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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines, 7-13-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
13 Jul 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. Canadian public strike, Corporate Crime Surges, Fast Track Proceeding, UPS Blames Losses on Teamster Strike Threat |
Canadian public strike
The largest public employee strike in Canadian history came to an end on yesterday when the Ontario government passed a law forcing the 22,000 Toronto strikers back to work. Most public services in Canada's largest city were disrupted for nearly three weeks. Garbage piled up in the streets, ferries were cancelled, and city pools were closed while a heat wave gripped the city. The largest issue in the strike was job security. Negotiated agreements prevented the city from outsourcing the jobs of employees with at least ten years of service, but the City of Toronto wanted to eliminate that protection to allow more widespread privatization of city services. In response to the legislation forcing an end to the strike, the Canadian Union of Public Employees noted that such laws are an attack on workers' rights to freely bargain contracts, but they thanked the New Democratic Party for ensuring that disagreements will be resolved fairly. A process of mediation and arbitration will be used to reach agreement on the contested issues.
Corporate Crime Surges
Eight thousand six hundred eighty four. That's where the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished its week, down over 700 points, more than seven percent of the index' value. The market is down over three thousand points from its high in January 2000. The tremendous drops came amid more disclosures about corporate fraud and disappointment in George Bush's much-anticipated speech about corporate crime. Although Bush's speech was aimed at restoring confidence in US corporations, instead it had roughly the same effect on investor confidence as the September 11 attacks. Bush and Vice President Cheney were both named as perpetrators of corporate crimes, with Bush mysteriously selling worthless stock for nearly a million dollars and Cheney presiding over lies about his company's performance while chief executive of the oil services company Halliburton. Halliburton paid Cheney $35 million dollars in his final days as executive of that corporation.
Fast Track Proceeding
Even as corporate executives are revealed to be among the most corrupt class of US citizen, they continue to set government policies, including US trade policies. The Bush administration continues trying to convince the public that it deserves Fast Track negotiating authority, the authority for the president to negotiate trade deals with little involvement from Congress. However, Bush's trade negotiators have been -- and will continue to be -- advised by executives of the nation's catastrophically failing corporations. Enron is the largest bankruptcy in US history, and many former Enron executives now work in the Bush administration, including Army Secretary Thomas White. White oversaw the Enron unit charged with defrauding Californians out of billions of dollars in energy bills. Enron executives also sat on the Industry Sector Advisory Committee that advised the president on how to negotiate treaties over trade in services, like the World Trade Organization's GATS agreement. WorldCom and Xerox each misplaced four billion dollars of their companies' revenues, and they serve on the presidential advisory committee for trade in electronics. Over 500 corporate executives advise the president on how to negotiate trade deals.
In this light, we report on the status of the Fast Track bill. To briefly re-cap, the House of Representatives approved Fast Track by a one vote margin last December. Desperate Republican leaders bent the rule to extend the voting period so that the white house could twist arms and cut deals for last minute votes. Six months later, the Senate approved a slightly different bill. The senate was expected to approve the bill, but global justice supporters saw business groups' difficulty in passing it as a victory. Now, the two bills must be reconciled if a final version is to be approved. During a press briefing last week, the president stated that this remains a top priority for him, but FAIR trade supporters have not given up hope of stopping the bill. Differences between the two versions may be hard to work out, given that the Senate version provided more protections for workers and limited the rights of corporations to sue governments, a provision codified in NAFTA's so-called "Chapter 11." The AFL-CIO is staging a fast track call-in week next week to urge representatives to vote against fast track. The AFL has set up a toll-free number for those calls, 877-611-0063.
UPS Blames Losses on Teamster Strike Threat
As UPS blames its slumping business on public uncertainty about a strike by Teamster delivery drivers, Teamster president James P. Hoffa responded that UPS has the power to restore confidence by negotiating a fair contract. UPS blamed the Teamsters for a 3 percent drop in earnings in its second quarter statement, and a response directly from Hoffa was seen as a message to members that the international union intends to put all its resources into securing the best contract it can. The union says it has secured a $100 million line of credit to pay strike benefits, in case they're needed. At issue in current negotiations are wages, health insurance, pensions, and terms and conditions of work for the thousands of part-time workers at UPS. A strike over similar issues in 1997 shut down the company for 15 days, inspiring many in the labor movement. The Teamsters and UPS are in marathon negotiations this weekend, with hopes of reaching a settlement before the July 31 contract expiration. 230,000 Teamster members work for UPS.
http://www.trakups.com/
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