FW/FW-L Worker consultation (fwd)
From: MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 21:11:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: EU to make firms consult workers on business plans THE European Commission will prepare the way today for a new law under the social chapter that would require all but the smallest firms to consult their employees on future policy and would render void any sackings without such action. The move, which would greatly extend an existing law that covers large multinational companies, is aimed at bringing Britain and Ireland into line with continental practice which requires firms to operate works councils. The Government has criticised the idea as an unnecessary burden on business but, under the social chapter, which Britain is joining in the Treaty of Amsterdam, any opposition could be overruled by a majority vote. The Commission's decision comes as ministers meet in Brussels today to prepare for the European Union "jobs summit" later this month at which Britain will press for easing the burden of regulations on employers. Tony Blair has been urging EU leaders to refrain from using the social chapter to pass new laws that could inflict more red tape on business. Britain has already signed up to laws on parental leave, the rights of part-time workers and shifting the burden of proof in sexual discrimination cases. The proposed law on consultation will test the Government's commitment to improved workers' rights against the potentially conflicting drive for more flexible labour regulation. Under the rules of the social chapter, the Commission will give EU employers' organisations and unions six weeks to decide whether to negotiate their own version of a consultation law. Failing this, Padraig Flynn, the Social Affairs Commissioner, will submit a draft law for the member states to enact. In an initial discussion this summer, employers resisted the scheme and unions favoured it. Two pieces of legislation have already been enacted through agreement between the social partners, as the employers and unions are called. British officials said yesterday that Government favoured such negotiations as the best route for drafting the proposed consultation law. However, when the idea was first mooted last June, Downing Street said: "We are not in favour of new regulation in this area." The legislation is intended to curb "social dumping", in which "companies shop around for places that have low requirements in industrial relations", an EU official said. Britain, with its low employment costs, is deemed on the Continent to be the worst "offender". A commission document released today says the proposed law would provide equal treatment for all workers across the EU "to avoid discrimination and to ensure greater compatibility between national provisions". It must enshrine "the right of workers to be informed and consulted ... on the economic situation and the future outlook of the company and on any decisions likely to affect them". This is intended to benefit workers and companies by improving morale and helping staff to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Mr Flynn wants the law to have teeth in the form of penalties against firms that flout the legal obligation to consult. Public pressure on the Commission for such action has come from highly publicised cases of factory closure, notably a decision by the vehicle manufacturer Renault to sack 2,000 workers at its plant in Brussels earlier this year. The main proposed penalty would be to annul dismissal notices or any other decisions affecting the conditions of employment. The Commission is not formally setting the size of company that will come under the law, but Mr Flynn has cited a minimum of 50 employees as a desirable target. Under the existing multinational law, which is deemed by many British companies to have been beneficial, only firms employing at least 2,000 workers in two or more member states are required to set up works councils. The Commission insists that the new scheme should allow for a less formal structure than works councils. ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. **
FW/FW-L Overproduction as a root problem (fwd)
November 16, 1997 Global Good Times, Meet the Global Glut By LOUIS UCHITELLE President Clinton's failure last week to persuade Congress to give him freedom to negotiate trade deals reflected skepticism among Americans about the benefits of a global economy -- not only free trade, but an entire system that allows money, factories and jobs to move anywhere. Domestic politics, of course, played a big role in the president's decision to retreat when he failed to muster enough votes for passage. But the skepticism is not limited to politicians jockeying for the next election, or union officials charging that jobs are going south. The worriers are often the very business executives and international investors who built today's global economy and now fear that it might backfire. There IS something to worry about. The Asian financial turmoil may be the first stage of a developing worldwide crisis driven mainly by a phenomenon called overcapacity: the tendency of the unfettered global economy to produce more cars, toys, shoes, airplanes, steel, paper, appliances, film, clothing and electronic devices than people will buy at high enough prices. "There is excess global capacity in almost every industry," Jack Welch, chairman of General Electric, said in a recent interview in The Financial Times of London. The problem arises because the global economy sucks businesses into building too many factories. Allied Signal, for example, a multinational corporation based in Morristown, N.J., built a polyester plant in Longlaville, France, in 1993 and expanded it last year. The polyester, used in nylon carpets and tire cords, is sold in France and shipped across open borders to customers everywhere in the region. But a group in South Korea, an emerging industrial nation seeking to be a big player in many major industries, opened a polyester plant in Korea recently. Taking advantage of open borders, the Koreans are shipping their polyester into Europe and other countries, grabbing away customers and market share by offering lower prices. And the customers, offered more polyester than they need, have encouraged a price war. Price wars, up to a point, are good for consumers. The inflation rate in the United States has fallen in part because of global overcapacity, and business people everywhere complain that they can't raise prices. "That is what overcapacity means," said Peter L. Bernstein, an economic consultant. The danger is that at some point this house of cards must tumble down. In an open-border global economy nearly every car manufacturer, for example, is trying to have a presence in every market. But when all the factories crank out more cars than people can buy, down come car prices. Down go the profits of car companies. Out go the workers. And down go the number of people who can afford to buy cars. Economies can spiral downward toward recession, or worse. That is what is beginning to happen in Asia now. East Asia has been the main source of the world's overcapacity in recent years. Since 1991, countries like Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have accounted for half the growth in world output, primarily manufacturing, according to David Hale, chief global economist for the Zurich Insurance Group. The financing for this new production often came from international investors moving huge sums across borders. They frequently borrowed the money at low interest rates in Japan and the United States and then invested in booming Asia in expectation of earning a high return. Money borrowed at 1 or 2 percent a year in Japan might typically pay 8 to 10 percent invested in Asia. Chunks of this money inevitably went not into factories but into speculation. Borrowers defaulted. And as the hoped-for big returns failed to materialize, fear grew, first in Thailand, that money invested in that country's currency, the baht, would not earn enough to pay debts incurred in dollars or yen. There was a run on the baht last summer, which spread to stock prices and to other Asian financial markets. The factories -- the new capacity -- remained intact, but the millions of Asians counted on to be customers pulled back. In their place, the energetic consumers in the world's richest country, the United States, have become the targeted buyers for much of the unsold Asian output. And as imports from the region rise (they have risen only slightly so far) there is downward pressure on prices in the United States and on the wages of workers who make products that compete with the imports. Just the threat of an Asian alternative produces this downward pressure, some economists argue. The global economy appears, in effect, to be capable of self-destruction. That is the view of William Greider, a journalist who writes extensively on economics and whose recent book, "One World, Ready Or Not" (Simon & Schuster), has made him a principal voice among those who point to the dangers of an unregulat
FW/FW-L T+Re the Jobs Letter from New Zealand
The Jobs Letter, which has been available to us gratis, needs to make a new arrangement--one that I think is more than fair-- as follows: re: the Jobs Letter > >We are going to have to change our policy of having the >latest Jobs Letter freely available on the Futurework list ... >this is because we are encouraging more NZ'ers to use your list, >and we don't want to cut into our own income sources which >predominantly comes from people subscribing to us. >People can easily get around this and get the information free >of charge when they get the email version off the Futurework >list. > >So (SallY)... can I ask that you not copy future letters in their >entireity to the FW-List in the future. >I am happy if you want to snip extracts out of it now and then. >and am happy for you to do this at your own discretion. > >I am also happy to send the whole letter direct to any FW'er >overseas directly out policy on this is that the letter is >available to international friends and colleagues on an >"exchange of information" basis and on the understanding that >the Letter is not re-posted to New Zealand... this again is >because we need the paid subscriptions from our New Zealand >colleagues in order to pay our way. > >International FW'er can register with us at > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/register.htm > >or just send us an email request and we will put them on our >free distribution list. > >Also, FW'ers can get our back issues and key papers at > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/ > >Our website resources are available freely to anyone >with access to the internet. >The most recent three months of Jobs Letter issues, >however, will only be available to subscribers. > >--- >
futurewor-digest@scribe.uwaterloo.ca
>>To:fw >>From:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Andre Joyal) >>Subject:FW Re: Where are we being taken? >>Bcc:maza2 >> >>>I've been off the list for awhile and have been trying to catch up. But I'm >>>puzzled, even a little lost. Among other things, the list is into "die >>>offs", "evolutionary politics", destroying monopolies by email, and being >>>goosed in the fog by the invisible hand which turns out to be a dog. Am I >>>alone in wondering where we are going? >>> >>>Ed Weick >> >>I might ask the same question Ed. >> >>I am back to the list after having been away for six months because, >>amongst other things, of two different stays in Brazil (I could see but >>not visit your favela in S. P.). Somehow, I must say I am pleased with >>what I can read once again. Like everybody, I am being suggested to >>subscribe to new interesting lists every week. I keep faithfull to two >>lists: this list and a list on rural development. Thanks to both, I can >>always learn something I am interested in. >> >>As of late, on our list, I had the pleasure of reading a few posts on >>volontary simplicity. This topic and social economy are those I wrote my >>first posts about. It was fun to read friendly Charles Muller refering to >>his basic economics courses to support *demand side* economics. >> >>It reminded me of a lecture I gave on volontary simplicity 15 years ago. >>During the questions period, a woman raised exactly the same question: >>would it not be better to consume more and more in order to create jobs. >>Given, at the time, we were plagued with stagflation it was easy for me to >>respond that the macroeconomy course I was used to teach since the late 60 >>was partly if not totally wrong. Otherwise, auto makers should built cars >>with a two-year life expectancy... it would be good for creating jobs, of >>course by assuming, like we use to do with neoclassical economy, there is >>no robots... >> >>Given you are back from Brazil, why don't you provide us information on >>the current economic situation? What do you thing of the package deal >>Cardoso was forced to push forward in order to cope with South-Asia stocks >>market situation? >> >>BFN >> >>Andre' Joyal >> >>BTW, beautiful Winter downhere. Much pleasant temperature than the one I >>had to stand in Manaus a month ago... >>
FW/fw-l Basic Income for China?
>From a Wall Street Journal article (Toronto Globe and Mail, Jan 1/98) discussing the slowdown in Chinese economic growth: "China's growth slows, casting pall on reforms" by Kathy Chen (WSJ) "Slower growth-8% in '98, 7.7% in '99) could hamper Beijing's plans to overhaul its ailing state sector and streamline its bloated government bureaucracy within three to five years, economists said. A high-growth economy is essential to absorb the surge in layoffs that is expected to ensue from such reforms. Already, some 12 million workers have left jobs at state-run enterprises in exchange for a monthly minimum living allowance, according to state data." To generate jobs for this growing army of unemployed, '9-per-cent growth or a little higher would be best,' said Fan Gang, director of the private Chinese Reform FRoundatiomn in Beijing."
FW/fw-l Book Review of "Multilateral Agreement on Investment"fwd
>Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 16:37:59 -0500 >From: Eric Fawcett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: s4p all lists <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Book Review of "Multilateral Agreement on Investment" >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk > >Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII >Content-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >From: Rose Dyson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Book Review of MAI > >THE MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENT > AND THE THREAT TO CANADIAN SOVEREIGNTY > by Tony Clarke and Maude Barlow > (Stoddart 1997, 206 pages, $19.95) > > Corporate invasion into the lives of ordinary people is nothing new >but the incredible pace at which it is accelerating is clearly illustrated >in this probing analysis of the latest and most wide sweeping of global >investment treaties ever contemplated. Written by Tony Clarke, director of >the Polaris Institute of Canada and chair of the committee on corporations >for the International Forum on Globalization and Maude Barlow, national >volunteer chair of the Council of Canadians, it is required reading for >everyone committed to the preservation of our basic freedoms and >fundamental rights. > The Multilateral Agreement on Investment was drafted by the 29 >industrial countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and >Development (OECD) for the purpose of establishing rules for all global >investors. Approval in principle is expected in May, 1998. > Few ordinary Canadians, Europeans, Americans or other citizens of the >global community who will be drastically affected by it are even aware of >its existence. What it amounts to is a global charter of rights for >transnational corporations with Canadian government officials among its >most ardent promoters. > The book is a tool for public education on how this Agreement is a >systematic attack on democratic governments at all levels - national, >provincial and municipal. For the first time in history, corporations will >be granted equal legal standing with nation states along with access to >domestic courts. They will be able to challenge any legislation such as >labour laws, copyright protection, environmental regulations, Canadian >content rules - literally anything that would be seen to be contrary to >the interests of foreign investment. > Barlow is no stranger to the pernicious spread of corporate rule. She >helped to spearhead citizen opposition to the U.S./Canada Free Trade >Agreement, followed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). >Having closely monitored both the promises that preceded these agreements >and the dismal outcomes which followed, she is in a unique position to, >once again, help mobilize Canadian opposition to this assault on our >economic, human and democratic rights. > The authors give us a brief historical review of events leading up to >the birth of the MAI. Since World War II, several United Nations Human >Rights Covenants, Declarations and Conventions have been adopted, such as >the one on the Rights of the Child in 1990. All of these have contributed >to Canada's social programs and transformation into a "social" nation >state with a regulatory framework to protect our resources, culture and >social programs. Other developing nations have followed suit. > Parallel to this process, Clarke and Barlow explain, additional >trends were launched by the financial elites of the world involving >economic globalization with a different vision for humanity. These began >in 1944 with the Bretton Wood institutions. Plans for post war recovery >which gave rise to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, >apart from stated goals for alleviation of poverty, included an underlying >mandate for expansion and integration of a global financial system and >market mirrored on the U.S. economic model. > In the 1970's pressure from developing nations resulted in a Code of >Conduct enshrined in the United Nations Charter of Economic Rights and >Duties of States which gave member nations the "inalienable right" to >regulate and exercise authority over foreign investment. > Conversely, at about the same time a global forum for CEOs called >the "Trilateral Commission", now known as the "Washington Consensus", met >to discuss what records show was referred to as "an excess of democracy". >Since then, the collapse of communism has fuelled the ideology that puts >the needs of capital and transnational corporations ahead of the needs and >rights of nation states and their citizens. > Chilling statistics in the book, gathered by the United Nations, >underscore the urgency of the problem. Twenty years ago there were 7,000 >transnational corporations in the world. Today there are more than 40,000. >The top 200 have annual sales which are larger than the combined economies >of 182 of the 191 countries in the world. > Up unt
FW New book (fwd)
Sorry for the bad format - it arrived this way. Sally Date: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 06:16:02 MST Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: PROGRESSIVE SOCIOLOGISTS NETWORK <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: PSN digest 1199 Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Barbara Chasin: A Review of her Work FROM THE LEFT Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Those of you who teach or research in violence and/or inequality will find Chasin's new book: Inequality and Violence in the United States: Casualties of Capitalism, HUMANITIES PRESS, 191 pp. a most valuable resource. In Chapter 1, Chasin provides both anecdotal and systematic evidence of the growing violence in America. Table 1.2 compares interpersonal violence in Advanced Capitalist nations.. As you might expect, the USA is No. 1! 3 times as much homicide as Finland 4 times as much as Canada 6 times as much as Sweden 12 times as much as Switzerland, Japan, Denmark Germany or France Table 1.3 is most valuable; it compares STRUCTURAL violence between the same countries: The USA is No. 1 in INFANT MORTALITY RATES These rates are better than the Dow-Jones Stock market average as index to quality of life in the USA The USA is No. 1 in AIDs Rate The USA is No. 1 in use of pesticides The USA is No. 1 in Road Accident rates The USA is No. 1 in Sulfur/Nitrogen Emissions.. Alas Canada has beaten us out...poor Canada. The USA regains No. 1 position in Hazardous Waste Production. Chapter 2. Surveys rates and trends of Class inequality: Bad News... 10% of the population own 80%+ of the wealth Table 2.3 reports on trends: inequality increases from 1973 to 1993 A special section on BUREAUCRACY AND VIOLENCE is of special interest Chapter 3. Looks at Street Crime from gangs and drugs to speeding cars that run down kids. Chasin makes the most important point that it is not Blackness and Violence which go together in street crime; it is blackness, violence in a racist society with segregated job markets, segregated schools and segregated communities which account for difference in arrest and imprisonment rates... Chasin makes the point that joblessness and street crime go together; not race and street crime. [Note: if we count corporate, white collar and political crime in our analysis of crime rates, the connection between race and crime reverses...corporate crime is committed mostly by whites as is white collar crime and political crime... Again, it is class inequality which accounts for the tight correlation between whiteness and crime...if Blacks were at the top of the class structure, they too would be No. 1...TRYoung] Chapter 4. Looks at Racial and Gender Violence. Table 4.1 tells us that class inequality drives up domestic violence; if we want a lot of domestic violence, we can increase the number of poor families...the rate is 6 times that of lower middle class families. Table 4.2 tells us that we can increase rates of rape by increasing poverty among women... Barbara counts the violence done by Hate Groups and by Police as street violence... ...most crim books do not. Chapter 5. Developes the concept of Structural Violence done to workers and the Unemployed. [I use the concept of the 'Disemployed' rather than 'Unemployed.' TRY] Chapter 6. Examines Structural Violence in the Health Care [sic] System. Chapter 7. Connects the Circle between Interpersonal and Structural Violence with Militarism a central catalyst. [Others supplement her analysis with comment on modelling violence on TV, in sports and in News Reportage.] Chapter 8. Offers some ideas on Reducing the Casualties. Chasin calls for class struggle, affirmative action in race and gender. This is a great starting point for Marxist, Feminist, Progressive, Humanist and/o
FW/fw-l Excerpts from The Jobs Letter
