From dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Mon Aug 2 15:01:22 1999 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 02 Aug 1999 15:01:22 Subject: Turkey/DHKC declaration: 91 Message-ID: DEVRIMCI HALK KURTULUS CEPHESI Press Office Date: July 31, 1999 Statement: 91 Attack against the Special Units of the Almus Dam in Tokat In the night of July 28, at 10 p.m., the Coemert Oezen Command, part of our unit, attacked the water power station in the Niksar forestry with rocket launchers. As a result of this attack, directed against the water pipes at the exit of the village of Goezakse/Niksar, as well as against its control towers, the installation was destroyed and our unit was able to withdraw without any losses. Especially during the last 3-4 years, since the guerrilla became active in the region of Niksar, this power station was gradually used more and more for other purposes and transformed into a police station. While there were only 3-5 security people and one traffic check point in the area of the power station until 1995, after that year this place was used by police and commando units for interrogations and later special police units moved in. This complex, nowadays with the command posts of the gendarmes, was also officially transformed into a military base and equipped with batteries of the special army units. Since they were stationed there, the special units constantly, by day and by night, terrorised the people, officially to secure the power station in Ovasi/Niksar, in general claiming that the people support the guerrilla. And they have constantly tried to legitimise their terror. In the sugar-beet and potato fields, in the vineyards and gardens, the people were threatened and they attempted to intimidate the valley farmers with statements like "when you dare to water the fields and gardens at the wrong time, we will shoot you". By shooting around at random, day and night, the special units attempted provocations to create the basis for new attacks and repression. Until this day, many farmers who wanted to water their fields at night and people who walked around, especially during rainy wetter, with flashlights to collect snails, were beaten up by the special units, threatened with guns, and even kidnapped and forced to work as spies and informers against the guerrilla. Even official complaints of the local people about the arbitrary conduct of the special units were unable to change the situation. On the contrary, the farmers have become the target of the special units. This centre of the contra-guerrilla, which more or less officially became an institution of the special units of the army and the police, was declared a target by our unit and an attack was realised. All official institutions which are being transformed into police barracks will be our target. The oppressive Mafia state and the centres of the contra-guerrilla are responsible; we have made them pay and will make them pay. Stop the transformation into barracks of official institutions and constructions! Long live the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front! REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT Karadeniz Area Command --- DHKC Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Cephesi Revolutionary people's Liberation Front http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc From ncadc at ncadc.demon.co.uk Thu Aug 5 10:34:47 1999 From: ncadc at ncadc.demon.co.uk (ncadc at ncadc.demon.co.uk) Date: 05 Aug 1999 10:34:47 Subject: Fortress Europe kills Again Message-ID: National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC) 101 Villa Road Birmingham B19 1NH Phone: 0121-554-6947 Fax: 0870-055-4570 E-mail ncadc at ncadc.demon.co.uk Web www.ncadc.demon.co.uk/ Fortress Europe kills Again Yaquine Koita (14) and Fode Tourkana (15), from Guinea died on Monday 2 August, trying to enter Fortress Europe. Their frozen bodies were found in the landing gear of a Sabena Belgian airplane. The two young boys carried a letter with a plea for help for their deprived and war-ravaged continent. Koita and Tourkana never got to deliver their letter in person. Their bodies were found early on Monday in the landing gear bay of the Sabena Airbus A330-300 where they had stowed away, when it landed in Brussels from Mali after a stopover in Conakry. Both had frozen to death. The letter was found in their clothing. Yaquine and Fode, wrote: "Excellencies, sirs, members and officials of Europe" "We have the honourable pleasure and great confidence to write you this letter to tell you of the objective of our voyage and of our suffering, we, the children of Africa. We appeal to your kindness and solidarity to come to the rescue of Africa". "Help us, we are suffering enormously? help us? We have war, disease, not enough to eat?. There are schools, but a great lack of education, of teaching?" The Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr. Louis Michel, (weeping crocodile tears) said he was "moved" by the letter and would send copies to his European counterparts. These sad and totally unnecessary deaths are yet another consequence of the "Fortress Europe" policies pursued by European governments. They also show the lack of interest displayed by the mainstream media in reporting the deaths of African children seeking asylum in the EU. Yaquine and Fode died on Monday but their deaths have not been reported in the UK media. Show your concern at the consequences of "Fortress Europe" policies by writing to your head of state about the deaths of Yaquine Koita and Fode Tourkana insisting that they must stop such a tragedy occuring again. Source Anti-Racism Campaign in Ireland From ahein at apologeticsindex.org Thu Aug 5 15:32:50 1999 From: ahein at apologeticsindex.org (ahein at apologeticsindex.org) Date: 05 Aug 1999 15:32:50 Subject: unsubscribe Message-ID: From theorganizer at igc.org Fri Aug 6 15:39:22 1999 From: theorganizer at igc.org (theorganizer at igc.org) Date: 06 Aug 1999 15:39:22 Subject: OWC-APPEAL TO HEADS OF STATE AT WTO SUMMIT Message-ID: OWC-APPEAL TO HEADS OF STATE AT WTO SUMMIT ***** OPEN WORLD CONFERENCE OF WORKERS In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights (c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St.#203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: 415- 641-8616 Fax: 415-440-9297 Email: owc at igc.org) JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE ILO CONVENTIONS! ***** Dear Sisters and Brothers: We are writing to urge your support for the "Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle." The Open Letter [see below] calls on these government leaders to ratify, implement and fully enforce the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Over the past 80 years, the ILO has adopted 176 Conventions under the constant pressure of the mass movement of workers and their allies. When ratified by a particular country, the substance of the ILO convention must become the law of the land. These ILO Conventions represent a tremendous gain for the workers? movement. They have set the standard for labor rights worldwide. The binding constraints for national labor legislation in the ILO ratification procedure, in particular, make them both a reference point and a rallying point for the independent trade union movement in every country. Beginning in 1991, the IMF and WTO called for a "reform" of the ILO. IMF top officials said the ILO conventions had to be made more "flexible" and more "adapted" to the needs of the global economy in the new millennium. It was necessary to create a "less constraining framework for ensuring international labor standards." In 1994, top officials in the WTO pressed further, explaining that the countries that had ratified and implemented the ILO conventions on labor rights were at a "comparative disadvantage" in relation to countries that had not done so. It was necessary, they said, to move toward the adoption of a new ILO charter on fundamental workers? rights that could outline general principles without imposing on the ratifying countries the mandatory and legal constraints required by the adoption of ILO conventions. And this is precisely what happened in June 1998 with the adoption by the ILO of a new "Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work." The principles and rights contained in the declaration became disconnected from the ratification process. This means a country can adopt these principles ? even though it has not ratified any of the ILO conventions ? without the requirement that these principles find their way into national laws. Not surprisingly, the new ILO declaration has been hailed loudly by Clinton and the leaders of the G8. The Open Letter issued by the Organizing Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC) demands that the existing ILO Conventions become the law of the land in every country. It rejects government or corporate pledges to support hollow principles and rights detached from concrete implementation in national labor legislation. The Open Letter also rejects support for watered- down agreements that would supplant the existing ILO Conventions. This is a reference to the 1999 ILO declaration opposing the "worst forms of child labor" ? a document which Clinton supports and has vowed to take to the U.S. Congress for ratification. This new agreement is presented by its defenders as a "bridge" to ensure wider acceptance of ILO Convention 138, which bans child labor altogether. In reality, it is being deployed by governments beholden to the corporate agenda to legalize the "least offensive" forms of child labor. In Europe, for example, the European Union is projecting lowering the ban on child labor to 12 years of age on the basis of this new agreement. Another ILO Convention slated to disappear before long is ILO Convention 103, which deals with maternity leaves for working women. The OWC Open Letter concludes by calling specifically on Bill Clinton and the U.S. government, who are hosting the Seattle WTO Summit, to ratify and implement these ILO conventions. Though the U.S. government claims to champion workers? rights at work, in reality it has an "appalling record on workers? rights" and "one of the worst ratification records [of ILO Conventions] in the world." This was the conclusion reached by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in a 15-page report published July 14, 1999. [See attached ICFTU report summary.] The OWC Open Letter supports the ICFTU?s call on the U.S. government to ratify and implement the seven core conventions of the ILO, which are: (1) ILO Convention 87 concerning freedom of association and the protection of the right to organize, (2) ILO Convention 98 concerning the right to organize and to bargain collectively, (3) ILO Convention 29 on forced labor, (4) ILO Convention 105 banning forced labor, (5) ILO Convention 100 on equal wages for work of equal value, (6) ILO Convention 111 on discrimination in employment, (7) ILO Convention 138 on the abolition of child labor (1973). A campaign for the U.S. government to ratify and implement these core ILO conventions is a campaign for labor law reform in the United States. It is a campaign to ban striker "replacements" and enact legislation that would restore workers? rights to organize (free from employer harassment and intimidation), bargain collectively (free from employer and/or government interference), and strike (free from all the undemocratic restrictions created by injunctions and legalized scabs). We hope you will endorse this appeal and help circulate it widely in your union, workplace and/or community organization. Please contact us if you wish more information about this campaign. In Solidarity, Organizing Committee, Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights OPEN WORLD CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Jack Henning, Secretary-Treasurer-Emeritus, California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC-AFL-CIO); Mya Shone, Co- Coordinator OWC and member OPEIU Local 3; Ed Rosario, Co-Coordinator OWC, Coordinator WHC and President, San Francisco LCLAA; Daniel Gluckstein, Coordinator, International Liaison Committee for a Workers? International (ILC); Patrick H?bert, General Secretary, CGT-Force Ouvri?re Labor Federation (Loire- Atlantique/France); Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer, OPEIU Local 3 (AFL-CIO); Frank Martin del Campo, National Executive Committee, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); Alan Benjamin, Assistant Coordinator WHC, member OPEIU Local 3 and SF LCLAA) ********** OPEN LETTER TO ALL HEADS OF STATE Attending the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle: The Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Must Be Ratified, Implemented and Fully Enforced in Every Country! Dear Heads of State and Government: We, the undersigned trade union leaders, union activists and supporters of labor rights the world over, address you this Open Letter on the occasion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Summit in Seattle in November 1999. In recent months, U.S. President Bill Clinton and the heads of state of the G8 countries have issued countless declarations professing the need to uphold workers? rights in all "free trade" pacts and to put a "human face on the global economy." As trade unionists and supporters of labor rights, we have reached the conclusion ? based on years of bitter experience ? that the "free trade" agreements and Structural Adjustment Programs promoted by the WTO, as well as by the IMF and World Bank: o are an assault upon our rights and upon our working and living conditions, and stand as barriers to social progress and democracy, o elevate the multinational corporations and their interests above those of the peoples of each country, - have, at their core, the aim of destroying our public services, collective bargaining agreements, and national labor codes, - are an assault on our right to employment, insofar as they destroy jobs for the many while creating work for only a few, - are a means through which the governments and employers seek to undermine the independence of trade unions that stand for the defense of working people and our interests. As trade unionists and activists, we consider that any government leader that today professes to uphold and defend workers? rights must begin by ensuring that his or her own country ratifies, implements and fully enforces the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The ILO, which was founded in 1919, has codified into 176 ILO Conventions the gains won through struggle by the workers? movement over the past century. When a country ratifies a Convention of the ILO, it must bring its own national legislation into conformity with the ILO convention. The substance of the ILO convention therefore becomes the law of the land. These ILO Conventions have set the standard for labor rights worldwide. On every continent they have laid the basis for national labor legislation and labor codes ? all which are under assault today in the name of "globalization." In June 1998 ? under pressure from the WTO and IMF to create a "less constraining framework for ensuring international labor standards" ? the ILO adopted a new "Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work." The principles and rights promoted in this declaration correspond to seven of the existing ILO Conventions. On June 20, 1999, the G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany, issued a communiqu? pledging to "promote effective implementation" of this new ILO declaration. We, the undersigned, state categorically: If this ILO "Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work" is to be of any value to working people the world over, the seven corresponding Conventions of the ILO must be ratified, implemented and enforced fully by every government participating in the WTO Summit in Seattle! These seven core ILO Conventions are: 1. ILO Convention 87 concerning freedom of association and the protection of the right to organize (1948) 2. ILO Convention 98 concerning the right to organize and to bargain collectively (1949) 3. ILO Convention 29 on forced labor (1930) 4. ILO Convention 105 banning forced labor (1957) 5. ILO Convention 100 on equal wages for work of equal value (1951) 6. ILO Convention 111 on discrimination in employment (1958) 7. ILO Convention 138 on the abolition of child labor (1973). We will not accept any substitutes for the existing conventions of the ILO. We will not accept support for hollow principles and rights at work detached from concrete implementation in national labor legislation. We will not accept any watered-down agreements. Finally, we wish to issue a special appeal to the government that is hosting the November 1999 WTO Summit ? that is, the U.S. government: U.S. officials proclaim loudly in every international arena that the United States is a staunch defender of workers? rights. Bill Clinton addressed the yearly assembly of the ILO in June 1999, where he trumpeted his support for the new ILO "Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work." But the truth of the matter is that the U.S. record on workers? rights is