No. 197, Oct. 24-30, 2002

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Teamsters Local 705 denounces war plans

By Shawn Gaynor

Asheville, North Carolina, Oct. 23 (AGR)— In a reflection of the clearly growing sentiment against war on Iraq, the countries second largest Teamsters local, based in Chicago, Illinois, denounced Bush’s plans for the war. The resolution, passed Oct. 20, was brought by handlers from the CACH and Jeff St. UPS facilities, and states that “Teamsters local 705 stands firmly against Bush’s drive for war.”

The resolution was passed at a membership meeting attended by roughly 400 Teamsters, and was only discussed for about 10 minutes before passing with only one member casting a dissenting vote.

“There was not very much discussion on it because there was no dissent,” stated Paul Waterhouse, a 705 official, who added that their were many Vietnam veterans who had served in the US Army and Marine Corps present at the meeting.

The Teamsters, whose transportation industry jobs are tied closely to oil prices state in the opening of the resolution: “we value the lives of our sons and daughters, of our brothers and sisters more than Bush’s control of Middle East oil profits.”

“We have no quarrel with the ordinary working-class men, women, and children in Iraq who will suffer the most in any war,” the resolution continues.

The measure raises concerns that the cost of the war will take away billions of dollar from social spending on schools, hospitals, housing, and social security.

In a clause representing the union’s belief about the motives behind the proposed war, Local 705 states: “Bush’s drive for war serves as a cover and distraction for the sinking economy, corporate corruption, lay-offs, and Taft-Hartley [used against the locked out ILWU longshoremen].”

“This is the start of doing anti-war work not the finish,” said Kieran Knutson, a steward at the Jeff St. UPS who co-sponsored the resolution. “Union resolutions by themselves don’t mean anything unless they are used by activists in the workplace to build sentiment and action against the war.”

The 21,000 member union local intends to talk to other Teamsters locals in the area about their concerns about a possible war on Iraq.

“We hope this resolution encourages other workers to adopt similar resolutions and encourages the growth of anti-war activities in the labor movement,” concluded Knutson.

To support Local 705 in its stance contact their office at 312-738-2800

800 rally and march for striking janitors

By Dan Keshet

Boston, Massachusetts, Oct. 19— As the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 615 janitors’ strike finished its third week, about eight hundred janitors, students, and community members rallied in Copley Square, followed by a spirited march through the Prudential Center and back to Copley Square.

The janitors’ strike targets major downtown Boston buildings serviced by contract cleaning agencies, especially UNICCO. The union’s primary demands include more full-time jobs, health insurance for more janitors, and better wages.

Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift has cancelled the state’s custodial contract with UNICCO Service Company after the SEIU threatened to expand their strike to four state buildings.

Under their current contract, janitors must work twenty-nine hours per week in order to qualify for health care, but only one in four reach that threshold. The janitors have settled contracts favorably with many smaller cleaning service companies, but they have failed to settle with Newton-based UNICCO, an international service company with over 20,000 employees and $600 million in revenues.

The rally crowd was a diverse mix, including janitors, other union members, politicians and political activists, and other community organizations. The event was almost entirely bilingual in English and Spanish; nearly all of the janitors are immigrants from Latin America, and speak either Spanish or Portuguese as their first language.
Supporting unions included Local 2324 of the UAW at Boston University, representing office workers and other support staff. Elly Leary, the former Vice President of the union, said she was there because she believed in the union motto, “an injury to one is an injury to all”, while Jim Gallagher recalled the union’s 1979 strike to achieve a living wage and health insurance.

The rally inlcuded state and city officials and many political candidates and New Hampshire SEIU members- the SEIU is the largest union in New Hampshire.
Students in the crowd came from MIT, Emerson, Suffolk, and Northeastern University.

About fifteen Northeastern students had camped out the night before in front of Churchill Hall, which houses Northeastern University President Richard Freeland’s offices. The students met with the President in the morning and spoke with him for about fifteen minutes, according to student participants Scott Breiding and Seth Amsden. Breiding said the conversation was respectful, but the President would not agree to the students’ demands that he instruct Consolidated Service Corporation, the cleaning agency which employs Northeastern janitors, to pay all of their janitors living wages and give them health insurance benefits.

When striking janitors saw the students’ tents as they arrived on campus at 10am, many of them began weeping, according to Amsden, and told the students that if they ever needed support, the janitors would be there for them.

Other community groups in attendance on the 19th included the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), the Community Church of Boston, and Kahal B’raira, a Boston congregation of secular humanist Jews, who have raised over $1000 for the janitors’ strike fund. Nikhil Aziz, an Indian-born immigrant, came with the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia. He connected the janitors’ struggle as workers avoiding oppression to all other struggles to overcome oppression, whether it be heterosexism, racism, or sexism.

At least one hundred or so members of the crowd were from radical socialist or anarchist groups. Anarchist groups in attendance included BAAM! and members of the North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists - the Sabate Collective and the Firefly Collective.

Two young anarchists carried red-and-black anarcho-syndicalist flags, while another carried a purple-and-black flag she identified as representing anarcha-feminism.

Source: Boston Indymedia with additional information from The Alarm!

Second general strike this year grips Italy

Compiled by Shawn Gaynor

Oct. 18 (AGR)— Over a million workers staged demonstrations across Italy on Friday as union protests caused disarray with a one-day strike.

An estimated 250,000 union workers marched through the streets of the financial capital, Milan. Workers chanting anti-government slogans took to the streets in 120 towns and cities to protest against stiff cuts in health and education in the budget and labor reforms, which they say undermine workers’ rights.

The strike was called by Italy’s largest and most left-wing trade union the CGIL, which represents 6 million workers.

“Across the country today, millions of workers have joined the call and come out in the streets in protest,” CGIL chief Guglielmo Epifani told thousands of workers gathered in the center of the northern industrial city of Turin, where the financially troubled auto maker, Fiat, is based.

The worst hit sector was transport -- Italy’s airports and train stations were scenes of desolation.

The national airline, Alitalia, had to cancel more than 250 flights and tens of thousands of airline passengers were thought to have been stranded.

There was also disruption to the railways, with more than 100 train services -- about 40% of routes -- cancelled.
Most schools closed as did many banks and health services were reduced to the essentials.

Many Italians opted to take a day off as getting to their workplace was nearly impossible because of protest marches, the lack of urban transport, and traffic jams.

“We’ve won the challenge,” declared Epifani, “The strike, which has been adhered to throughout the country, tells us that we are right.”

It was the second general strike in six months and follows dozens of half- and full-day stoppages across a range of industries this year as worker anger over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s policies boils to the surface. In recent weeks, Italian companies have announced more than 20,000 lay-offs.

The CGIL is angry over the government’s plans to amend a section of a 1970 labor law.

The government wants to make it easier for firms to lay off workers and help the growth of small companies. The left-wing union has said it called the strike because Berlusconi’s budget and financial policies, as well as his labor reforms, are aggravating the economic slowdown and could end up putting about 280,000 people out of work.

The CGIL is hoping Friday’s demonstration will prompt the government to reconsider not only the labor reforms but also next year’s budget, which it says does not do enough to spur growth in an economy that has barely grown in the last year.

The demonstrations are a major headache for Berlusconi, who has never forgotten that the last time he was prime minister, in 1994, his government fell after just seven months shortly after millions took to the streets to oppose planned pension reforms.

Sources: Reuters, BBC

 

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