----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2000 12:35 PM Subject: [July30] BTL Q&A: Progressive Political Movements Challenge Corporate Power] > July 30 in Philly - www.unity2000.com > > Between The Lines Q&A > A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints > on national and international issues > under-reported in mainstream media > ======================================== > > Dear Fellow Activist, > > In honor of Independence Day, Between The Lines brings you interviews > with two representatives of organizations leading the new global justice > movement. > > -- Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange discusses the future course of the > coalition born in Seattle last winter at demonstrations against the > World Trade Organization and subsequent protests at the World Bank and > International Monetary Fund April meeting in Washington D.C. > > -- Thea Lee, assistant director of public policy with the AFL-CIO, > assesses the union movement's failure to defeat legislation that will > give China permanent normalized trade status, and how this trade pact > will affect workers in the U.S., China and around the world. > > We hope you will share these interviews with your friends and > colleagues. > > Sincerely, > Scott Harris > Executive Producer > > Anna Manzo > Web Editor/Producer > Between The Lines > WPKN Radio 89.5 FM > Bridgeport, CT 06883 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- > > BETWEEN THE LINES > I N D E P E N D E N C E D A Y S P E C I A L > > Progressive Political Movements Challenge Corporate Power; > Fight For Democratic Change > > +++ > > New global social justice movement organizing > for summer political conventions and beyond > > * Kevin Danaher, an organizer with > Global Exchange and co-editor > of the book "Globalize This! The Battle > Against The World Trade Organization," > examines the future direction of the > social justice movement born in Seattle > and Washington D.C. > > Much of the world was caught off guard when a coalition of student, > labor, human rights and environmental groups came together to protest > the policies of the World Trade Organization in Seattle last winter. The > historic mass demonstrations and civil disobedience by tens of thousands > there signaled to some the coming of age of a new international movement > fighting for economic and social justice. Many of these same groups > converged on Washington D.C. in April to similarly protest the policies > of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. > > The movement has since organized demonstrations at an Organization of > American States meeting in Windsor, Ontario and at a gathering of oil > companies in Calgary. The next targets of this broad coalition are the > summer conventions of the Republicans and Democrats. While established > economic and political institutions express concern about the growing > power of this movement, the corporate media mostly ignores or > mischaracterizes the goals of this new anti-corporate alliance. > > Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Kevin Danaher, co-founder and > organizer with Global Exchange based in San Francisco, Calif. and > co-editor of the book "Globalize This! The Battle Against The World > Trade Organization," who examines the future direction of the social > justice movement born in Seattle and Washington D.C. > > Kevin Danaher: We succeeded in both cases -- Seattle and Washington, > D.C. -- in dragging the snake out from under the rock and saying here > are these secretive institutions that are planning the entire global > economy. They're making rules that affect all of us and nature. > Shouldn't we at least know what they are? > > We succeeded in forcing these institutions onto the public agenda by > getting them in the media. I would argue that in my lifetime I've never > seen so much anti-corporate message carried in the corporate media. I > think that's a major achievement when we can get our critical message > into their wholly-owned control of our public airwaves. At least at the > minimum, it raised in the public mind, "Hey, what is this institution? > Maybe I should pay attention to it." > > Between The Lines: Tens of thousands of people from this new movement > are organizing demonstrations at the Republican and Democrat conventions > in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The AFL-CIO and unions across the > country were snubbed by the House of Representatives in a recent vote > that brought in the free trade agreement with China, despite their best > efforts to defeat it. Where is the movement going in your opinion? > > Kevin Danaher: It's really electric in the movement. Demonstrations that > used to take weeks to organize now take days. Demonstrations that used > to get a few dozen people now get a few hundred. So what I sense going > on is, people particularly in this country are ready to reclaim > democracy from the corporations that have hijacked it. That's why we've > seen the California Nurse's Association, one of our biggest and best > trade unions, come out and endorse the Green Party's Ralph Nader for > president. > > So that not only means the union is going to vote for him, but they're > really well organized and they've got a lot of credibility at the > community level. They're going to be out campaigning for Ralph Nader. > And I needn't remind people that California is the biggest electoral > college vote state, a key state that all the candidates want. So as > Ralph Nader gains ground here in California, it's going to rattle these > guys a little bit and we're going to rattle them when we're out in