abysmal. On July 14, 1999, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) issued a 15-page report that fully documents the "massive, ongoing, and appalling violations in the United States of the right to freedom of association and the right to organize." "The United States," the report continues, "has ratified only one of the seven core labor standards ? ILO Convention 105 opposing forced labor. ... This is one of the worst ratification records in the world." The ICFTU report reviews in great detail how the core ILO conventions ? including those on child labor, forced labor, discrimination in the workplace, and the right to strike ? are violated daily in the United States. The ICFTU report concludes with these words: "The United States needs to take a series of far- reaching measures to establish genuine respect for core labor standards in the United States. In areas of compelling violations, ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to Organize) should be ratified and the country?s laws brought into conformity with these Conventions, because major reforms are needed to protect workers who try to organize and bargain collectively from employer interference and intimidation. "The United States should also ratify Conventions 100 and 111 against Discrimination, Convention 138 on Child Labor, and Convention 29 on Forced labor, and work to put these Conventions into full effect." We, the undersigned, fully concur with this ICFTU report and its conclusions. Any government that pretends to uphold workers? rights must begin by ratifying the Conventions of the ILO! ***** [This Open Letter was prepared by the Organizing Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which will be held in San Francisco in February of 2000 with the participation of trade unionists and activists from 86 countries. [The call to organize an international campaign to ratify the ILO conventions was first issued by the Seventh Annual Meeting of Trade Unionists in Defense of the ILO Conventions, held in June 1999 in Geneva at the time of the yearly assembly of the ILO. The meeting was convened by the heads of 17 African trade union federations and the International Liaison Committee for a Workers? International (ILC). The ILC is a co-sponsor of the OWC, along with the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) and the Continuations Committee of the Western Hemisphere Workers? Conference Against NAFTA and Privatizations (WHC). [For more information about the Open World Conference, write to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL-CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, or tel. (415) 641-8616, or fax (415) 440- 9297, or email .] ***** Initial list of Signatories: Organizing Committee of the OWC: Jack Henning, Secretary- Treasurer-Emeritus, California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC-AFL-CIO); Mya Shone, Co- Coordinator OWC and member OPEIU Local 3; Ed Rosario, Co-Coordinator OWC, Coordinator WHC and President, San Francisco LCLAA; Daniel Gluckstein, Coordinator, International Liaison Committee for a Workers? International (ILC); Patrick H?bert, General Secretary, CGT-Force Ouvri?re Labor Federation (Loire- Atlantique/France); Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer, OPEIU Local 3 (AFL-CIO); Frank Martin del Campo, National Executive Committee, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); Alan Benjamin, Assistant Coordinator WHC, member OPEIU Local 3 and SF LCLAA. ***** ENDORSEMENT FORM: PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES OF THIS OPEN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF STATE NAME EMAIL ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP UNION/ORG: TITLE (for id. only) (Return to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL- CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, or email: ) ***** ATTACHMENT NO. 1 SUMMARY OF THE ICFTU REPORT ON WORKERS? RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES On July 14, 1999, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) issued a report slamming the United States? "appalling record on workers? rights and calling on the U.S. to ratify the core conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). It is worth examining in greater detail the content of this 15-page ICFTU report, which was issued the same day the WTO released its trade policy review on the United States. The ICFTU press release that summarizes the report states in part: "Violations in the United States of the right to freedom of association and the right to organize, are ?massive, ongoing, and appalling.? ... ?It is shocking to see that in the United States both government and employers harass and persecute those who exercise their rights at work,? said the ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan. "The United States has ratified only one of the seven core labor standards, which cover the right to organize a trade union, to bargain, the prohibition of discrimination and child labor, as specified by the UN?s International Labor Organization (ILO). This is one of the worst ratification records in the world, says the ICFTU." The ICFTU report details how the right to freedom of association and collectively bargaining are severely restricted. "[F]orty percent of American public service workers ? nearly seven million ? are denied the right to collective bargaining. Over two million federal government employees are denied the right to strike and to bargain over hours, wages, or economic benefits. ... "In the private sector, workers are not adequately protected from employer interference in the fundamental right of workers to organize a union. Where limited protections exist, penalties for this form of corporate lawlessness are often weak and ineffective. At least one in ten union supporters campaigning to form a union is sacked illegally each year. Employees who support trade unions are often harassed, intimidated, and isolated from other workers. Many employers use consultants, detectives and security firms in anti-union campaigns. "In addition to trying to block union organizing, many companies attempt to destroy unions where they exist. Unfortunately, enforcement of protections for worker rights which exist in the law is weak, both because penalties are light and because procedures are long and often difficult. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which administers the law covering most industrial relations in the private sector, has a backlog of 25,000 cases. For example, it took 62 workers who were fired in 1979, 19 years to receive financial compensation. "Union representatives are often threatened with arrest when they try to help workers organize unions and are denied access to the workplace. Union solidarity is restricted by the law which makes secondary boycotts and sympathy strikes illegal. "When workers vote to have a union, employers regularly challenge the results. For example, 5,000 workers at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans are still being denied the right to form a union, although they voted for one in 1993. "An increasing number of employers deliberately provoke strikes to get rid of trade unions. In 1995, Detroit News and Knight Ridder unlawfully provoked a strike involving 2,600 employees. The newspapers were ordered to reinstate the striking workers by the NLRB, but have appealed against the decision and are still refusing to rehire most of them. Other companies have locked out workers as part of a strategy to destroy unions. "Multinational companies refuse to bargain in good faith or drag out and delay the process. For example, the German multinational Continental Tire, after not seriously engaging in bargaining, hired permanent replacements for striking workers at its facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. This practice of permanently replacing strikers has a devastating effect on industrial relations. The threat of permanent replacement is used to scare workers during organizing campaigns, to intimidate them at the bargaining table, and as a tool to eliminate union representation altogether." The ICFTU goes on to report on discrimination at work in the United States: "Surprisingly, for a country where the law provides for equal rights regardless of race, sex, age or religion, the United States has ratified neither ILO Conventions 100 nor 111, which deal with discrimination at work. "Also, in a country with such a high proportion of female workers ? the percentage now stands at 45% ? women on average earn only 75% of men?s earnings, Black women 65% of men?s earnings, and Hispanic women, 57%." The ICFTU continues its report with a section of child labor and forced labor: "Again, surprisingly for a government which has taken a strong stand against child labor internationally, it has not ratified ILO Convention 138 itself, banning child labor. A 1997 survey, based on federal government data, found that 290,000 children were working illegally. 14,000 were under the age of 14, and some nine-year- olds were working in garment sweatshops. "There are also a large number of children of migrant workers, whom the survey was not able to document fully, the majority of whom work in the agricultural and horticultural sectors. This sector is one of the most dangerous, and between 400 and 600 children working in agricultural suffer work-related injuries, and many are killed in accidents each year. "Regarding forced labor, the United States has ratified one out of the two ILO Conventions dealing with forced labor (No. 105). However there is evidence of a considerable amount of prison labor being carried out for profit by the prison authorities, which prisoners are penalized for refusing. "Prisoners work for between $0.23 and $1.15 a day in sectors including telemarketing and telephone reservation systems for hotels and airlines (including Trans World Airlines, which uses prison labor extensively). They also work in computer circuit board assembly, clothing, and food. At least three states are exporting prison- make goods. "Prisoners who refuse to work lose their chance of early release, are deprived of privileges or sent to high-security prisons and may be locked up in their cells as a punishment. The ICFTU report then concludes: "The United States needs to take a series of far- reaching measures to establish genuine respect for core labor standards in the U.S. In areas of compelling violations, ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to Organize) should be ratified and the country?s laws brought into conformity with these Conventions, because major reforms are needed to protect workers who try to organize and bargain collectively from employer interference and intimidation. "The United States should also ratify Conventions 100 and 111 against Discrimination, Convention 138 on Child Labor, and Convention 29 on Forced labor, and work to put these Conventions into full effect." The ICFTU report fails to mention a fundamental workers? right that is being trampled upon daily in the United States ? and that is the right to strike. While there is no ILO convention that upholds explicitly the right to strike, ILO jurisprudence has established that the right to strike is covered by ILO Conventions 87 and 98. The ILO?s Commission on Freedom of Association (CFA), in fact, has ruled that the United States persistently violates the workers? right to strike. The CFA has taken issue, in particular, with the hiring of permanent striker "replacements" and the various laws restricting workers? rights to picket. From alina at superonline.com Sat Aug 7 05:30:13 1999 From: alina at superonline.com (alina at superonline.com) Date: 07 Aug 1999 05:30:13 Subject: subscribe Message-ID: This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01BEE0E4.68D04EC0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-9" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable pls put me on yr mailing list mehmet arif demirer alina at superonline ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01BEE0E4.68D04EC0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-9" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
pls put me on yr mailing = list
mehmet arif demirer
alina at superonline
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------=_NextPart_000_0015_01BEE0E4.68D04EC0-- --------------4844F275D69529F5DD8177B0 Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="jcorlett2.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Jon Corlett Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="jcorlett2.vcf" begin:vcard n:Corlett;Jon x-mozilla-html:FALSE url:http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ org:REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! !;http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ adr:;;;;;;U$ version:2.1 email;internet:jcorlett2 at mindspring.com title:Worker note;quoted-printable:To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line.=0D=0A fn:jcorlett end:vcard --------------4844F275D69529F5DD8177B0-- From jcorlett2 at mindspring.com Mon Aug 9 10:43:22 1999 From: jcorlett2 at mindspring.com (jcorlett2 at mindspring.com) Date: 09 Aug 1999 10:43:22 Subject: Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back outside Message-ID: This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------6E46830063DD0BF0FFFAB48F Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back outside Turkish borders. Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 09:09:45 -0700 From: Jon Corlett Organization: Communist Revolution To: Ozgurluk Appears the CIA drugs, etc. have got to Ocalan? ------------- Subject: Returned mail: User unknown Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Mail Delivery Subsystem To: The original message was received at Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:32 -0400 (EDT) from user-38ldgoo.dialup.mindspring.com [209.86.195.24] ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to node12ed3.a2000.nl.: >>> RCPT To: <<< 550 ... User unknown 550 ... User unknown Reporting-MTA: dns; smtp2.mindspring.com Received-From-MTA: DNS; user-38ldgoo.dialup.mindspring.com Arrival-Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:32 -0400 (EDT) Final-Recipient: RFC822; dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Action: failed Status: 5.1.1 Remote-MTA: DNS; node12ed3.a2000.nl Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 ... User unknown Last-Attempt-Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back outside Turkish borders. Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 07:59:55 -0700 From: Jon Corlett Organization: Communist Revolution To: "DHKC Information Bureau's" Appears the CIA drugs, etc. have got to Ocalan? ---------- jcorlett Worker REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ U$ To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line. Additional Information: Last Name Corlett First Name Jon Version 2.1 jcorlett Worker REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ U$ To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line. Additional Information: Last Name Corlett First Name Jon Version 2.1 ------- Subject: Re: [Fwd: subscribe] Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:13:06 +0200 From: "democrit" To: "Jon Corlett" References: 1 Its strange, I got this message but it was not for me. Neither did I send it to you!? Fraternally Alex ----- Original Message ----- From: Jon Corlett To: Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 3:40 PM Subject: [Fwd: subscribe] > I appear to be getting your emails? > > --------- --------------6E46830063DD0BF0FFFAB48F Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from starnet.starnet.fr ([194.51.207.8]) by mx10.mindspring.com (Mindspring Mail Service) with ESMTP id rqu3rj.eju.37kbi3u for ; Mon, 9 Aug 1999 13:27:15 -0400 (EDT) Received: from democrit ([194.149.182.15]) by starnet.starnet.fr (Post.Office MTA v3.5.3 release 223 ID# 0-56481U1000L100S0V35) with SMTP id fr for ; Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:28:30 +0200 Message-ID: <002601bee28c$52141820$0fb695c2 at starnet.fr> From: "democrit" To: "Jon Corlett" References: <37AEDA4F.16B2C02A at mindspring.com> Subject: Re: [Fwd: subscribe] Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:13:06 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2014.211 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 Its strange, I got this message but it was not for me. Neither did I send it to you!? Fraternally Alex ----- Original Message ----- From: Jon Corlett To: Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 3:40 PM Subject: [Fwd: subscribe] > I appear to be getting your emails? > > --------- --------------6E46830063DD0BF0FFFAB48F Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="jcorlett2.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Jon Corlett Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="jcorlett2.vcf" begin:vcard n:Corlett;Jon x-mozilla-html:FALSE url:http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ org:REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! !;http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ adr:;;;;;;U$ version:2.1 email;internet:jcorlett2 at mindspring.com title:Worker note;quoted-printable:To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line.