>
>and sweatshop labor, and the myriad forms of national
>oppression that permeate this country.
>
>The attack by union leaders here can only be interpreted
>by the 103 million members of the All China Confederation
>of Workers as a hostile act. And as one of the largest
>organized union movements in the world its influence is
>immeasurable.
>
>It's a no-win, dead-end strategy. The AFL-CIO needs to
>build international labor solidarity and renew its efforts
>to rebuild the labor movement here.
>
>The fight should be against U.S. corporate globalization.
>China is not the enemy.
>
>FAIRER CAPITALIST EXPLOITATION?
>
>The shame of it all is that Teamster President James P.
>Hoffa is providing much of the leadership for the anti-
>China campaign. He has enlisted a myriad of forces led by
>Pat Buchanan--racist, anti-Semitic, anti-communist, anti-
>immigrant, anti-gay and anti-abortion.
>
>Along with other right-wing and anti-labor forces, their
>agenda has nothing in common with the welfare of the labor
>movement.
>
>Unfortunately the AFL-CIO leaders have not disavowed the
>Buchanan elements or denounced Hoffa for involving the
>Temasters in this dangerous coalition. On April 12, during
>the Washington marches and rallies against the IMF, World
>Bank and WTO, Hoffa disgraced the AFL-CIO's biggest union
>by inviting Buchanan to be a featured speaker at a separate
>rally.
>
>At a time when the labor movement is under attack--with
>more strikes being forced on it and Corporate America
>mounting increasing resistance to labor's efforts to
>organize the unorganized--this can only isolate labor from
>the growing struggle against corporate globalization, the
>IMF, World Bank and WTO.
>
>And it misleads the multinational, service-oriented,
>women, young and low-paid immigrant workers who are turning
>to the labor movement to be organized. The AFL-CIO leaders
>have put the struggles of these workers on hold as it
>pursues the anti-China policy.
>
>Politically it is a no-brainer. These union leaders have
>put together a coalition that lumps a sector of Democratic
>Party pro-capitalist politicians with right-wing and cold-
>war militarists who want to overthrow China's socialist
>system. It's a nightmare that can only come back to haunt
>the labor movement.
>
>The AFL-CIO slogan, "Wage a campaign for global fairness,"
>is going nowhere. Is there any fairness when it comes to
>corporate profits and global exploitation?
>
>Will the transnational corporations and their investment
>bankers listen to the pleas of the billions of workers who
>face hunger, disease, unemployment and all the other social
>ills? Will they accept language in their trade agreements
>that penalize them when they violate basic human and labor
>rights?
>
>The 1 percent that owns the majority of the wealth will
>continue to plunder the resources of the Third World and
>emerging markets for production and super-profits.
>
>Yet according to AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, this
>"campaign for global fairness" must be the response to make
>"the global economy work for working families." That is
>what he told the 10,000 union members rallying in
>Washington on April 12.
>
>Sweeney did expose these corporate forces in the April
>issue of America @ Work--the national magazine of the AFL-
>CIO--before the protests against the IMF and World Bank. In
>his column "Out Front" he wrote that it is wrong when "a
>global economic system rewards companies for abusing
>workers, despoiling the environment and encouraging
>government repression of basic freedoms."
>
>He continued, "Today, the same spirit of greed, and
>contempt for workers and their communities that created
>America's Rust Belts is shaping our global economy."
>
>Yes. Corporate policy has created rust belts across the
>country, decimated communities and the environment, and
>ravished the resources. The corporations have been rewarded
>with tax relief and abatements, tax write-offs on layoffs
>and plant closings, and other freebies too numerous to
>mention.
>
>It's been going on since long before China decided to
>exert its rights to Permanent Normal Trading Rights with
>the United States and to become a member of the WTO.
>
>Rust belts stem from many corporate and government
>policies. And these policies began decades ago when the
>high-tech revolution was introduced into the basic
>industries.
>
>In the giant integrated steel plants, the basic oxidizing
>furnaces replaced tens of thousands of steel workers. Mini-
>steel mills grew up, providing cheaper non-union labor.
>
>Auto, rubber and other related industrial workers were
>decimated by similar revolutionizing changes that increased
>production and speedup on assembly lines. The Big Three
>auto makers became predators in the international markets.
>
>And the process continues.
>
>Is China or an emerging Third World country to blame for
>this? Of course not. Then why has the AFL-CIO opened such a
>virulent attack on China?
>
>One fact is clear. While Sweeney and his Executive Council
>members attack Corporate America and its allies, the AFL-
>CIO has in effect an unspoken agreement that it calls the
>social contract. Implicit in the social contract are
>management-rights clauses in union contracts, which let
>these corporations shut down plants and lay off tens of
>thousands of high-paid industrial workers with impunity.
>These rights are considered untouchable and off limits to
>any negotiation.