>From the latest Jobs Letter (see sub info at end) THE JUDAS ECONOMY * A new book by a senior staff member of Business Week is grabbing attention in the executive bookshelves, if only because its writer is accusing western business leaders of selling out its own working class. William Wolman is the chief economist at Business Week and is the co-writer of "The Judas Economy: Triumph of Capital and the Betrayal of Work". The book argues that there is no historical evidence that sacrificing growth for lower inflation is worth the price we pay in stunted growth, lost jobs and stagnated pay. Even if there was such evidence, it says that the policies still amount to a deliberate sacrifice of the interests of people who earn their living from work, in favour of the interests of investors. Wolman says that, since the collapse of communism, business leaders in the west have unhooked their traditional partnership with workers. And he points out that as capital relentlessly chases the lowest costs, "knowledge work" is becoming no more sacrosanct than the industrial work it replaced. His example: Bangalore in India, which is fast becoming a powerhouse of international computer software development. Because of its enormous cost advantages, Bangalore is capturing thousands of jobs a year that would otherwise belong to "knowledge workers" in the developed world. Wolman: "Western capital is no longer wed to the idea that western labour -- even well-educated labour -- has to be a partner in the brave new world of twenty-first century capitalism..." "The Judas Economy: Triumph of Capital and the Betrayal of Work" by William Wolman and Anne Colamosca (pub Addison Wesley) F E A T U R E -- 35HR WORK WEEK -- Less work, More jobs ? * With French youth rioting over the New Year, and their unemployed and homeless occupying unemployment offices across the country, attention is focussing on PM Jospin's historic decision to introduce the 35-hr week (without a loss of pay) as one of his major strategies to combat unemployment. His plan to cut working hours is to become legally obligatory in all workplaces of more than 10 employees on 1st January 2000. * But Jospin faces a huge backlash from French employers who are unhappy at the costs they will be paying for the reduced working hours. Ernest-Antoine Seilliere, of the French employers' organisation CNPF says that employers should boycott any nationwide labour talks and labour protection organisations that threatened "one cent more in costs." Seilliere describes the financial incentives planned by French Employment Minister Martine Aubry to encourage employers to shorten working hours and take on more workers as a plan to "partly nationalise businesses". He has advised employers to "harass the administrative and political decision-makers, who have all the means to do what they like, to make them aware of the diversity of companies and the enormous problems posed by the 35-hour plan..." * Paul Krugman, American economist and author of the 1994 US bestseller, Peddling Prosperity, has criticised the French 35-hr week plan as based on propositions that that still need much more debate. Writing on the electoral success of Lionel Jospin's socialists in the French election, Krugman observes: "Sooner than anyone might have expected, a radical economic doctrine has emerged from obscurity to become, in principle at least, the official ideology of a major advanced nation's government..." Krugman has dubbed this new socialist economic path the "doctrine of global glut". He says it is based on three "fallacious but widely believed propositions": 1. That global productive capacity is growing at an exceptional, perhaps unprecedented rate; 2. That demand in advanced countries cannot keep up with the growth in potential supply; and 3. That the growth of newly emerging economies will contribute much more to global supply than to global demand. Krugman believes that such doctrines, in economics and elsewhere, often fail to get adequately discussed in their early stages. He calls for more discussion on the "global glut" before it becomes "a dogma impervious to logic and evidence..." Krugman: "In the formative stages of a doctrine, both the intellectual and the political establishment tend to regard them as unworthy of notice. Meanwhile, the doctrines can seem compelling to large numbers of people, some of whom have considerable political clout, financial resources or both. By the time it becomes apparent that such influential ideas -- say, supply-side economics -- demand serious attention after all, reasoned argument has become very difficult. People have become invested emotionally, politically, and financially in the doctrine, careers and even institutions have been built on it, and its proponents can no longer allow themselves to contemplate the possibility that they have taken a wrong turn..." * Our Media Watch reports success stories of the 35-hr wor
FW/fw-l union research job in Oregon (fwd)
>Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 01:47:30 EST >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Glafer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: union research job in Oregon >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by csf.Colorado.EDU id >XAA04700 >Status: U > >The Oregon Education Association -- state branch of the NEA, representing > > 97% of Oregon school teachers -- is looking to hire a Research Director. This > is an opportunity for someone to get in on the ground floor and help develop > an effective research capacity for a union that has not really had one to > date. > > The union has not had a research director to date, so this person would > > be helping to create the job as they go, working together with the state > > director. > > > > The union's research needs are primarily to support negotiations with > > local boards of education; there are approximately 90 contracts which come > > up for renewal each year, and while not all of these require research support, > > many do. The research director will work closely with the OEA state director, > > and with the union's 30-person field staff. Beyond supporting contract > > bargaining, there will also be some work developing legislative initiatives > > and supporting lobbying efforst in the Oregon legislature. For this reason, > and to work with the organizers, this job requires excellent communication > schools. > > > > The salary for this job is $54,000-$86,000, depending on experience. > > The job is based in Portland and includes use of a car as well as generous > > benefits. > > > > If anyone is interested in this possibility, please feel free to contact this > address, or to give me a call at 541-346-2786. > > > Thanks, > > > Gordon Lafer > Labor Education and Research Center > University of Oregon > > >
FW/fw-l Employment and the "Economic Miracle" (fwd)
I made a print copy of this one - don't want to lose it or forget about it. Canadians too need to hear this, loud and clear. Sally >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:17:07 -0800 >Reply-To: Caspar Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Caspar Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Employment and the Economic Miracle >X-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Status: U > >Dear friends, > >Brian Grant sent me the following article, which I thought you might like >to see. It has finally begun to explain for me the US "economic miracle" of >low unemployment: they have rolled back 150 years of social progress and >made wage slaves cheaper than machines (or actual slaves, who have to be >cared for and supported even in old age) would be. Also the 1.8 million >people in jail* >are not considered unemployed, nor are the 1.5 million in the military. > >Simon Legree is alive and well in South Carolina. > > >Caspar Davis > >* This is the highest per capita incarceration rate in history. > > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Progressive Economists' Network) >Subject: AUT: AMERICA All work, low pay (fwd) > >For those unfamiliar with Australian industrial relations history, "the awards" >referred to at the end of the article are industry-wide standards of pay and >working conditions (I gather something similar once held in New Zealand also). >Traditionally these awards were ratified (and often arbitrated) by State-level >or Federal-level industrial courts after negotiations between employer and >union bodies - more and more, they are being pared back to very minimum >criteria, with the emphasis being shifted to workplace and/or individual >contracts . . . > >Steve > > >Subject: Sydney Morning Herald: AMERICA All work, low pay From: Paul >Canning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 23:22:20 +1100 >(EST) > >AMERICA > >Saturday, December 27, 1997 > >All work, low pay > >The deregulated, no-union, zero-employment economy of the United States is >seen by some Australian employers and politicians as a model for this >country. But as ADELE HORIN travelled America, she found the downside - an >army of worn-out, exploited working poor. > >"GETTING a job is easy," says Rose Scott. "It's getting the pay you want >that's hard - $7 an hour is the most I've ever made." A small, blonde, shy >woman in her 30s, Scott is talking in the office of the Adecco Employment >Agency in Greenville, South Carolina, where she has come to get a job. > >In Greenville, population 65,000, a Bible-thumping, anti-union town, the >jobless rate is 3.8per cent, even less than the US national rate of 4.9 per >cent. > >As Scott says, getting a job is easy. In the booming US economy, where >unemployment is at a 25-year low, crack addicts have jobs, alcoholics have >jobs, and single mothers of newborn babies have jobs. For an Australian, >accustomed to more than a decade's bad news on the jobs front, the >atmosphere is electric. > >South Carolina, which only four years ago recorded Australian-style >unemployment rates, has achieved what economists loosely define as full >employment - and other States such as Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin >boast even lower jobless figures. > >But having a job in the US does not mean having a living wage. > >When Scott's husband left her with three children under eight to support, >she found a job in a convenience store, working the midnight to 8 am shift. > >"It paid $6 an hour and I could barely support myself let alone my >children," she says as we wait in Adecco's over-bright, no-frills office. > >Unable to find overnight child care or feed her children, Scott was forced >to send them to live with her mother in a town 50 kilometres away. > >But relinquishing her children was not the only trauma for Scott. An armed >robber held up the convenience store when she was on duty. Terrified, she >resigned the next day, which is what has brought her, still shell-shocked, >into the Adecco employment office. > >It isn't long before Adecco's placement officer calls Scott to the desk, >having scanned the computer and found her another job - just like that. >This time, she will be making boxes for a packaging company at $US7 (about >$10.50) an hour, starting at 7am. > >"I should be able to have my children back in a few months," Scott says >happily as she leaves, clutching complicated directions to her new >workplace. > >But who, I wonder, will mind her children when she leaves for work at 6.30 >am, and how will she afford child care? > >AS I travelled around the US, wondering whether Australia should emulate or >beware the US economic model, Rose Scott's pale face stayed with me. She >came to embody the contradictions of this "economic miracle." America has >put its underclass to work. Virtually everyone not incarcerated - and there >are 1.7 million of those - can get a job. But the workers are exhausted. >They are suffering from too much work
FW/fw-l Proposed alternative to the MAI from Ward Morehouse - for comment
> >THE OTHER ECONOMIC SUMMIT >777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C >New York, New York 10017 >Tel. (212) 972-9877 - Fax (212) 972-9878 >e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >January 7, ÿ 1998 >(Dictated December >27, 1997) > > >TO: TOES Listserve > >FROM: Ward Morehouse > >When I was in London in mid-December on my way back from India, I >spent a day with Colin Hines (Co-Author of, among other works, The New >Protectionism) trying to formulate alternatives to the Multilateral >Agreement on Investment (MAI). > >Enclosed is the result of that effort. Colin and I see it as the >beginning of a process of debate and exchange, certainly not as anything >remotely like a "finished product". Hence, critical feedback is >particularly welcome. > > > > > >WM/td > > >** > >ALTERNATIVES TO THE MAI: >FIRST THOUGHTS FROM WARD MOREHOUSE & COLIN HINES > >Background > >The anti- MAI campaigns have published excellent papers on why the MAI >should be opposed, but less attention has been paid to what alternative >set of rules, for what end goal should replace the MAI as the subject for >international and intergovernmental debate. We have therefore tried to >pull together what we have found, plus some ideas of our own, to attempt >to start a debate about what alternative we might as a movement choose to >consider. Once we are within sight of beating the MAI, then we will >almost certainly be asked for our ideas on this matter. > >Finally, if we have missed doubtless the one thorough document which does >just this, then our apologies and please send it or e-mail. it to us. >Otherwise please send any comments or additions you might have which we >will incorporate and circulate. We hope you find this useful: > >Ward Morehouse, Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy, >Suite 3C, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, New York 10017 tel (212) >972 9877 fax (212) 972 9878. e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Colin Hines, 11 Park House Gardens, East Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 2DF. >UK. >tel 44181 892 8672, fax 44181 892 5051. e-mail chines@dial .pipex .com > > >OVERARCHING INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT: THE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT CODE >(SUGGESTIONS FOR SEXIER TITLE WELCOME!) > > >The intention of such a code is NOT to ensure the unimpeded international >flow of capital and investment, but to have as its basic aim the >regrounding of capital locally to fund the diversification of local, >sustainable economies which have at their core the right to livelihood. >The right to livelihood is a key human rights goal in this alternative >investment code. Other rights such as private property rights are >contingent on fulfilment of this most basic human right. > >Tony Clarke and Maude Barlow in their groundbreaking book MAI and the >Threat to Canadian Sovereignty pointed out that: ...the UN Charter of >Economic Rights and Duties of States provided quite a different framework >for establishing a set of global investment rules. It was based on the >assumption that nation-states acting on behalf of all their citizens and >the public at large, had the political sovereignty to regulate foreign >investment. The Charter granted member nations the authority to supervise >the operations of transnational corporations in their territories by >establishing performance requirements. > >These performance requirements were to be based on the national >development needs of the people of each country. While nation states were >also granted the powers to nationalize, expropriate or transfer >ownership of foreign property, the charter called for the payment of >fair compensation for expropriation. > >Although changes in the global economy over the past twenty years or so >would require that modifications be made, the UN Charter on the Economic >Rights and Duties of States contains many of the elements for modern, >alternative approach to global investment rules. > >Bearing this in mind a fundamental rethink of the MAI could result in an >agreement along the lines of this: > > >ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT CODE; KEY PROVISIONS > >PURPOSE; The Alternative Investment Code (AIC) seeks to strengthen >democratic control of capital and stimulate investments that benefit >local communities. > >NATIONAL TREATMENT: Investments that increase local employment with >decent wages, enhance protection of the environment and otherwise improve >the quality of life in communities and regions within states which are >parties to the AIC are encouraged. States are urged to give favourable >treatment to domestic investors who further these goals and are >prohibited from treating foreign investors as favourably as domestic >investors. > >MOST FAVOURE
Re: Employment and the Economic Miracle (fwd)
>From: Caspar Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Employment and the Economic Miracle >X-To: Peter Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >At 11:50 A -0500 1/9/98, Raphael Solomon wrote: > >>Caspar, >> >>I enjoyed reading the attachment [on working conditions in the US]. >>Assuming that the essence of low unemployment is little more than an >>accounting convention, the question arises, is the convention justified. >> >>First, people in jail. A classic definition of the labor force states that >>one must be employed or not employed, but if not employed, willing and >>able to accept work. Now a person in prison may be willing but not able >>to accept work on the outside. One should remember that (in general) the >>people in prison are not there as a random sample of the population but >>rather as a result of their actions. Many of them have practiced a "life >>of crime." You may blame this on many factors, but in the end, prisoners >>are not part of the labor force. If you want to challenge this, challenge >>the classic definition. It may indeed be wrong. > >CWD- Parenthetically, it is my understanding that those who have given up >on finding work and are therefore no longer actively seeking it are also >not included in the "labor force." > >The point with respect to people in prison is not that they are part of the >workforce but rather that if you put everyone in prison you could then >claim to have full employment. The US has gone farther in this direction >than any other country, including dictatorships. > >I believe that most of the people in US jails are there for drug-related >offenses. Most of those are casualties of the immensely profitable war on >drugs, a war which will probably never end because it pays enormous >dividends to warriors on each side, and especially to those on both sides, >like the CIA. > >In fact, in a movement which seems to be very much part of the N-C economic >agenda, prisons in the US and increasingly elsewhere are run by private >companies- the fast-growing prison industry. New prisons typically include >large factorie, and many prisons charge inmates for room and board, and for >"luxuries" like toilet paper, medical care, and use of the law library. > >"For private business, prison labor is like a pot of gold. No strikes. No >union organizing. No unemployment insurance or workers' compensation to >pay. No language problem, as in a foreign country. New leviathan prisons >are being built with thousands of eerie acres of factories inside the >walls. Prisoners do data entry for Chevron, make telephone reservations for >TWA, raise hogs, shovel manure, make circuit boards, limousines, water >beds, and lingerie for Victoria's Secret ... Prison industries are often in >direct competition with private industry. Small furniture manufacturers >around the country complain that they are being driven out of business by >UNICOR [the US federal prison industry corporation] which pays 23 >cents/hour and has the inside track on government contracts. In another >case, U.S. Technologies sold its electronics plant in Austin, Texas, >leaving its 150 workers unemployed. Six weeks later, the electronics plant >reopened in a nearby prison." > >A variation on the companies who fire workers only to hire them back (often >from employment agencies) at lower wages and no benefits, as "contractors." >It all sounds like the slave sector of the workforce to me. >> >>People in the military frequently get payment for college education and if >>they serve 20 years, can retire on a full pension. This seems like slave >>labor to me -- not. Similarly, people in the military cannot take outside >>jobs whenever they want; it's called desertion. So they are not part of >>the labor force, &c. > >CWD- Ditto the military- the more people you "hire" in the military, the >lower your unemployment. The point here is that armed forces exist >primarily for destruction or the threat of destruction. Except when they >are helping out in emergencies, they are social parasites of the worst >sort- consuming enormous resources and giving (at best) largely unnecessary >protection. In many countries they are actually instruments for repression. >If we were really interested in efficiency, we could disband all national >armies and have a smallish democratically-directed world peace-keeping >force which would keep the peace and police those who would like to commit >atrocities. > >An essential point is that production- agriculture, manufacturing,and even >transportation- no longer requires very many people. I have no doubt that >the world's material needs could be supplied with the labor of less than >20% of the adults in the world, possibly much less. > >The argument for economic growth and technological advancement has always >been that they will provice prosperity and leisure for all. In fact, almost >the reverse has occurred. The people who work, now work much harder than >ever before. For instan
FW/fw-l Phone charges for e-mail: talk back )fwd)
>Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 22:56:48 + >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: "Michael Meuser" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: (Fwd) Phone charges for e-mail >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Thought you folks would be interested. There's an FCC email address >at the bottom where you can register your reactions > >>>"Your local telephone company has filed a proposal with the FCC to >>>impose per minute charges for your internet service. They contend that >>>your usage has or will hinder the operation of the telephone network. >>>E-Mail, in my opinion, will diminish if users were required to pay >>>additional per minute charges. The FCC has created an email box for your >>>comments, responses must be received by February 13, 98. >>> >>>Send your comments to ""[EMAIL PROTECTED]"" tell them what you think. Every >>>phone company is in on this one, and they are trying to sneak it in just >>>under the wire for litigation. Let everyone you know hear about this >>>one. Get e-mail address to everyone you can think of. >>> >>>FCC E Mail address [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>Please make your opinions known to the FCC. >>> >>>Respectfully >>>Nick Ashton From the Outside Looking In... >>>VISIT OUR WEB SITE DAILY, FOR ALL YOUR NEWS. >>>THE FINEST COLUMNISTS, NEWSPAPERS & TELEVISION JOURNALISTS >>>http://www.city-online.com/people/FromTheOutside >>> >>> >>> > > >Michael R. Meuser >Sociology Department >University of California >Santa Cruz, CA 95064 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW/fw-l Job Announcement: LA Research Director (fwd)
>Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 22:55:54 -0800 (PST) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Carol Zabin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of Michael Eisenscher ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Job Announcement: LA Research Director >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-To: (Recipient list suppressed) >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >JOB ANNOUNCEMENT > >Research Director >UCLA-TIDC Subsidy Accountability Project > >Project Description >The Subsidy Accountability Project is a research and organizing project that >aims to increase accountability in the awarding of subsidies to private >business for economic development. The project is funded by the Ford and >Rosenberg Foundation for two years through August of 1999. Part of a >national movement for corporate accountability, the project involves a >comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of local public expenditures >for job creation in the Los Angeles region. The intent of the research is >to increase public understanding of government subsidies to businesses and >propose ways to make this spending more beneficial to workers and poor >communities in Los Angeles. > >This is a joint project of the Tourism Industry Development Council (TIDC) >and the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. TIDC is a labor and >community supported non-profit organization that spearheaded the campaign >for a Living Wage Ordinance in Los Angeles, which was approved by the LA >City Council in 1997. TIDC is dedicated to promoting policies and >organizing campaigns that improve working conditions and wages for low-wage >workers in the LA region. The UCLA Labor Center carries out research and >training for labor unions and supports a vital, progressive trade union >movement in the Los Angeles region. > >Job Description >The Research Director will supervise and develop the methodology for an >evaluation of the impact of business subsidies in the Los Angeles region. >The research team will include a dedicated TIDC staff researcher and a team >of UCLA graduate students. The Research Director must be available to work >20 hours a week through August 1999. Research tasks include: >Documenting current business incentives in the City of Los Angeles and >select neighboring cities. >Developing a local economic development budget that makes the >information >transparent >Developing a database documenting business incentives currently used by >firms in Los Angeles, with firm level data, that would be accessible to the >public. >Analyzing the impact of business incentives on jobs, wages and >inequality >in Los Angeles. >Reviewing previous subsidy accountability measures. > >Timeline >The Research Director must be available to work on the project from February >1998 through August 1999. A Preliminary Report on the major findings will >be completed in the Fall of 1998 and serve as the basis of a public >education campaign in 1998-1999. A Final Product must be completed by >August 1999. > >Qualifications >This position calls for the ability to design and carry out a substantial >research project and direct graduate students and other research assistants. >Graduate study in Economics or quantitative Sociology is highly desirable; >an ability to read the academic literature in Urban Economics and carry out >simple quantitative modeling is necessary. Grant-writing skills highly >desirable. An ability to communicate economic ideas to a broad audience is >critical for this position. Knowledge of Los Angeles area city governments >is a plus. In addition, the candidate must be able and willing to work >closely with community activists and trade unionists. The candidate must >orient the research so that it is useful to a political organizing campaign >promoting subsidy accountability. > >Compensation >Annual salary of $22,000 to $28,000 for a half time position, depending on >experience. Full medical and dental benefits. > >Contact:Jessica Goodheart, project coordinator >Subsidy Accountability Project >Tourism Industry Development Council >614 South Spring Street, Suite 1016 >Los Angeles, CA 90014 >(213) 486-5129, ph >(213) 486-9886, fx >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW/fw-l Junior Summit (fwd)