=0D=0A fn:jcorlett end:vcard --------------6E46830063DD0BF0FFFAB48F-- From dipiazza at unipa.it Wed Aug 18 03:44:39 1999 From: dipiazza at unipa.it (dipiazza at unipa.it) Date: 18 Aug 1999 03:44:39 Subject: Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back outside References: Message-ID: At 18,42 9-08-1999, Jon Corlett wrote: > > Subject: > Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back >outside Turkish borders. > Date: > Mon, 09 Aug 1999 09:09:45 -0700 > From: > Jon Corlett > Organization: > Communist Revolution > To: > Ozgurluk > > > > > > Appears the CIA drugs, etc. have got to Ocalan? > > > >------------- > > > Subject: > Returned mail: User unknown > Date: > Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:34 -0400 (EDT) > From: > Mail Delivery Subsystem > To: > > > > >The original message was received at Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:32 -0400 (EDT) >from user-38ldgoo.dialup.mindspring.com [209.86.195.24] > > ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- > > > ----- Transcript of session follows ----- >... while talking to node12ed3.a2000.nl.: >>>> RCPT To: ><<< 550 ... User unknown >550 ... User unknown > > > > >Reporting-MTA: dns; smtp2.mindspring.com >Received-From-MTA: DNS; user-38ldgoo.dialup.mindspring.com >Arrival-Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:32 -0400 (EDT) > >Final-Recipient: RFC822; dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl >Action: failed >Status: 5.1.1 >Remote-MTA: DNS; node12ed3.a2000.nl >Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 ... User unknown >Last-Attempt-Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 11:01:34 -0400 (EDT) > > > Subject: > Abdullah Ocalan's call for Kurdish forces to be pulled back >outside Turkish borders. > Date: > Mon, 09 Aug 1999 07:59:55 -0700 > From: > Jon Corlett > Organization: > Communist Revolution > To: > "DHKC Information Bureau's" > > > > Appears the CIA drugs, etc. have got to Ocalan? > > >---------- > > > > jcorlett > Worker > REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! > http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ > > U$ > To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line. > > Additional Information: > Last Name > Corlett > First Name > Jon > Version > 2.1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > jcorlett > Worker > REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! > http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ > > U$ > To Subscribe or Unsubscribe enter same on reply Email Subject Line. > > Additional Information: > Last Name > Corlett > First Name > Jon > Version > 2.1 > > >------- > > >Subject: > Re: [Fwd: subscribe] > Date: > Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:13:06 +0200 > From: > "democrit" > To: > "Jon Corlett" > References: > 1 > > > > >Its strange, I got this message but it was not for me. Neither did I send it >to you!? >Fraternally >Alex >----- Original Message ----- >From: Jon Corlett >To: >Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 3:40 PM >Subject: [Fwd: subscribe] > > >> I appear to be getting your emails? >> >> --------- >Content-Type: message/rfc822 >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Content-Disposition: inline > >Return-Path: >Received: from starnet.starnet.fr ([194.51.207.8]) > by mx10.mindspring.com (Mindspring Mail Service) with ESMTP id >rqu3rj.eju.37kbi3u > for ; Mon, 9 Aug 1999 13:27:15 -0400 (EDT) >Received: from democrit ([194.149.182.15]) by starnet.starnet.fr > (Post.Office MTA v3.5.3 release 223 ID# 0-56481U1000L100S0V35) > with SMTP id fr for ; > Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:28:30 +0200 >Message-ID: <002601bee28c$52141820$0fb695c2 at starnet.fr> >From: "democrit" >To: "Jon Corlett" >References: <37AEDA4F.16B2C02A at mindspring.com> >Subject: Re: [Fwd: subscribe] >Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:13:06 +0200 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >X-Priority: 3 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211 >X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2014.211 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > >Its strange, I got this message but it was not for me. Neither did I send it >to you!? >Fraternally >Alex >----- Original Message ----- >From: Jon Corlett >To: >Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 3:40 PM >Subject: [Fwd: subscribe] > > >> I appear to be getting your emails? >> >> --------- > > >Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; > name="jcorlett2.vcf" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Content-Description: Card for Jon Corlett >Content-Disposition: attachment; > filename="jcorlett2.vcf" > >Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:jcorlett2.vcf 1 (TEXT/ttxt) (000129DE) From owc at igc.org Tue Aug 10 23:51:00 1999 From: owc at igc.org (owc at igc.org) Date: 10 Aug 1999 23:51:00 Subject: MEXICAN WORKERS MOBILIZE; OPEN LETTER TO WTO Message-ID: --============_-1277779318==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable [Please circulate widely. We have transferred all our lists to a new program, so you may receive a message more than once until we work out the bugs. Please excuse these duplicate postings. If you wish to be removed from this OWC list, please let us know.] IN THIS MESSAGE: 1) Mexican Workers Mobilize Against Privatization: Support the Cananea Northeast Convention 2) Please add your name to the Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO Summit _____ Open World Conference of Workers in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St.#203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: 415- 641-8616 =46ax: 415-440-9297 Email: owc at igc.org) _____ Mexican Workers Mobilize Against Privatization: Support the Cananea Northeast Convention August 10, 1999 Dear Supporters of Labor Rights in Mexico, We are writing to ask your support for an important event in Northern Mexico hosted by the fighting Mineworkers of Cananea (Sonora) -- the Northeast Convention in Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against Privatizations, for National Sovereignty. It will be held this coming weekend, August 14-15, in Cananea. As you know from receiving our updates, the Cananea mineworkers were forced back to work under the terms demanded by the employer: the Grupo M=E9xico. Despite the significant support for their strike, for which they were extremely grateful, they were unable to beat back the company's anti- union offensive. When faced with government tanks, they felt they had no choice but to lift the strike. But they have not given up the struggle. Far from it. They have understood the need to link up with the other sectors of the workers' movement in Mexico that are fighting the same privatization and union-busting onslaught - particularly the embattled electrical workers. They are confident that by building a united fightback movement across Mexico, they will prevail. This is why they have decided to host this Northeast Convention, which is one of several regional conferences going on throughout Mexico to forge a united movement against privatization and in defense of labor rights. It continues a process begun in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, on June 27 and 28, when over 1000 Mexican trade union leaders and activists responded to a call issued by leaders of the electrical workers trade unions struggling against the privatization of the nationalized electric power industry. The discussions which will take place in Cananea include: * Preparations for a national mass mobilization of workers, students and peasants, August 28 in Mexico City, to oppose the presidential initiative to rewrite the Mexican Constitution which now codifies many social gains of the Mexican Revolution. These changes would enable the government to privatize the electrical and other sectors as well as to decentralize the public education system and, inevitably, to privatize it. * Solidarity with the workers, peasant and youth movements with particular emphasis on defense of the Cananea miners, Han Young workers and striking students at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) * Participation in the Open World Conference of Workers in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which will take place in San Francisco, February 11-14, 2000. The June 27-28 conference in Chiapas which initiated this process of regional conferences, was considered by those who attended to be "an unprecedented act of historical significance." It brought together leaders of sections of the SUTERM (electric power industry workers) of the southeast, north and center, the SME (representing electric power workers in Mexico City and the greater region), the CNTE (representing school and university teachers and workers), CHG (student strike committee), and many organizations representing peasants and other workers. [If you wish to receive the official conference report on the Chiapas Workers' Convention, please let us know.] The massive fightback undertaken by the Mexican workers and peasants is considered by them to be part and parcel of an international struggle. As the appeal for the Northeast Convention notes: "To struggle against the privatization of the electrical industry, it is necessary to bring all workers together in solidarity, first those of the countries participating in NAFTA and then those from all the Americas and the world." That is why they consider the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC) a significant step in a united struggle against privatization. [See Call for the National Convention below.] We hope you can contribute today to enable us to send a delegate to this important conference. All funds raised beyond the $200 cost of airfare will be given to the Cananea copper miners, who have been struggling against mass layoffs and for recognition of the terms of their collective-bargaining contract. We also call upon you to send us a brief message of solidarity, which we can take to this Northeast Convention. Please send your contribution to OWC c/o San =46rancisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin Street #203, San Francisco CA 94109. Make checks payable to WHC (Western Hemisphere Conference Continuations Committee). Send your greeting to owc at igc.org. We also sent you as a separate message an Appeal to the heads of state attending the WTO Summit in Seattle. It calls on them to ratify, implement and fully enforce the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). We hope you will add your names to this important appeal. See coupon below. Our activity, united across borders, is an imperative for the success of our common struggle. In solidarity, Mya Shone, Ed Rosario co-coordinators OWC ***** ATTACHMENT 1 APPEAL FOR A: Northwestern Convention in Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against the Privatizations (Health, Education, Farms, Electricity, Petroleum, Cultural Patrimony), and For National Sovereignty To Be Convened August 14-15, 1999, in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico Municipal High School, 10 a.m. WHEREFORE: 1. The peoples, nations, and workers in all the world live under the constant threat of the policy called "globalization" - applied equally in the advanced countries as in the backward ones - with its objective of destroying rights and the pillars of national sovereignty. 2. This policy imposes the authority of international organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank, by means of "free trade" agreements" for the benefit of only 200 multinational corporations. In this same regard, the policy of privatizing the electrical industry stems from the dictates of NAFTA, signed by the governments of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. 3. Nevertheless, this policy is confronted by the resistance of the workers and the peoples, who struggle to conserve their rights and their national labor codes, their education and social security that benefits the workers and their families. To fight against the privatization of the electrical industry, it is necessary to appeal to workers' solidarity, first in the countries of NAFTA and then beyond to all the Americas and the world in general. The Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Unions and Democratic Rights (OWC) will be an important moment at which to raise the necessity of this united fight against privatizations. The Conference will take place in San Francisco, in the United States, in February 2000, convened by the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), the International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC), and others. 4. In Mexico, the federal government - under the direction of the transnational companies and the institutions in their service (the IMF, World Bank, and agreements like NAFTA and the WTO) submits the nation to an accelerated destruction through the policy of privatizations and profound anti- democractic measures - directed against peace and sovereignty - which prevail against the will of the workers, youth, and the general population. 5. Within the framework of NAFTA, the government sent to the IMF a "Letter of Intent" and signed agreements with the governments of Canada and the United States and with the World Bank. The government is asking for $24 billion for electoral purposes and to use in containing a new crisis of the Mexican economy, and in exchange is committed to deepening "trade liberalization" - that is, to subject the nation and the workers to harmful new international treaties. The government is also committed "to continuing with the process of structural reforms" with respect to the banking system, social security, and, in particular, the electrical system, and to "take important steps to augment labor productivity, to break up public companies, and to increase private-sector participation in those sectors previously reserved for the state." It is in this context that the government is go forward with a tremendously grave initiative directed against the Mexican people: the presidential initiative to reform Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution, which would give him free rein to privatize the electrical industry and then petroleum, as well as hand over to foreigners the rivers and the canals, the reservoirs, the land, the facilities, and so on. 6. Putting this initiative into practice would cause the destruction of one of the fundamental pillars of Mexican national sovereignty and would aggravate the results of the privatization policy -- which has already cost thousands of jobs (in the Cananea mines, in SUTAUR-100, in the banks, etc.) - affecting every workers' household in the country and the conquests of the unionized workers in the two national electric companies. Since the new bosses will be able to do what they want with jobs and benefits, in essence there would be no legal value to the contracts currently signed by the SUTERM union and the government. 7. There is a rise in working-class resistance in the country to the privatization measures and structural adjustments, as demonstrated by the mobilization called by the Mexian Union of Electricians (SME) and the march by SUTERM, on May 22 in Mexico City, as well as the miners' strike in Cananea, the mobilization of workers at Han Young in Tijuana, and finally, the struggles of the teachers of the CNTE and the strike movement at the UNAM. 8. Within the framework of this resistance, the Southeastern Conference was held on June 26 and 27 in Tuxtla Guti=E9rrez, Chiapas. Present were SUTERM delegations from the country's north, the south, and central regions, as well as from the SME - which is of historic significance, and without precedent. There were also representatives of the CNTE, the CGH of the UNAM, unions and organizations of farmers, Cananea miners, and others. The Conference adopted a resolution to promote a MARCH TO MEXICO CITY on August 28. This national march on the capital is the first attempt to forge unity among all the nation's workers, as the only way to halt the policies of national destruction and destruction of labor rights. At the same time, the Chiapas Conference proposed to the organizations of the north to convene a Northwestern Conference with the same goals. As before: We call on all the organizations who agree to fight to halt the initiative aimed at modifying Articles 27 and 28 and to promote the March on Mexico City on August 28 to build: The Northwestern Conference In Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against Privatizations, and for National Sovereignty August 14-15, 1999, in Cananea, Sonora Agenda: 1. Preparation of the march on Mexico City called by the Southeastern Conference, with these slogans: Halt the presidential initiative to modify Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution! No to privatizations! Defend national sovereignty! 