shniad]

Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 12:28:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Arthur Cordell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: D Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: fyi

Please forward and/or post to relevant lists.

===
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 16:58:48 -0500
From: Lara Becker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>


 The International Tax Program 
   Harvard University

   International Tax Program and the Tax Law Society 
   1997  Spring Symposium on 

  MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

   Saturday, April 5,
 Cambridge, Massachusetts,U.S.A.


The Symposium:

Billions of dollars of valuable goods and services are
sold, exchanged or transmitted electronically. The amount of such
commercial activity is expected to grow exponentially in the
future. The appropriate taxation of this sector is one of the
most significant new tax issues of our day. The International Tax
Program and the Society for Law and Tax Policy of Harvard Law
School are sponsoring a symposium that will bring together the
leading policy makers, academics and practitioners in this field
in an effort to help derive uniform tax rules in this challenging
dimension of domestic and international taxation.

This symposium will consider a wide range of issues, including:

**Differences in determining the electronic commerce income
tax base.  Should source or residence rules be used, or should
some form of formulary apportionment be applied?

**Problems in imposing retail sales taxes on electronic sales.
Should traditional nexus rules apply?

**Problems in determining the value added by electronic
commercial inputs.  Should a tax be determined based on the
'bits' of information? If so, should each 'bit' be valued the
same?

**Problems involving the harmonization of tax rules.
International and sub-national aspects of this problem will be
considered. OECD efforts in this area will be contrasted with
proposed uniform state legislation in the US.

**Throughout the symposium the impact that these tax decisions
will have on cross-border investment decisions will be a primary
concern.


The Goals of the ITP:

The International Tax Program continues to sponsor symposiums on
topics of critical concern to government and private sector tax
practitioners at Harvard University. It is the belief of the
Program that such discussions will lead to advances in tax
policy, administration and compliance on a global basis. THE
MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE presents
such a challenge. Basic Income tax objectives such as efficiency
and equality of treatment are made more difficult to achieve if
the rules of the game are left to develop on an ad hoc basis.
Through this forum the International Tax Program hopes to
facilitate a meaningful interaction among policy makers around
the core issues of taxation and the internet.
=


Schedule:

Saturday, April 5, 1997

 7:30 - 8:30: Coffee and Registration

 8:30 - 9:00: Keynote Speaker, Mr. Jeffrey Owens, Chief,
Fiscal Affairs Division: OECD (Paris)

 9:00 - 11:30:INTERNATIONAL PANEL:

 Moderator: Professor Diane Ring, Harvard Law School

 Speakers: Mr. Bruce Cohen, Attorney-Advisor, Office of
International Tax Counsel, U.S. Treasury

 Mr. Alan S. S. Ow, Senior Deputy Commissioner, Inland
Revenue Authority, Singapore

 Mr. Nicasio del Castillo, Partner, Coopers & Lybrand

 Professor Luc Soete, Maastricht Economic Research Institute
on Innovation and Technology, University of Maastricht, the
Netherlands

 Mr. Arthur Cordell, Industry Canada, Special Advisor for
Long Range Planning and Analysis


 11:30 - 12:30: Catered Lunch

 12:30 - 3:00: STATE PANEL

 Moderator: Professor Reuven Avi-Yonah, Harvard Law School

 Speakers: Ms. Deborah Bierbaum, Deputy Commissioner, Office
of Tax Policy, Department of Taxation, New York

 Ms. Linda Lettera, General Counsel, Department of Revenue,
Florida

 Mr. Wade Anderson, Director of Tax Policy, Comptroller of
Public Accounts, Texas

 Mr. Dean F. Andal, Member, State Board of Equalization,
Second District, California

 Mr. Walter Hellerstein, Attorney, Southerland, Asbill &
Brennan

 3:00 - 3:30: Coffee 

 3:30 - 6:00: INDUSTRY PANEL

 Moderator: Professor Richard Pomp, University of Connecticut
Law School 

 Speakers: Ms. Jeanne Goulet, Director of Tax, IBM Credit,
IBM

 Ms. Allyn Yamanouchi, Vice President and Global Technology
Tax Counsel, CITIBANK

 Mr. James Eads, Jr., and Mr. Paul Nolan, Legal Division,
AT&T

 Mr. Bruce Reid, Director of State and Local Tax, MICROSOFT

 Ms. Ellen Fishbein, Assistant General Counsel, AMERICA
ONLINE
===

Registration and Fees:

The fee for this program is $500.00. An academic or government
employee discount is available. That fee is $200.00. To register
for the symposium please fill o