the > streets screaming and yelling at them. We've got some plans -- > non-violent, interesting plans -- down in L.A., which Global Exchange is > more focused on, because we're a West Coast organization. The Democrats > are having a sort of "schmoozefest" party one night on the Santa Monica > pier with their big donors and all. So we're going to do a big party on > the beach, as close as we can get to them, and raise a ruckus with an > anti-corporate message. If we do nothing more than get the media to > focus on the issues that are not being covered, that will have been a > great public service to bring that out into the light of day. > > Between The Lines: Kevin Danaher, does this movement go deeper than > demonstrations utilizing civil disobedience and activists holding up > placards in the street? Are there other dimensions of the struggle that > are falling below the media radar screen? > > Kevin Danaher: Yeah, and they're not going to get covered by the major > media because it's critical of corporate power and the media is mostly > corporations. Yes, starting from the top, at the political, state level. > When we came out of Seattle, there were basically two groups in Seattle: > the AFL-CIO and the internationalists. There were really good ties built > up between the internationalists and the AFL-CIO. > > But a key difference is that when it was over, the AFL-CIO went back to > Washington, and they have a political vehicle called the Democratic > party. Whereas us internationalists have the Green Party and we've got > Nader, but you know, that party isn't as big or well-funded or powerful > and it doesn't have any seats in Congress. So it raised the political > party question, and people now are going to have to revisit this issue > of how we build a progressive, non-corporate party in this country. > > There's a whole revitalization of the movement but there is a > realization that we've got to get power, we've got to get some > representation in the legislature that turns out the rules. So, what I > sense going on out there is, a real serious confrontation looming > particularly this election year where people are pissed and they're not > going to take it any more. They're ready to struggle to reclaim control > of this society from the corporations that have taken it over. > > "Globalize This!" is published by Common Courage Press. Contact Global > Exchange by calling 1-800 497-1994 or visit their Web site at http://www.globalexchange.org. > Listen to this interview excerpt with Kevin Danaher at: > http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/danaher063000.ram; > The week's Between The Lines half-hour program: > http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/btl063000.ram > Between The Lines Web site: http://www.btlonline.org > > AOL users: > <a HREF="http://www.globalexchange.org">Click here!</a> to see the > Global Exchange Web site. > <a HREF="http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/danaher063000.ram">Click here!</a> > to listen to Kevin Danaher's interview. > <a HREF="http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/btl063000.ram">Click here!</a> to > listen to the week's Between The Lines half-hour program. > (Needs RealPlayer G2, RealPlayer 7 or higher) > <a HREF="http://www.btlonline.org">Click here!</a> to visit Between The > Lines' Web site. > > + + + > > Why labor failed to stop U.S.-China trade pact > > * Thea Lee, AFL-CIO assistant director > of public policy, assesses the passage > of the bill granting China permanent normal > trade relations status and the ongoing battle > over corporate globalization. > > The AFL-CIO and their allies in the environmental and human rights > movement worked hard to defeat the White House and Congressional > Republican drive to win passage of legislation granting China permanent > normal trade relations status. Despite months of organizing by a broad > coalition of groups opposing the measure in Congressional districts and > intense lobbying on Capitol Hill, the bill passed on a 237 to 197 vote. > > The bill, which is expected to soon pass in the Senate, will do away > with the annual Congressional review of China's human and labor rights > record. With China's lower labor and environmental standards U.S., > unions and their allies fear that this trade agreement will hasten > American industry's re-location to China and pit worker against worker > in a contest that will drive down wages. > > Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Thea Lee, AFL-CIO assistant > director of public policy, who assesses why the labor movement failed to > stop passage of the U.S.-China trade pact and describes the battles over > corporate globalization that lie ahead. > > Thea Lee: The business community really pulled out all the stops this > time. They spent a lot of money and applied a tremendous amount of > pressure on members of Congress and the Clinton Administration worked > hard to pass this bill. I think President Clinton saw it as part of his > legacy to show that he could deliver this bill even when labor was > opposed to it. That's a very unfortunate dynamic for Clinton to win > points by standing up to some of his best friends in the labor > community, people who got him elected and who certainly elected a lot of > Democratic members of Congress. > > But the important thing to remember in the end is that two-thirds of the > Democratic members of the House of Representatives voted "no" on > permanent normal trade relations. This was a vote that passed with the > majority of Republicans and only a third of Democrats. So there were a > lot of tensions within the