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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines 5-11-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
11 May 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. ENRON CAUGHT RED-HANDED, Trade secrecy vote--HR 3009, Fast track proceeds in Senate, Community College Faculty Gain Rights, AMA Stops Funding Its Union, New Hand at Chicago Labor Helm, AFSCME Members March on Capitol, Judge Won't Dismiss AFSCME Lawsuit. ANNC: Soul Survivors in Cambodia; Protest George Bush during his visit to Chicago |
ENRON CAUGHT RED-HANDED
An explosion in the largest bankruptcy case in US history--a bankruptcy with multiple ties to President Bush--is being confined to the business pages this week. When California's electricity was deregulated in the year 2000, prices shot through the roof as energy suppliers reaped massive profits at the expense of ratepayers. Last week, internal Enron documents were disclosed, showing how the now-bankrupt corporation illegally manipulated the market to drive up prices. The Federal Energy Regulatory, Commission, an agency under President Bush's control, released Enron documents describing strategies with names including "Death Star," "Ricochet," "Fat Boy" and "Get Shorty" in which traders artificially inflated prices in the recently deregulated California electricity market. However the federal commission downplayed the importance of the documents, saying that the documents were not a "smoking gun", as did local press. The News-Gazette placed the information deep in its business section, behind the sports pages. The U.S. Senate, however, immediately called for hearings, and Western states are asking to keep federal price controls in place. On Friday, the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle said publicly that he believes-quote- "somebody ought to go to jail"-unquote- as a result of Enron's newly-discovered practices, and California Republicans joined Daschle in his call for action against Enron. Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono said, quote, "We now have reason to believe that illegal acts took place," unquote. President Bush has close ties to former Enron CEO Ken Lay, and Bush appointed over 50 former Enron executives to powerful government jobs, including US Army Secretary Thomas White, who was vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, the very unit accused of committing crimes. California is seeking reimbursement of $9 billion for energy over-charges. Linking top administration officials to price-fixing crimes could be very damaging to the credibility of George Bush's presidency.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020508/ap_on_re_us/enron_ferc_2
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/dowjones/20020509/bs_dowjones/enron_had_assistance__memos_say
Trade secrecy vote--HR 3009
Global justice issues are again front and center in Congress, with votes on trade agreements taking place. The News-Gazette reported that the Senate rejected a proposal to renegotiate NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement--to open up the process of resolving trade disagreements, and to prevent corporations from suing governments. Currently, trade disputes are resolved in secret trials and the public has no access to information about how the disagreements are resolved; we only hear the final result. And NAFTA's chapter eleven permits corporations to sue national governments, allowing--for instance--a Canadian chemical company to sue the United States because California banned the company's toxic gasoline additive. Illinois senators were divided in the vote to change those two provisions. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin voted to fix those problems, while Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald sided with business interests and opposed the changes. Fitzgerald's office said that the senator disagreed with the process for making the changes.
News-Gazette, 5/5/02, p. b-5.
Fast track proceeds in Senate
And Fast Track, the legislation in which Congress gives the president its trade negotiating responsibilities, surged forward in the Senate last week. After being approved by a single vote in the House last November, FAIR trade supporters have kept the bill tied up in the Senate until this week. While the house-approved bill includes strong provisions protecting business interests only, labor and environmental groups are encouraging the senate to include protections for public interests, such as workers and the environment. Public Citizen, the organization founded by Ralph Nader, is part of a coalition working to include health insurance for workers displaced by companies that move overseas, to eliminate the right of corporations to sue national governments, and to prevent future trade agreements from overturning existing trade laws. On Thursday last week, Democratic leaders caved in to the White House and cut a deal allowing debate on the Senate bill to begin. Majority leader Tom Daschle accepted a number of weak protections in order to meet President Bush's desire to have the fast track bill approved quickly. The senate will debate the bill next week. When the senate approves fast track, it's possible that the house and senate will have difficulty agreeing on a common version of the a final bill.