Relatively cheap market research for MIT Inc.?? >Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 12:51:27 -0800 (PST) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: "David A. Sonnenfeld" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Junior Summit (fwd) >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-To: Environment Technology and Society <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >thought some of you (or your children) may have an interest in this online >contest/conference on youth, communities & technology. ds > > >-- Forwarded message -- > >from http://www.jrsummit.net/ > >*** > > J U N I O R S U M M I T 1 9 9 8 > >CONTEST GUIDELINES > > > >WHO MAY ENTER > >You may enter if you are: > >* between the ages of 10 and 16 at the time of the conference (October, >1998) > >* willing to devote the time to participate in the Junior Summit >on-line conference from March through August 1998 (about one hour each >day) > >* able to describe -- in words, music, pictures, or photos -- the way >things are for children today, and the way things should change to make >life better for children. > >You may submit an entry alone or you may work in teams or as an entire >class, but each member must be 10 to 16 years old in October, 1998. You do >not need to have experience using computers or other technology to enter, >but you must be willing to learn. > >WHAT YOU NEED TO SUBMIT > > You may submit either: > > an essay up to 5 pages long in your native language, > or a photographic essay of anywhere from 1 to 10 photos, > or a video that is shorter than 15 minutes long, > or a piece of music that is shorter than 15 minutes long, > or one or two drawings or paintings. > > If we have left out a category (perhaps a web site, computer >program, or short story), tell us what the category is and submit >your work to us. Or submit a combination. > > Whatever you choose to submit, it should answer one of the >following questions: > > 1. How are computers used by and for children today? Why isn't this >enough? How should computers be used to make life better for children? >Or how should they be made differently to make life better for children? >Choose one particular problem and give us your ideas about how to solve >it. > > 2. What are the problems faced by the children in your community? >How could connecting children from around the world help solve those >problems? Choose one particular problem and give us your ideas about how >to solve it. > > This is not a school project -- you can do whatever you like, with >your friends. You can ask adults to read what you've written or created, >but what you send us must be the work of children. This is because we >are interested in your ideas! > > All entries must be accompanied by the entry form at the end of >this page. Please print it out, complete it, and send it in with your >submission. > >WHAT YOU WILL WIN > > 1000 boys and girls of different ages will be selected, from >countries around the world. Those children who do not already have >access to computers and internet connections will be given the >equipment, which will be installed in their schools or local community >centers. All winners will also receive other advanced technologies. > >WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED BY FEBRUARY 28, 1998 > > Winners will participate in a 6-month online forum in many >different languages where they will: > > share ideas through words, pictures, and music > contribute freely to discussions and debates about how >to solve some of the world's problems > plan how to lead projects in their own communities to >help children > plan the Junior Summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts. > > These 1000 participants will choose the delegates to represent them >at the 6-day Junior Summit at MIT, October 6-11, 1998. These delegates >will be flown to the Summit in the United States, all expenses paid. The >Summit will consist of learning experiences and workshops where >delegates will continue the work they did during the on-line forum, and >produce final presentations and proposals. On the final day of the >Summit, delegates will present their ideas and proposals to world >leaders in industry, government and education. > >ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY MARCH 31, 1998. > > Entries may be e-mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED], sent by fax to >(617) 253-6215, or mailed by post to: > Junior Summit Contest > MIT Media Laboratory >Room E15-430 > 77 Massachusetts Avenue > Cambridge, MA 02139 >USA > >QUESTIONS? > > For further
FW/fw-l IMF on the Hill Thurs Jan 15 Sanders, Greider
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 12:28:10 -0700 >Reply-To: "Emilie F. Nichols" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "Emilie F. Nichols" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: IMF on the Hill Thurs Jan 15 Sanders, Greider >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: Left-Right Coalition In Congress On Bailout Of Asia >From: Labor Video Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: 1998/01/09 > >/* -- "Left-Right Coalition In Congress On" -- */ >NO FAST-TRACK FOR THE IMF BAILOUTS >--- A Left-Right Bipartisan Forum on Capitol Hill --- > >Topic : Leading experts across the political spectrum critiquing the >hurried IMF/World Bank bailouts, substantially underwritten by U.S.taxpayers > >When: 10:00 A.M. -2:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 15, 1998 > >Where: 345 Cannon House Office Building (Cannon Caucus Room) > >Who's Invited: Any and all interested members of Congress, staff, media, >and interested non-congressional individuals and organizations > >Since the Congress adjourned in November, the Clinton Administration in >concert with the IMF, World Bank, and other international financial >institutions have committed nearly $90 billion to the financial rescue of >four troubled East Asian countries. These extraordinary bailouts have >been undertaken behind closed doors and without any semblance of open, >democratic debate inside or outside of the Congress. > >Nevertheless, plans are being made to force the Congress to approve these >bailouts as part of a supplemental appropriations bill as early as >February or March or to resort to other expedited undemocratic tactics. In >our view, no matter what position you take on these bailouts, the American >people and their elected representatives have the right to know what the >risks are, who benefits, who pays the costs, what other options exist. > >Come, listen, and learn why you should oppose "fast-track " approval of the >IMF bailouts. Also find out why the Congress must insist on full and open >debate in hearings and on the floor and that we follow the normal >authorization and appropriations timelines before obligating the American >taxpayer for these unprecedented bailouts. Already these bailouts are >being opposed for many different reasons. This forum will feature some >outstanding progressive and conservative policy analysts including the >following: > >Speakers and Respondents: > >* Brett Schafer, The Heritage Foundation >* William Greider, author and National Editor of Rolling Stone magazine >* Ian Vasquez, CATO Institute >* Jeff Faux, President of Economic Policy Institute >* James Glassman, columnist and scholar at American Enterprise Institute >* Robert Borosage, columnist, Director of Campaign for America's Future >* Marijke Torfs, Friends of the Earth >* Jim Sheehan, Competitive Enterprise Institute >* John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies >* Walker Todd, financial policy analyst and formerly at Federal Reserve >* Mark Weisbrot, Preamble Center >* Jerome Levinson, Law Professor at American University >* Alan Tonelson, United States Business and Industrial Council >* Terry Collingsworth, International Labor Rights Fund > >Forum Co-sponsors include: > >U.S. Representatives Bernie Sanders, Barney Frank, Peter DeFazio >The Competitive Enterprise Institute >Friends of the Earth >Campaign for America's Future >Citizens' Trade Campaign > >Contacts: Bill Goold, Brendan Smith, or Mary Richards at (202) 225-4115 and >Marijke Torfs with Friends of the Earth at (202) 879-4283 or 783-7400(x37) > >Friday, January 9,1998 >Coalition to Push for Changes in Bailout Plan > >The group is hoping to convince Congress that the rescue package >is a misuse of government funds by bailing out the large international banks >that, in its view, made unwise loans in Asia. > >BY TIM SHORROCK >JOURNAL OF COMMERCE STAFF > >WASHINGTON -- An unusual coalition of liberals and conservatives is coming >massive bailout of >South Korea and other Asian economies. > >Members of the budding coalition range from pro-labor lawmakers like Rep. >Bernie Sanders, the only socialist in Congress, to the conservative >Heritage Foundation. > >They hope to persuade Congress that the $120 billion rescue program for >Asia, cobbled together by the IMF and the Clinton administration, is >misusing U.S. government funds by bailing out the large international banks >that, in their view, made unwise loans in Asia. > >"What we have here is socialism for the rich," said Vermont's Mr. Sanders. >"You're increasingly going to see a fierce debate, with President Clinton >and Newt Gingrich on one side, and an estranged left-right coalition on the >other, saying 'Don't put taxpayer money at risk.' " > >"The IMF is socializing the risks (in Asia) when most people are concerned >with changing the structures," said William Beach, senior economic fellow >with the Heritage Foundation. > >"The banks didn't attend to th
FW/fw-l Some ideas from New Zealand (fwd)
>From: Philip Lyth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 10:17:18 +1300 >Subject: RE: Tobin Tax and a Universal Basic Income > >this is getting off MAI, but I am posting because it is >a) a reply to earlier posting and >b) an issue that may interest some progressive MAI activists > >feel free to mail me off-list >__ > >The Alliance in New Zealand campaigned in the 1993 and 1996 elections on >a platform including a Financial Transaction Tax or FTT (a type of Tobin >Tax). It proposed a tax of 0.1% on all withdrawals from bank accounts, >and would allow the abolition of NZ's Goods and Services Tax of 12.5%. >It would, as noted by others, have an impact on arbitrage and >speculations - the trillions of dollars daily exchanged in the money >markets. The policy got noticed - the Government parties spent a lot of >time attacking us. > >One estimate is that currently, payment for goods and services accounts >for less than 2% of the currency market - the other 98% is trading and >speculation. > >Some NZers are working to develop a FTT of say 0.5% to replace income >taxes and allow introduction of Universal Basic Income or UBI - the >payment of an income to every citizen, reflecting the massive >productivity of technology, and reflecting the contribution to society >of those in unpaid work such as raising children or voluntary activity > >I would like to hear from anyone working on / interested in FTT and/or >UBI > >Regards >Philip Lyth >Executive Secretary to John Wright MP >Wellington NZ >http://www.alliance.org.nz >http://www.alliance.org.nz/bios/john.htm for a thumbnail bio >http://www.alliance.org.nz/releases/mai.htm what we say on MAI > > > > >> -Original Message- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 1998 4:25 PM >> To: Bob Olsen >> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Subject: Re: Tobin Tax >> >> Thanks, Bob, I have located the Tobin Tax information now. >> >> I note that it relates only to an international tax on foreign >> currency >> transfers, designed to effect currency traders. My interest is the >> actual >> replacement of personal, corporate, sales and property taxes by income >> generated from a similar tax (perhaps 0.5 cents per dollar) on all >> national >> transactions and stock transfers. The Tobin tax could be applied to >> International transactions and fund the United Nations and other >> international needs. >> >> Keep your eye open for someone who might be developing this. >> >> John Gile, Victoria, B.C. Canada >> - >> NEW! - Canadian Government holds month long public hearings, >> - extensive details about Multilateral Investment Agreement >> NOW REVEALED TO THE PUBLIC !! >> - >> >> See them at http://www.islandnet.com/~ncfs/maisite/ >> = >> >> >> On Tue, 13 Jan 1998 16:17:19 -0500, you wrote: >> >> > >> >>From: "Canadian Action Party" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >>Subject: re : tobin tax URL >> >>Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 15:03:03 -0800 >> >> >> >>TO : Bob Olsen >> >> >> >>Try this site www.serach.com. Once you are there enter the string >> Tobin >> Tax >> >>in the search box. You will find some interesting URLs >> >>on the requested Tobin Tax issue. >> >> >> >>Canadian Action Party . snip snip >On the topic of videos, 'Someone Else's Country' is a story of what >happened in NZ from 1984 on. About 100 minutes. Produced independently >(not by a major production house, surprise surprise.) Uses file footage >from the period, and looks at the effect on, and lack of involvement of, >ordinary New Zealanders. > >We in the Alliance liked it and used it to remind people what had >happened. > >Any interest for copies overseas? At a guess, we could probably get >copies away for NZ$40 / US$25 by airmail. Depending on response, I can >get a proper pricing. I'd also need to check out PAL / NTSM or whatever >the different TV systems are. > >Regards >Philip Lyth >Executive Secretary to John Wright MP >Wellington NZ >http://www.alliance.org.nz >http://www.alliance.org.nz/bios/john.htm for a thumbnail bio >http://www.alliance.org.nz/releases/mai.htm what we say on MAI > > >
FW/fw-l Govt. shoots down cancer study of electronics workers(fwd)
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 13:42:43 -0800 >Reply-To: "Camp. Resp. Tech." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "Camp. Resp. Tech." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Govt. shoots down cancer study of electronics workers >X-To: Susan Hunt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Status: U ___ >>Friends--a series of articles appeared in USA TODAY on the electronics >>industry and its impacts on workers. Please let me know if you would like >>to receive these electronically. Also, please respond if you would like to >join the crt list-serve. Apologies for multiple postings. > >A little article appeared in the Friday, January 16, 1998 USA Today > > >No Cancer Study: A proposal to study cancer and birth defects among >100,000 California electronics industry workers was shelved this week after >industry regulators and workers' advocates failed to agree to its merit and >methodology. At a meeting of an Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored >panel, the industry such a study would be better suited to agencies more >closely linked to occupational health. But, says Ted Smith, head of the >Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in San Jose, the industry characterized the >study as a "fishing expedition: and does not want to address the issue. A >new proposal may be taken up by the National Institute for Occupational >Safety and Health or some other agency. > >copyright 1998, USA Today > > >Leslie Byster >Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition >760 N. First Street >San Jose, CA 95112 >408-287-6707-phone >408-287-6771-fax >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >www.svtc.org > > >>>NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information about our new book, SACRED >>WATERS: LIFE-BLOOD OF MOTHER EARTH, Four Case Studies of High-Tech Water >>Exploitation and Corporate Welfare in the Southwest >>> http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ >>> >>> >> >> >Leslie Byster >Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition >760 N. First Street >San Jose, CA 95112 >408-287-6707-phone >408-287-6771-fax >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New information about our new book, SACRED >WATERS: LIFE-BLOOD OF MOTHER EARTH, Four Case Studies of High-Tech Water >Exploitation and Corporate Welfare in the Southwest >> http://www.svtc.org/svtc/ >> >> >
Employment opportunity
>Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 06:48:58 -0800 (PST) >-- Forwarded message -- >Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 09:45:39 -0800 >From: Anibel Comelo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Thank you!! > >Please circulate widely. >~~ > L.A. COUNTY FEDERATION OF LABOR > JOB ANNOUNCEMENT > >POSITION: Organizing Director, L.A. County Federation of Labor > > The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor is committed to building Los >Angeles as a "union city," and aggressively shifting union resources into >organizing the unorganized. To accomplish this, the L.A. County Federation >of Labor is establishing a new organizing department, and will be hiring its >very first organizing director. The organizing director will be the second >highest ranking position within the County Federation, and will report >directly to the Executive Secretary Treasurer. > > > >JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: > >Job responsibilities will include: > >*To work with affiliates of the L.A. County Federation of Labor to assist >them in active organizing campaigns. > >*To coordinate organizing resources among the affiliates of the L.A. County >Federation of Labor. > >*To work with the organizing committee of the L.A. County Federation of >Labor, and to strengthen the coordination, communication, and resource >sharing among organizers. > >*To coordinate the work of other organizing components of the AFL-CIO, >including the Organizing Institute, Union Summer, Senior Summer, and the >L.A. Organizing County Organizing Committee. > >*To develop a volunteer member organizing committee of the L.A. County >Federation of Labor, which will support organizing campaigns through >mobilization, rank and file activism, and house calls. > >*To work closely with the Executive Secretary Treasurer and staff of the >L.A. County Federation of Labor to coordinate and integrate political action >and organizing, and to build L.A. as a union city. > > > > > > >JOB REQUIREMENTS > >*At least five years of experience as a union organizer. > >*Ability to develop and lead major organizing campaigns. > >*Ability to work with the diverse labor community of Los Angeles. > >*Energy, creativity, vision, and commitment to help develop a culture of >organizing within the Los Angeles labor movement. > >STARTING DATE: February 1998 (extended) > > >SALARY: Negotiable, depending on experience > > >Please submit resume and cover letter to Diane Bullock, L.A. County >Federation of Labor, 2130 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90006. >
FW/fw-l Excerpts from The Jobs Letter
JUST THE JOB Two European countries are experimenting with an innovative scheme aimed at getting long-term unemployed back in the public eye . and back to work. * Glasgow Works operates a team of city centre guides who patrol the central district in distinctive red jackets. In teams of two, they are given a street to patrol, and have small radios with which they can contact the police, the social services, or other council offices to arrange the removal of rubbish or abandoned cars, or to call up the Glasgow Work graffiti-cleaning team. The guides help tourists, look after lost children, and act as special constables. * The programme is headed by Robert Marshall, who used to work for Shelter, the homeless charity. Marshall: "The key to everything we do is that we start by giving people a job. We don't trawl the unemployment office. We advertise in the local papers, and simply note at the bottom of the ad that you must live in Glasgow and have been out of work for at least a year." Glasgow Works uses a client's unemployment benefit, topped up by money from the EU social fund and some resources from the local council. On average, participants last about nine months on the job, and almost invariably get offered other full-time employment because of the profile and the image of the city guides stands so high with local employers. Martin Walker of the Guardian Weekly reports that the guides have had a striking impact on local crime and civic order. Walker: ".and having held down a responsible and useful job, the guides themselves have been transformed from being "a problem" as one of the long-term unemployed, to being self-confident and palpably useful citizen." * The Glasgow city guides are similar to the Netherlands "Stadwacht" service, which also gives the long-term unemployed some training, a uniform and a radio and sends them into small neighborhoods to become special constables. The unemployed participants are paid 120% of the minimum wage. The Netherlands is also using the long-term unemployed to bring back tram conductors. Both schemes are what Dutch Employment Minister describes as job creation that reflects Dutch values in "restoring a feeling of safety in our cities." C R E D I T S --- edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Jobs Letter -- an essential information and media watch on jobs, employment, unemployment, the future of work, and related economic and education issues. The Jobs Research Trust -- a not-for-profit Charitable Trust constituted in 1994 to develop and distribute information that will help our communities create more jobs and reduce unemployment and poverty in New Zealand. Our internet website at http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/ contains our back issues and key papers, and hotlinks to other internet resources. ends -- The Jobs Letter essential information on an essential issue [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 P.O.Box 428 New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand visit The Jobs Research Website at http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/
FW/fw-l POSITION AVAILABLE, Executive Director, CBE
