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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines 01-08-25 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
25 Aug 2001
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Radio headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign, IL. |
Corn Growers Oppose Fast Track
A large farm organization has announced its opposition to George Bush\'s first major global trade plan. The American Corn Grower\'s Association announced on Wednesday that they oppose the Trade Promotion Authority bills currently before Congress. A spokesman for the corn growers explained that no further trade agreements should be approved until existing agreements are improved drastically. The spokesman said that NAFTA has devastated grain farmers, produce growers, dairy and livestock producers. Trade Promotion Authority, also known as Fast Track has been used to pass radical trade pacts like NAFTA, the North American Free Trade agreement, and to bring the United States under the authority of the World Trade Organization. Bush has said he wants trade promotion authority to expand NAFTA to the entire hemisphere and to expand the scope of the WTO. Corn Growers spokesman David Senter said, quote, \"Over the past twenty five years, American corn farmers have been forced to relinquish 68 percent of their buying power by misdirected trade agreements and policies seeking mythical increases in exports which were, in turn, promised to bring prosperity to rural America and lower food prices to America\'s consumers. While farmers endured a reduction in what we receive for a bushel of corn - that\'s 56 pounds of food mind you - from an inflation adjusted price of (five dollars and ninety one cents) $5.91 to (one dollar and ninety cents) $1.90, American consumers endured a whopping 250 percent increase in the cost of food. We all lost over the past quarter century because of unacceptable and inequitable trade policies. When you find yourself in a hole, the first rule is to quit digging and find out how to improve your situation.\" unquote. U.S. Representative Tim Johnson of the fifteenth congressional district signed on as a co-sponsor of a trade promotion authority bill. He will be holding a public forum at Parkland College this coming Wednesday at 6 p.m. Congress is expected to vote on a trade promotion authority bill in September.
Strike at Mitsubishi in Normal
At 1:30 a.m., well before the sun came up on Friday, 2,700 members of UAW local 2488 went on strike at the Mitsubishi factory in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois. The previous contract expired only 90 minutes earlier. This morning, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported that after a short break after the strike began, talks resumed at 8:30 on Friday morning and continued late into the night last night. Pickets lined the edges of every entrance to the factory. Mitsubishi issued a public statement with a conciliatory tone, stating that the good will between the union and one of the world\'s largest corporations hasn\'t been harmed. Neither negotiating team would say what has been happening at the negotiating table, but UAW members on the picket line say the company wants to restrict the use of vacation time and raise workers\' health insurance costs dramatically. Members of local 2488 are meeting at 11 a.m. this morning at the Illinois State University campus center. A flyer said the meeting would be informational only if an agreement hadn\'t been reached. Otherwise, it would be a contract ratification meeting.
Tokyo Stock Exchange Closes at Lowest Level in 17 Years
On Friday, the Tokyo stock exchange lost 270 points, closing at its lowest level since 1984. Analysts say the drop came on news that the Japanese unemployment rate rose to a record high of five percent. Such statistics lead some to question the wisdom of risking their savings on stock and mutual fund purchases. Today in the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average stands at over ten thousand. If the US market fell to 1984 levels, it would be at twelve HUNDRED, a loss of nearly 90 percent.
Rape of Migrant Workers Charged at Iowa Egg Plants
The Associated Press reported on Friday that the federal government has filed a lawsuit against an Iowa egg processing plant, charging that supervisors raped and threatened to fire or kill women migrant workers at the plant. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission against DeCoster Farms. The suit claims that supervisors raped the women last year and last March, and at least one of the rapes happened at knifepoint. Factory owners claim no knowledge of the rapes or threats. About 200 people work at the DeCoster egg factories in the Clarion, Iowa area, which is about 80 miles north of Des Moines. Most of the workers are undocumented hispanic migrant workers. The Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Iowa City said some of the workers were so afraid they sought safety in a domestic abuse shelter. A spokesperson for the shelter stated, quote, \"The workers are vulnerable if * they\'re illegal, * they don\'t speak the language very well, * they don\'t have an avenue to seek justice. The rape is terrifying, but where do they go?\" unquote. DeCoster farms has a history of charges by labor and environmental organizations. In April, 2000, the state of Iowa filed suit against DeCoster for pollution caused by their large-scale hog operations. The suit charges that the company discharged hog waste from an eight inch pipe straight into the soil beneath the hog factory. The soil eroded, and waste polluted a nearby river. The Sierra Club reports that DeCoster is one of Iowa\'s largest polluters, and the recipient over 20 million dollars from the federal government in corporate welfare. The county sheriff was interviewed for the news report about the migrant workers, and he claims that the federal suit was the first he\'d heard of the rape charges.
Wal-Mart Rally -- Until noon.
Look at Wal-Mart\'s anti-worker manual here:
http://www.ufcw.org/worker/internal.cfm?subsection_id=143&internal_id=328
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