http://www.tradewatch.org
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020510/ap_wo_en_ge/us_trade_authority_2
Illinois Adjunct Professors Gain Rights
Part-time America took a step toward gaining more rights last week when the Illinois state senate approved a bill expanding union rights for teachers at community colleges. Increasingly, colleges and universities are relying on temporary and part-time faculty as a low-cost way of teaching classes. At the University of Illinois, of the nearly six thousand classroom instructors, fewer than two thousand--or one in three--are full-time tenured or tenure track professors. At community colleges, the situation is more extreme, where part-timers account for eighty percent of the instructional staff. Because they are not legally assured of employment from one semester to the next, most community college part-time faculty remain entirely at the mercy of administrators who define their terms and conditions of employment. House Bill 1720 will allow many more part-timers to join unions and have a voice in their working conditions. On Wednesday last week, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 54-0, sending it to the Governor for his signature. Both the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers supported the bill.
http://www.ieanea.org/portal_frameset/gr_frameset/gr_index.htm
AMA Stops Funding Its Union
The executive board of the Chicago-based American Medical Association announced on May 8 that it will cease funding its labor organization, the Physicians for Responsible Negotiation, which was established 3 years ago to assist physicians in negotiating with managed care organizations. The union has been losing money and requested another $1.6 million to continue its activities through 2003. While the union has had some organizing successes, it has not signed up enough members to become self-sustaining. The AMA's House of Delegates could overturn the board's decision at its annual meeting in June.
Chicago Tribune, May 9, 2002, section 3, p 1
New Hand at Chicago Labor Helm
The Chicago Federation of Labor has elected Dennis Gannon, a former business agent of IUOE Local 150 and the secretary-treasurer of the CFL as its new president to replace Don Turner, who chose not to run for re-election. Mr. Gannon is the son of a photoengraver for the Chicago Tribune and had planned to be a schoolteacher before taking a job in the construction industry. Mr. Gannon said that his program for the Federation includes organizing new members among minorities and immigrants, strengthening links between unions and community and religious groups, seeking ways to stabilize the city's shrinking manufacturing base, and bolstering unions' political power.
Chicago Tribune, May 9, 2002, section 3, p 1
AFSCME Members March on Capitol
About 4000 state employees, members of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, marched from a rally at the Prairie Capital Convention Center to the state capitol in Springfield last Tuesday to protest layoffs and closures of state prisons and mental health facilities and to urge legislators to seek other ways to solve the state's budget problems. In a speech to the group, union president Henry Bayer outlined a series of revenue-saving measures that he said could make up the deficit and prevent layoffs. He further said that Gov. Ryan is trying to blame the state's financial problems on the union.
State Journal-Register, May 8, 2002, p 7
www.afscme31.org
Judge Won't Dismiss AFSCME Lawsuit
In a victory of state workers and a setback for Governor George Ryan, a judge denied the Governor's motion to dismiss a lawsuit to prevent the closing of the Vienna Correctional Center. AFSCME's suit claims that the Governor cannot close the facility on May 15 because the legislature has funded it through June 30. Gov. Ryan's office estimates the closing would save the state $22 million, but it would eliminate about 350 jobs. A trial is scheduled for May 13.
State Journal-Register, May 7, 2002, p 8
ANNC:
Happy graduation to all the graduates of GEO-taught classes.
Soul Survivors in Cambodia
First Mennonite Church, 902 W. Springfield, Urbana
When: Wednesday May 15, 2002, 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Peace activist Carol Wagner gives a slide presentation about her experiences with Cambodians who survived civil war / genocide of 1975-75. Her new book, Soul Survivors, narrates the lives of 14 Cambodian women and children who personally and spiritually perservered to rebuild their lives and their culture. LOCATION: First Mennonite Church, 902 W. Springfield, Urbana
Contact E-Mail: carolwagner (at) hotmail.com
Info URL: http://Contact Merianne @ 337-1849
Protest George Bush during his visit to Chicago, 11 a.m. Monday, May 123 @ Sheraton Hotel & Towers, 301 N. Water, Chicago. No more war abroad! Stop the war at home! Stop the attacks on civil liberties, stop racial profiling. 888-471-0874 / cabnstopthehate (at) aol.com
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See also:
www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/
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