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 20:09:18 -0800 (PST) >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: POSITION AVAILABLE, Executive Director, CBE >Status: U > >COMMUNITIES FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT >POSITION AVAILABLE >Executive Director >San Francisco Office > >Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is a statewide multiracial urban >environmental health and justice organization which combines community >organizing, science and the law to improve public health by preventing >industrial pollution and empowering affected community members in >California and nationally. CBE works primarily in low income communities >which are the most affected by environmental hazards. CBE subscribes to, >and promotes the Principles of Environmental Justice. > >A non-profit organization with an annual budget of more than one-million >dollars, CBE has two offices, one in San Francisco (the headquarters) and >one in Los Angeles, with over twenty paid staff, a corps of dedicated >volunteers and interns, and several thousand members. > >The Executive Director provides leadership in accomplishing the goals of >the organization. S/he reports to the Board of Directors and is >responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission >and its financial health. The E.D. is responsible for assuring the >implementation of the annual work plan, ensuring the organization's fiscal >health and integrating the three branches of the organization: legal, >community organizing, and science to achieve change in urban environments >in California and the nation. > >Other Responsibilities include but are not limited to: Supervise the fund >development and membership programs, including active participation in >major donor and foundation fundraising. Oversee fiscal and budgetary >operations. Evaluate and guide organizational performance and management. >Work with staff to develop annual and long-range workplans and budgets. >Regularly write editorials and other articles for publication on CBE's work >and environmental issues. Maintain a working knowledge of significant >developments/trends in the urban environmental health and environmental >justice fields. Supervise and evaluate senior staff. Inspire a >productive, humane and caring work environment free of bias. > >Qualifications. Minimum 5-10 years senior executive or management >experience. Experience in the non-profit sector, multi-cultural >organizations, grassroots organizing and fund development. Strong >interpersonal and communications skills. Knowledge of technical and legal >matters. Administrative and fiscal management experience. Commitment to >environmental justice and social change. Spanish language skills >desirable. > >Compensation. $55-60K DOE plus excellent medical, dental, and vacation >benefits. > >The application period for this position closes March 31, 1998. Send your >resumé, cover letter and one writing sample, to: E.D. Search Team, >Communities for a Better Environment, 500 Howard Street, Suite 506, San >Francisco, CA 94107. > >Communities for a Better Environment is committed to diversity in the >workplace. Women, people of color, and all interested persons are >encouraged to apply. > >Communities for a Better Environment >National Oil Refinery Action Network (NORAN) Project >500 Howard #506, SF, CA 94105 >(p) 415-243-8373 >(f) 415-243-8980 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.igc.org/cbesf/ > >Communities for a Better Environment >National Oil Refinery Action Network (NORAN) Project >500 Howard #506, SF, CA 94105 >(p) 415-243-8373 >(f) 415-243-8980 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.igc.org/cbesf/ >
New Book: Unions and Workplace Reorganization
>Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 16:55:08 -0500 () >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Bruce Nissen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: New Book: Unions and Workplace Reorganization >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >For immediate release > >New Book Explores the Trends in Workplace Reorganization > >Ever since Henry Ford introduced the assembly line and the five-dollar day, >U.S. employers have had to pay close attention to how the organization of a >workplace and relationships between managers and workers affect economic >performance. Employers continue to search for ways to harness employees' >energy to achieve maximum efficiency and profit. Unions and Workplace >Reorganization edited by Bruce Nissen (Wayne State University Press; $22.95 >hardcover; pub. date: February 4, 1998) critically reviews trends in >workplace reorganization and develops perspectives on how unions should >respond to these trends. > Wide in scope, the eleven essays in this collection evaluate and >react to the AFL-CIO's 1994 policy statement "The New American Workplace: A >Labor Perspective," which is included as a chapter in this volume and is >treated as the official position of the U.S. labor movement. Presenting >divergent viewpoints and analyses, the contributors discuss the main >stances debated or adopted by unions struggling with workplace change. >Topics include international comparisons, legal issues, practical >experiences with the implementation of or resistance to certain programs, >experiences in the public sector as well as comparisons between the private >and public sectors, and broad ideological and programmatic visions. > The very fate of unions in this country may depend on their ability >to deal effectively with the challenge of workplace restructuring; thus, >Unions and Workplace Reorganization addresses many of the most important >issues currently facing the U.S. labor movement. > > Bruce Nissen is the assistant director at the Center for Labor >Research and Studies at Florida International University. He is the author >of Fighting for Jobs (State University of New York Press, 1995). He >coedited the anthologies Grand Designs (ILR Press, 1993) and Theories of the >Labor Movement (Wayne State University Press, 1987), and edited U.S. Labor >Relations 1945-1989 (Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990). > >To order a copy of Unions and Workplace Reorganization, please visit your >local bookstore or call 1-800-WSU-READ. > >### > >Alison Reeves >Marketing Manager >Wayne State University Press >The Leonard N. Simons Bldg. >4809 Woodward Avenue >Detroit, MI 48201-1309 >Tel: (313) 577-4603 >Fax: (313) 577-6131 >E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW/fw-l Comment from Davos
February 7, 1996 Revolt Of The Wannabes ___ By Thomas L. Friedman DAVOS, Switzerland - As a barometer of global affairs, the annual Davos World Economic Forum is as good an indicator as you can find. The meeting brings together top industrialists and political figures from every corner of the world. Each year, one or two individuals stand out as trend-setters. One year it was Nelson Mandela, then Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, then Russian reformers. And that is why this year's Davos Forum was so interesting. Because this year the star - the man everyone wanted to interview - was a Communist: Gennadi Zyuganov, head of Russia's resurgent Communist Party. Think about that. The Davos Forum is the ultimate capitalist convention. It is an annual celebration of globalization - that loose combination of free-trade agreements, the Internet and the integration of financial markets that is erasing borders and uniting the world into a single, lucrative, but brutally competitive, marketplace. And who is the star but this dinosaur from the Jurassic period of the cold war. How come? It is because the business and political leaders here seem to intuitively understand that Zyuganov is the cutting edge of a new global trend - the backlash against global integration and free trade arrangements, which have created many winners but also many losers. The losers are now asserting themselves, whether it is labor unions in France, Pat Buchanan supporters in America or pensioners in Russia. The economics minister of a leading developing country confided to me that his government was desperate to become part of this new global marketplace. He and his colleagues at the top understand that in order to survive economically and attract foreign investment they have to open up their markets and upgrade their telecommunications, airports and commercial laws. But, he added, ``Half the time I am dealing with bureaucrats who don't understand this new game, and half the time I am dealing with workers who are not prepared to compete. We will join in, but it is going to be very painful for some of our people. The cost will be a lot more social unrest and fanaticism. We all have our Zyuganovs.'' Another sign of the times was the fact that the day the Davos conference opened, The Herald Tribune ran an essay by Klaus Schwab and Claude Smadja, respectively the founder and managing director of the Davos Forum. It was entitled: ``Start Taking the Backlash Against Globalization Seriously.'' Messrs. Schwab and Smadja are two of the most renowned advocates of global trade and integration. Their essay is the equivalent of the presidents of Ford, GM and Chrysler writing an article in the 1960s entitled: ``Start Taking Ralph Nader Seriously.'' Messrs. Schwab and Smadja wrote that: ``Economic globalization has entered a critical phase. A mounting backlash against its effects, especially in the industrial democracies, is threatening a very disruptive impact on economic activity and social stability in many countries. The mood in these democracies is one of helplessness and anxiety, which helps explain the rise of a new brand of populist politicians. This can easily turn into revolt.'' It is now clear, they added, that global integration and free trade are not necessarily win-win propositions. Technological advances and productivity increases at corporations don't automatically translate into more jobs at higher wages. Unless countries can help their people adjust to this new world, globalization is going to become synonymous with ``a brakeless train wreaking havoc.'' When I asked him what prompted him to write the essay, Schwab said: ``In the 19th century people thought the machine was going to destroy their life as they knew it, and today many people think that globalization is going to destroy their life as they know it. We have gotten accustomed to the idea that globalization will inevitably succeed. But I am not so sure anymore. Those of us who believe in globalization need to be more pro-active.'' He's right. And the successful governments will be those able to design the right formula of worker training programs, tax policies that create jobs and preserve resources, population controls and sustainable social safety nets to deal with globalization. The good news is that many world leaders are beginning to understand this challenge. The bad news is that no one has found the formula yet. ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
FW/fw-l [mai] International Week Of Action - February 7-17,1998 (fwd)
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 15:04:58 -0500 >Reply-To: "Andrea Durbin (by way of [EMAIL PROTECTED])" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence > was retained. >From: "Andrea Durbin (by way of [EMAIL PROTECTED])" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [mai] International Week Of Action - February 7-17, 1998 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > * > >*** ACTION ALERT *** PLEASE FORWARD ***ACTION ALERT*** > >INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION, FEBRUARY 7-17, 1998 >ON THE MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENT (MAI) > >CONTENTS OF THIS MESSAGE > >I. Suggestions for Week of Action Against the MAI >II.Sample Letter to Governments >III. Sample Questions to Ask Your Government >IV.Request for updates on actions in your country >V. Contacts for more information > >Dear Friends, > >Negotiations for the OECD's Multilateral Agreement on >Investment will reach a critical point on February 16 and 17 >when each country will send top ranking political officials to >Paris to assess whether and how to complete negotiations. NGOs >around the world are planning actions from February 7-17 to >let negotiators know they will face strong public opposition >if they finish the agreement to meet an April 1998 deadline. >Because OECD governments face internal disagreements in >negotiations, public criticism in these countries can help tip >the balance and prevent governments from finishing the MAI. > >It is also important for groups in non-OECD countries to take >a stand to undermine the efforts of the OECD and Northern >corporations to pressure developing countries to sign the MAI. > >We urge you to take some action against the MAI during this >time. Good luck, > >Mark Vallianatos & Andrea Durbin, Friends of the Earth-USA > >I. SUGGESTED ACTIONS > >1. LOBBY/PRESSURE NEGOTIATIONS- Write a letter to the >government raising questions about the impacts of the MAI and >stating your own opposition to the MAI. Most OECD countries >are sending high level political officials rather than >technical negotiators to the next critical negotiating session >on the 16th and 17th of February. If you can find out who they >are, target them directly. Otherwise, a letter to the finance >or trade ministry will work. > >2. INCREASE GRASSROOTS PRESSURE- If you have local chapters or >activists that can respond to alerts, request them to fax, >call, e-mail or write the negotiators/Finance Ministry. > >3. INCREASE PRESS COVERAGE- Your actions can be used to >attract media coverage. Next Tuesday we will send a sample >press release describing the international opposition and >activity around the world. > >4. PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS- In the US, NGOs will stage a rally >on the steps of congress and distribute handcuffs to Members >of Congress to show how the MAI will tie their hands from >regulating foreign corporations > >5. TARGET CORPORATIONS DIRECTLY- In the UK, NGOs are >protesting outside the headquarters of some of the >multinational corporations that actively lobby for the MAI and >will benefit most if the agreement is finished. For an expose >of corporate lobbying for the MAI contact Corporate Europe >Observatory ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > >6.TARGET KEY ISSUES HOLDING UP NEGOTIATIONS- Governments have >to resolve disagreements on reservations, culture, investment >boycotts, and environmental and labor provisions before they > >finish the MAI. Public pressure exploiting these disagreements >can make it more difficult for negotiators to conclude >negotiations. For more information on this strategy contact >Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > >II. SAMPLE LETTERS > >VERSION 1: TO MAI NEGOTIATORS OR FINANCE MINISTRY OF OECD >COUNTRIES > >Dear ___ > >We are seriously concerned about the OECD's negotiations for a >Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). On February 16-17 >the countries negotiating the MAI will make the political >decision whether the agreement can be completed by the April >1998 OECD ministerial meeting. We strongly urge you to use >this opportunity to end negotiations. The MAI would elevate >the powers of foreign investors in our country and impede our >ability to determine our own economic policies for many years >to come. It will also have a significant impact on the > >environment and communities in our country and abroad. > >Countries that sign the MAI cannot withdraw from the agreement >for five years, after which the MAI's rules still apply to >existing foreign investments for 15 more years. Joining the >MAI will therefore lock us into an economic model which aims >to benefit foreign investors rather than local communities. >Rushing to complete the agreement is unacceptable since there >has been little or no consultations with Members of Parliament >or members of the p
Rachel #584: Major Causes of Ill health
>X-Authentication-Warning: clarknet.clark.net: Urachel set sender to >rachel!rachel.clark.net!peter using -f >>Received: by rachel.clark.net (UUPC/extended 1.12r); > Thu, 05 Feb 1998 11:42:19 -0500 >Date: Thu, 5 Feb 98 11:42:19 -0500 >From: Peter Montague <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Rachel #584: Major Causes of Ill health >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >Reply-To: Peter Montague <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >===Electronic Edition >. . >. RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #584 . >.---February 5, 1998--- . >. HEADLINES: . >. MAJOR CAUSES OF ILL HEALTH. >. == . >. Environmental Research Foundation . >. P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 . >. Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . >. == . >. Back issues available by E-mail; to get instructions, send . >. E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the single word HELP . >.in the message; back issues also available via ftp from. >.ftp.std.com/periodicals/rachel and from gopher.std.com . >.and from http://www.monitor.net/rachel/. >. Subscribe: send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . >. with the single word SUBSCRIBE in the message. It's free. . >= > >MAJOR CAUSES OF ILL HEALTH > >Numerous studies in England and the U.S. have shown consistently >that a person's place in the social order strongly affects health >and longevity.[1] It now seems well-established that poverty and >social rank are the most important factors determining health >--more important even than smoking.[2] > >This conclusion has been a long time in the making. A British >study in 1840 observed that "gentlemen" in London lived, on the >average, twice as long as "labourers." Starting in 1911, British >death certificates have been coded for social class based on >occupation. (In the U.S., death certificates are coded for race >or ethnicity without reference to class or occupation.) The >British database of deaths coded by class has allowed many >studies, which have shown consistently that lower social status >is associated with early death. > >For example, in 1980, Sir Douglas Black, who was then the >President of the Royal College of Surgeons, published a study >covering the period 1930-1970 in England. The so-called Black >Report concluded that "there are marked inequalities in health >between the social classes in Britain." Specifically, people in >unskilled occupations had a two-and-a-half times greater chance >of dying before retirement than professional people (lawyers and >doctors).[1] > >Furthermore, the Black Report showed that the gap in death rates >between rich and poor had widened between 1930 and 1970. In >1930, unskilled workers were 23% more likely to die prematurely >than professional people, whereas in 1970 they were 61% more >likely than professionals to die prematurely. > >Several subsequent studies confirmed the findings of the Black >Report and demonstrated that, even within privileged groups, >those with less status lived shorter lives. In other words, >social rank affects health even among those who are well off. >The so-called Whitehall studies in England examined the health of >10,000 British government employees (civil servants) over 2 >decades and found a 3-fold difference in death rates between the >highest and lowest employment grades. The Whitehall studies >showed (and later a U.S. study confirmed) that conventional risk >factors such as smoking, obesity, physical activity, blood >pressure and blood-levels of cholesterol could explain only 25% >to 35% of employment-grade differences in mortality.[2] In other >words, social rank was more important a determinant of health >than were all the conventional risk factors. In sum, being lower >in the pecking order makes you sick and shortens your life. > >Researchers have examined the opposite hypothesis, that perhaps >health status determines social class --that being sick makes you >poor, instead of the other way around. They have found that this >explains only about 10% of the health disparities between social >ranks.[1] > >In the U.S., a study in Chicago during 1928-1932 examined death >certificates in relation to place of residence at time of death. >Chicago was categorized into 5 socioeconomic levels based on >average monthly rental payments. The study showed a fairly >smooth curve: the higher the rent, the lower the death rate for >people of similar ages. > >This study was redone in 1973, looking at changes between 1930 >
FW/fw-l Foreign investment (fwd)
>Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 10:01:48 -0400 (AST) >From: Michael Gurstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: foreign investment (fwd) >To: Canadian futures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Precedence: Bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >-- Forwarded message -- >Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 05:33:43 -0800 >From: Mason Gaffney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: foreign investment > >Mel Hurtig of Canada deplores the sale of Canada to foreigners. It is >undesirable, he's right, but he gives it a provincial and Chauvinist >anti-American spin that is a bit misleading, and therefore ultimately >weakening, for at least two reasons. > >1, Many Canadian-based buyers are acquiring vast lands in the U.S. Down >here in southern California we have Bramalea (the Bronfmans, who also now >control MCA, which owns Universal City among other trophies), BCE (Bell >Canada's real estate arm), Daon, the Bank of Montreal, and others. Many >Canadians own shares in U.S.-based corporations. Robert Campeau of Toronto >for a time controlled Federated Dept. Stores, with 354 name stores (Macy's, >Bullocks, Bloomies, etc.) around the U.S. O&Y owns real estate around the >world. Some of them zigged when they should have zagged, and lost money and >control, but that is also true of Americans in Canada. Thus, it's not that >American interests are buying Canada, on a one-way basis. Rather, it's that >wealth is becoming (has become) more concentrated in a few hands, worldwide; >and these giant multi-billionaires, and their firms, spread their tentacles >everywhere. It's also that they have brainwashed us local yokels everywhere >and dissuaded us from using the most effect countermeasure available, namely >a high rate of property taxation. > >If you are really disturbed by absentee ownership (whether >international or interprovincial or interstate or intercounty) just stop >relying on income taxation, which multinationals have a dozen cute ways of >avoiding, and rely more on local property taxation, and sockitto'em. > >If you want to raise revenues without discouraging capital inflow, >limit the property tax to the land value, and raise the rate even more. >It's been done before, and it's worked. Ask me for examples. > > >2. Hurtig should also note that when foreigners buy existing assets (firms >or land) the sellers now have free capital to invest locally if they want. >Absentee ownership is a problem, I agree; but he has not defined the problem >accurately. Once you define the problem, solutions are easier to find. > > >As a former resident of B.C., I observed a much higher degree of >absentee ownership of B.C. resources by Ontario residents than U.S. >residents. Yet, the pols found they could stir up folks against the >damnyankees much easier than against their "fellow Canadians." Well, if >that's what it takes to promote the property tax, it's better than nothing; >it's worked before, e.g. in the settlement of the American west in the 19th >and early 20th Centuries. But let's keep our eye on the important facts, >lest we get led down some garden path. > >Mason Gaffney >
FW Some interesting questions here (fwd)
