Communications workers boycott World Bank bonds

Editor’s note: The following is the text of a resolution passed by the Communication Workers of America at their annual convention last month.

The World Bank controls more investment capital and, together with the International Monetary Fund, has more policy influence in the world economy than any other institution, and for the past fifty years the World Bank has accumulated more and more influence over the economic policies of less developed countries.

The World Bank uses its leverage over less developed countries to actively promote policies that favor the narrow profit interests of transnational corporations, such as low wages, proliferation of sweatshops, repressive labor policies, and weak environmental regulation, at the expense of interests of the majority to improve living standards.

The World Bank promotes policies that destroy the environment by pushing countries to expand their exports so they will earn more hard currency to make payments on foreign debts, and this has led countries to over exploit their national resources, cutting down rain forests, heavily using chemicals to produce export crops, and over fishing coastal and international waters.

The World Bank’s project lending is often environmentally destructive, and violates the rights of indigenous peoples.

The World Bank’s policies have worsened the position of women, because structural adjustment programs require cuts in governmental social services, with the increased burden and hardship of caring for the family falling mainly on women, and because the overwhelming majority of World Bank money goes into the hands of men.

By keeping the governments of low-income countries dependent on new infusions of capital form high-income countries, the World Bank has reinforced an “external allegiance” for these governments making them more accountable to World Bank managers than to their own people; and with policy-making in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, there is no real chance of either meaningful development or democracy taking place in many of these countries.

The World Bank operates in a secretive fashion and is accountable neither to the taxpayers who fund it nor to the citizens of debtor countries who are subjected to World Bank policies.

RESOLVED: From this date hence, the Communications Workers of America will not purchase bonds issued by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank). In addition, we call on the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions to do the same.

RESOLVED: The Communications Workers of America encourages the World Bank to engage in programs that support true economic development and respect the impact on the poorest of the people they purport to assist.

90,000 teachers strike in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sept. 10— More than 90,000 teachers from 23,000 non-government primary schools on Sunday vowed not to return to classes until the authorities promised to bridge a yawning gap in their salaries compared to government tutors.

“We are pursuing a genuine cause...we demand parity between salaries of the government and non-government teachers,” said Alhaj Akkas Ali Sheikh, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Non-government Primary Teachers’ Association. “Our backs are now against the wall, we are unable to provide a reasonable living to our families. We are economically hard pressed, and hence need higher wages,” he told thousands of striking teachers at a rally in Dhaka.

Witnesses said about 20,000 teachers had attended the rally. Thousands more people, including opposition political leaders, joined them to demonstrate their support.

Sheikh said the non-government primary teachers now get a monthly salary of less than 1,400 taka ($25) against the 5,000 taka ($92) or more paid to their counterparts in government-run schools. “This huge gap has to be bridged. We provide the same sort of service that they do, we also care as much for our students. Then why should we be deprived?” he said.

Sheikh said nearly six million students were now enrolled in non-government elementary schools.

Source: Reuters

Indian Telecom workers strike

Delhi, India, Sept. 8— Over 350,000 Telecom workers across India began an indefinite strike on Wednesday against the latest steps by the central government to privatize the Department of Telecommunications. The workers are demanding assurances of job security and a separate pension scheme to protect their present benefits.

The striking Telecom workers operate and maintain a network of over 20 million lines across India, except in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi.The strike will disrupt local and inter-city calls throughout the country and seriously disrupt work in all major companies.

The Telecom strike is part of ongoing unrest among public sector workers sparked by widespread industry restructuring and the sell-off of government enterprises. Telecom workers took strike action in June and August.

The government has already ended Telecom’s monopoly on Internet services, allowing private ISPs to set up their own international gateways, and has opened up domestic long-distance telephone services to private companies. Telecom will be corporatized as Bharat Sanchar Nigam by October 1, in preparation for its full privatization.

Thai textile workers protest sackings, low pay

Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 10— More than 500 sacked Thai Durable textile workers are staging an ongoing protest in front of Government House in Bangkok.

Thai Durable employs 1,500 workers, mainly women. During the Asian economic crisis the union signed an agreement not to seek wage raises. The contract expired in February and workers demanded three US cents per day pay increase and a bonus equal to two months wages. The company rejected the demand out of hand.

In May, the workers went on strike and occupied the factory. On June 14, company security guards, supported by riot police, cleared the factory and 390 workers were sacked.