2. Solidarity between American workers and the world. The San Francisco Conference in the year 2000. (Each organization will decide whether it will attend this Conference) 3. Solidarity with the labor movement, farmers, and the youth (Han Young, Cananea miners, the 5% demand, UNAM students, etc.). (On the first day of the Conference's work, after the opening session, there will be a meeting in solidarity with the Cananea miners.) [Follows list of trade unions, union locals, union leaders, union rank-and-filers, and members of social organizations in Northeast Mexico. Please contact us if you wish to receive full list of endorsers.] ***** August 10, 1999 Dear Supporters of Labor Rights: Last week we sent you an email version of the Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO Summit in Seattle next November. The Open Letter calls on them to ratify, implement and fully enforce the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). These ILO Conventions represent a tremendous gain for the workers' movement. They have set the standard for labor rights worldwide. The binding constraints for national labor legislation in the ILO ratification procedure, in particular, make them both a reference point and a rallying point for the independent trade union movement in every country. This Open Letter was prepared by the Organizing Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which will be held in San Francisco in February of 2000 with the participation of trade unionists and activists from 86 countries. [If you did not receive a copy of this letter, or if you would like more background information about the ILO Conventions Campaign or about the Open World Conference, please let us know.] In just a few days we have received scores of endorsers from around the world. Our goal is to gather hundreds of signatures of U.S. and international trade unionists and activists by the end of this week - that is, August 12 - so that we can mass produce the Open Letter for wider distribution. We urge you to please add your name today so that you can be among our first list of endorsers. Even if you cannot send in your endorsement by Aug. 12, please don't hesitate to send it in to us as soon as you are able. Your name (and hopefully that of your union or organization) will be included in our second list of endorsers. In Solidarity, OWC Organizing Committee ********** 2) ENDORSEMENT FORM FOR OPEN LETTER TO HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING WTO SUMMIT - PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES OF THE OPEN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING THE WTO SUMMIT DEMANDING RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ILO CONVENTIONS NAME TITLE (for id. only) UNION/ORG ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP EMAIL Return to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL- CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, Email: either hit reply or send to ***** OWC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Jack Henning, Secretary-Treasurer-Emeritus, California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, San =46rancisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC-AFL-CIO); Mya Shone, Co- Coordinator OWC and member OPEIU Local 3; Ed Rosario, Co-Coordinator OWC, Coordinator WHC and President, San Francisco LCLAA; Daniel Gluckstein, Coordinator, International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC); Patrick H=E9bert, General Secretary, CGT-Force Ouvri=E8re Labor Federation (Loire- Atlantique/France); Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer, OPEIU Local 3 (AFL-CIO); =46rank Martin del Campo, National Executive Committee, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); Alan Benjamin, Assistant Coordinator WHC, member OPEIU Local 3 and SF LCLAA) --============_-1277779318==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable New_York[Please circulate widely. We have transferred all=20 our lists to a new program, so you may receive a message more than once until we work out the bugs. Please excuse these duplicate postings. If you wish to be removed from this OWC list, please let us know.] IN THIS MESSAGE: 1) Mexican Workers Mobilize Against Privatization: Support the Cananea Northeast Convention 2) Please add your name to the Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO Summit _____ Open World Conference of Workers in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St.#203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: 415- 641-8616 =46ax: 415-440-9297 Email: owc at igc.org) _____ Mexican Workers Mobilize Against Privatization: Support the Cananea Northeast Convention August 10, 1999 Dear Supporters of Labor Rights in Mexico, We are writing to ask your support for an important event in Northern Mexico hosted by the fighting Mineworkers of Cananea (Sonora) -- the Northeast Convention in Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against Privatizations, for National Sovereignty. It will be held this coming weekend, August 14-15, in Cananea. As you know from receiving our updates, the Cananea mineworkers were forced back to work under the terms demanded by the employer: the Grupo M=E9xico. Despite the significant support for their strike, for which they were extremely grateful, they were unable to beat back the company's anti- union offensive. When faced with government tanks, they felt they had no choice but to lift the strike. But they have not given up the struggle. Far from it. They have understood the need to link up with the other sectors of the workers' movement in Mexico that are fighting the same privatization and union-busting onslaught - particularly the embattled electrical workers. They are confident that by building a united fightback movement across Mexico, they will prevail. This is why they have decided to host this Northeast Convention, which is one of several regional conferences going on throughout Mexico to forge a united movement against privatization and in defense of labor rights. It continues a process begun in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, on June 27 and 28, when over 1000 Mexican trade union leaders and activists responded to a call issued by leaders of the electrical workers trade unions struggling against the privatization of the nationalized electric power industry. The discussions which will take place in Cananea include: * Preparations for a national mass mobilization of workers, students and peasants, August 28 in Mexico City, to oppose the presidential initiative to rewrite the Mexican Constitution which now codifies many social gains of the Mexican Revolution. These changes would enable the government to privatize the electrical and other sectors as well as to decentralize the public education system and, inevitably, to privatize it. * Solidarity with the workers, peasant and youth movements with particular emphasis on defense of the Cananea miners, Han Young workers and striking students at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) * Participation in the Open World Conference of Workers in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which will take place in San Francisco, February 11-14, 2000. The June 27-28 conference in Chiapas which initiated this process of regional conferences, was considered by those who attended to be "an unprecedented act of historical significance." It brought together leaders of sections of the SUTERM (electric power industry workers) of the southeast, north and center, the SME (representing electric power workers in Mexico City and the greater region), the CNTE (representing school and university teachers and workers), CHG (student strike committee), and many organizations representing peasants and other workers. [If you wish to receive the official conference report on the Chiapas Workers' Convention, please let us know.] The massive fightback undertaken by the Mexican workers and peasants is considered by them to be part and parcel of an international struggle. As the appeal for the Northeast Convention notes: "To struggle against the privatization of the electrical industry, it is necessary to bring all workers together in solidarity, first those of the countries participating in NAFTA and then those from all the Americas and the world." That is why they consider the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC) a significant step in a united struggle against privatization. [See Call for the National Convention below.] We hope you can contribute today to enable us to send a delegate to this important conference. All funds raised beyond the $200 cost of airfare will be given to the Cananea copper miners, who have been struggling against mass layoffs and for recognition of the terms of their collective-bargaining contract. We also call upon you to send us a brief message of solidarity, which we can take to this Northeast Convention. Please send your contribution to OWC c/o San =46rancisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin Street #203, San Francisco CA 94109. Make checks payable to WHC (Western Hemisphere Conference Continuations Committee). Send your greeting to owc at igc.org. We also sent you as a separate message an Appeal to the heads of state attending the WTO Summit in Seattle. It calls on them to ratify, implement and fully enforce the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). We hope you will add your names to this important appeal. See coupon below. Our activity, united across borders, is an imperative for the success of our common struggle. In solidarity, Mya Shone, Ed Rosario co-coordinators OWC ***** ATTACHMENT 1 APPEAL FOR A: Northwestern Convention in Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against the Privatizations (Health, Education, Farms, Electricity, Petroleum, Cultural Patrimony), and For National Sovereignty To Be Convened August 14-15, 1999, in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico Municipal High School, 10 a.m. WHEREFORE: 1. The peoples, nations, and workers in all the world live under the constant threat of the policy called "globalization" - applied equally in the advanced countries as in the backward ones - with its objective of destroying rights and the pillars of national sovereignty. 2. This policy imposes the authority of international organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank, by means of "free trade" agreements" for the benefit of only 200 multinational corporations. In this same regard, the policy of privatizing the electrical industry stems from the dictates of NAFTA, signed by the governments of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. 3. Nevertheless, this policy is confronted by the resistance of the workers and the peoples, who struggle to conserve their rights and their national labor codes, their education and social security that benefits the workers and their families. To fight against the privatization of the electrical industry, it is necessary to appeal to workers' solidarity, first in the countries of NAFTA and then beyond to all the Americas and the world in general. The Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Unions and Democratic Rights (OWC) will be an important moment at which to raise the necessity of this united fight against privatizations. The Conference will take place in San Francisco, in the United States, in February 2000, convened by the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), the International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC), and others. 4. In Mexico, the federal government - under the direction of the transnational companies and the institutions in their service (the IMF, World Bank, and agreements like NAFTA and the WTO) submits the nation to an accelerated destruction through the policy of privatizations and profound anti- democractic measures - directed against peace and sovereignty - which prevail against the will of the workers, youth, and the general population. 5. Within the framework of NAFTA, the government sent to the IMF a "Letter of Intent" and signed agreements with the governments of Canada and the United States and with the World Bank. The government is asking for $24 billion for electoral purposes and to use in containing a new crisis of the Mexican economy, and in exchange is committed to deepening "trade liberalization" - that is, to subject the nation and the workers to harmful new international treaties. The government is also committed "to continuing with the process of structural reforms" with respect to the banking system, social security, and, in particular, the electrical system, and to "take important steps to augment labor productivity, to break up public companies, and to increase private-sector participation in those sectors previously reserved for the state." It is in this context that the government is go forward with a tremendously grave initiative directed against the Mexican people: the presidential initiative to reform Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution, which would give him free rein to privatize the electrical industry and then petroleum, as well as hand over to foreigners the rivers and the canals, the reservoirs, the land, the facilities, and so on. 6. Putting this initiative into practice would cause the destruction of one of the fundamental pillars of Mexican national sovereignty and would aggravate the results of the privatization policy -- which has already cost thousands of jobs (in the Cananea mines, in SUTAUR-100, in the banks, etc.) - affecting every workers' household in the country and the conquests of the unionized workers in the two national electric companies. Since the new bosses will be able to do what they want with jobs and benefits, in essence there would be no legal value to the contracts currently signed by the SUTERM union and the government. 7. There is a rise in working-class resistance in the country to the privatization measures and structural adjustments, as demonstrated by the mobilization called by the Mexian Union of Electricians (SME) and the march by SUTERM, on May 22 in Mexico City, as well as the miners' strike in Cananea, the mobilization of workers at Han Young in Tijuana, and finally, the struggles of the teachers of the CNTE and the strike movement at the UNAM. 8. Within the framework of this resistance, the Southeastern Conference was held on June 26 and 27 in Tuxtla Guti=E9rrez, Chiapas. Present were SUTERM delegations from the country's north, the south, and central regions, as well as from the SME - which is of historic significance, and without precedent. There were also representatives of the CNTE, the CGH of the UNAM, unions and organizations of farmers, Cananea miners, and others. The Conference adopted a resolution to promote a MARCH TO MEXICO CITY on August 28. This national march on the capital is the first attempt to forge unity among all the nation's workers, as the only way to halt the policies of national destruction and destruction of labor rights. At the same time, the Chiapas Conference proposed to the organizations of the north to convene a Northwestern Conference with the same goals. As before: We call on all the organizations who agree to fight to halt the initiative aimed at modifying Articles 27 and 28 and to promote the March on Mexico City on August 28 to build: The Northwestern Conference In Defense of the Electrical Industry, Against Privatizations, and for National Sovereignty August 14-15, 1999, in Cananea, Sonora Agenda: 1. Preparation of the march on Mexico City called by the Southeastern Conference, with these slogans: Halt the presidential initiative to modify Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution! No to privatizations! Defend national sovereignty! 2. Solidarity between American workers and the world. The San Francisco Conference in the year 2000. (Each organization will decide whether it will attend this Conference) 3. Solidarity with the labor movement, farmers, and the youth (Han Young, Cananea miners, the 5% demand, UNAM students, etc.). (On the first day of the Conference's work, after the opening session, there will be a meeting in solidarity with the Cananea miners.) [Follows list of trade unions, union locals, union leaders, union rank-and-filers, and members of social organizations in Northeast Mexico.