[PEN-L:8748] Re: market socialism, planned socialism, ut

[Robin Hahnel]

I agree with Max that an excellent argument for lower interest
rates is that it is a humongous budget balancer -- a freebee so to
speak. Since much of today's debt is the result of tax cuts for the
rich and spending the Soviet Union into bankrupcy -- two highly successful
Reagan period reactionary policies, I take great offense that now
servicing the debt THOSE lousy policies generated takes as much of
my tax dollar as all social programs together -- almost. (debt service
15%; all social programs 18%; military 21% ugh. Sometimes what is most
wrong in the world, the really wildly "odd" stuff, is intellecutually
quite "transparent."

[PEN-L:8747] Re: market socialism, planned socialism, ut

[Robin Hahnel]

On what percent of what I pay to the Feds goes to military and debt
service. I was wrong, but it does depend on what you count -- particularly
social security taxes. I was thinking about my federal income tax excluding
my social security tax, since that is how we fill out our 1040s. In the
back of my copy of this years 1040 there are two pie charts for the 1995
tax year. Net interest on the debt is 15% and defense is 21% of Federal
government outlays. But in that pie social security, medicarte and other
retirement are 36% -- and my FICA and Medicare more than pays for that.
So if we exclude the 36% social security/medicare payments that leaves:
2% on law enforcement; 18% on social programs; 8% on physical, uman and
community development; 15% net interest on the debt; and 21% on national
defense. That makes 15% + 21% = 36% of 64% which is over half. My point
is that almost 100% of that half I would like not to have my Federal
income taxes being spent on.

[PEN-L:8746] Re: market socialism, income tied to labor?

[Robin Hahnel]

Wages don't have to be equal to marginal revenue products. And since paying
people their marginal revenue products is often very unfair -- Michael Jordan
gets $20 million a year and a nursery school teacher gets $20 a year --
an equitable economy requires us NOT to pay according to MRP. But, for
a market system to be efficient goods, and inputs for making goods, need
to be priced according to their opportunity costs. The opportunity costs
of different kinds of labor IS precisely their different MRPs. Otherwise
users will over and under use different kinds of scarce labor resources
that they have to pay less or more respectively than their MRPs. The answer,
of course is to charge users of labor according to their opportunity costs --
that is their different MRPs -- but to pay people according to effort, or
personal sacrifice since that is what is fair and equitable. It is possible
to do this in a planned economy -- and we do it in participatory planning --
but I know of no competent economists who has argued that it is possible to
do this in a market economy.

[PEN-L:8745] Ergonomics Economics

[HEATHER GROB]

Is anyone doing research on the economics of ergonomics?  I'm looking for
conference speakers.

If no ILR people are doing this research, someone should!  Please respond if you
are interested.
We may have funding for such a project.

Heather Grob
Economics Research Coordinator
111 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC  20001
(202) 962-8490

[PEN-L:8744] FW: BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D]

BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY  20, 1997

__Despite a continued rise in energy costs, the CPI-U edged up just 
0.1 percent in January, BLS reports.  Falling food prices and a 
decline in the transportation index helped buffer the impact of a 0.8 
percent advance in energy costs (Daniel J. Roy, Daily Labor 
Report, page D-1).
__Consumer prices rose only slightly in January following four 
consecutive months of increases triple that size, as both food and 
transportation costs fell (John M. Berry, Washington Post, page 
C1).
__Consumer prices rose only one-tenth of 1 percent in January, below 
the consensus forecast of three-tenths of 1 percent, as food prices 
fell and price increases for energy moderated despite a 4.8 percent 
jump in the cost of natural gas -- the largest monthly rise since 
record-keeping began in 1952 (Bloomberg News story, New York 
Times, page B4).
__The inflation rate slowed, confounding widespread expectations that 
price rises would soon begin to accelerate or at best hold even 
(Jacob M. Schlesinger, Wall Street Journal, page A2).