Democratic party over this bill. In some > ways it has come down to a battle between business and labor for the > heart and soul of the Democratic party. > > Between The Lines: Thea Lee, could you describe for us some of the > fallout we're likely to see in terms of the results of permanent normal > trade relations with China? And if you would, go beyond the U.S. > workforce and tell us what you think will happen in China itself? I've > heard, as I'm sure you have, that playing by the World Trade > Organization rules will uproot and dislocate many American and Chinese > workers in the near future. > > Thea Lee: I think there will be ramifications all around. Certainly > American workers will feel the impact as they are put into much more > direct competition with Chinese workers who lack basic human rights, > lack the right to form a union, lack the right to use their political > voice in a democratic system, and certainly lack freedom of assembly and > freedom of the press and freedom of association. > > We already have a $70 billion trade deficit with China which grows by > almost $10 billion a year. We think that now that the pressure is off on > the multinational corporations, the Chinese government and workers' > rights front, there's very little concrete incentive for the Chinese > government to reform its workers' rights policy. There's also an impact > on Chinese workers and the people of China from WTO accession itself. > The Chinese government has to make some really deep changes in their > economy: privatizing a lot of state-owned enterprises, inviting in a lot > of foreign investment, and lowering tariffs and trade barriers for a > wide array of goods. > > We don't really know whether China will try to comply with all WTO > commitments. But if China tried to comply with half the commitments it > made, there will be a big impact. But I don't think that the Chinese > government has done a good job bringing out the appropriate transition > mechanisms -- they don't have the appropriate unemployment assistance, > retraining programs for farmers who might be displaced or workers who've > been in state-owned enterprises and don't have a lot of experience in > the job market. > > So I think there will be a pretty big disruptive impact on the Chinese > economy that hasn't been planned for. And there's a third impact as > well, which is that a lot of other developing countries are now forced > into direct competition with China, with no pressure on the worker or > human rights area. In the long run, this will be detrimental to other > developing nations if they find themselves competing with very cheap > Chinese labor where workers can't form trade unions and so on. > > Between The Lines: Now it seems that labor, environment and human rights > activists have all been on the defensive as corporations and their > allies in government retool the rules of the game for the global > economy. Is there any kind of thinking or strategy in the works that > will change that dynamic of constantly being on the defensive? > > Thea Lee: Well, that's a good question. I think part of what's hard is > that we come from a place where these (trade) institutions were built up > by governments and they say to us, "Here we are, a democratic government > established (us)." > > So we have to figure out whether we need to work to undermine or tear > down these organizations or whether we really can fix them, change them, > reform them or make them work for us. I don't think there's consensus > within the movement as to which of those directions makes more sense at > this particular moment in time. > > But, certainly here in the United States we need a Congress that's more > interested and responsive on these issues and a president that will make > it a top priority. That's something we can all do in terms of the fall > election: try to elect a much more progressive, internationalist, > worker-oriented Congress and president. So maybe that will start to make > a difference in the United States. It's been very hard (for the movement > to deal) with a conservative Republican Congress and even think about > doing anything other than defeating bad trade bills. > > Contact the AFL-CIO by calling (202) 637-5000 or visit their Web site at > http://www.aflcio.org. > Listen to this interview excerpt with Thea Lee at: > http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/lee060900.ram ; > The week's full program: http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/btl060900.ram > Between The Lines home page: http://www.btlonline.org > > AOL users: > <a HREF="http://www.www.aflcio.org">Click here!</a> to see the AFL-CIO > Web site. > <a HREF="http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/lee060900.ram">Click here</a> to > listen to Thea Lee's interview. > <a HREF="http://www.wpkn.org/wpkn/news/btl060900.ram">Click here</a> to > listen to the week's Between The Lines half-hour program. > <a HREF="http://www.btlonline.org">Click here</a> to see the Between The > Lines Web site. > (Needs RealPlayer G2, RealPlayer 7 or higher) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- > Scott Harris is WPKN Radio's public affairs director and executive > producer of Between The Lines. Between The Lines Q&A is compiled and > edited by Anna Manzo. To get details on subscribing to the radio program > or to publish this column in print or online media, contact us at > (203)544-9863 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > © Copyright 2000 Between The Lines. All rights reserved. > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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