=20 Please contact us if you wish to receive full list of endorsers.] ***** August 10, 1999 Dear Supporters of Labor Rights: Last week we sent you an email version of the Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO Summit in Seattle next November. The Open Letter calls on them to ratify, implement and fully enforce the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). These ILO Conventions represent a tremendous gain for the workers' movement. They have set the standard for labor rights worldwide. The binding constraints for national labor legislation in the ILO ratification procedure, in particular, make them both a reference point and a rallying point for the independent trade union movement in every country. This Open Letter was prepared by the Organizing Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which will be held in San Francisco in February of 2000 with the participation of trade unionists and activists from 86 countries. [If you did not receive a copy of this letter, or if you would like more background information about the ILO Conventions Campaign or about the Open World Conference, please let us know.] In just a few days we have received scores of endorsers from around the world. Our goal is to gather hundreds of signatures of U.S. and international trade unionists and activists by the end of this week - that is, August 12 - so that we can mass produce=20 the Open Letter for wider distribution. We urge you to please add your name today so that you can be among our first list of endorsers. Even if you cannot send in your endorsement by Aug. 12, please don't hesitate to send it in to us as soon as you are able. Your name (and hopefully that of your union or organization) will be included in our second list of endorsers. In Solidarity, OWC Organizing Committee ********** 2) ENDORSEMENT FORM FOR OPEN LETTER TO HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING WTO SUMMIT - PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES OF THE OPEN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING THE WTO SUMMIT DEMANDING RATIFICATION,=20 IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ILO CONVENTIONS NAME TITLE (for id. only) UNION/ORG ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP EMAIL Return to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL- CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, Email: either hit reply or send to < ***** OWC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Jack Henning, Secretary-Treasurer-Emeritus, California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, San =46rancisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC-AFL-CIO); Mya Shone, Co- Coordinator OWC and member OPEIU Local 3; Ed Rosario, Co-Coordinator OWC, Coordinator WHC and President, San Francisco LCLAA; Daniel Gluckstein, Coordinator, International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC); Patrick H=E9bert, General Secretary, CGT-Force Ouvri=E8re Labor Federation (Loire- Atlantique/France); Nancy Wohlforth, Secretary-Treasurer, OPEIU Local 3 (AFL-CIO); =46rank Martin del Campo, National Executive Committee, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); Alan Benjamin, Assistant Coordinator WHC, member OPEIU Local 3 and SF LCLAA) =20 --============_-1277779318==_ma============-- From dhkc at dircon.co.uk Thu Aug 19 12:07:44 1999 From: dhkc at dircon.co.uk (dhkc at dircon.co.uk) Date: 19 Aug 1999 12:07:44 Subject: Turkish Earthquake Appeal Message-ID: TURKISH EARTHQUAKE APPEAL Let us heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our own hands! Our hunger strewn people living in poverty has now been hit by a violent earthquake. Thousands have been wounded or lost their lives. Our country has witnessed hundreds of earthquakes, floods, landslides before. These are of course natural disasters. However the suffering, the deaths, the injuries, the hunger and homelessness these events bring are not natural phenomenon or destiny. The totally inadequate relief work taking place after the quake such as the removal work, looking for survivors, emergency hospital services etc. have again shown that the toiling masses have only themselves to rely on. Today is the day of solidarity with the disaster victims. It is time, once again, to heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our own hands. We, as The Solidarity Committee with the Earthquake Victims, organised by the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London, appeal to everyone and other organizations to make donations to relieve the suffering of the victims of the earthquake. Account Name: Earthquake Relief Fund for Turkey Bank: Barclays Bank Account No. 70989169 Sort Code: 20-46-57 Solidarity Committee with the Turkish Earthquake Victims (Organised by the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London) From tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Fri Aug 20 00:30:47 1999 From: tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (tabe at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 20 Aug 1999 00:30:47 Subject: Turkish Earthquake Appeal] Message-ID: TURKISH EARTHQUAKE APPEAL Let us heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our own hands! Our hunger strewn people living in poverty has now been hit by a violent earthquake. Thousands have been wounded or lost their lives. Our country has witnessed hundreds of earthquakes, floods, landslides before. These are of course natural disasters. However the suffering, the deaths, the injuries, the hunger and homelessness these events bring are not natural phenomenon or destiny. The totally inadequate relief work taking place after the quake such as the removal work, looking for survivors, emergency hospital services etc. have again shown that the toiling masses have only themselves to rely on. Today is the day of solidarity with the disaster victims. It is time, once again, to heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our own hands. We, as The Solidarity Committee with the Earthquake Victims, organised by the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London, appeal to everyone and other organizations to make donations to relieve the suffering of the victims of the earthquake. Account Name: Earthquake Relief Fund for Turkey Bank: Barclays Bank Account No. 70989169 Sort Code: 20-46-57 Solidarity Committee with the Turkish Earthquake Victims (Organised by the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London) ----- End forwarded message ----- From alkoyuncu at superonline.com Fri Aug 20 04:47:29 1999 From: alkoyuncu at superonline.com (alkoyuncu at superonline.com) Date: 20 Aug 1999 04:47:29 Subject: Turkish Earthquake Appeal] References: Message-ID: Simdi devrimcicilik oynamayi bir yana birakin... Gazetelerde yazi yazmak cok kolay. Sizlerin gercek yuzunuzu gecen seneki Adana depreminde gorduk. Hicbiriniz rahat koltuklarinizi birakip yardimci olmadiniz. Eger gercekten yardimci olmak istiyorsaniz, AKUT'un telefonlari ve diger kontak telefonlari asagidadir. Ihtiyaclar da asagida belirtilmistir. Yardim edecek arkadaslarin salgin hastaliga karsi 6 degisik asi olmalari gerekiyor. 1. Dicle Kogacioglu +90 532 654 6540 ve de +90 532 346 81 55 2. AKUT +90 (212) 252 46 44 3. Ihtiyac maddeleri Tankerle Su Toz Tutucu Maske, Temizlik maddesi, Tuvalet kagidi, Toz penisilin, Yanmis kirec tozu, Eldiven, Ceset Torbalar?na >TURKISH EARTHQUAKE APPEAL > >Let us heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our own hands! >Our hunger strewn people living in poverty has now been hit by a violent >earthquake. Thousands have been wounded or lost their lives. >Our country has witnessed hundreds of earthquakes, floods, landslides >before. These are of course natural disasters. However the suffering, the >deaths, the injuries, the hunger and homelessness these events bring are >not natural phenomenon or destiny. >The totally inadequate relief work taking place after the quake such as the >removal work, looking for survivors, emergency hospital services etc. have >again shown that the toiling masses have only themselves to rely on. Today >is the day of solidarity with the disaster victims. >It is time, once again, to heal our wounds and quench our sorrow with our >own hands. >We, as The Solidarity Committee with the Earthquake Victims, organised by >the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London, appeal to everyone and >other organizations to make donations to relieve the suffering of the >victims of the earthquake. > > >Account Name: Earthquake Relief Fund for Turkey >Bank: Barclays >Bank Account No. 70989169 >Sort Code: 20-46-57 > > >Solidarity Committee with the Turkish Earthquake Victims >(Organised by the Democratic Organisations from Turkey in London) > > > > >----- End forwarded message ----- > Ali KOYUNCU Elektrik-Elektronik Y?ksek M?hendisi SuperOnline E-Commerce Specialist Tel. +902122700890 (Ext. 3208) Fax +902122702231 GSM +905322678980 From echap at eng.gla.ac.uk Sat Aug 21 07:06:43 1999 From: echap at eng.gla.ac.uk (echap at eng.gla.ac.uk) Date: 21 Aug 1999 07:06:43 Subject: News of workers struggles in Iran Message-ID: NEWS BULETTIN WORKERS Protest in Iran Volume 1, Issue 2 http:\\www.etehadchap.com\worker Aug 1999 Victims of accidents at work In Iran 10,000 workers die every year as a result of accidents at work. It is difficult to imagine that in a country with 65 million inhabitants, every year 10,000 workers loose their lives in accidents at work and in total there are 150,000 incidents in the workplace leading to complete or partial loss of limb. However officials of the Islamic Republic admit that these are accurate statistics. Alireza Mahjoub, the director of 'House of Labour' a government workers organisation and member of the Islamic parliament gave these statistics in Rasht on the 18th of April 99 adding that these figures do not include incidents that have not resulted in death or loss of limb. In other words these figures do not include death or illness caused by pollution in the work place. According to Dr Ghazanfar Forouzanfar another government official , over 30 % of carpet weavers in Khorassan and Birjand ( in Western provinces) suffer from brittle bones, pulmonary illnesses and eye problems caused by their work. Given that most carpet workshops in Iran are in small humid underground rooms, one can imagine working conditions in this industry. However the most worrying statistics, concerns the 10,000 deaths last year; of these only the families of only 10 i.e. one in a hundred ,have succeeded in getting any damages , and in the cases of injuries the proportion is the same , incapacity benefit has been given to less than one in hundred. If anything these figures, given by officials of the Islamic regime, underestimate the extent of such accidents. One of the officials of the ministry of Social services recently told the paper Hamshahri that in the first six months of last year , 5952 workers insured by this organisation suffered from accidents at work, 2900 were careless . Of this total 52 died as a result of the accident and 170 resulted in severe injuries. In other words 5% of those covered by insurance, got any payment. As we wrote in the first issue of this bulletin, In Iran a small percentage of workers benefit from labour legislation and new legislation proposed to the parliament about 3 months ago , exempts workshops of 3 employees or less from labour legislation and therefore any insurance against accidents at work. However , although the number of accidents at work is very high, the issue is not simply the use of legal means to secure the safety of the workforce. In other words , even if the necessary insurance cover existed, the main issue remains conditions that lead to these cruel deaths or loss limbs. According to the newspaper Salam, in its 7th Jan 99 issue , for thousands and thousands of small and large workshops in Tehran , there are only 20 safety inspectors. Given the existing bureaucracy and widespread corruption, it is safe to assume that there is almost no systematic control and inspection of safety at work in Iran. In addition the privatisation of many factories, workshops has worsened the situation at a time when bankruptcy and depression is dominant. For example, the death of 30 miners in Sangrood Boushan ( a mine in northern Iran ) as a result of gas explosion was caused by the sale of safety equipment , including equipment for releasing gas trapped in the mine, by unscrupulous private owners who sold the safety equipment for profits. The paper Slam adds in this issue that every year millions of tomans are spent on treatment of workers who have become ill as a result of their job or in accidents, while 1/5 of these costs will suffice to avoid the conditions prompting accident or illness caused by work. About the campaign The campaign in Solidarity with Iranian workers has been set up to provide regular information about the struggles of Iranian workers to save jobs, for better salaries, for the right to establish independent organisations. We believe that workers demonstration on 1st of May 1999 protests by Iranian workers against changes to the labour law have created new conditions in Iran. We aim to bring news of these events and seek support from International organisations, trade unions and workers organisations throughout the world. Protest march -demonstration by workers in Farsa Company On the third of July , 200 workers from the construction materials plant Farsa in Savjebalagh , stopped work in protest at lack of payment of salaries and bonuses for over six months and walked 12 kilometres between the plant and Savjehbalagh. The workers then staged protests in front of the offices of the local governor as this plant comes under the authority of the state owned bank of industry and mining. The authorities of this bank had started rumours regarding the redundancy of most of the workforce and created more uncertainty. Workers protested at these conditions. News of Workers protests Protests by workers in Azadan Shoe Workers in Azadan shoe factory , in Shahr Alborz industrial estate near Ghazvin, sent a letter of protest to state authorities, complaining about lack of payment of salaries and bonuses. These workers have received no payment since January 1999. The company was originally state owned, under a government organisation called Imam's support committee. Like many such plants it was privatised in 1997, the ownership has changed hands a number of times and the company is facing serious financial problems. Sit in by Naghshiran workers- On the 19th of June, workers in the Naghshiran machine made carpet manufacturers, in Shahr Alborz , who have received no salaries or bonuses for the last 3 months, staged a sit in front of this plant a, stopping traffic for a few hours on this busy road. This plant is part of a state owned foundation, called the 15th Khoradad foundation , and it is rumoured that the foundation intends to sack half of the workers. Although workers representatives have expressed their protest a number of times to local authorities, there are no signs that their demands will be met. The security forces were deployed to break the sit-in. Strike by Hospital workers in Abhar Hospital: Tens of ancillary workers in Abhar hospital stopped work for two hours on the morning of 22 June 1999, and demonstrated outside the hospital protesting that their salaries haven't been paid for over 3 months. A few days before this strike, when Dr Mehdi, deputy minister of health visited the hospital, he told workers: " the problems regarding transfer of ancillary and support work to the private sector have not been resolved. When one of the workers asked if the length of time taken for these negotiations isn't the fault of ministry, he responded: if you didn't want to, you (the workers) shouldn't have worked! `In recent years many ministries, government offices, hospitals and state owned factories and plants have contracted out their support services to the private sector. The workers who are employed by this sector usually get 3 months contracts and are therefore constantly facing redundancies and are deprived of the most rights. Workers in Abhar hospital say that over the last few years, in 1996, 97, 98 they have gone to the regional offices of health authorities complaining that they have not received any salaries, without getting any answers. Their last protest was in May 99, when many workers went on strike. Protest by office workers in Khalkhal schools: Office workers in Khalkhal schools have been doing the work of two people for the last few years. However they do not receive any payment for overtime work. A group of such workers wrote a letter to the press in late June, and went to the local education office to complain about lack of overtime pay. They also demanded that the number of employees in this section should be added so that all the work can be done. The education office told the workers that because of a budget deficit they couldn't pay the workers for overtime work or employ more workers. Protest by workers in Aryan Carpet 150 workers from Aryan carpet factory in Abhar, signed a petition to complain that they have not received any payment for New Year bonuses for last year. The owner of this plant reduced the annual bonuses of the workers by 20% claiming it was for tax purposes. The workers are demanding an investigation into this claim. Strike by municipality workers in Abadan: Workers of Abadan municipality have gone on strike, protesting at lack of payment of salaries. The workers then staged a demonstration in front of the local governor's offices to express their anger and dispersed after the authorities promised to follow up their demands. Protest by Saf industrial workers In Saveh, workers from Saf industries sent a letters of protest regarding lack of payment of their salaries to the press and media. In this letter the workers wrote: In this New Year (since March 99) we haven't received any wages. The workers pointed out that most of them rent their homes and have to pay monthly rent , but the owner keeps giving them vague promises and they face eviction from their homes. Protests by expelled workers: Some of the workers