With the release of January data, BLS changes the way it measures 
hospital care costs in the CPI, a move the agency believes will be a 
more accurate approach.  The switch is likely to have little effect on 
the overall index, officials say, because hospital costs are less than 
2 percent of the all-items CPI.  The costs component has been changed 
to track changes in the cost of hospital visits.  Under the old 
method, the CPI tracked price changes in individual goods or services 
that were included in those hospital visits The change comes a 
full year before the revised, updated CPI is scheduled for release 
In deciding how to track the costs of hospital visits in the CPI, 
BLS drew on its own experience in developing a similar approach for 
the Producer Price Index "The new procedures should allow the CPI 
hospital services index to reflect the change in cost to the consumer 
when, for example, a treatment moves from an inpatient setting to an 
outpatient setting," BLS said.  By capturing cost savings in this new 
approach -- such as when a new procedure allows less time in the 
hospital -- BLS analysts are addressing one of the main concerns about 
measuring medical care inflation Modifying the hospital index 
ahead of the overall revision saved money, BLS officials said, because 
it avoided the costs of hiring extra field analysts for the intensive 
effort involved in switching to a new way of gathering hospital cost 
information.  In fact, the transition to the new method "turned out to 
be a bigger task that we thought it would be,"said BLS economist 
Elaine Cardenas Especially in the early stages of the project, 
persuading hospitals to provide information from bills was not easy, 
Cardenas said.  BLS understands the need for confidentiality, and 
hospitals require additional time to remove some information (about 
the patients) from the bills, she said (Pam Ginsbach, Daily Labor 
Report, page A-5).

__The inflation-adjusted weekly earnings of most U.S. workers slumped 
a seasonally adjusted 2 percent in January, but real pay still was 2 
percent higher than it was a year ago.  Average hourly earnings inched 
up 0.1 percent in January, while average hours worked during the week 
fell 2 percent.  That yielded a 1.9 percent decline in average weekly 
earnings.  But a 0.1 percent gain in the CPI-W pulled weekly pay down 
2 percent for the month (Daily Labor Report, page D-13).
__Americans' weekly earnings, adjusted for inflation, fell 2 percent 
in January -- the largest decline since August 1973.  Earnings had 
risen 0.8 percent in December (Bloomberg News story, New York 
Times, page B4).
__Wage pressure was nonexistent.  Real hourly earnings, wages adjusted 
for inflation, were flat in January (Wall Street Journal, page 
A2).

One of the enduring economic puzzles of the last quarter-century is 
why labor productivity growth, and therefore gains in standards of 
living, slowed dramatically in the early 1970s both in the United 
States and in other industrial countries, writes John M. Berry in 
"Trendlines" in the Washington Post (page C1).  For a variety of 
reasons, many economists question whether the official figures really 
are picking up all of the efficiency improvements that are taking 
place in the U.S. economy, particularly in the area of services, where 
it is very hard to measure output Official estimate of labor 
productivity use the gross domestic product as the measure of output. 
 But separate figures for the income received by the same firms and 
workers suggest the economy -- and productivity -- may have grown 
faster in the past two years than official figures show In fact, 
until early last year, BLS -- which reports productivity statistics 
--had used the income rather than the product figures to calculate the 
official productivity estimates.  BLS switched p

[PEN-L:8743] Re: Pension ownership

[Teresa Ghilarducci]

Dear All,

Thanks Max.

Teresa

 At 06:23 PM 2/20/97 -0800, you wrote:
>> From:  BAIMAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject:   [PEN-L:8735] Re: Pension ownership
>
>> As far as I know the resident Radical Economist expert on this subject
>> (at least for the U.S. - though I believe she's also looked at this in
>> other countries) is Theressa Carlducci (or something close to this - ) at
>> Notre Dame Univ., Economics Dept.
>
>That would be Teresa Ghilarducci, not necessarily
>the precise spelling but a lot closer than yours.
>
>Cheers,
>
>MBS
>
>
Teresa Ghilarducci
Associate Professor of Economics
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Phone: 219-631-7581
FAX:   219-232-3086

[PEN-L:8742] UC Conf On Privatization (fwd)

[D Shniad]

Forwarded message:
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 23:29:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Jagdish Parikh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UC Conf On Privatization

/* Written  5:20 PM  Feb 12, 1997 by labornews in igc:labr.privatiza */
/* -- "UC Conf On Privatization" -- */
From: Institute for Global Communications <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>


Perspectives on Privatization
Labor Unions and Contracting Out


"Privatization continues to be on the increase.  Unions have responded
using different methods and strategies.  This conference will address
current issues and attempt to produce some answers to the dilemma unions
face.  A working model will be produced using the information gathered at
the conference. The results will be published in a working paper after the
conference."

Date: Thursday, April 24, 1997
Time: 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.
Place Clark Kerr Conference Center, University of California, Berkeley


The Center for Labor Research and Education, IIR University of California,
Berkeley is sponsoring a one day  conference dealing with Privatization in
California.
"This will be a targeted hands-on conference promoting a working dialogue
between union leaders and faculty that will address the issues constantly
faced by unions regarding privatization in the workplace."