>
>Under this social contract, workers can only bargain for
>the price of their labor power. And when their labor is no
>longer needed they are scrapped like any other commodity.
>That includes shutting down any and all of the facilities
>their labor built.
>
>The government provides the laws to assure these
>capitalist property rights, along with anti-union
>legislation.
>
>Herein lies the critical need: for the most profound
>discussion of strategy and tactics in this complex and
>difficult period of global domination by U.S. corporations
>and banks.
>
>Thirteen million members and 68 international unions make
>up the AFL-CIO. Together they constitute a powerful force--
>if they would unite to embark on an independent course that
>prepares them for the deepening of the class struggle. The
>fight for jobs, job security, organizing the unorganized
>and all the other social and economic needs must take place
>here in the citadel of the United States.
>
>How is all this to be accomplished? The first step is to
>recognize the enemy. It's not the People's Republic of
>China. The enemy is right here in the United States,
>surrounded by a population of over 250 million workers and
>oppressed people.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <002501bfc281$fa561b20$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Prominent Black paper features May 7 Day for Mumia
>Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 13:36:49 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the May 25, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>MUMIA AND MEDIA:
>PROMINENT BLACK PAPER FEATURES GARDEN RALLY
>
>By Greg Butterfield
>New York
>
>When Millions for Mumia/Inter na tional Action Center
>initiated the May 7 Day for Mumia at Madison Square Garden,
>organizers hoped it would send a strong message.
>
>A major public event for a Black political prisoner in
>such a prestigious venue, they argued, would force the
>police to react. That, in turn, would make the big-business
>media sit up and take notice, in spite of their censorship
>of Abu-Jamal's case.
>
>It would also send a message to millions of working
>people, students and labor unionists that the movement to
>win a new trial for the death-row journalist was growing
>and had broad support.
>
>When A Day for Mumia sold out three days in advance and
>6,000 people packed the Theater at Madison Square Garden
>May 7, that message was delivered.
>
>It was an important victory when the Amsterdam News--the
>Harlem-based African American weekly known and respected
>throughout the United States--carried the headline
>"Thousands cheer Mumia" on its front page May 11 with a
>color photo of Abu-Jamal.
>
>Reporter Herb Boyd wrote, "Weeks before the event, there
>was a proliferation of posters plastered around the nation
>and the city on garbage dumpsters, lamp posts and on the
>walls of abandoned buildings asking folks to `Pack the
>Theater' and `Stand up for Mumia,' and it must have been
>effective because there was hardly a vacant seat in the
>theater, and supporters alternately sat and stood for the
>endangered journalist."
>
>Boyd's article was featured on the Web site of the
>National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents
>hundreds of African-American-owned newspapers. The article
>will be reprinted and seen by millions.
>
>"It was a busy week in New York," said Larry Holmes of
>Millions for Mumia/IAC. "There was the death of Cardinal
>O'Connor and Mayor Giuliani's personal and political woes,
>both of which were national stories that affected the
>African American community.
>
>"But the Amsterdam News, the country's most prominent
>Black newspaper, chose to feature Mumia. This shows that we
>are breaking through."
>
>Another Black community paper, the Daily Challenge, ran a
>full page of stories and photos about the rally in its May
>9 edition.
>
>CAPITALIST MEDIA COVER MAY 7
>
>The capitalist media boycott of Abu-Jamal's case was
>further broken by the Madison Square Garden rally.
>
>The first cracks in the ice could be seen when the media
>were forced to cover the political prisoner's taped
>commencement speech at Antioch College in Ohio.
>
>Then police groups launched into an attack on the New York
>event. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association--chief
>defender of such criminals as the cops who killed Amadou
>Diallo--even threatened a boycott of Madison Square Garden.
>
>For the cops it was a big mistake. Momentum was with the
>May 7 rally--and just 50 off-duty cops showed up for a
>counter-protest.
>
>Their threats brought out the media, though--and most
>could not ignore the size, diversity and broad support the
>pro-Mumia rally garnered, even as they persisted in calling
>Abu-Jamal a "cop killer."
>
>Wire-service stories from the Associated Press and Reuters
>ran in the Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
>Boston Globe and other major dailies.
>
>Local television stations covered the event. So did the
>CBS affiliate from Philadelphia. Stories appeared in the
>New York Times, New York Post, Daily News and Newsday. ABC
>World News/Tonight was said to be preparing a feature.
>
>The rally was also covered by French TV, a Japanese
>magazine and other international media.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <002b01bfc282$13c3cf80$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] In occupied Kosovo: NATO, UN admit women are enslaved
>Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 13:37:32 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the May 25, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>IN OCCUPIED KOSOVO: NATO, UN ADMIT WOMEN ARE ENSLAVED
>
>By Leslie Feinberg
>
>An imperialist occupation army brings with it rape,
>prostitution, and extreme and brutal forms of oppression of
>women. This has been true throughout history.
