Subject:
[PEN-L:17621] Seattle II
Date:
Fri, 31 Mar 2000 17:24:02 -0500
From:
Richardson_D <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To:
pen-l <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Hi --
> We are writing to ask for your ONE-TIME SUPPORT FOR A MAJOR
DEMONSTRATION
> ON APRIL 16 IN WASHINGTON, DC, against the IMF and World Bank. If you
> contribute, your name and address will not become part of a "list."
We
> will not share your name and address with other organizations. PLEASE
> FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
>
> David Schlein, National Vice President
> American Federation of Government Employees
>
> Robert L. Clark, Secretary-Treasurer
> United Electrical, Machine, and Radio Workers
>
> The Alliance for Global Justice is acting as the fiscal sponsor for
the
> April 16th Coalition. Please donate on-line at
> http://www.a16.org/form_support.html, Or by check, made out to
> Mobilization for Global Justice/AGJ, 1247 E Street SE, Washington DC
> 20003.
>
> THE MOVEMENT FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC JUSTICE HAD ITS U.S. COMING-OUT PARTY
IN
> SEATTLE. The movement that came to light with the World Trade
> Organization (WTO) meetings - the movement all of us have been
building -
> will have its next big opportunity to demand that people be put ahead
of
> profits in Washington, DC, the home of the International Monetary Fund
> (IMF) and World Bank, the rule-makers for the global economy.
>
> WTO head Mike Moore is expected to join World Bank President James
> Wolfensohn, new IMF head Horst Koehler, and the Finance Ministers and
> heads of Central Banks who make up the governing body of the IMF on
> Sunday, April 16. This is one of the routine high-level meetings
> dedicated to making the world safer and more profitable for
corporations -
> and more dangerous for the planet and its people. The formal joint
> meetings continue April 17.
>
> ORGANIZATIONS FROM AROUND THE U.S., AND AROUND THE WORLD, ARE MAKING
PLANS
>
> TO COME TO WASHINGTON to tell the economic decision-makers that we are
not
> going to close our eyes to their actions. Please see the list at
> http://www.a16.org. We know that the injustices of the global economy
> were not born with the WTO, and are hardly the sole responsibility of
the
> WTO. The IMF and World Bank, more than any other institutions, are
the
> coercive powers which have shaped the present global economy, and
which
> gave birth to the WTO in the first place.
>
> The reason that the Seattle mobilization was so effective was
that
> labor stood with the direct action folks, if not alongside, at least
near
> by. The result was a story that could not be relegated to the back
pages
> or the cutting room floor. The purpose of April 16 is to re-unite
this
> coalition. Therefore the AFL-CIO together with the American
Federation of
> Government Employees (AFGE), United Electrical Workers (UE), United
Steel
> Workers (USWA) and the central labor councils of Washington DC, San
> Francisco, and San Jose, are sponsoring a legal Rally and March for
Global
> Justice.
>
> A week of activities is being planned, including
> Sunday April 9, Jubilee 2000/USA mobilization for debt cancellation
> Wednesday April 12, AFL-CIO lobbying day against China most favored
nation
> Saturday April 15, Latin America/Caribbean Solidarity Conference
> Sunday April 16, Two Main Events:
> Legal Rally and March for Global Justice
> Direct Action for Global Justice
> The schedule for the direct action will not be final until April 15.
The
> Legal Demo will assemble on The Ellipse, between the White House and
the
> Washington Monument, at 11:00 AM on April 16, 2000. The tentative
> schedule is
> 11:00 Music and cultural events
> 12:00 Speakers, with a song or two
> 1:30 March
> 3:30 Return to Ellipse, more talk, a few songs.
> 5:00 Disperse to numerous receptions and SpokesCouncil
> April 18
> 11:00 - 1:00 Rally on the Ellipse
>
> Invited speakers include Members of Congress Dennis Kucinich and
Cynthia
> McKinney, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, AFGE President Bobby
Harnage, UE
> Secretary-Treasurer Robert L. Clark, Michael Moore, Amy Goodman, DSA's
> Horace Small, TransAfrica's Randall Robinson, Philippines Freedom from
> Debt leader Matet, India's Vanetta Gupta, South Africa's Dennis
Brutus,
> Kensington Welfare Rights' Cheri Honkala, and Public Citizen's Ralph
> Nader.
>
> Please donate on-line at http://www.a16.org/form_support.html.
>
> Many of the organizations that played leading roles in organizing the
> Seattle demonstrations -- Direct Action Network, the Ruckus Society,
> Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network, and others -- are
organizing
> for April 16 in Washington. Caravans are being planned from as far
away
> as the West Coast and even from Winnipeg, Canada. Experienced
activists
> from dozens of organizations have formed the Alliance for Global
Justice
> coalition with 10 working groups (e.g., communications, logistics,
> outreach, labor, more being
> are added all the time) that have been meeting regularly and making
> concrete plans.
>
> WE WILL BE SHOWING THAT U.S. ACTIVISTS KNOW ABOUT THE IMPACT OF WORLD
BANK
> AND IMF PROGRAMS and stand in solidarity to demand an end to the
> devastation they cause not only in the global South, but also here in
> America. Our partner organizations around the world have challenged
these
> destructive
> policies in the streets for years. Time and again they have asked us
what
> we in the U.S. are doing to help them. The strong showing made in
Seattle
> on behalf of the world's victims of savage corporate globalization
gave a
> new impetus to the movement for economic justice - both here and
abroad.
>
> Please donate on-line at http://www.a16.org/form_support.html.
>
> The events in Seattle continue to reverberate through the corporate
> boardrooms and the halls of power. PRESIDENT CLINTON, speaking to the
> heads of the world's richest transnational corporations in Davos,
> Switzerland told them, "We cannot pretend that globalization is just
about
> economics."