From: D S Byrne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Concealed unemployment in US? Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Both the OECD and various postmodernist European leftists (their politics are respectable left - I'm thinking of Claus Offe etc) argue that advanced industrial economies have a permanent surplus population which is no longer required even as a reserve army of labour. The origins of this account lie in a parallel drawn between productivity gains in agriculture since the late 1700s and recent productivity gains in manufacturing productivity. When challenged by the reality of 'the great American jobs machine' and the existence of virtual full employment in the US, albeit with a base of low pay, they argue that this is concealed unemployment and represents no more than workfare. I think this is wrong and that what we are seeing is a process of the internalization of combined and uneven development, what Goran Therborn has called 'the Brazilianization of advanced capitalism'. A key empirical demonstration of this latter argument depends on the rates of profit obtained from low wage sectors. My understanding is that rates of profit in low paying sectors in the US economy are very high - I know this is true for Health although of course this is a sector with internal divisions (although - am I right here - only Physicians have high pay within it). Any info and / or views on this matter ? Note that European economies generally have much higher rates of formal unemployment than the US, although, with the exception of the UK which seems to have the worst of both systems, this is associated with good job protection and high rates of wage substitution benefits for those with citizenship status. David Byrne Dept of Sociology and Social Policy University of Durham Elvet Riverside New Elvet Durham DH1 3JT 0191-374-2319 0191-0374-4743 fax David Byrne wrote: >Both the OECD and various postmodernist European leftists (their politics >are respectable left - I'm thinking of Claus Offe etc) argue that advanced >industrial economies have a permanent surplus population which is no >longer required even as a reserve army of labour. The origins of this >account lie in a parallel drawn between productivity gains in agriculture >since the late 1700s and recent productivity gains in manufacturing >productivity. When challenged by the reality of 'the great American jobs >machine' and the existence of virtual full employment in the US, albeit >with a base of low pay, they argue that this is concealed unemployment and >represents no more than workfare. I think this is wrong and that what we >are seeing is a process of the internalization of combined and uneven >development, what Goran Therborn has called 'the Brazilianization of >advanced capitalism'. I don't think that the low paying jobs in the US can be seen as concealed unemployment - this is a fantasy. These people are working although most European would not consider this employment a job, given the conditions under which most Americans work (lack of security, lack of inusrance, lack of vacations, etc). The Brazilianization thesis is new to me but I don't think that is is apporpriate either. Instead, I believe that we are seeing the so-to-speak downside of the development of post-industrial society. (I can't go into all the details here but my observations are based on an exmaination of data and discussions of wage trends in the US) This downside is the displacement of of low skilled or unskilled (non-college educated) workers and even some college educated workers (more specifically, the lower tiers of mental and the upper tiers of manual hieraching in manufacturing) from industry - with high median wage and less extreme polarization of wages - to services, with a low median wage and a far more extreme polarization of wages. This displacement has many sources/causes. Two which I feel are of partricualr importance are the newest forms of computer based automation and offshore manufacturing. Whatever the causes, the result is an attack on middle income groups in the United States (the disappearance of the middle class thesis runs through much of the literature on wages, etc). But, this raises a problem - if the middle class is shrinking/disappearing , who will provide the mass consumption to complete the Regulationist's 'virtuous ciricle", i.e. the linking of mass production and mass consumption. My sense is that this linking may be becoming increasing unnecssary as we move away from mass production (or Fordist) models of industrial organization to post-Fordist models of customized production and what Kenney and Florida call "micro-mass" consumption where producers can still generate substantial profits on far lower volumes. (I am referring to Kenney and Florida's tenative outline of what they call Fujitsuism, as an alternative to the Fordist regula
FW-L Directory of Trade Union Websites
>Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 08:42:02 -0700 (PDT) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Michael Eisenscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Directory of Trade Union Websites >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-To: (Recipient list suppressed) >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >[Cross-posted from H-Labor] > >++ >From: Eric Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Global Labour Directory of Directories Launched > >What better occasion than Labour Day (in the USA and Canada) to >launch the Global Labour Directory of Directories -- located at: > >http://www.solinet.org/LEE/gldod.html > >This is not another listing of trade union websites but is a >directory of such listings. It should serve several purposes: > >1. If you're looking for a trade union website, this is the place to >begin. Didn't find it at Yahoo? We can show you four directories with a lot >more listings -- including one with more than four times as many listings >as Yahoo in this field. > >2. If you've just launched a labour website -- or if you want to >further promote an existing site -- this is the place for you. We've even >included an >online form to allow you, with a single click, to promote your site to all >the top >labour directories online. > >3. Finally, we think that the question of a comprehensive and >authoritative labour directory on the Web has not yet been settled. >(Though some >people are working very, very hard on this.) So we've included some comments >and pointers, as well as critiques of some sites which could be doing >better. If you run an online labour directory, or are thinking about starting >one, we suggest you read this. > >I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions regarding >the Global Labour Directory of Directories. > >Eric Lee >++ >Labnet List is the discussion list of Labnet, the European network of >Labour Historians > >Labnet is moderated by [EMAIL PROTECTED] at the International Institute >of Social History > >(Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Tel +31.20. >6685866, Fax +31.20.6654181) > >To subscribe, send a mail containing the message SUBSCRIBE LABNET to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW-L WARNING: "FAST TRACK" TO MISERY
>Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 10:29:42 -0700 (PDT) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Michael Eisenscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: WARNING: "FAST TRACK" TO MISERY >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-To: (Recipient list suppressed) >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >On Novebemr 14-16 there will be a major international conference in San >Francisco -- the Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference Against NAFTA and >Privatizations. Delegations are expected from labor movements throughout >Latin America, Canada, and the U.S.. > >Congress will very shortly open debate on whether to give President Clinton >"fast track" authorization in forthcoming trade negotiations. Under fast >track authorization, the President would not be required to submit the >individual provisions of new trade agreements to the scrutiny and approval >by Congress. The final treaties would be voted up or down. Fast track gave >us NAFTA. In the works are similar agreements with Chile, other countries >of So. America and Asia. > >In preparation for the conference, and to draw attention to the dangers of >Fast Track authorization, the W. Hemisphere Workers' Conference organizers >are sponsoring the following event. > >Please circulate this information to your union and other concerned >organizations and individuals. > >||| > >EMERGENCY ORGANIZING RALLY! > >JOIN US TO KICK OFF THE BAY AREA MOBILIZATION TO DERAIL THE "FAST TRACK" AND >TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE WORKERS' CONFERENCE > >* Become an organizer against "FAST TRACK" legislation, NAFTA expansion, >and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). > >* Find out from Bay Area unionists and anti-NAFTA activists what Clinton's >FAST TRACK power to negotiate trade deals will mean for workers' rights, our >health and the environment. > >* Participate in organizing workshops by Congressional District to map out >an emergency campaign to get our Congressional representatives to oppose >FAST TRACK. > >* Help prepare public hearings with local Congressional representatives on >this issue. > >* Help organize Bay Area support for the Western Hemisphere Workers' >Conference! > >Saturday, September 13, 1997 -- 3 p.m. to 6 p.m >at International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 6 Hall >255 - 9th St. (between Howard & Folsom) in San Francisco > >There will be speakers, informational tables and music. For more >information, call (415) 681-5868. > >JOIN US FOR THE >Western Hemisphere >Workers' Conference >Against NAFTA & Privatizations >Ramada Inn Civic Center >San Francisco, California > >This historic conference, endorsed by the California Labor Federation >(AFL-CIO), the United Farm Workers, the Bay Area Labor Councils, the ILWU, >and scores of other union federations, union locals and community and >environmental organizations from throughout the Americas, will bring >together hundreds of unionists and activists to build a unified >hemisphere-wide response to the policies of "free trade," privatization and >pillage. > >* Conference plenaries will feature leaders of the U.S. and international >trade union movement. There will also be an array of issue-specific and >sector and industrial workshops. > >* Fee: $85 - includes Friday night banquet dinner, coffee, pastries, >conference bulletins, packet. ($65 registration for all sessions except >Friday night banquet dinner.) > >All registrations must be received by October 15 at WHC, c/o San Francisco >Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. For more >information, call (415) 681-5868 or 440-4809. > >* Help us promote this conference as widely as possible. Come to our next >Conference planning meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9 (at 7 p.m.) at Global >Exchange, 2017 Mission St., 3rd Floor. > >Be part of history in the making! > >Sept. 13 Emergency Rally sponsored by Bay Area 50 Years is Enough Campaign, >Alliance for Democracy and Organizing Committee for the Western Hemisphere >Workers' Conference. > >The Western Hemisphere Conference web page can be accessed at: >http://www.labornet.org/walters/whc > >||| >| > >ACTION ALERT!!! > >Call Your Member of Congress >Stop the Fast Track to Economic Disaster > >In September, legislation will be introduced in Congress to >grant President Clinton "Fast Track" negotiating authority. >Fast Track restricts the ability of Congress to influence >international trade and investment agreements. Under Fast >Track, Congress cannot amend the agreements, and the amount of >time Congress has to debate them is extremely limited, meaning >that most members of Congress never even read these agreements >before voting on them! > >The legislation that will be introdu
FW-LSamuelson's Hope-through-Fear for Europe
Of possible interest - would be useful to see what other letters Newsweek
received about the column in question. Sally
>Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 14:59:43 -0700 (PDT)
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Precedence: bulk
>From: Michael Eisenscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Samuelson's Hope-through-Fear for Europe
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>X-To: (Recipient list suppressed)
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>Dear NEWSWEEK Editors:
>
>I am still unable to restrain my disgust with Robert Samuelson's column of
>August 25th, in which he offers what he terms "hope" for Europe's economy.
> Samuelson, from his ivory tower, spews a sick and twisted vision of a
>so-called "virtuous circle" wherein unions are broken and social services
>destroyed, so that workers become more terrified by the loss of their jobs
>and safety net ("...anxiety, uncertainty and fear are essential"), so that
>corporate profits batten on human misery. The resultant stock market boom
>sustains a "prosperity" featuring lower unemployment of the alchemical sort;
>i.e., if I used to have a factory job ($17/hr plus full benefits), and now my
>spouse and I must work 1½ jobs each at $6/hr and no benefits, there is a net
>creation of two jobs!
>
>This is Newspeak which George Orwell would easily recognize: terror=hope,
>viciousness=virtue, misery=prosperity, McJobs=occupations. If this is what
>the Anglo-Saxons offer Europe and the world, by St. Brigid I'm glad to be a
>Celt!
>
>Michael J. Lowrey
>1847 N. 2d Str.
>Milwaukee, WI 53212-3760
>414-227-4860 or 372-9745
>
>member and steward, AFSCME; member, National Writers Union; member,
>Industrial Workers of the World
>
FW Monthly Reminder
*FUTUREWORK LISTS MONTHLY REMINDER* FUTUREWORK: Redesigning Work, Income Distribution, Education FUTUREWORK is an international e-mail forum for discussion of how to deal with the new realities created by economic globalization and technological change. Basic changes are occurring in the nature of work in all industrialized countries. Information technology has hastened the advent of the global economic village. Jobs that workers at all skill levels in developed countries once held are now filled by smart machines and/or in low-wage countries. Contemporary rhetoric proclaims the need for ever-escalating competition, leaner and meaner ways of doing business, a totally *flexible* workforce, jobless growth. What would a large permanent reduction in the number of secure, adequately-waged jobs mean for communities, families and individuals? This is not being adequately discussed, nor are the implications for income distribution and education. Even less adequately addressed are questions of how to take back control of these events, how to turn technological change into the opportunity for a richer life rather than the recipe for a bladerunner society. Our objective in creating this list is to involve as many people as possible in redesigning for the new realities. We hope that this list will help to move these issues to a prominent place on public and political agendas worldwide. The FUTUREWORK lists are hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. To subscribe to FUTUREWORK (unmoderated) and/or FW-L (moderated) send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] saying subscribe futurework YourE-MailAddress subscribe FW-L YourE-MailAddress NOTE: To get the digest (batch) form of either list, subscribe to futurework-digest or fw-l-digest. To post directly to the lists (once you are subscribed), send your message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please include 'FW' or 'FW-L'in the subject line of your message, so that subscribers know the mail is from someone on the list. FUTUREWORK, the unmoderated list, is for discussion and debate. Subscribers often add a topic/thread identifier on the subject line (e.g. 'FW downward mobility') to focus discussion--a very good idea--but this is essentially an open list. FW-L, the moderated list, serves as a bulletin-board to post notices about recommended books, articles, other documents, other Net sites, conferences, even job openings, etc. relevant to the future of work and to the roles of education, community and other factors in that future. It serves subscribers as a calmer place to post andbrowse. Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell serve as co-moderators for FW-L. Normally, posts to this moderated list should be limited to one screen. Archives for both lists are/will be available via the FW WWW Home Page (under construction) at the URL/location http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/Research/FW If you ever want to remove yourself from one of these mailing lists, you can send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe futurework (or other list name) YourE-mailAddress If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list, (if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list itself) send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is the general rule for most mailing lists when you need to contact a human. We look foward to meeting you on the FUTUREWORK and FW-L lists. Sally LernerArthur Cordell [EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED]
FW Jobs Research Website March 99 Update
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Research Website" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 11:55:20 + >X-Distribution: Bulk >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: Jobs Research Website March 99 Update >Reply-to: "The Jobs Research Website" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >A n U P D A T E f r o m >T H E J O B S R E S E A R C H W E B S I T E >- > >March 1999 > >a New Zealand - based internet resource >for employment action ... > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/ > >Hi > >We've updated our website, and you might like to check out >our latest work! > >Our site is now getting hundreds of visits each week -- not >just from NZ, but from many other countries in the world. > >We love hearing from you! >And we hope that our free website resources >continue to prove useful in your work. > >Shirley Vickery >for The Jobs Research Website > > >N E W N E W N E W N E W N E W N E W >ON THE JOBS RESEARCH WEBSITE >--- > >Take a look at these recent Jobs Letter features now freely >available on the Jobs Research Website. > >-- > >* A Rifkin Reader. Special Workshop Edition by the editors of The >Jobs Letter. In his compelling, disturbing, and ultimately hopeful >book, The End of Work, author Jeremy Rifkin argues that we are >entering a new phase in history - one characterised by the steady and >inevitable decline of jobs. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/art/rifkin01.htm > >* Who is training the young? John Fraser, chairman of Youthskills NZ >looks at how young people are able to get a leg up on the skills >ladder in todays economy - and what is happening to industry based >training for young people. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl07810.htm > >* The Unfolding Economic Crisis. The Jobsletter presents a special >summary of recent commentaries by Peter Harris, economist to the >Council of Trade Unions, on the effects of the crisis on workers and >employment > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08010.htm > >* Debating the Community Wage. Peter McCardle and the Auckland >Unemployed Workers Rights Centre present their differing views on the >community wage scheme. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08110.htm > >* Keith Rankin on the Community Wage. Keith Rankin urges "subversive >compliance" and suggest that the Community Wage can be a form of >Universal Basic Income > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08200.htm > >* Rich & Poor in NZ. edited highlights from the research of Professor >Srikanta Chatterjee and Nripesh Podder in which they look at >alterations in household income distribution from 1983 -- 1996. How >are we sharing the national cake in post reform NZ? > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08310.htm > >* Alliance discussion paper on full employment. Alliance leader Jim >Anderton calls for monetary policy to be coordinated with social, >environmental and fiscal policies and looks at why unemployment is not >inevitable. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08410.htm > >* The Hikoi of Hope - by the Jobsletter editors. The Anglican Bishops >call for a walk to Wellington from all corners of NZ to focus >attention on growing levels of unemployment and poverty in NZ. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08510.htm > >* Jobs from the Land - by the Jobsletter editors. Topoclimate South >Trust undertakes a major infrastructure project which will provide >essential information on Southland and South Otago soils and climate >and will open up new land use opportunities. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08610.htm > >* Biographies of Department of Work and Income new Regional >Commissioners. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08700.htm > >* One Billion Jobless - the International Labour Office reports on a >grim world employment situation and looks at training trends. > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl08810.htm > > >STATISTICS FOR THE JOBS RESEARCH WEBSITE >-- >February 1999 > >Unique Visitors during the month 4,057 > >Homepage Hits during the month1,528 > >Total Webpage Hits overall 50,119 > >[Source -- OpenWebScope Website Statistics] > > > >OUR TOP TEN WEBPAGE HITS > >1. Internet Hot-Links recommended by our Editors > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/hot/hotlinks.htm > >2. Statistics That Matter homepage > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz /stt/stathome.htm > >3. Index to our Articles and Key Papers > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/art/arthome.htm > >4. James K. Galbraith and Global Keynesianism > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/art/artg0002.htm > >5. About the Jobs Research Trust > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jrthome.htm > >6. Strategic Questioning by Fran Peavey and Vivian Hutchinson > > http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/vivian/stratq97.htm > >7. Sixty Years of
FW - Excerpt from The Jobs Letter #75
Futurework has permission to post excerpts from The Jobs Letter. REWARDING WORK * For political economist Edmund Phelps, fostering self- worth and social responsibility rely on the ability to earn a respectable wage. In his book Rewarding Work, Professor Phelps shows that earning a good wage has been increasingly hard for those at the low end of the wage distribution as productivity has come to rely more on knowledge and skills and less on brawn and hard work. Phelps: "For two hundred years, the economic engine of capitalism has enabled people who are willing to work hard and save money to lead a comfortable life. Since the 1970s, however, a gulf has opened between the wages of low-paid workers and those of the middle class." Phelps asserts that a crucial task for our economic and political system is to devise methods to help less productive workers draw a reasonable wage, thereby reintegrating them into the economic mainstream. His solution: a graduated schedule of tax subsidies to enterprises for every low-wage worker they employ. As firms hire more of these workers, the labor market will tighten and pay levels would rise. Professor Phelps believes that ultimately his program would be largely self-financing, because its cost would be offset by reductions in the cost of welfare, crime, and medical care - as well as by taxes paid by formerly unemployed workers. "Rewarding Work -- how to restore participation and self- support to free enterprise" by Edmund S. Phelps (pub Harvard University Press 1997) C R E D I T S --- Editor -- Vivian Hutchinson Associates -- Ian Ritchie, Dave Owens and Jo Howard ISSN No. 1172-6695 S U B S C R I P T I O N S -- The regular (4-6 page, posted) Jobs Letter costs $NZ112.50 incl GST for 30 letters. This subscription also includes a free email version on request. The email-only version costs $NZ56.25 incl GST annually (22 letters) and usually has an expanded Diary section. All email editions of the Jobs Letter are posted to subscribers on a "not to be forwarded" basis. We also maintain an internet website with our back issues and key papers, and hotlinks to other internet resources. This can be visited at http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/ Our website resources are available freely to anyone with access to the internet. The most recent three months of Jobs Letter issues, however, will only be available to subscribers. An e-mail version of this letter is available to international friends and colleagues on an "exchange of information" basis and on the understanding that the Letter is not re-posted to New Zealand... this is because we need the paid subscriptions from our New Zealand colleagues in order to pay our way. Thanks. Subscription Enquiries -- Jobs Research Trust, P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 [EMAIL PROTECTED] M I S C E L L A N E O U S -- This is a subscriber-based publication -- ... which is how we pay our bills and keep going. If you are receiving this letter on a regular basis please subscribe. A Word on Spreading the Word -- We'd like you to let others know about the Jobs Letter and the work of the Jobs Research Trust. A personal note to friends and colleagues is the best. If you decide to post this entire Letter to a mailing list, newsgroup, message forum, computer conference etc., please reference it as a personal recommendation. And thanks for your help with networking! An e-mail version of this letter is available to international friends and colleagues on an "exchange of information" basis and on the understanding that the Letter is not re-posted to New Zealand... this is because we need the paid subscriptions >from our New Zealand colleagues in order to pay our way. Thanks.