>
>The strength of a liberation army can be directly measured
>by its role in freeing women from oppression.
>
>When the U.S. ordered the bombing war on Yugoslavia, U.S.
>and NATO leaders posed as liberators. The people of the
>Balkans knew this was a lie.
>
>Now, with the Pentagon and other NATO "peacekeepers"
>hunkered down in Kosovo, what has emerged are conditions
>that are no different from other imperialist occupations.
>Most particularly revealing of the near-colonial state that
>has been imposed on Kosovo by the United States and NATO
>are the conditions for women in the occupied territory.
>
>Rape, prostitution, brutality and murder--and the literal
>enslavement of thousands of women--are the documented
>reality in just over one year of imperialist occupation.
>
>"The sex-slave traffic in East European women, one of the
>major criminal scourges of post-communist Europe, is
>becoming a major problem in Kosovo, where porous borders,
>the presence of international troops and aid workers, and
>the lack of a working criminal-justice system have created
>almost perfect conditions for the trade," reported the
>April 24 Washington Post.
>
>This report of the nightmare condition for these women was
>admitted by the very imperialist forces that ushered in
>this lucrative profit industry: NATO occupiers, United
>Nations police officials and capitalist "aid" agency
>personnel.
>
>"The first case of sex-slave trafficking came to light in
>October--four months after NATO-led peacekeepers entered
>the province," admitted an April 24 Washington Post report.
>
>"In the last 10 years, according to women's advocacy
>groups," the article continued, "hundreds of thousands of
>women from the former Soviet republics and satellites have
>been trafficked to Western Europe, Asia and the United
>States."
>
>Recall the media hoopla, the Pepsi Cola commercials, all
>hailing the "liberation" of Eastern Europe from socialism?
>Yet last Oct. 22, UNICEF released a report on the
>plummeting standard of living for the 150 million women and
>50 million girls of Central and Eastern Europe.
>
>IMPERIALIST MILITARY OCCUPATION
>
>What has the reintroduction of the capitalist profit-
>driven economy meant for women and girls in these former
>workers' states? Widespread unemployment, loss of free
>health care and education, the rise of drug and alcohol
>abuse, and anti-woman violence. This has helped created
>fertile ground for the emergence of a large-scale
>prostitution industry.
>
>What created the conditions for Kosovo to be the hub of a
>sex-slave industry?
>
>"Kosovo, which had some local prostitution but no
>trafficking problem before the peacekeepers arrived after
>the Kosovo war ended last June, is just another new
>market," officials said.
>
>According to a few women lucky enough to escape their
>confinement, the Post noted, "Peacekeeping troops--
>including Americans--also were customers."
>
>The women and girls--some in their early teens--are lured
>with lies or outright kidnapped from Moldavia, Ukraine,
>Bulgaria and Romania. They are reportedly robbed of their
>passports.
>
>The Post referred to a report, recently released in
>France, that the women are frequently taken to slave-
>breaking stations in Albania where they are repeatedly
>raped and beaten in an attempt to crush their spirit.
>
>Although many people forced into prostitution are paid
>very little, these women are literally held as chattel.
>
>"These women have been reduced to slavery," conceded Col.
>Vincenzo Coppola, commander of the national police in
>Kosovo.
>
>Who is profiting? According to the Washington Post report,
>the women and girls "were transported along a well-
>established organized-crime network from their East
>European homelands to Macedonia, which borders Kosovo to
>the south. There, they were held in motels and sold at
>auction to ethnic Albanian pimps for $1,000 to $2,500.
>
>"The pimps work under the protection of major crime
>figures in Kosovo, officials said, including some with
>links to the former anti-Serbian rebel force, the Kosovo
>Liberation Army."
>
>Liberation army? The KLA began as a mercenary force
>covertly armed and uniformed by Germany and the United
>States. Even the New York Times--an avowed enemy of the
>Yugoslav government--reported March 28 that many of the
>leaders of the KLA trace their roots to a fascist unit set
>up by the Italian occupiers during World War II.
>
>The KLA's stated aim is an "ethnically pure," Albanian-
>only Kosovo. KLA leaders insisted on the U.S.-NATO
>occupation of the multi-ethnic province of Yugoslavia.
>
>That's under whose protection these crime bosses work. No
>industry can function in Kosovo today without U.S.-NATO
>approval and collusion.
>
>What has the Pentagon-NATO war of bloodshed brought to the
>Balkans? Ethnic peace? The post-war military occupation has
>provided the cover for murderous pogroms against Serbs, Rom
>and other peoples in Kosovo.
>
>Freedom and democracy? Ask the women and girls being sold
>on the auction block for NATO armies and KLA crime bosses.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
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