>
> The Washington Post in its coverage of Clinton's Davos speech opined:
> "Clinton's remarks seemed designed as a reminder that these fears -
even
> expressed in unwelcome and sometimes violent ways, as they were in
Seattle
> - have a legitimacy that deserves attention in the world's executive
> suites and government ministries." Of course the violence was almost
> entirely police violence, but the Washington Post and the New York
Times
> are the keepers of "official reality," and in official reality it is
> always the protesters who are violent.
>
> It is vital that the rulers of the world's economic system understand
> clearly that Seattle was not a one-shot event and that now they can
return
> to business as usual. They must understand as well that the WTO, in
> itself,
> is not the issue. The issue is the rules that promote profits over
the
> needs of people and the environment.
>
> AFL-CIO PRESIDENT JOHN SWEENEY, also in Davos, told the corporate
> big-wigs, "Understand the message of Seattle ... It was a call for
new
> global rules, democratically developed. Workers North and South
marched
> together. And the many different voices made one clear statement:
> Fundamental reform is needed." On April 16 we will let them know that
> fundamental change does not mean renaming their programs or other
public
> relations scams. Fundamental reform means rules that empower the
people
> of the world to make the
> decisions about how they live their lives - not the transnational
CEO's or
> their purchased political leaders.
>
> Sweeney also warned them, "If the global system continues to generate
> growing inequality, environmental destruction and a race to the bottom
for
> working people, then it will generate an increasingly volatile
reaction
> that will make Seattle look tame."
>
> Sweeney's prediction is actually a description of events going on
right
> now. We are not much aware of them because they do not often get
> mentioned in our media. The Zapatista uprising in Mexico, the recent
coup
> in Ecuador, the civil war in the Congo, the turmoil in Indonesia, and
the
> threat of the U'Wa people to commit mass suicide, are all expressions
of
> the social explosion that has arisen from the desperation caused by
the
> policies of the World Bank, IMF, and their corporate directors.
>
> We are posting this message because WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT, BOTH MORAL
AND
> MATERIAL. We need to know that you support this movement and these
> actions. And we need your financial contributions to make it all
> possible. We need to raise at least $50,000 between now and April 16.
> Publicity and outreach
> cost money. We need a stage and sound system, phones and office
space.
> We need transportation subsidies for students and the disadvantaged.
Many
> organizations are donating staff, copying, phones, postage, etc. to
the
> effort, but it is not enough. We need your help.
>
> WE CANNOT LET THIS MEETING TAKE PLACE IN SECRET. Government officials
> paving the way for corporate profits - all the while claiming to work
for
> development and poverty reduction - must be put on notice: The people
> power demonstrated in Seattle will not die. We demand global economic
> justice for all. Now!
>
> WE KNOW THAT CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION IS NO ACCIDENT. The rules that
allow
> multinational corporations to plunder resources, devastate ecosystems,
> exploit workers, and require policies that prioritize their profits
are
> made in meetings of Finance Ministers, Treasury officials, and Trade
> Ministers. Although the officials making these decisions represent
> governments, many of them formally democratic, their blueprint is one
of
> corporate empowerment. They just assume the people will accept that
> greater profits for corporations will mean a better future for us all.
>
> MASSIVE DEMONSTRATIONS OF OPPOSITION TO THAT AGENDA at economic
summits in
> Vancouver, Birmingham (UK), Cologne, Geneva, and most recently and
> importantly Seattle have shown that many, many people do not accept
this
> logic. This April we will continue to bring this message to the
> decision-makers as they convene on US soil, making sure they
understand
> that resistance to their agenda is truly global.
>
> We need your support, both moral and material. We need to know that
you
> support this movement and these actions. And we need your financial
> contributions to make it all possible. We need to raise at least
$50,000
> between now and April 16. Publicity and outreach cost money. We need
a
> stage and sound system, phones and office space. We need
transportation
> subsidies for students and the disadvantaged. Many organizations are
> donating staff, copying, phones, postage, etc. to the effort, but it
is
> not enough. We need your help. And please show up on April 16.THIS
NEW
> CHALLENGE HAS INSPIRED AND ENERGIZED the Alliance for Global Justice.
> Three weeks before the event, we are all pitching in. We urge you to
> support this
> landmark event in the history of the worldwide movement for economic
> justice by helping to support the many added expenses involved with
this
> mobilization.
>
> PLEASE PLAN TO COME TO WASHINGTON IN APRIL! We'll be putting together
a
> week of teach-ins, training, and popular actions in advance of the big
> protest on April 16.
>
> Sunday April 9, Jubilee 2000/USA mobilization for debt cancellation
> Wednesday April 12, AFL-CIO lobbying day against China most favored
nation
> Saturday April 15, Latin America/Caribbean Solidarity Conference
> Sunday April 16, Two Main Events:
> Legal Rally and March for Global Justice
> Direct Action for Global Justice
>
> The Alliance for Global Justice is acting as the fiscal sponsor for
the
> April 16th Coalition. Please donate on-line at
> http://www.a16.org/form_support.html.
> Or by check, made out to Mobilization for Global Justice/AGJ, 1247 E
> Street
> SE, Washington DC 20003.
>
> Your donation is tax deductible. Please be as generous as you can for
> this
> one-time request.
>
> In Solidarity,
>
> David Schlein, National Vice President
> American Federation of Government Employees
>
> Robert L. Clark, Secretary-Treasurer
> United Electrical, Machine, and Radio Workers
>
> P.S. To stay informed on the organizing efforts -- and to get further
> involved -- subscribe to our e-mail listserv by sending a blank
message
> from
> your account to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
visit
> the coalition website at http://www.a16.org.
>
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