FW - Final version of NZealand keynote speech
simplicity' suggest that a substantial minority of people in affluent societies are ready for this change. Such current re-discoveries as co-housing, LETS-type barter operations, bicycling, community gardens, local computer access, recycling building material and clothes, and many more--all testify to the possibility of creating better living through less materialism and more sharing. Education has been key to this change--the idea of 'sustainable communities' has travelled and found advocates. With it has come the vision of more self-reliance--for people and their communities. More home-grown food and locally-produced products; more self-maintained health through prevention; more sports and entertainment involving local people rather than packaged for them; more community cooperation to put community capital to work to realize community goals. These are the ways in which we can ensure that a BI program will yield the healthy harvest --the good life--that we believe is everyone's right in our affluent societies. Then, perhaps, we can turn our thoughts to a fairer sharing of the earth's bounty with the rest of the world's people. References G. Alperovitz, "Distributing our technological inheritance", Technology Review, October 1994, 32-36 S. Aronowitz and W. DiFazio, The Jobless Future (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994). R. J. Barnet and J. Cavanagh, Global Dreams (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994). L. Chancer, "Benefitting from pragmatic vision: the case for guaranteed income in principle" in S. Aronowitz and J. Cutler (eds.) Post-Work: the wages of cybernation (New York: Routledge, 1998) C. Clark and J. Healy, Pathways to a Basic Income (Milltown Park, Dublin: Conference of Religious of Ireland [CORI], 1997). A. Cordell and R. Ide, The New Wealth of Nations (Toronto: Between the Lines Press, 1997) J. Dominguez and V. Robin, Your Money or Your Life (New York: Viking Penguin, 1992) A. Duffy, D. Glenday and N. Pupo (eds.), Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: The Transformation of Work in the 21st Century (Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company, Canada, 1997) P. Ekins,The Living Economy (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986) D. Foot, "Youth unemployment: a 'bust' priority". Globe and Mail, October 14, 1997 C. Freeman and L. Soete, Work for All or Mass Unemployment: Computerised Technical Change into the 21st Century (London: Pinter Publishers, 1994) E. Fromm, Escape from Freedom (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960, c1941) O. Giarini, "Some considerations on the future of work: redefining productive work", in M. Simai (ed.),Global Employment: An International Investigation into the Future of Work, Vol. 1 (London:Zed Books and Tokyo:United Nations University Press, 1995) A. Gorz, Paths to Paradise: On the Liberation from Work (London: Pluto Press, 1985). ___, Miseres du present, richesse du possible (Paris:Galilee, 1997) B. Goudzwaard and H. de Lange, Beyond Poverty and Affluence:Towards a Canadian Economy of Care (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994) W. Greider, One World, Ready or Not (New York, Simon and Schuster, 1997) P. Hirst, Associative Democracy: New Forms of Economic and Social Governance (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1994) J. Kelsey, Economic Fundamentalism (London: Pluto Press, 1995) B. Kitchen, A Guaranteed Income: A New Look at an Old Idea (Toronto: The Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto, 1986) D. C. Korten, When Corporations Rule the World (San Franciso,CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 1995) S. Lerner, "The future of work in North America: good jobs, bad jobs, beyond jobs", Futures, March 1994, 26/2: 185-196 A. Lipietz, Towards a New Economic Order: Postfordism, Ecology and Democracy (Oxford,UK:Oxford University Press, 1992) D. Livingstone," The limits of human capital theory: expanding knowledge, informal learning and underemployment", Policy Options, July-August, 1997 D. Macarov, "The employment of new ends:planning for permanent unemployment" in A. Shostak (special ed.) Impacts of Changing Employment: If the Good Jobs Go Away , Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 544, March 1996:191-202 P. Merry, Why Work? (Edinburgh: Human Ecology Centre, 1997) M. L. Murray, "...And Economic Justice for All" (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1997) National Forum on Family Security, Family Security in Insecure Times (Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development, 1993) K. S. Newman, Declining Fortunes: The Withering of the American Dream (New York: Basic Books, 1993) OECD, Societal Cohesion and the Globalizing Economy (Paris: OECD, 1997) C. Offe, 'Full employment:asking the wrong question?' in The Rationality of the Welfare State, E. Eriksen and J. Loftager (eds.) (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1996) B. O'Hara, Working Harder Isn't Wo
FW Info on Basic Income European Network (BIEN) 1998 conference
You can access this information on the Internet: http://www.uva.nl/congresbureau At this site, scroll down to the September 98 listing for this conference Sally
FW No Work - No Wage; from The Jobs Letter No 77, 27 April1998(fwd)
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 15:46:08 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: No Work - No Wage; from The Jobs Letter No 77, 27 April 1998 >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > > >F E A T U R E >-- >from >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 7 7 >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 27 April 1998 > - > >NO WORK -- NO WAGE > >How the Community Wage will be implemented. > >The Community Wage programme has the goal of maximising the >number of job seekers taking part in community work, training or >"other organised activity" in return for the income that they >receive from the State. > >The theory is that by viewing and treating unemployed job seekers >as much like members of the paid workforce as is practically >possible, they will maintain their work skills and self esteem, >and therefore, improve their chances of moving rapidly into >permanent paid work. > >Here are some of the key features of last week's announcement: > >*The Community Wage will be the income support payment a job >seeker receives from the government. When a job seeker applies >for income support, they will enter into a contract(Job Seeker >Agreement) to actively seek paid work, and to be available for >any appropriate organised activity which is provided. In order to >receive the Community Wage, the job seeker must sign the >contract, and fulfil the obligations contained in it. > >*Existing job seekers will not be required to sign a job >seeker's agreement immediately, although new job seekers will do >so. In the usual course of interviews, existing job seekers will >be required to sign the new job seeker agreement. > >*The unemployment benefits the Community Wage applies to >include the current Unemployment Benefit, Young Job Seekers >Allowance, 55 Plus, the work-tested Independent Youth Benefit and >Emergency Unemployment Benefits, and the Training Benefit. > >*Job seekers over 60 years of age can volunteer to >participate in organised activities, but they will not be >required to participate. Those aged over 55 will be treated the >same as the over-60s after 6 months of registration. > >*Full-time work tested beneficiaries may be required to >undertake community work of up to 20 hours per week. Part-time >work tested beneficiaries may be required to undertake community >work of up to 10 hours per week. These maximum hours have been >designed to ensure job seekers have time for job search. > >*A community participation flat rate allowance of $21 a week >will be paid to cover travelling costs and other costs. This is >an increase on the existing Community Taskforce allowance. Also, >up to another $20 is reimbursable, to assist job seekers who face >particular extra "actual and reasonable" costs, above the $21 per >week. > >*Community work is defined as unpaid work that is of benefit >to the community or the environment, rather than to private >businesses or individuals. For example, community work should not >displace current or future paid workers. It should be work that >benefits participants by developing or maintaining their self >esteem, motivation, work disciplines and ethic. It should, as >much as possible, resemble a paid work environment. However it >should not reduce the incentives of individuals to move into paid >work, and it should not be used when there are other options >available to move a job seeker more quickly and cost effectively >into work. > >*Job seekers will be matched to work and training by the >front-line staff of the new integrated employment and welfare >department. Officials say that the work chosen will be suitable >to the job seeker and consistent with assisting them into paid >work. In making a decision about suitable activities, the staff >have to consider whether it is "fair and reasonable to require >participation in a particular activity". > >*The Community Wage recipients have to seek prior formal >approval by the Department if they are pursuing their own >community work, training or organised activity ...or else they >will not get the community wage. The community work or training >has to fit within the Department's conditions and rules. The >Regional Commissioners will have some influence on the choice of >community work made available when they develop their strategies >at the local level to reduce long-term unemployment. > >*The "Sponsors" are organisations, such as community >organisations or work trusts who take on a job seeker to do >Community Work. They will be provided with a handbook providing >details of the Community Wage, its purpose and details. This will >be available before implementation on Octobe
FW "Voices" from The Jobs Letter No. 77, 27 April 1998
What are FWers' opinions on the New Zealand Community Wage program? Sally >Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 15:46:05 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: "Voices" from The Jobs Letter No. 77, 27 April 1998 >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >V O I C E S >-- >from >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 7 7 >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 27 April 1998 > - > >ON THE COMMUNITY WAGE > >"The Coalition Government's new direction in employment treats >job seekers as people, not numbers. It's a positive for the job- >seeker because they will receive a community wage in return for >participating in training, part-time community work, or other >activities, where they are provided. > >"The philosophy behind the community wage is to treat job-seekers >as similarly as possible to those in paid work, to maximise their >employability and work-readiness. This new direction is also >about changing attitudes towards the unemployed. It will help >keep job seekers connected to the workplace and community, to >maintain their motivation, and prevent loss of confidence, skills >and self esteem." -- Peter McCardle, Employment Minister > >"The scheme is the most draconian attack on the unemployed since >the forced work schemes of the 1930s. Forcing people to work for >income support under threat of losing their benefit is no >different than slave labour, and treats the unemployed and other >beneficiaries as criminals." -- Sue Bradford, veteran employment >activist and Auckland Unemployed Workers Rights spokesperson > >"Why would being forced to work in a low-skilled, >government-provided job as part of a work scheme be any different >from receiving a government-provided benefit? Neither the benefit >nor the community work was earned by the recipient on his or her >own merits. Thus it is difficult to see how either would help to >promote self-respect ." -- Nicola Reid, political studies student >University of Auckland > >"The sheer size and compulsory nature of the scheme makes it much >worse than the current Community Taskforce where the majority of >participants are happy to be there. The government is already >1,500 places or 23% behind on its pilot work-for-the-dole scheme, >and there is no way they will be able to get the 150,000 people >working for the dole if they rely solely on community groups to >provide places. They will have to get businesses such as Telecom >and Fletchers to employ thousands of free workers to get anywhere >near their target ." -- Rod Donald, Alliance employment >spokesperson > >"The scheme is a recipe for abuse. For a start, beneficiaries are >not employees. They do not get holidays, do not seem to be >covered by anti-discrimination laws, have no personal grievance >rights, and virtually no protection against sexual harassment. >The community work positions will not be there in the numbers >needed, and there will be displacement of real jobs ." -- Angela >Foulkes, Council of Trade Unions secretary > >"Mr McCardle's consuming passion for employment policy blinkers >him. The package is a personal triumph for the former Social >Welfare official and employment centre manager. > >"The evidence of his extraordinary single-mindedness is his >maiden speech to parliament eight years ago. The bulk of it reads >like a carbon copy of Wednesday's announcement ." -- John >Armstrong, political columnist > > > >FROM THE EDITORIALS > >"No-one believes Unemployment Minister Peter McCardle's >'community wage' scheme will be an overnight cure-all. There is >no magic wand, and improvements to the jobless statistics will be >slow-grown. But it is a start where it is desperately needed. > >"Just as the government's Code of Social Responsibility takes a >small step towards re-emphasising the individual and national >value of responsible parenting, so do the obligations of the >community wage scheme move towards reminding NZ'ers that >education and work, whether we like it or not, are the country's >cornerstones." -- editorial in The Daily News, 23 April 1998 > >"It must be remembered that people are out of work in the large >majority of cases because there is insufficient employment for >the available workforce. Under these circumstances,considerable >imagination will be required to ensure that the work, training or >''other organised activity' that Mr McCardle envisages will not >interfere with work already in limited supply for the employed. > >"At the same time, the occupations that community wage receivers >will be obliged to make themselves available for should not be of >a patronising or undignified nature. That would defeat the >purpose. Mr McCardle enters an are
MONTHLY REMINDER - PLEASE SAVE THIS
>> >> *FUTUREWORK LISTS MONTHLY REMINDER* >> >>FUTUREWORK: Redesigning Work, Income Distribution, >>Education >> >>FUTUREWORK is an international e-mail forum for discussion of how to >>deal with the new realities created by economic globalization and >>technological change. Basic changes are occurring in the nature of work >>in all industrialized countries. Information technology has hastened the >>advent of the global economic village. Jobs that workers at all skill >>levels in developed countries once held are now filled by smart machines >>and/or in low-wage countries. Contemporary rhetoric proclaims the need >>for ever-escalating competition, leaner and meaner ways of doing >>business, a totally *flexible* workforce, jobless growth. >> >>What would a large permanent reduction in the number of secure, >>adequately-waged jobs mean for communities, families and individuals? >>This is not being adequately discussed, nor are the implications for >>income distribution and education. Even less adequately addressed are >>questions of how to take back control of these events, how to turn >>technological change into the opportunity for a richer life rather than >>the recipe for a bladerunner society. >> >>Our objective in creating this list is to involve as many people as >>possible in redesigning for the new realities. We hope that this list >>will help to move these issues to a prominent place on public and >>political agendas worldwide. >> >>The FUTUREWORK lists are hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies >>at the >>University of Waterloo. >> >>To subscribe to FUTUREWORK (unmoderated) and/or FW-L (moderated) send a >>message to >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] saying >> >>subscribe futurework YourE-MailAddress >>subscribe FW-L YourE-MailAddress >> >>NOTE: To get the digest (batch) form of either list, subscribe to >>futurework-digest or fw-l-digest. >> >>To post directly to the lists (once you are subscribed), send your >>message to: >> >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] or >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >>Please include 'FW' or 'FW-L'in the subject line of your message, so that >>subscribers know the mail is from someone on the list. >> >>FUTUREWORK, the unmoderated list, is for discussion and debate. Subscribers >>often add a topic/thread identifier on the subject line (e.g. 'FW downward >>mobility') to focus discussion--a very good idea--but this is essentially >>an open list. >> >>FW-L, the moderated list, serves as a bulletin-board to post notices >>about recommended books, articles, other documents, other Net sites, >>conferences, even job openings, etc. relevant to the future >>of work and to the roles of education, community and other factors in >>that future. It serves subscribers as a calmer place to post andbrowse. >>Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell serve as co-moderators for FW-L. >>Normally, posts to this moderated list should be limited to one >>screen. >> >>Archives for both lists are/will be available via the FW WWW Home Page (under >>construction) at the URL/location >> http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/Research/FW >> >>If you ever want to remove yourself from one of these mailing lists, >>you can send mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with the following >>command in the body of your email message: >> >>unsubscribe futurework (or other list name) YourE-mailAddress >> >>If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list, (if you >>have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list itself) send >>email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> . >>This is the general rule for most mailing lists when you need to contact >>a human. >> >>We look foward to meeting you on the FUTUREWORK and FW-L lists. >> >>Sally Lerner Arthur Cordell >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >
FW SCOTLAND: URGENT SIGN-ON (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 13:30:58 -0700 (PDT) >From: Richard Sclove <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >MIME-version: 1.0 >Precedence: bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: SCOTLAND: URGENT SIGN-ON >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from QUOTED-PRINTABLE to 8bit by igc7.igc.org id >GAA03825 > >-- Forwarded message -- >Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 11:26:16 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Camp. for Responsible Technology" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >URGENT SIGN-ON FROM SCOTLAND TO CALL ATTENTION TO HEALTH HAZARDS AT NATIONAL >SEMICONDUCTOR > >Greetingsó > >Jim McCourt, a labor activist from ìSilicon Glenî in Scotland, just visited >Silicon Valley to help celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the >Santa Clara Center for Occupational Safety and Health. He works with women >workers at National Semiconductor in Greenock, Scotland who are suffering >serious occupational health problems, including miscarriages, reproductive >cancers, vision problems and respiratory ailments. Since the company allows >no unions, the women workers have organized PHASE II, a group for injured >workers and their supporters. There are 2 brief statements below: > >***1) Jimís statement calling on people around the world to form an >effective International Campaign for Responsible Technology to challenge >the high-tech industry to be accountable to its workers and communities as >it continues its global expansion; > >***2) Please take a couple of minutes to read and sign-on to the letter >addressed to National Semiconductor Chief Executive Officer Brian Halla, >which urges National Semiconductor to respect the rights of its workers and >to agree to abide by the covenants of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and >the International Labor Organization in protecting the rights and the health >of the workers. > >Please fill out the sign-on form below and provide your name, organization, >city and country and return it to the International Campaign for Responsible >Technology at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and we will forward it to Mr. Halla and the >media. > >Thanks very much for your support. > >3) (For more information about the International Campaign for Responsible >Technology, check out http://www.svtc.org/icrt.htm (If you want to be part >of the I-CRT list serve, see below and return the form) >(apologies for multiple or cross postings) > >PLEASE SHARE THIS POSTING WITH OTHERS YOU BELIEVE WOULD BE INTERESTED. > >+ >I> THE NEED FOR AN EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR RESPONSIBLE >TECHNOLOGY (I-CRT) > >The globalisation of the Electronics Industry requires a coordinated >International response to combat the unique hazards that high-tech >manufacturing brings to each country. The I-CRT is being formed to provide >this service. > >Transnationalism is not the sole preserve of capital. Our movement has to >adopt a worldwide, proactive strategy that will alert people in all >countries to the inherent dangers that are involved in this industry. >Dangers that are compounded by the ignorance, docility and/or complicity of >governments in dealing with these companies. The massive cash incentives >provided to lure new high-tech developmentóin combination with the lack of >commitment to regulate and enforce minimal standards of community and worker >health and safetyóis a lethal combination when dealing with some of the >worldís largest transnational corporations. > >Throughout the world there is growing evidence of the catastrophic impact >electronics companies have had on workers and the environment in their >locale. In almost every case, there is insufficient action taken by the host >governments to protect workers and their communities. Efforts to seek >legislative, regulatory or legal redress have been largely futile. > >Newly emerging evidence in Scotlandís Silicon Glen is showing that health >effects on workers have had catastrophic repercussions. Clusters of >miscarriages and birth defects have been highlighted in a recent BBC >television production ìShadow Over Silicon Glen.î Illnesses such as breast, >uterine and stomach cancer, leukemia, asthma , vision impairment, carpal >tunnel syndrome and others, have led to creation of an injured electronics >workers support group named PHASE TWO. Similar to the 20 year old Santa >Clara Center on Occupational Safety and Health group in San Jose, it is a >another indication that the hazards faced by workers know no boundaries or >borders. They are deadly and utterly indiscriminate. > >It is vital to help potential new victims by adopting a proactive stance >to inform local politicians, communities and prospective workers of the >hazards that they will inevitably faceóhazards they will not be informed of >by the companies or their government bureaucracies. > >Electronics companies, like many others, are embracing the outsourcing >method of management control, masked under the guise of the cyclical nature >of their m
FW from Bruce O'Hara (author of Working Harder Isn't Working)