Overview of Privatization:(Plenary session) Speaker Dick Walker-Geography

Seminars:
The Impact of Privatization on Minorities: Speaker-Annelle Grajeda Local
660 SEIU
Privatization and Organizing: Speaker-Jim Philliou- SEIU 790
The Legislative and Political Action Plan in Dealing with Privatization:
Speaker-Kurt Schuparra CSEA
The Union's Response to Privatizing State Employees:Speaker- Drew Mendleson CSEA
Legal Aspects of Privatization: Speaker-Eric Borgerson-CPER
Bargaining and Contract Language: Speaker-Open -AFSCME?
Closing Session:

Please select three seminars that you prefer to attend.

[PEN-L:8741] U.S. Foreign Policy: When Diplomacy fails, Use Force

[SHAWGI TELL]

The new Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went before the
Congress on February 11 to request a slight increase in funding
for the State Department to a total of $19.45 billion. According
to Albright, this amount is required to "sustain U.S.
leadership." She said over the last few years, the State
Department has cut more than 2,000 employees, closed more than 30
embassies and consulates and deferred modernization of
infrastructure and communications. According to Albright, "Force,
being a blunt instrument and one with sometimes extreme
consequences, cannot solve all our problems. There will be many
occasions, in many places, where we rely on diplomacy to protect
our interests, and we will expect our diplomats to defend those
interests with skill, knowledge and spine," she said. 

U.S. Issues Diplomatic Warning to Russia Based on "Intelligence
Reports"
Quoting "senior Clinton administration officials," the Los
Angeles Times said that during talks last week between U.S. Vice
President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
in Moscow, the U.S. issued Moscow a diplomatic warning about
"Russian assistance to Iran's missile programme that potentially
could threaten U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, several Gulf allies
and Israel."
 It claims that "intelligence reports" indicate that Russia
recently transferred to Iran technology "for the Russian SS-4
missile which has a range almost three times greater than that of
any missile now in Iran's arsenal." According to "Israeli
officials," the transfer "basically involved detailed
instructions on how to construct the missile's delivery system"
but also contained "some parts for an SS-4 missile which has a
range of 1,250 miles."
 Chernomydrin denied any such transfer which he said "would
be in violation of a 1994 pledge by Russian President Boris
Yeltsin not to engage in further arms sales to Tehran."


Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[PEN-L:8740] The "Main Danger" To The Middle East

[SHAWGI TELL]

The U.S., Israel and other countries which are trying to maintain
the hegemony of their interests in the Middle East and are
broadly interfering in the internal affairs of various countries
which refuse to go along with them, claim that the main danger to
the region does not come from themselves but from
"fundamentalism" led by Iran. 
 Former  Israeli Prime Minister  Shimon Peres was at Yale
University in New Haven, Connecticut on February 11 to deliver a
speech. He claimed the Middle East was being threatened by a
"fundamentalist movement" led by Iran. Even though the
imperialists and reactionaries claim this is a "religious"
movement and they call on "Jews, Muslims and Christians" to
"unite against such fundamentalism," their real fear was revealed
by Peres when he said that the "fundamentalist movement" is
trying "to shake up and endanger practically every existing
system in the Arab world. And its headquarters are today in a
single country - In Iran."
 This, therefore, is an issue of political differences
between countries with different systems. Such problems must be
sorted out by removing all foreign imperialist forces from the
region, stopping their interference in the internal affairs of
independent states, such as Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya and
other countries, and letting the people sort out their problems
on the basis of their own sovereignty. 


Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

[PEN-L:8739] Re: Pension ownership

[Joan Hac]

For the person who asked:  Her name is Teresa Ghilarducci and a couple of
years ago she took a position as Assistant Director of the AFL-CIO Employee
Benefits Department.  I don't know if she is still there or whether she went
back to Notre Dame.  She is an excellent resource on pensions, particularly
for unions and their members.


>Colin
>
>A late response,
>
>As far as I know the resident Radical Economist expert on this subject 
>(at least for the U.S. - though I believe she's also looked at this in 
>other countries) is Theressa Carlducci (or something close to this - ) at 
>Notre Dame Univ., Economics Dept. 
>

"Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."  Mother Jones

"Don't Mourn for me! Organize" Joe Hill's last words before his execution

Joan A. Hac, Labor Education Specialist
University of Kentucky
Center for Labor Education and Research
235 B&E Bldg
Lexington, KY  40506-0034

606-257-4811
606-257 4822 (fax)