in Khomeini hospital in Oroumiyeh, wrote a letter to the press on the 12th of July complaining that they face destitution as they do not have any employment insurance and don't receive any unemployment benefit. These workers wrote: " some of us have worked for 20 years in this hospital how can we accept that after all this time, we are made redundant with one letter , with no pay ... when we worked we paid regularly to a social security fund so that we could use this fund in an emergency, however those responsible for the fund have informed all workers that there will be no payment. Sit in by workers in Wool factory in Isfahan: On Monday 19th July 99 , workers in wool industries in Isfahan , staged a sit in front of the regional Labour office, protesting that the construction of a new site for this factory, outside Isfahan had been stopped. The workers complained that they have been unemployed for a month and now it is not clear if the site designated for this plant has a license for food manufacturing or will continue as a wool plant , if the construction is ever finished. Non payment of salaries in Khouzestan factories : Most factories in Khouzestan province have not paid any salaries to their workforce for 3 to 5 months, these include tube manufacturers of Khouzestan, Koushan factory , agricultural plant, Pars hospital and a metal plant which has been closed down. Expulsion of 269 workers in Mahabad after years of working for Ghods road Construction Company in Mahabad, 269 workers were made redundant in early July , as this company was dissolved. This company was set up in early eighties to help construct roads in the unreachable section of Azarbaijan province. The responsibility for such companies has moved to another government office and as a result of the closure of this section , the workers have lost their jobs and their families face destitution. None of these workers were contract workers, they had permanent jobs and qualify for social security benefits , however they have been denied any payment. Explosion in Ahvaz Oil Line: on the 22nd of May 99 an explosion rocked the oil line in Ahvaz, injuring 70 workers, 30 of whom were in a serious condition caused by severe burns. This explosion is not exceptional in Iran. every day tens of workers loose their life because of lack of safety and even according to government statistics, every year 10,000 of workers loose their life because of lack of safety at work. An accident a day in Ghom: According to a report in the paper Kar va kargar( work and worker) 7th July 99 published in Tehran, workers in Ghom's industrial plant say that due to lack of safety equipment , accidents resulting from work in these units is endangering their physical and mental health. The workers say that employers ignore their demands for improving working conditions . this complaint is at a time when the officials of the office of labour admit that there is at least one accident a day in the workplace in Ghom. Many productions in Ghom deal with stone works, carpentry , ...which can be particularly dangerous. One stone worker said : noise pollution is a minor problem , many other factors endanger our lives. Workers in the textile factories in Ghom complain about noise pollution. According to one worker in the blanket manufacturing company the old and non-standard equipment in this plant makes noise well above accepted levels, deafening the workers and causing mental illness. Mostafa Kaviani , who is in charge of the health and safety admits that the situation in many plants is deplorable and 300 accidents in one year , some causing loss of limb have created an intolerable situation. Another industrial expert told the same paper that the age of machinery, their non-standard use endangers the lives of the workers. Tehran : two weeks after the students protest in July, it was announced that 2 people who died as a result of injuries caused by the security forces were workers. Behrouz FrajZadeh was a 53-year sold worker who had been injured in the demonstrations in Laleh Zar Ave. The other was a worker called Mahmoud Khabazan who died from his injuries in hospital. Iranian year 1377 , workers struggles go beyond the factory >From the 181 protests and strikes by workers in 1377 ( March 1998 - March 1999) there are 63 cases of demonstrations and protests outside the factory , in front of local governor's offices, ministries and other government offices in various cities and provinces as well 46 cases of of workers strikes. Inevitably the 181 cases we know about are only a fraction of workers protests during this period and only cover major protests covered by the press and the media. On the basis of these figures last year was the year when workers decided that strikes, even occupation of the factory has little effect and took their protest against unbearable living conditions to the streets . The main reason behind most of these protests was the lack of payment of salaries by state owned, semi private and private firms and were directed at government officials or state organisations . This in conditions when even if the salaries were paid and increased 3 or 4 times , they would only be sufficient to provide enough to survive given the cost of living in Iran. The economic situation is so bad that the current situation where most plants, factories don't pay their workers cannot be sustained for much longer .Workers demands in 1377 ( March 98 -99) The principle demands of Iranian workers in this period can be summarised as follows: payment of salaries on time, the right to keep their jobs an end to closure of plants and sackings. In total , 100 of the 181 protest were concerned with unpaid wages , 90 of these cases were to do with unpaid salaries, 6 cases of unpaid New Year bonuses in the Iranian year 1376 ( March 1997) and 4 cases of unpaid wages in new Year bonuses for 1998. There were 77 cases of protest at sackings and factory closure, 33 cases of protest at factory closure and 18 cases of protest at sackings. According to our figures only in 3 cases , management responded to the protest and accepted the workers demands, in 9 cases they promised to deal with the workers demands , in 7 cases military forces were called to arrest protesting workers and in 2 cases workers were threatened with job loss and in 2 other cases workers who protested lost their jobs. Although it is not possible to obtain accurate information about all workers protests but it does look as if the majority of these protest fail to achieve their aims. Inevitably as the principle of paying wages , basic demands such as workers demands for the right to work, to live , demands for wage rises and for basic social welfare are rare and marginalised. In all the struggles of these twelve months there were only 4 cases of national bargaining. , 8 cases dealing with grading of jobs, 15 cases of demand for increased salaries and 18 cases of social benefits. The issue of wage rises and the council of labourThe supreme Council of Labour in Iran , normally sets the minimum wage and arbitrates on wage rises , however over the last few years , given widespread bankruptcy , this council has decided that the issue of wage rises is meaningless. Part 2 next issue Solidarity Campaign with Iranian workers http:\\www.etehadchap.com\worker email : woker at etehadchap.co From dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Thu Aug 26 16:49:18 1999 From: dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (dhkc at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 26 Aug 1999 16:49:18 Subject: Germany: Trial against revolutionaries from Turkey/Demonstration Message-ID: LET'S SUPPORT OUR PRISONERS ! Hamburg High Court starts trials against Ilhan Yelkovan and Mesut Demirel The German State wants 5-7 years imprisonment for Mesut Demirel for being press speaker of the DHKC! The first trial session will be held on September 16, 1999. Let us participate in the demonstration for our prisoners on August 28, 1999. * At this moment 8 of our comrades, charged with ?129a, are being held in German prisons. * The prisoners are held in single cells, cannot speak to anyone, letters, publications and medical treatment are hindered, or they are held in between fascists. * Ilhan Yelkovan, whose trial after a break restarted on August 23, and who is held in the Hamburg prison, is held in isolation conditions. Still they try to force his confession with the accusation of "murder". Because Ilhan did not confess they want to sentence him to 25 years! * On September 26, the trial against the press speaker of the DHKC in Europe, Mesut Demirel, will start. The main accusation against him is to be the press speaker! The prosecutor wants 5-7 years imprisonment for him. He will be tried by the same court as our three friends of the main trial, at the Hamburg High Court, and by the same judges. At this trial they try to damage our legitimacy by charging our press speaker. Germany wants to punish, to criminalise the DHKP-C through these trials. German imperialism cannot damage the legitimacy of the Front! Date and place of the demonstration: 28th August, 1999; 12.00 o'clock; U-Bahnhof Sternschanze The demonstration will go to the Hamburg prison. --- Ozgurluk.Org http://www.ozgurluk.org Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Cephesi - DHKC Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Front http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc From info.turk at ping.be Mon Aug 30 12:03:13 1999 From: info.turk at ping.be (info.turk at ping.be) Date: 30 Aug 1999 12:03:13 Subject: Amnesty scandal in Turkey Message-ID: AMNESTY SCANDAL IN TURKEY! ************************** Mafia chiefs, crooked businessmen and corrupt politicians are released; prisoners of opinion kept behind iron bars As all the countries of the world were mobilised after the earthquake killing more than 14 thousand people and the European Union adopted a more comprehensive stand in its relations with Turkey, the Turkish Parliament adopted on August 28 a scandalous amnesty bill which releases Mafia chiefs, crooked businessmen and corrupt politicians, but largely keeps prisoners of opinion in jails. According to the new law 26,538 prisoners will be freed, while nearly 32,000 would serve reduced sentences, 11,000 mostly political prisoners will remain behind bars. "The remainder are those who cannot take advantage of the amnesty. They are those guilty of terror crimes whom we cannot forgive under the constitution," Justice Minister Hikmet Sami T?rk told the assembly. As a reaction to public anger over the incredible devastation resulting from the Aug. 17 quake, the amnesty bill, drafted weeks ago, was amended to explicitly exclude contractors convicted of negligence for poorly made buildings from the amnesty. The gesture was mostly symbolic, however, as the few builders prosecuted after previous quakes have mostly received only fines. According to the law, Mrs. Leyla Zana and other former DEP deputies, the former head of Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) Akin Birdal and blind human rights activist-lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli, all serving terms for speeches about the country's bitter 15-year-old Kurdish conflict, will remain in prison. Dozens of journalists imprisoned on charges of "membership" of outlawed groups will not be pardoned. Although the legislature passed another bill that would pardon some journalists convicted or charged of "supporting" the Kurdish resistance, they will be put on a three-year probation and could be imprisoned again if courts find they wrote new articles supporting the separatists. On contrary, one special article was added by the government's ultra-nationalist wing (MHP) to the amnesty bill in order to free several far-right hitmen convicted for assassinations. So, while former IHD Chairman Akin, gravely wounded last year by right-wing gunmen in a murder attempt, will remain in prison for his opinions, those who shot him because of his opinions will be freed. *************************************** INFO-TURK 38, rue des Eburons 1000 BRUXELLES R?dacteur en chef: Dogan OZGUDEN Editrice responsable: Inci TUGSAVUL Tel: (32-2) 215 35 76 Fax: (32-2) 215 58 60 E-mail: info.turk at ping.be http://www.ping.be/info-turk From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Mon Aug 30 14:47:47 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Aug 1999 14:47:47 Subject: Turkey/TDN: Amnesty designed to free mobsters, save politicians Message-ID: 30 August,1999, Copyright ? Turkish Daily News Amnesty designed to free mobsters, save politicians Ankara - Turkish Daily News Political observers on Sunday were up in arms saying the latest amnesty bill approved by Parliament is designed to save politicians who are currently under investigation or on trial, mobsters and torturers. Once President Suleyman Demirel approves the law approved by Parliament on Saturday, half of Turkey's prison population will be freed within two weeks, Justice Ministry officials predict. The law saves former Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli, who is currently being tried for being involved in irregularities in the contract for the renovation of the Parliament chamber. Kalemli is accused of accepting kickbacks to turn a blind eye to the irregularities of the contractors. Kalemli's Motherland Party (ANAP) did not show him as a candidate in the April 18 parliamentary elections because party officials felt there was overwhelming evidence against Kalemli. The new amnesty bill saves Kalemli even if he is convicted. Also benefiting from the amnesty are former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and former State Minister Gunes Taner who have been accused of interfering in state contracts and favoritism. Yilmaz is under investigation for his alleged role in dishing out state contracts but with the amnesty the charges will be dropped. Yilmaz will only be investigated for his role in the contract for the sale of the State Petroleum Products Distribution Company (POAS), the Turkish Daily News was told by legal experts. Meanwhile, many contractors who face negligence charges will also benefit from the amnesty. Former right-wing terrorists convicted for their role in the bloody events before the 1980 coup will also benefit from the amnesty. Former right-wing militant Haluk Kirci who was involved in the Bahcelievler massacre before the 1980 coup had his 70-year jail sentence reduced to ten years in a previous amnesty and will now be set free. Also several personalities involved in the Susurluk scandal which highlighted the links between mobsters, politicians and state officials will also benefit from the amnesty. All charges against them will be dropped. Daily Radikal said that upon the insistence of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), one of the senior partners of the coalition, officials and politicians like Sedat Bucak, Mehmet Agar and leading mobsters like Alaattin Cakici, Sedat Peker and Cengiz Ersever would now benefit from the amnesty while thousands of people who were forced to cooperate with the Kurdish separatists in rural areas against their will would remain in prison for aiding terrorists. Daily Milliyet declared "Mobs are now free" in its banner headline on Sunday and added, "Murderers, torturers, cheaters, smugglers and drug peddlers are all free." Many police officers convicted of torture will also be set free thanks to the amnesty. Critics of the amnesty bill said police officers who tortured left-wing journalist Metin Goktepe to death as well as police who tortured several youngsters in Manisa will benefit from the amnesty. Civil servants and officials who are accused of causing massive losses to the state will also be pardoned. --- Ozgurluk.Org http://www.ozgurluk.org ozgurluk at xs4all.nl From ozgurluk at xs4all.nl Mon Aug 30 14:52:30 1999 From: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl (ozgurluk at xs4all.nl) Date: 30 Aug 1999 14:52:30 Subject: Turkey/TDN: Amnesty designed to free mobsters, save politicians References: Message-ID: 30 August,1999, Copyright ? Turkish Daily News Amnesty designed to free mobsters, save politicians Ankara - Turkish Daily News Political observers on Sunday were up in arms saying the latest amnesty bill approved by Parliament is designed to save politicians who are currently under investigation or on trial, mobsters and torturers. Once President Suleyman Demirel approves the law approved by Parliament on Saturday, half of Turkey's prison population will be freed within two weeks, Justice Ministry officials predict. The law saves former Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli, who is currently being tried for being involved in irregularities in the contract for the renovation of the Parliament chamber. Kalemli is accused of accepting kickbacks to turn a blind eye to the irregularities of the contractors. Kalemli's Motherland Party (ANAP) did not show him as a candidate in the April 18 parliamentary elections because party officials felt there was overwhelming evidence against Kalemli. The new amnesty bill saves Kalemli even if he is convicted. Also benefiting from the amnesty are