> The Big Shift > > I believe the 40-hour workweek is 50-year-old technology, an >outdated and >inappropriate model for work scheduling in today s world. It's the >equivalent of trying to run an engineering office with slide rules and >drafting pencils, or operating an international airline with >propeller-driven DC9s. The 40-hour week no longer serves the interests of >working people, and isn t good for business either. Consider the following: > > 1) The 40-hour workweek was designed for a time when very little >happened >on Sundays, and not much more on Saturdays. Today, most customers want a >full range of services every day of the week. > > 2) The 40-hour workweek was designed for a time when overhead costs for >land and equipment were low, relative to the cost of labour. Today such >overheads are high: about twice the cost of labour in most organizations. > >3) The 40-hour workweek was designed for men with stay-at-home wives. >When the work day was done, they went home and relaxed. Today's dual-earner >workforce goes home from paid employment to the second shift: cooking, >cleaning, shopping and childcare. Working double-shifts has left them >exhausted. They are cranky and ineffective, at work and at home. > > 4) When the 40-hour workweek was put in place, in divided the available >work so as to create full employment. Dividing the work the same way fifty >years later leaves 1.5 million Canadians officially unemployed - three >million unemployed if governments were honest about the real numbers. > >THE STUCK PLACE > > We want the future to be like the past, only more so. That s how most >change happens: little by little, building on what went before. But, >occasionally, change needs to jump outside the old framework, and take a >big, all-at-once leap. > Consider the history of computers: until 1980 they were getting >bigger and >bigger, more and more centralized. The logical expectation for the future >was more of the same. The idea that ordinary people would work from their >own tiny personal computers seemed absurd. Most of the established players >in the computer industry dismissed the PC computer as a toy. That s why >Microsoft today is bigger than IBM: Microsoft jumped out of the old box and >began thinking about computers in a whole new way. > I believe we are at a similar crossroads in work scheduling technology. >Until now, we ve built our economy around a one-shift model. We have been >able to shorten the workweek a long way within that model, in a series of >incremental steps, from nearly 80 hours in the early 1800 s, down to 40 >hours by the late 1940 s. Shortening the workweek had great benefits: it >converted unemployment to leisure; it improved worker productivity; by >keeping unemployment low, it made for a robust and prosperous economy. But >shorter work times also carried a price: gradually increasing overhead >costs and decreasing hours of service. At 40-hours, we d pushed that >trade-off as far as it could go: reduce the workweek any further and the >increase in overhead costs would have been prohibitive. So the workweek has >been stuck at 40 hours for a very long time, despite the huge social and >economic problems that have accompanied steadily rising unemployment. > >THE TWO-SHIFT SOLUTION > > The way beyond the impasse is to imagine an economy built around >not one, >but two shifts. I don t know exactly how it should be configured; I m >guessing that as an interim step we might have one half of the workforce >working eight hours a day Monday to Thursday, and the other half working 10 >hours a day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Soon, I expect we ll move to a >model where both shifts work eight hours a day, three days one week and >four days the next. > So what would a two-shift workplace mean for working people? > > 1) Every weekend is a long weekend: You ll have time for a life. > 2) Most workers will be able to work the same days as their spouse >works, >and the same days their kids go to school, far more so than now. (Schools >can be on two shifts too.) > > 3) Recreation facilities aren t overcrowded because we aren t all >trying >to use them on the same two days of the week. > > 4) Commuter traffic jams are half what they used to be because only >half >the workforce goes to work on any given day. > > 5) Any service you want, any errand, is available seven days a >week: you >don t have to sneak it in on your lunch hour. > > 6) You feel safer and more secure because a 32-hour workweek has >created >nearly full employment. Your grown children will get jobs and finally leave >home. > > 7) With unemployment low, your employer cannot bully you into unpaid >overtime or drop you to casual status or you ll go down the street and get >hired by someone else. > > 8) And finally, it means your taxes are a whole lot lower because a >million or more fo
FW The CO-OPERATIVE AUTO NETWORK (fwd)
>Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:09:00 -0300 (ADT) Worth thinking about as a way to reduce dependence on money. Sally >Date: Sat, 09 May 1998 11:02:29 -0700 >From: Cabot Lyford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: The CO-OPERATIVE AUTO NETWORK > >The CO-OPERATIVE AUTO NETWORK (CAN) > >Please forgive the junk mail, but I want to get the word out >about CAR SHARING. > >If you own a car but don't need it every day, this option will >help you save money. It will also enable you to rearrange your >life towards greater car-independence without feeling >marginalized by your ecological ethics. You can have access to >well-maintained vehicles at a fraction of the cost and without >the headaches of solitary ownership. > >With the Co-operative Auto Network, your auto expenses are >based upon your car usage. My bills range from $40 to $230 per >month, usually averaging about $150 for a family of three. We >ride our bicycles a lot, walk, take the bus and occasionally treat >ourselves to a taxi. > >CAN's intent is to open the door to practical alternatives to car >ownership and overuse.. We pragmatically recognize that >alternatives to cars do not meet every transportation need for >most people, but once money has been invested to purchase a >vehicle buyers usually feel compelled to use it. And probably to >the exclusion of alternatives - or at least far more than the >utility of alternatives would require. > >With CAN, the incentive is reversed: You pay based on your car >use, encouraging the use of alternatives. Also, there are no >"forgotten" costs or sudden expenses. > >This is helping us make the transition to a more "car-free" >lifestyle - painlessly. > >CAR LOCATIONS: >We now have four cars in the West End, one in Yaletown, one >at the Main Street Skytrain, two in Kitsilano and one in the >Commercial Drive area. Since our membership is growing >(currently at 126!!), we are in the process of purchasing more >vehicles. We also have a cross-use agreement with the Victoria >Car Share Co-op, providing our members with vehicle access in >Victoria. > >With more members there is greater flexibility, convenience and >efficiency of use. We need to re-structure our urban life away >from cars. Car Sharing gives us the flexibility to accomplish >this. > >FOR INFORMATION on membership shares, usage costs and >other questions, you can reach CAN at: > >PHONE: 685-1393 >EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >WEBSITE: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vancan > >You can also email me: >CABOT LYFORD >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >-Cabot Lyford for >EDIBLE LANDSCAPE CREATIONS and >THE VANCOUVER PERMACULTURE NETWORK >27 West 14th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1W7 >phone: (604) 873-9599 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW Excerpts from The Jobs Letter No.78 (11 May 1998) bypermission
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 13:23:28 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: The Jobs Letter No.78 (11 May 1998) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 7 8 >- >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 11 May 1998 > >edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust >P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand >phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 >Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >ASIAN CRISIS MAKES MILLIONS JOBLESS >* The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is warning that >Asia's economic crisis is throwing millions out of work, and is >wiping out years of progress against Asian poverty. Despite the >fact that the Asian currencies have largely stabilised, the ILO >warns of social pain and the risk of political instability in the >coming months. In a report to a Bangkok conference of east-Asian >employment ministers, trade unionists and employers, the ILO >predicts that unemployment will treble in Indonesia, Thailand and >South Korea. > >Greatest concern: The collapse of what had been rapidly rising >economic expectations in Asia, and the absence of any social >safety nets, such as the dole. The Guardian Weekly comments that >Asia's jobless rate is unlikely to go beyond the highest levels >seen in western Europe or the former Soviet bloc, but is >potentially more explosive because of the weak or non-existent >welfare provisions. > >* The World Bank predicted last month that the number of >Indonesians living in poverty will double to more than 20m >people. The ILO: "Just as the Great Depression forged a new >social contract in many industrialised countries, so too must the >current Asian crisis be an impetus to creating a more >socially-oriented model of development..." > >* In China, where the restructuring of bankrupt state >companies is causing millions of redundancies, the official >jobless rate has risen to 5%, but earlier this month premier Zhu >Rongji admitted that 10% of the workforce is unemployed. Even >this may be well under-stated. Under-employed workers in rural >areas are excluded from the count -- this includes many who have >lost their jobs in the cities and have returned home to no jobs >in their villages. > >* The Economist predicts that over a three-year period, >Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea will see virtually no overall >growth. Compared with their previous growth rates of 7-8%, this >amounts to a cumulative loss of output of 20-25%. The Economist: >"In other words, the slump in Asia will be of the same sort of >order as the slump in America during the Great Depression between >1929 and 1923, when output fell by 30%." > >* Most vulnerable are migrant workers and women, who have been >the backbone of a cheap, mobile and docile labour force that once >powered the region's "economic miracle". The numbers of migrant >labourers grew from about a million in the early 1980s to more >than 6.5m last year. Many of these people now face not only >unemployment but expulsion as the factories that employed them go >bankrupt. Both Malaysia and Thailand have started to repatriate >large numbers of migrant labourers, many of whom were working >illegally. In Malaysia the total may be as many as 2.5m -- a >quarter of the workforce. > >The forced repatriations may not reduce the unemployment, as many >native Thais and Malaysians are unwilling to take up the "3D" >jobs (dirty, difficult and dangerous) that the migrant Burmese >and Indonesians were employed in. > > >FOLLOW THE BIRMINGHAM SUMMIT OF THE EIGHT ON >THE INTERNET >* The annual G8 world leaders summit is gearing up in >Birmingham this week (see feature in The Jobs Letter No.75) -- >but you can follow proceedings from your home if you have access >to the internet. > >The University of Toronto and the London School of Economics have >combined to provide a site which will enable students and >educators worldwide to participate as online attendees of the >conference. The sophisticated and interactive multi-media site is >being created by Real Education Inc, who are specialists in >online distance learning projects. > >Top scholars will follow the themes of the conference and >present their views and insights directly to the site. >Participants will be encouraged to attend live interviews with >world leaders and join chat rooms and threaded discussions. Of >special interest to Jobs Letter readers will be employment >issues, which will be covered in a section on "multi-lateral >trade, investments and labour relations". Participants can >register now for their "virtual" attendance at >http://g8.realeducation.com. It's free. > >C R E D I T S >---
Interesting set of papers available
You can order this set of papers from AnneMaclachlan (see below) for 5 pounds sterling. Sally Sharing our Common Heritage: Resource Taxes and Green Dividends (Rhodes House, Oxford, GB, 14 May 1998) On the eve of the 1998 Economic Summit of world leaders, the conference will explore the prospects for: ï the replacement of existing taxes by taxes on the use of natural resources, including pollution, ï site-value land taxation, and ï a citizen's income financed by revenue from these taxes Presentations by David Marquand, James Robertson, Philippe Van Parijs, Mason Gaffney, Fred Harrison, Tatiana Roskoshnaya and Alanna Hartzok. For further information: Anne Maclachlan, OCEES Administrator, Mansfield College, Oxford, OX1 3TF, Tel & Fax: 01865 270886, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Workfare in Ontario
Date:Fri, 15 May 1998 18:07:33 -0400 From:Roy Adams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: human rights violation in Ontario MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII The Government of Ontario is in the midst of committing a violation of international human rights norms of the most egregious sort. On Thursday, May 14, 1998, it introduced into the legislature a "An Act to Prevent Unionization" of workfare participants. The Act does not simply remove workfare people from the coverage of the Ontario Labour Relations Act, it says specifically that "no person shall do any of the following with respect to his or her participation in a community participation activity: 1. Join a trade union 2. Have the terms and conditions under which he or she participates determined through collective bargaining. 3. Strike" This Act puts the Ontario government into a very small group of outlaw governments that openly, explicity and blatantly forbid Freedom of Association. Many governments make it difficult for workers to associate in practice, but given the rock solid global consensus supported by organizations from across the political spectrum that Freedom of Assn is a fundamental human right, almost none outrightly forbid it. The Act, if passed, almost certainly will be struck down since it obviously offends Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms but that will take some time. In the meantime this action is a direct thrust against the corpus of human rights standards and each day that it stands unchallenged is a threat to the entire structure of human rights and thus to democracy itself. Please protest loudly. Roy J. Adams Chair, Steering Committee, Society for the Promotion of Human Rights in Employment (SPHRE) A message of protest may be sent to Mike Harris, premier of Ontario via the Ontario Government's Web Page at: http://www.gov.ont.ca/MBS/english/premier/reply.html For more info on SPHRE see: http://www.mtsu.edu/~rlhannah/sphre.html
FW Request for ideas
FWers - If we think it's important to ensure basic economic security for all citizens of the industrialized 'have' nations, what suggestions do you have as to how this should be accomplished? Sally Lerner
Re: FW Request for ideas
Tom - Thanks for the question. I meant to leave the definition of basic economic security a bit open, but perhaps it would be helpful to all to suggest that it might consist of secure access to the necessities of life (realizing that what are 'necessities' can be forever--not very usefully--debated) and to whatever additional resources are required for individuals and families to participate fully in their communities (e.g. kids can afford to join organized sports.) FWers - please feel free to send responses to the list as well as (or instead of) to me. Sally Tom wrote: >Sally, can you elaborate more on what you want. The developed or >industrialized nations are doing a pretty good job already- at the >expense of the have not, of course. what is your idea of economic >security? one suv and a minivan in each suburban ranch h;ome with cable >and an internet connection? or are we talking a guaranteed 2500 >kcalories/day and a full medical/dental plan? > >cheers > >tom abeles > > >S. Lerner wrote: >> >> FWers - If we think it's important to ensure basic economic security for >> all citizens of the industrialized 'have' nations, what suggestions do you >> have as to how this should be accomplished? >> >> Sally Lerner
FW How to assure economic security?
>Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 00:26:25 +1000
>From: Richard Mochelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: How to assure economic security?
>X-MDaemon-Deliver-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>S. Lerner wrote:
>
>> FWers - If we think it's important to ensure basic economic security for
>> all citizens of the industrialized 'have' nations, what suggestions do you
>> have as to how this should be accomplished?
>
>In an increasingly globalised world whose dominant economic actors are
>market-crazed transnational corporations without allegiance, the idea of
>a state-centric arrangement which guarantees basic economic security for
>a passive, no-responsibility citizenship seems as impossible a prospect
>as the perpetual motion machine. Where citizens are conditioned from
>childhood by the pre-conventional, tit for tat morality of the market,
>by the coercive work experience of compulsory school as preparation for
>a lifetime of compensated toil, by the deluded ethic of a fair day's pay
>for a fair day's work, by an ethic of mutual dispensibility, it cannot
>be expected that they will simultaneously accept and reliably enact the
>incompatible morality of an unconditional guarantee of mutual economic
>security. One must give way to other.
>
>If you want a club (call it a corporation, religion, nation, family or
>whatever) whose members will enjoy guaranteed basic economic security,
>this can only be sustainably accomplished, it seems to me, where there
>is a reciprocal norm and promise of mutual responsibility. The
>maintenance of a sustainably secure right to basic economic support
>within that club must presume an arrangement whereby every player (save
>infants and the infirm) wanting that guarantee would be required to
>declare a commitment to assure that right for all players who enter into
>the arrangement. It would need to be a firm constitutional
>arrangement, not revocable by everyday law-making. To be an enduringly
>reliable guarantee of economic security, the norm of lifetime mutual
>responsibility would need to be firmly embedded in the integrity or
>character of each member. It would require every member to be fully
>attentive to, ie., decide their priority time-investments (work choice)
>in regard to, the basic needs of all other members. Because of the
>volatility and insecurity of monetary value in the current global casino
>game, the required guarantee would not be pegged to a monetary figure,
>but to a parcel of primary goods qualified by regionally appropriate
>performance standards. Ensuring that every member was guaranteed
>services and goods in accord with agreed standards would entail a
>priorities-responsive mindset, a self-organising capacity whose exercise
>would need to be demonstrated to children and encouraged from early
>education on. With the internet, information concerning priority needs
>and minimum standards would be accessible to all, allowing for a fully
>self-organising and truly free-enterprising (everyone their own boss)
>global civic culture, rendering the idea of central planning largely
>obsolete. Such an economic and civic arrangement would constitute what
>I would call 'priactivism' - a political economy only possible with the
>Internet, promising a way out of the old and collapsing left-right
>tunnel. ('pri' from priority)
>
>What is very clear is that while each continues to decide their work, as
>is the norm today, without regard for priority needs, while it is
>regarded as morally acceptable that skills and resources be directed to
>the construction of casinos rather than homes for the homeless, no one's
>economic security can be guaranteed. No coercively-based redistributive
>mechanisms (eg taxes) can be relied upon to sustainably compensate for
>the general practice of priorities-negligent work.
>
>We should ask the question:
>
>If work has little to do with servicing priority needs, what is ethical
>about the work ethic? Why OUGHT we work?
>
Re: FW Request for ideas
>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Mime-Version: 1.0 >To: "S. Lerner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Elinor Mosher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: FW Request for ideas >Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 12:36:05 -0300 > >I can't give any kind of lengthy answer, but I'd start with a GAI paid for >with >Arthur Cordell's bit tax. > > > >At 10:06 AM 5/19/98 +0100, you wrote: >>FWers - If we think it's important to ensure basic economic security for >>all citizens of the industrialized 'have' nations, what suggestions do you >>have as to how this should be accomplished? >> >>Sally Lerner >> >> >> >> >
FW Becoming a union organizer
Union Schooling Attend boot camp. Learn organizing not war. by Jennifer Hattam May 19, 1998 Program Title: The Organizing Institute Job Length: Three days to a lifetime Location: Various locations in the United States (willingness to travel or relocate is a must for full-time organizer) Skills: Previous organizing experience Salary: $210-$400 weekly stipend plus housing and transportation as an intern or apprentice Burnout Rate: Medium If you just want to get a taste of the labor movement, then the Union Summer, which we profiled last week, may be for you. But if you have dreams of becoming the next Cesar Chavez, or have gotten choked up watching Norma Rae more times than you can remember-and you've got some previous organizing experience to back it up-you may be ready for the AFL-CIO's Organizing Institute. Lisa Canada first got interested while waiting tables as a college student. Canada, who had been reading Michael Moore's Flint Voice since she was eleven years old, got fed up with her working conditions. Her attempt to improve them was unsuccessful, but the hotel and restaurant workers union "liked my gumption," Canada says, and recommended that she attend the Organizing Institute. The application process was "very difficult and intimidating," Canada remembers. "I felt like I was the worst one in the room." Nevertheless, Canada was accepted. Now she's an organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). The path to becoming a union organizer starts with a three-day training weekend, where union members and prospective organizers alike examine case studies and role-play. While you're learning what the work entails, Institute staff are seeing whether you have the skills to do it. The Institute is looking for people "who see workers as having the power to solve their own problems," and have "the ability to ask people to take risks, because organizing is a risk," says Institute director Allison Porter. When asked what other skills are important, Porter lists some standard management clichés: interpersonal, strategic, and motivational abilities. But Porter believes that "having the fire in the belly is probably the hardest thing to teach people," and the most important. About half of the training weekend participants go on to organizing "boot camp," a three-week field internship. Groups of five to seven interns are assigned to a ongoing union campaign, where they "knock on doors and go to work sites, trying to move people to some kind of action," says Porter. You won't get much time off-Canada calls her internship "very tiring and very exhilarating"-but you will receive housing, transportation, a $210 weekly stipend and a chance at the next step-an apprenticeship.