former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and former State Minister Gunes Taner who have been accused of interfering in state contracts and favoritism. Yilmaz is under investigation for his alleged role in dishing out state contracts but with the amnesty the charges will be dropped. Yilmaz will only be investigated for his role in the contract for the sale of the State Petroleum Products Distribution Company (POAS), the Turkish Daily News was told by legal experts. Meanwhile, many contractors who face negligence charges will also benefit from the amnesty. Former right-wing terrorists convicted for their role in the bloody events before the 1980 coup will also benefit from the amnesty. Former right-wing militant Haluk Kirci who was involved in the Bahcelievler massacre before the 1980 coup had his 70-year jail sentence reduced to ten years in a previous amnesty and will now be set free. Also several personalities involved in the Susurluk scandal which highlighted the links between mobsters, politicians and state officials will also benefit from the amnesty. All charges against them will be dropped. Daily Radikal said that upon the insistence of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), one of the senior partners of the coalition, officials and politicians like Sedat Bucak, Mehmet Agar and leading mobsters like Alaattin Cakici, Sedat Peker and Cengiz Ersever would now benefit from the amnesty while thousands of people who were forced to cooperate with the Kurdish separatists in rural areas against their will would remain in prison for aiding terrorists. Daily Milliyet declared "Mobs are now free" in its banner headline on Sunday and added, "Murderers, torturers, cheaters, smugglers and drug peddlers are all free." Many police officers convicted of torture will also be set free thanks to the amnesty. Critics of the amnesty bill said police officers who tortured left-wing journalist Metin Goktepe to death as well as police who tortured several youngsters in Manisa will benefit from the amnesty. Civil servants and officials who are accused of causing massive losses to the state will also be pardoned. --- Ozgurluk.Org http://www.ozgurluk.org ozgurluk at xs4all.nl From ozgurluk.xs4all.nl.nl at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl Tue Aug 31 15:29:27 1999 From: ozgurluk.xs4all.nl.nl at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl (ozgurluk.xs4all.nl.nl at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1999 15:29:27 Subject: Turkey: The corrupt system Message-ID: Aug. 30 1999 by Sabah's Gungor Mengi: Coalition partners sat down and haggled as if they were going to have a "prisoner exchange." One party supported the gangsters and torturers, another party the bribers and swindlers, and yet another party the murderers and thieves. Since none of these parties agreed to back down during that process, all of these criminals have been pardoned. Amnesty HURRIYET said: "A former prison guard says, 'Most of the people being released will commit new crimes.' Retired police superintendent Cihat Tamer says: 'I was abducted by three thugs. If the state pardons them, I will punish them myself. Let the state hang me if it wants to.' A police chief says: 'I cannot control my staff. They are up in arms, saying, "The state is releasing the gang leaders whom we had caught by risking our lives."' Head of the Criminal Chambers of the Court of Appeals Naci Unver says, 'This will encourage the criminals.' State Security Court [DGM] Prosecutor Talat Salk says, 'Justice is not being served.'" Thieves love you YENI SAFAK said: "The three coalition partners have pushed through the amnesty bill. With this arrangement, which leaves out the so-called 'crimes of thought,' thieves, murderers and gangsters have a field day. But the real winner is one of the coalition partners, Motherland Party [ANAP] leader Mesut Yilmaz, who has absolved himself of the accusation. --- Ozgurluk.Org http://www.ozgurluk.org ozgurluk at xs4all.nls directed at him." From owc at igc.org Tue Aug 31 18:59:42 1999 From: owc at igc.org (owc at igc.org) Date: 31 Aug 1999 18:59:42 Subject: WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT THE OPEN LETTER TO THE WTO Message-ID: --============_-1275971827==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" >WHY UNIONISTS AND SUPPORTERS OF LABOR RIGHTS SHOULD SUPPORT THE CALL >FOR THE RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE ILO >CONVENTIONS > >Dear Sisters and Brothers: > >At the end of November 1999, government leaders from around the >world will gather in Seattle at the Third Ministerial Summit of the >World Trade Organization (WTO). > >Feeling the need to articulate a campaign around which the entire >international labor movement could unite in its struggle to defeat >the global corporate agenda, the Organizing Committee of the Open >World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and >Democratic Rights (OWC) issued an "Open Letter to the Heads of State >Attending the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle." The Open >Letter calls on government leaders to ratify, implement and enforce >fully the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO)." [If you haven't received a copy of this Open Letter, please let us know. To date, more than 300 leading trade unionists and activists in the United States and Canada have endorsed the Open Letter. Thousands of signatures have come in from the rest of the world.] >The Organizing Committee of the OWC initiated this campaign after >reading the strong statement by the ICFTU calling on the U.S. >government to ratify >and implement the core Conventions of the ILO. Our effort is also >the product of ongoing discussions with leading trade unionists >in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa who >have participated in seven yearly meetings in Geneva aimed at ensuring the defense of the ILO Conventions. >These ILO Conventions represent a tremendous gain for the workers' >movement. The binding constraints for national labor legislation in >the ILO ratification procedure, in particular, make them both a >reference point and a rallying point for the independent trade union >movement in every country. > >The new ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles > >The OWC Open Letter warns that the signatories will not accept any >substitutes for the 176 existing ILO Conventions. (Though 182 ILO >Conventions are on record, only 176 are "in force.") This is a >reference to the new ILO "Declaration on Fundamental Principles and >Rights at Work," which was adopted in June 1998. > >Why this concern? > >For more than seven years, the IMF and World Bank (and later the >WTO) have engaged in a concerted campaign to "reform the ILO" and >scuttle the ILO Conventions. > >IMF Director General Michel Camdessus stated that the ILO >Conventions had to be made more "flexible" and more "adapted" to the >needs of the global economy in the new millennium. It was necessary, >Camdessus said, to "create a less constraining framework for >ensuring international labor standards." > >The new ILO Declaration on Principles does just that: It makes it >possible for the principles and rights to be disconnected from the >ratification process. This means a country can adopt these >"fundamental principles and rights at work" without ratifying any of >the ILO Conventions or enacting national laws based on these >conventions. > >In response to various concerns raised by trade union delegates >about this new Declaration, top ILO officials insisted they were not >in the process of jettisoning the existing ILO Conventions. It was >simply a means, they said, of gaining new adherents to the general >principles of the ILO and of ensuring that more countries, down the >road, could get behind the ILO Conventions. > >The international labor delegates who met in Geneva at the Seventh >Annual Assembly in Defense of the ILO Conventions were not convinced >by this argument. They feared that the new ILO Declaration could >undermine and ultimately cast by the wayside the existing ILO >Conventions. > >Nor were they reassured by the way the representatives of the >employers and of the States interpreted this new Declaration on >Fundamental Principles. The representative of the U.S. employers >declared in June 1998, for example: > >"The [new ILO] declaration does not impose on member States the >detailed obligations of Conventions that they have not freely >ratified, and does not impose on countries that have not ratified >the fundamental Conventions the supervisory mechanisms that apply to >ratified Conventions. The principles and rights of the Declaration >therefore only encompass the essence, that is, the goals, objectives >and aims of the fundamental Conventions." (source: M. Potter, >Employers' delegate ; Employer Vice Chairperson of the Committee on >the application of Standards, 36th Session, Geneva, June 1998. >Report of the Committee on the Declaration of Principles) > >This is why the "Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO >in Seattle" - following the lead of the trade unionists assembled in >Geneva - states the following: > >"We, the undersigned, state categorically. If this ILO 'Declaration >of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work' is to be of any value >to working people the world over, the seven corresponding >Conventions of the ILO must be ratified, implemented and enforced >fully by every government participating in the WTO Summit in >Seattle." > >Another issue of great concern to the trade union delegates >assembled to defend the ILO Conventions was a paragraph of the new >Declaration on Fundamental Principles which states that "the >comparative advantage of any country should in no way be called into >question by this Declaration and its Follow-Up." > >We all know the meaning of "comparative advantage." It refers to the >low costs of production in countries across the globe that pit >workers in one part of the world against workers in another. The new >Declaration on Fundamental Principles doesn't beat around the bush: >It states explicitly that it is opposed to calling into question the >cheap labor and deregulated labor conditions that permit such >"comparative advantages" on the world market. > >In this context it is useful to compare this paragraph of the new >Declaration with the Preamble of the Founding Declaration of the >ILO, which states that "universal and lasting peace can be >established only if it is based upon social justice." The Preamble >goes on to explain that "any nation refusing to adopt genuinely >humane labor norms is creating obstacles to the efforts of the other >nations which want to better the fate of workers in their own >country." > >Thus, the early members of the ILO established that international >trade should be organized in such a way as to forbid corporations >and economic groups from making use of countries that would refuse >to include in their laws the right for workers to protect themselves >from poverty and arbitrary action by the governments and employers. > >New Convention Against the "Worst Forms of Child Labor" > >The Open Letter also warns that the signatories will not accept any >watered-down agreements. This is a reference to the new ILO >Convention (adopted in June 1999) opposing the "worst forms of child >labor" - a document which Clinton supported and vowed to take to the >U.S. Congress for ratification. > >By "worst forms of child labor," the ILO Convention refers to all >forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale >and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or >compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of >children for use in armed conflict. It also refers to the use, >procuring or offering of children for prostitution, for the >production of pornography or for pornographic performances. > >It is necessary to point out that these atrocious practices are >dealt with already by criminal laws in most countries of the world, >and in the great majority of cases they are regarded as criminal >offenses that must be dealt with by penal law and the courts - and >not by labor laws. > >These practices, moreover, have been dealt with already in other ILO >Conventions, which rightly prohibit them not merely for children but >for all human beings (eg., ILO Convention 29 of 1930 on forced >labor, and that of 1956 on the prohibition of forced labor). > >There is therefore no need to proscribe in a new ILO Convention these >"worst forms of child labor." > >Defenders of this new ILO Convention argue that it is a "bridge" to >increased support for - and ratification of - ILO Convention 138, >which bans child labor altogether. This is not what the employers >and the governments are saying. > >Take the declaration of the representative of the U.S. government, >who stated that the United States "opposes any mention of a total >prohibition of child labor. Even if this expression is drawn from >the foreword to Convention 138, it is useless, because it is not the >aim of the (new) convention to prohibit totally child labor." >(Report 1V[2A], Child Labor, Fourth Question on the agenda of the >87th session of the ILO, Geneva, June 1999) > >In a word, this new ILO Convention would do nothing to protect young >children who today across the United States and around the world are >obligated to work in agriculture and manufacturing sweatshops. > >For the U.S. government, as for all the G8 governments, the new >Convention is not a bridge to ILO Convention 138; it is meant to be >an insurmountable obstacle in its path. It is a means to undermine >and finally scuttle a Convention they all have considered "too >rigid." > >Another important point must be made in this regard: It is a fact >that ILO Convention 138 has not been abrogated. But it is also a >fact - verified by experience - that when two norms deal with the >same subject, it is the least constraining one which in reality >becomes the point of reference for labor standards and legislation - >especially in the case of labor norms that are facing the assault of >deregulation by governments and employers. > >ILO Convention 103 Is Under Attack > >Another ILO Convention that is under attack is ILO Convention 103, >which deals with maternity leave for working women. > >The substance of the problem is presented quite clearly by the >Public Services International (PSI), one of the most important trade >union bodies in the world. The PSI writes: > >"ILO Maternity Protection Convention Under Threat > >"The ILO is now reviewing the Maternity Protection Convention (MPC). >At the end of February 1999, the ILO Secretariat released its >recommendations for changes to MPC. PSI was shocked to find that the >recommendations would significantly weaken the current convention. >Some of the proposals would include : > >"o Providing mechanisms for wide ranging exemptions from coverage; >"o Removing the obligation to pay women on maternity leave a minimum >of two thirds of their salary by providing an option for unspecified >flat rate payment; >"o Removing the requirement for six weeks compulsory leave after the >birth of a child; >"o Removing additional leave when a child is born after the due date; >"o Removing the right to nursing breaks; >"o Removing the requirements for women to have maternity services >delivered by qualified staff." >(Women, PSI Newsletter, April 1999. >http://www.world-psi.org/women/news/womenet.html) > >The draft of the new proposed Convention, moreover, specifies that >"the [maternity] leave should include a compulsory leave whose >length and moment should be decided in each country." > >There is a fundamental difference between the two conventions. Once >ratified by countries, ILO conventions constitute labor laws around >the world. All trade unions - big or small - can rely on them to >demand the implementation of the labor rights which they embody. On >the contrary, revised draft Convention 103 gives each government the >authority to define what labor rights should be implemented and what >labor rights should not. It questions the very notion of ILO >conventions. > >It has been stated that ILO Convention 103 is not being undermined; >it is simply being "updated." Is this the case? > >Convention 103 protecting maternity rights was one of the first >conventions adopted by the ILO when it was created in 1919. The text >of the Convention was then modified in 1952 to take into account the >evolution of laws, especially those concerning Social Security >systems, which allow a greater protection for the majority of women >workers. It can be said that in 1952 this Convention was genuinely >updated. > >The fundamental and juridical principles of the ILO stipulate that >an ILO convention should be revised when the modifications proposed >increase the degree of protection to workers included in the >Convention concerned. This is not what is being proposed with the >new recommendations. The modifications proposed to Convention 103 - >as the PSI statement points out - aim at undermining Convention 103 >and lessening the degree of protection granted to women workers. A Few Words to Conclude Many leading trade union bodies across the country have supported the ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work on the grounds that, for the first time, it stipulates that all ILO member states - whether or not they have ratified the ILO Conventions - have an obligation to respect fundamental workers' rights. On the surface, this would be reason enough to support this Declaration. On closer examination, there is enough evidence to suggest that this Declaration could be wielded by the ILO member states and international financial institutions simply to give lip service to workers' rights - or worse, to scuttle the >existing ILO Conventions altogether. The two proposed changes to ILO >Conventions regarding child labor and maternity leave may just be >the beginning of a process aimed at casting aside the existing ILO >Conventions. >The Organizing Committee of the OWC believes it is necessary to >promote a wideranging discussion within the labor movement about how >best >to ensure respect for workers' rights, and, in particular, for the existing >ILO Conventions. >We also call upon all supporters of labor rights - whatever their >point of view on the merits of the new ILO Declaration and the new >Conventions on child labor and maternity rights - to join the >international campaign to demand the ratification, implementation >and enforcement of the existing ILO Conventions. [Many of you already have endorsed this Open Letter, and we thank you deeply. Others who wish to add their endorsment may do so by filling out the endorsement coupon below.] More than ever, we must send a strong signal to the heads of state meeting in Seattle that working people the world over are attached firmly to basic labor rights and will accept nothing less than the rights and standards codified in the existing ILO Conventions. >In Solidarity, >Ed Rosario and Mya Shone, Co-Coordinators OWC ***** ********** ENDORSEMENT FORM - PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES OF THE OPEN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING THE WTO SUMMIT DEMANDING RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ILO CONVENTIONS NAME TITLE (for id. only) UNION/ORG ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP EMAIL Return to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL- CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, Email: either hit reply or send to --============_-1275971827==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable New_YorkWHY UNIONISTS AND SUPPORTERS OF LABOR RIGHTS SHOULD SUPPORT THE CALL FOR THE RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE ILO CONVENTIONS New_YorkDear Sisters and Brothers: At the end of November 1999, government leaders from around the world will gather in Seattle at the Third Ministerial Summit of the World Trade Organization (WTO).=20 =46eeling the need to articulate a campaign around which the entire international labor movement could unite in its struggle to defeat the global corporate agenda, the Organizing Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC) issued an "Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle." The Open Letter calls on government leaders to ratify, implement and enforce fully the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO)." New_York [If you haven't received a copy of this Open Letter, please let us know. To date, more than 300 leading trade unionists and activists in the United States and Canada have endorsed the Open Letter. Thousands of signatures have come in from the rest of the world.] The Organizing Committee of the OWC initiated this campaign after reading the strong statement by the ICFTU calling on the U.S. government to ratify and implement the core Conventions of the ILO. Our effort is also the product of ongoing discussions with leading trade unionists in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa who=20 have participated in seven yearly meetings in Geneva aimed at ensuring the defense of the ILO Conventions. These ILO Conventions represent a tremendous gain for the workers' movement. The binding constraints for national labor legislation in the ILO ratification procedure, in particular, make them both a reference point and a rallying point for the independent trade union movement in every country. The new ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles The OWC Open Letter warns that the signatories will not accept any substitutes for the 176 existing ILO Conventions. (Though 182 ILO Conventions are on record, only 176 are "in force.") This is a reference to the new ILO "Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work," which was adopted in June 1998. Why this concern? =46or more than seven years, the IMF and World Bank (and later the WTO) have engaged in a concerted campaign to "reform the ILO" and scuttle the ILO Conventions.=20 IMF Director General Michel Camdessus stated that the ILO Conventions had to be made more "flexible" and more "adapted" to the needs of the global economy in the new millennium. It was necessary, Camdessus said, to "create a less constraining framework for ensuring international labor standards." The new ILO Declaration on Principles does just that: It makes it possible for the principles and rights to be disconnected from the ratification process. This means a country can adopt these "fundamental principles and rights at work" without ratifying any of the ILO Conventions or enacting national laws based on these conventions. In response to various concerns raised by trade union delegates about this new Declaration, top ILO officials insisted they were not in the process of jettisoning the existing ILO Conventions. It was simply a means, they said, of gaining new adherents to the general principles of the ILO and of ensuring that more countries, down the road, could get behind the ILO Conventions. The international labor delegates who met in Geneva at the Seventh Annual Assembly in Defense of the ILO Conventions were not convinced by this argument. They feared that the new ILO Declaration could undermine and ultimately cast by the wayside the existing ILO Conventions. Nor were they reassured by the way the representatives of the employers and of the States interpreted this new Declaration on Fundamental Principles. The representative of the U.S. employers declared in June 1998, for example:=20 "The [new ILO] declaration does not impose on member States the detailed obligations of Conventions that they have not freely ratified, and does not impose on countries that have not ratified the fundamental Conventions the supervisory mechanisms that apply to ratified Conventions. The principles and rights of the Declaration therefore only encompass the essence, that is, the goals, objectives and aims of the fundamental Conventions." (source: M. Potter, Employers' delegate ; Employer Vice Chairperson of the Committee on the application of Standards, 36th Session, Geneva, June 1998. Report of the Committee on the Declaration of Principles) This is why the "Open Letter to the Heads of State Attending the WTO in Seattle" - following the lead of the trade unionists assembled in Geneva - states the following: "We, the undersigned, state categorically. If this ILO 'Declaration of =46undamental Principles and Rights at Work' is to be of any value to working people the world over, the seven corresponding Conventions of the ILO must be ratified, implemented and enforced fully by every government participating in the WTO Summit in Seattle." Another issue of great concern to the trade union delegates assembled to defend the ILO Conventions was a paragraph of the new Declaration on =46undamental Principles which states that "the comparative advantage of any country should in no way be called into question by this Declaration and its Follow-Up." We all know the meaning of "comparative advantage." It refers to the low costs of production in countries across the globe that pit workers in one part of the world against workers in another. The new Declaration on Fundamental Principles doesn't beat around the bush: It states explicitly that it is opposed to calling into question the cheap labor and deregulated labor conditions that permit such "comparative advantages" on the world market.=20 In this context it is useful to compare this paragraph of the new Declaration with the Preamble of the Founding Declaration of the ILO, which states that "universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice." The Preamble goes on to explain that "any nation refusing to adopt genuinely humane labor norms is creating obstacles to the efforts of the other nations which want to better the fate of workers in their own country." Thus, the early members of the ILO established that international trade should be organized in such a way as to forbid corporations and economic groups from making use of countries that would refuse to include in their laws the right for workers to protect themselves from poverty and arbitrary action by the governments and employers. New Convention Against the "Worst Forms of Child Labor" The Open Letter also warns that the signatories will not accept any watered-down agreements. This is a reference to the new ILO Convention (adopted in June 1999) opposing the "worst forms of child labor" - a document which Clinton supported and vowed to take to the U.S. Congress for ratification. By "worst forms of child labor," the ILO Convention refers to all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. It also refers to the use, procuring or offering of children for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. It is necessary to point out that these atrocious practices are dealt with already by criminal laws in most countries of the world, and in the great majority of cases they are regarded as criminal offenses that must be dealt with by penal law and the courts - and not by labor laws. These practices, moreover, have been dealt with already in other ILO Conventions, which rightly prohibit them not merely for children but for all human beings (eg., ILO Convention 29 of 1930 on forced labor, and that of 1956 on the prohibition of forced labor).=20 There is therefore no need to proscribe in a new ILO Convention these=20 "worst forms of child labor." Defenders of this new ILO Convention argue that it is a "bridge" to increased support for - and ratification of - ILO Convention 138, which bans child labor altogether. This is not what the employers and the governments are saying. Take the declaration of the representative of the U.S. government, who stated that the United States "opposes any mention of a total prohibition of child labor. Even if this expression is drawn from the foreword to Convention 138, it is useless, because it is not the aim of the (new) convention to prohibit totally child labor." (Report 1V[2A], Child Labor, Fourth Question on the agenda of the 87th session of the ILO, Geneva, June 1999) In a word, this new ILO Convention would do nothing to protect young children who today across the United States and around the world are obligated to work in agriculture and manufacturing sweatshops. =46or the U.S. government, as for all the G8 governments, the new Convention is not a bridge to ILO Convention 138; it is meant to be an insurmountable obstacle in its path. It is a means to undermine and finally scuttle a Convention they all have considered "too rigid." Another important point must be made in this regard: It is a fact that ILO Convention 138 has not been abrogated. But it is also a fact - verified by experience - that when two norms deal with the same subject, it is the least constraining one which in reality becomes the point of reference for labor standards and legislation - especially in the case of labor norms that are facing the assault of deregulation by governments and employers.=20 ILO Convention 103 Is Under Attack Another ILO Convention that is under attack is ILO Convention 103, which deals with maternity leave for working women. The substance of the problem is presented quite clearly by the Public Services International (PSI), one of the most important trade union bodies in the world. The PSI writes: "ILO Maternity Protection Convention Under Threat "The ILO is now reviewing the Maternity Protection Convention (MPC). At the end of February 1999, the ILO Secretariat released its recommendations for changes to MPC. PSI was shocked to find that the recommendations would significantly weaken the current convention. Some of the proposals would include : "o Providing mechanisms for wide ranging exemptions from coverage; "o Removing the obligation to pay women on maternity leave a minimum of two thirds of their salary by providing an option for unspecified flat rate payment; "o Removing the requirement for six weeks compulsory leave after the birth of a child; "o Removing additional leave when a child is born after the due date; "o Removing the right to nursing breaks; "o Removing the requirements for women to have maternity services delivered by qualified staff." (Women, PSI Newsletter, April 1999. 0000,0000,00FFhttp://www.world-psi.org/wome= n/news/womenet.html) The draft of the new proposed Convention, moreover, specifies that "the [maternity] leave should include a compulsory leave whose length and moment should be decided in each country." There is a fundamental difference between the two conventions. Once ratified by countries, ILO conventions constitute labor laws around the world. All trade unions - big or small - can rely on them to demand the implementation of the labor rights which they embody. On the contrary, revised draft Convention 103 gives each government the authority to define what labor rights should be implemented and what labor rights should not. It questions the very notion of ILO conventions. It has been stated that ILO Convention 103 is not being undermined; it is simply being "updated." Is this the case? Convention 103 protecting maternity rights was one of the first conventions adopted by the ILO when it was created in 1919. The text of the Convention was then modified in 1952 to take into account the evolution of laws, especially those concerning Social Security systems, which allow a greater protection for the majority of women workers. It can be said that in 1952 this Convention was genuinely updated. The fundamental and juridical principles of the ILO stipulate that an ILO convention should be revised when the modifications proposed increase the degree of protection to workers included in the Convention concerned. This is not what is being proposed with the new recommendations. The modifications proposed to Convention 103 - as the PSI statement points out - aim at undermining Convention 103 and lessening the degree of protection granted to women workers. A Few Words to Conclude Many leading trade union bodies across the country have supported the ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work on the grounds that, for the first time, it stipulates that all ILO member states - whether or not they have ratified the ILO Conventions - have an obligation to respect fundamental workers' rights. On the surface, this would be reason enough to support this Declaration. On closer examination, there is enough evidence to suggest that this Declaration could be wielded by the ILO member states and international financial institutions simply to give lip service to workers' rights - or worse, to scuttle the existing ILO Conventions altogether. The two proposed changes to ILO Conventions regarding child labor and maternity leave may just be the beginning of a process aimed at casting aside the existing ILO Conventions. The Organizing Committee of the OWC believes it is necessary to promote a wideranging discussion within the labor movement about how best=20 to ensure respect for workers' rights, and, in particular, for the existing=20 ILO Conventions. We also call upon all supporters of labor rights - whatever their point of view on the merits of the new ILO Declaration and the new Conventions on child labor and maternity rights - to join the international campaign to demand the ratification, implementation and enforcement of the existing ILO Conventions. [Many of you already have endorsed this Open Letter, and we thank you deeply. Others who wish to add their endorsment may do so by filling out the endorsement coupon below.] More than ever, we must send a strong signal to the heads of state meeting in Seattle that working people the world over are attached firmly to basic labor rights and will accept nothing less than the rights and standards codified in the existing ILO Conventions. In Solidarity, Ed Rosario and Mya Shone, Co-Coordinators OWC =20 ***** ********** ENDORSEMENT FORM - PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES OF THE OPEN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF STATE ATTENDING THE WTO SUMMIT DEMANDING RATIFICATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ILO CONVENTIONS NAME TITLE (for id. only) UNION/ORG ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP EMAIL Return to OWC, c/o S.F. Labor Council (AFL- CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco 94109, Email: either hit reply or send to <=20 --============_-1275971827==_ma============--