FW New Book: _Going Local_
>Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 10:03:47 -0400 (EDT) >From: LOKA INSTITUTE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >MIME-version: 1.0 >Precedence: bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: New Book: _Going Local_ >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >RECOMMENDED READING: New Book on Sustainable Communities > >For those interested in nuts and bolts of community self- >reliance, Michael Shuman's latest book, GOING LOCAL, offers >literally hundreds of examples of communities that are actually >doing it. Shuman, who is a fellow at the Institute for Policy >Studies and until recently was its director, argues that most >communities already have the resources -- financial, human, and >technological -- to render themselves less vulnerable to the >unpredictable oscillations of the new global economy. > >Loka friends will be especially intrigued to read Shuman's >arguments for creating import-replacing industries at the local >level. He outlines how communities could now create local >industries that meet basic needs of energy, food, water, >clothing, and housing. For example: > > - Small-scale power producers and energy-service companies >are beginning to displace large-scale utilities. > > - Community recyclers are rendering obsolete large-scale >mining, milling, smelting, and materials fabrication companies. > > - Community-supported agriculture (CSA) arrangements hold >the potential to reduce dependence on industrial-scale farming. > > - Flexible manufacturing networks give communities to team >up with other communities and achieving larger economies of scale >-- without surrendering local ownership and control. > >Shuman also explores how a community can finance these new >businesses through community banks, pension funds, and money >systems, and speed their adoption through smart local policy. >The book concludes with an appendix, "Around the World Economy in >80 Ways," which contains contact information on several hundred >organizations. > >For more information about the book -- and how to order -- please >call 202-238-0010 or visit http://dev-works.com/goinglocal.html. > >--=_895101964==_-- >
FW New Book: _Going Local_
FW Comments on workfare-Australia (fwd)
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 23:23:56 +1000 (EST) From: Bill Bartlett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: work-for-dole discussion paper This dates from about mid-way through last year, I got it off the web, but can't remember exactly where. Sorry if that's no help, I just noticed it on my drive and thought I'd share it with you. The Evatt Foundation is a Labor Party think-tank, largely government funded I gather (more largely when Labor is in power of course.) ;-) Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas. -- Work for the Dole Work for the Dole Making young people responsible or blaming the victims Written by Bronwyn Pike Executive Officer Evatt Victoria Centre Assisted by Karin Ortlepp and Mai Hall ---Preface The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment. Work is a most significant aspect of human experience. People work to earn enough money to purchase goods and services and to sustain their families. Work is also a means for personal growth and of deriving satisfaction. When people work they grow and develop their gifts and skills. This in turn enhances their selfesteem as others value their abilities and contribution. Work also provides an opportunity for people to contribute to the common good, to enrich society as a whole. The joint efforts of people are responsible for the building of large public institutions, providing essential services and so on. These make the world a better place for everyone to live in. In an ideal world all these aspects of work are fulfilled. With work, peoples self-esteem is enhanced as they know they are adding to society, that their efforts are worthwhile and that they are able to take responsibility for the necessities of life. Over the last 20 years large numbers of Australians have been unemployed or under-employed. Currently unemployment is around 9% and this amount has not varied significantly for a number of years. The rate of unemployment for young people, indigenous people, migrants and those with little education is even higher. In this context, where there is not enough work to go around or where work is unevenly distributed, the community as a whole has the responsibility to ensure that those who miss out, and their families, do not suffer, but are able to afford the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, housing, utilities, education and health. If people are deprived of these essentials they are unable to participate in society and they then become marginalised. The consequences for individuals and the community as a whole are very negative when people become outsiders. Most Australian people are very concerned about unemployment. In opinion polls Australians cite unemployment as the most important challenge facing the Government and the nation. The ability to address unemployment is now seen as the key test of the capacity and the credibility of a Government in power. The current Federal Government is keenly aware that its electoral success depends on its ability to reduce unemployment. One of the first initiates it has taken is the introduction of the Work for the Dole scheme. In February 1997 the Howard Government announced its intention to amend social security legislation to introduce a scheme whereby unemployed young people would be required to engage in part-time work in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits. There will be a mix of compulsory and voluntary work although it has been stated that social security payments could be cut to those who refuse to comply with the scheme. The Government has decided that young people will be paid award wages and therefore they will only work the hours required to get unemployment allowance payment. Participants will still be required to look for full time work and unless employed full time will be registered as unemployed. The Work for the Dole scheme will establish projects within community welfare organizations which are community based. * The priority group comprises 10,000 unemployed young people aged between 18 and 24 years * Around 16 million dollars has been set aside to administer the program. * Military - based programs and specifically targeted projects in areas of high unemployment in rural and regional Australia are also being considered. The Governrnent claims that: * The scheme is not designed to save money. * The scheme will not replace real jobs * The scheme will not artificially manipulate the rate of youth unemployment and thereby create the impression that it is lower. * It is fair and reasonable that people receiving unemployment allowances from the community be asked to make a contribution to the community in return. * The scheme will assist young people to acquire a work ethic and to be 'work- ready' by immersing them in
FW Signs of change? (fwd)
>Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 23:19:48 -0400 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Robert Cohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: FWD: International press release >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Sender: Robert Cohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >X-To: Ecological Economics <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by csf.Colorado.EDU id >VAA01295 > >Here's a trade-related press release that is likely to be of interest to >some of you. > >Robert Cohen[EMAIL PROTECTED]Boulder, Colorado > >== > >Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 10:50:19 +0200 (MET) >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Peoples' Global Action Secretariat) >Subject: International press release > >May 18th, 1998 > >3rd international PRESS RELEASE >by Peoples' Global Action > >Today the Second Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization >(WTO) starts in Geneva, in the context of a hundreds of protests all over >the World. > >Nearly a million of people from all social sectors (farmers, indigenous >peoples, workers, women, ethnical groups, unemployed and many other groups) >are expressing since the 1st of May our rejection to the WTO, the >multilateral trade system, and neoliberal policies - participating in the >first international days of action of Peoples' Global Action (PGA) against >"Free" Trade and the WTO. > >Selection of actions during the G8 Summit in Birmingham (16th/17th May) and >during the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Geneva (18th-20th May) > >On Saturday, at the same time as the beginning of the G8 Summit, over >hundred thousand people throughout the world protested against the WTO and >their neoliberal policies: > >Global Street Parties were celebrated in 35 cities all over the world, for >example in Geneva, Birmingham, Sydney, Toronto and Prague with several >thousand people in each town. > >In Brazil, a protest march of 40 000 landless and homeless people reached >the capital Brasilia; 10 000 unemployed joined them on Monday. On >Wednesday, >the final day of the WTO conference, a demonstration through the government >district of Brasilia is planned. > >In India, 23 regional conferences against the WTO are occurring today. In >Hyderabad, WTO symbols are being burned in several public places. On >Saturday, there were more than 100 actions against the WTO and on May 1st, >hundreds of thousands of peasants and workers urged the Indian to withdraw >from the WTO in a massive national rally. > >In Canada, a protest against the planned Multilateral Agreement on >Investment (MAI) is scheduled for today. There will be further >demonstrations and direct actions in different Canadian cities on >Wednesday. >The OECD meeting starting this weekend in Montreal shall be blocked >throughout its duration. > >On "Peoples Trade Day today, actions are being carried out in the United >States and in Geneva against different symbolic centers of global >capitalism. > >Meanwhile, an incredible wave of repression is hitting Geneva: throughout >the town, people are being stopped by the police at random, arrested and >jailed for hours without any given reason - without judicial basis. Foreign >persons which "do not carry enough money on them" (about 500 SFrs.) are >registered for police records and then deported with a prohibition of >re-entry. > >Many people got heavily injured by the police on Saturday evening, although >they behaved passively. At least one young man from Geneva still is in >intensive care due to inner bleeding. The bicycle caravan "Money or Life" >organized by WiWa Wendland in Germany was already stopped before reaching >Geneva, all foreign participants were arrested, deported and are not >allowed >to re-enter Switzerland for two years. 40 Italians were arrested on their >arrival at the train station in Geneva and also deported. > >On Sunday afternoon, the caravan traveled to the French border to return >the >wagons, tractors and further equipment back to the German participants >banned from Switzerland who were waiting at the other side of the border. >On >their way back to Geneva, ten people were arrested, among them two >journalists from Switzerland and from Berlin. These were also registered >for >police records and had to spend hours in a freezing cold civil service >building wearing summer clothes. After this custody they were given a paper >written in French accusing them of having participated in all actions and >demonstrations and were urged to sign it. > >We condemn these arbitrary acts of the Genevan police and justice. These >arrests are clearly illegal. We especially protest against the detention of >journalists. > >Peoples Global Action is a worldwide alliance of organizations and >grassroots movements that was formed the last February in a conference >where >representatives of grassroots movements from 56 countries of all continents >came together. The conference produced the Manifesto of
FW A view from the US
Date:Mon, 25 May 1998 18:08:52 -0500 From:"Doug H." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: How did the underprivileged become targets of nation's contempt? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > How did the underprivileged become targets of nation's contempt? > > Julianne Malveaux > commentator > > Thirty years ago, the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy led >caravans of people all over > the country to Washington, D.C., in the Poor People's March to protest >poverty and racial > discrimination. Abernathy had picked up the baton from Martin Luther King >Jr., but who has > picked up the baton from Abernathy? > > A generation ago, it was possible to rally people to the >nation's capital on such > issues, but today poor people have become the targets of our nation's >contempt. > > How else do we explain the congressional reluctance to >increase the minimum > wage by just a dollar an hour? Business critics say that an increase from >$5.15 to $6.15 an > hour would be inflationary and cause job loss. But with a soaring stock >market, and falling > prices in some sectors, there is no better time to increase wages. The 10 >million Americans -- > mostly women, disproportionately household heads, disproportionately >black and brown -- > would see their quality of life increase with increased wages. > > Our national hostility to the poor may also explain why >the availability of housing for > poor people has shrunk in the past decade. Federal subsidies for >affordable housing have > declined, and while the number of families that need rent subsidies is >rising, the number of > low-rent apartments has been falling. > > Some 5 million families -- a third of low-income families >-- spend more than half of > their incomes on rent. These families are struggling despite the low >unemployment rates we > keep reading about. Why? Because jobs are plentiful for those who are >willing to work for low > wages, but more scarce for those who demand a living wage. > > Our nation has moved 180 degrees away from the direction >Martin Luther King and > Ralph Abernathy were pointing toward. Then, we were alarmed that so many >of our children > lived in poverty. Now, the fact that a quarter of our nation's kids are >poor, and that an even > greater number fall asleep with empty stomachs at the end of the month, >does not seem to > disturb us. > > Have our hearts hardened to photographs of homeless and >hungry children, or > have we convinced ourselves that their distress is a preventable, >``personal'' problem? > > Have we become so smug about economic expansion that we >have failed to note > increasing requests for emergency food and shelter in our nation's >largest cities? > > Have we decided that rallies, protests and other mass >actions cannot eradicate > society's inequities, or have we become so weary that we aren't willing >to try anymore? > > Those who repudiate the vision of the Poor People's March >are all too eager to > quote King when he said that he looked forward to the day people are >judged by the > ``content of their character not the color of their skin.'' They forget >that King did not travel to > Memphis, Tenn., in April 1968 to increase character content. He risked >his life to increase the > wages of the lowest-paid workers in Memphis: garbage workers. > > Remember, King said that poverty was as much ``an >abomination as cannibalism at > the dawn of civilization.'' And when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, >he said: ``I have the > audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for >their bodies, > education and culture for their minds, peace and freedom for their >spirits.'' Amen. > > King had the ire and the fire for dozens of Poor People's >Marches. It is we who have > dropped the baton. > > *** Malveaux is a Washington economist. She wrote this column for the >Progressive > Media Project, 409 East Main St., Madison, Wis. 53703. > Distributed for the project by KRT News Service. > > This material is > copyrighted and > may not be > republished > without > permission of the > originating > newspaper or > wire service. > ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
FW Budget Summary, The Jobs Letter 79 (27 May 1998)
The view from New Zealand...posted with permission of The Jobs Letter. See info on subscribing at end of post. Sally >Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 10:31:39 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: Budget Summary, The Jobs Letter 79 (27 May 1998) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >=== >== >== > >F E A T U R E >-- >from >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 7 9 >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 27 May 1998 > - > >BUDGET SUMMARY > >BUDGET 98 - FOLLOWING THE MONEY >The main decisions in Treasurer Winston Peters' second Budget -- > >* Anyone who becomes a sickness beneficiary after July 1st >will be paid the same as the unemployment benefit. The rates for >existing beneficiaries will not change, but within a year it is >expected the new rate will effect about half those receiving a >benefit. The sickness benefit will be merged into the community >wage on October 1st and will be subject to the work test. > >*Invalids and sickness beneficiaries will be assessed on a >case- by-case basis to see if they are capable of doing even five >hours work. These work capacity trials start in November. > >*People on the Domestic Purposes Benefit whose youngest child >is between six and 13 years will be expected to look for part- >time work. Those with their youngest child 14 years and older >will have to look for full-time jobs. > >*A child-care subsidy for low-income working parents and sole >parents will be part of measures to help people get back into the >workforce. A sole parent with two school-age children who takes >up work will have child-care subsidised by up to $72 a week >during the school term and by up to $108 a week during the school >holidays. Sole parents with no access to sick leave in their >first six months of full-time work may be eligible for financial >help if they or their children are sick. > >*The Budget predicts that the unemployment rate will peak at >just over 7% in mid 1998 and then reduce to 5.6% by the year >2000- 2001. Next year, the government expects to be spending >$1.46 billion on paying the community wage (replacing the >unemployment, training and sickness benefits). > >*Employment programmes overall get a $142m boost in the >1998/99 year and a $125m boost in 1999/2000. This includes >however a transfer of money (from Vote Education) of the money >for Training Opportunity Programmes. The Education Ministry is >left with only 40% of the previous TOPS funding and expects to >provide 5,000 training places this year, compared with the 15,000 >training places in the last year. > >*The big boost in funding goes to "services to minimise the >duration of unemployment and maximise participation in community >work and training", which is Treasury's way of describing >measures to tackle long-term unemployment and create community >wage schemes. Target for the next year: 63,000 job- seekers to >take part in these initiatives, or between 22,000 and 26,500 >people at any one time. Balancing the massive increase in funding >community wage initiatives is a cut to many other Labour >Department-funded programmes: > >-- Subsidised work schemes (eg Job Plus) have been trimmed >back $24m to $108m. > >-- Community employment and enterprise development >projects (eg Be Your Own Boss) have had just under $5m trimmed >from their budget to $13.5m > >-- The Army's Limited Service volunteer scheme, which takes young >people on to a six-week military training course, has been >slashed from $2.7m to $1.7m, now providing placements for 700 >job- seekers. > >*The Youth Affairs programmes Conservation Corps and >Youth Service Corps receive much the same amounts as in the last >Budget. Conservation Corps is funded $9.73m to run 123 projects >for 1,670 young people; and Youth Service Corps are funded $1.09m >to run 10 projects for 133 young people. > >*Employment Support for people with disabilities (eg >Workbridge) gets a 30% increase in budget to $16.225m. > >*Student Placement Services keeps the same budget at $1.9m, >as does the Careers Service at $5.45m. > >*The Education and Training Support Agency funding is cut by >about half, reflecting the transfer of funding previously >allocated to TOPS to Vote Employment. > >*Only students receiving a student allowance during the >academic year will continue to have access to the emergency >benefit from July 1st. > >*Also from July 1st, unemployment, training or sickness >beneficiaries aged 18-19 years with no dependents and living with >their pa
FW List about welfare
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 18:37:17 -0300 (ADT) From: Michael Gurstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: C4LDEMOC-L: Announcement- Welfare Watch- E-mail lists (fwd) To: Canadian futures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Precedence: Bulk Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Forwarded message -- Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 13:43:55 -0400 From: Sherrie Tingley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: C4LDEMOC-L: Announcement- Welfare Watch- E-mail lists (Please note that I have replaced u with * in s*bscribe to post this, when s*bscribing please use the u) << * Welfare Reform in Ontario - On-line discussion * This is an invitation from the Workfare Watch Project to join an on-line discussion of welfare reform in Ontario. E-mail lists are an automatic way to send a message to one address and have it sent out to everyone who joins. When you join you will get more instructions on how to participate. The OW-WATCH-L list is public and unmoderated which technically means everyone who joins can post to the list. The list set to require approvals. The purpose of this is to block e-mail junk mail from getting posted to the list. Everyone who applies is approved. The OW-WATCH-AN is a moderated list where only Welfare Watch will be posting bulletins, announcements and notices. OW-Watch-L is intended to be a workspace for activists, welfare recipients, the labour, advocacy and the academic communities to share information and stories about the impact of workfare and welfare reform in their communities. We will also use the on-line discussion to share strategies for coping with the fallout of reform and community mobilizing to effect change. As well as the broad workspace of the OW-WATCH-L list Workfare Watch has established OW-WATCH-AN a moderated web list to send regular bulletins, announcements and notices. Instructions to join the lists: To join the list(s): send email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] With the subject line blank and: s*bscribe OW-WATCH-l (that is a lower case L not a one) or/and s*bscribe OW-WATCH-AN-l as the only text of the mail message. Delete any signature file you may have. You can join both lists in the one message to majordomo. You will be sent a confirmation message when you s*bscribe to OW-Watch-an-l that you must reply to, this ensures that no-one can sign you up to the list without your permission. If you this instructions seem to complicated or you are having problems contact the lists facilitator Sherrie Tingley at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Please forward this message to your networks - or cut and paste it into flyers or newsletters you are distributing. -- Sherrie Tingley [EMAIL PROTECTED] | |To unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], no subject, with the |following message (and no other text): unsubscribe c4ldemoc-l
FW: LA Times column, 5/25/98 (fwd)
>Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:37:18 -0300 (ADT) >From: Michael Gurstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: FW: LA Times column, 5/25/98 (fwd) >To: Canadian futures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >Electronic Democracy in Nova Scotia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Precedence: Bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- >From: Gary Chapman >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: LA Times column, 5/25/98 >Date: Tuesday, May 26, 1998 5:55AM > >Friends, > >Below is my latest column for The Los Angeles Times, from Monday, May 25, >1998. As always, please feel free to pass this on, but please retain the >copyright notice. > > -- > >If you have received this from me, Gary Chapman >([EMAIL PROTECTED]), you are subscribed to the listserv that >sends out copies of my column in The Los Angeles Times and other published >articles. > >If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE from this listserv, send mail to >[EMAIL PROTECTED], leave the subject line blank, and put >"Unsubscribe Chapman" in the first line of the message. > >If you received this message from a source other than me and would like to >subscribe to the listserv, the instructions for subscribing are at the end >of the message. > > -- > >Monday, May 25, 1998 > >Digital Nation > >Counterculture Is Over -- Is a Backlash Next? > >By Gary Chapman > >Copyright, 1998, The Los Angeles Times > >The "digital counterculture" revolution appears to be over. What's next? > >Wired magazine, the fervent oracle of this "counterculture," has been sold >to Conde Nast, one of the "old media" empires Wired once railed against and >a conglomerate built on fashion and celebrity worship. Wired will now join >Vanity Fair and GQ magazines in the Conde Nast stable, certainly the >harbinger of a tamed editorial voice. > >The Internet has rapidly gone from being a "revolutionary" technology to a >conventional staple of middle-class homes. Author Bruce Sterling has said, >"Web-surfing is a genuinely popular enterprise -- it's like Monday Night >Football or country line-dancing." Homemakers are trading Beanie Babies on >the Net, and kids are checking their homework assignments online. > >Revolutionary zeal about the digital age seems, at best, two or three years >out of date now -- at worst, laughable. The Internet, while still >transforming the economy, is fading into the cultural background, a >communications medium that, for most people, simply supplements TV and the >telephone. > >There are still people clamoring to make money off the Internet, of course. >The high-flying stock market, driven by high tech, and the quick fortunes >that are legendary in the industry have made the Internet symbolic of a >"new economy" that is attracting hustlers and visionaries alike. > >Remember the famous scene in the movie "The Graduate," in which the young >college graduate, played by Dustin Hoffman, is taken aside by a family >friend at a party and told the one word that will ensure his future? "One >word," says the guest. "Plastics." > >That word, a metaphor for everything artificial and oppressive about that >era, was meant to strike terror into the hearts of all baby boomers >confronting a future of dull conformity and plodding careerism. > >These days, we could reenact the scene, with the word "Internet" >substituted for "plastics." The digital counterculture revolution is truly >over. > >What will be the Next Big Thing? This is the gnawing question that keeps >young entrepreneurs and venture capitalists awake at night, wondering what >the next killer app is going to be and how they can discover it before >anyone else. > >But the next big thing may be a popular rejection of the high-tech >lifestyle altogether. A growing number of people are fed up with the stress >of modern life, the financial burdens of competitive consumption, empty >politics, the uniformity of suburbanization, the commercialization of every >aspect of our culture, pointless gadgets and the overwhelming, ubiquitous >feeling that significant problems in our country are neglected because of a >suffocating, indifferent status quo. > >The '90s increasingly resemble a speeded-up version of the '50s. The '50s, >of course, produced the '60s, a genuine, full-blown counterculture era. Is >another backlash building now? > >There are comparatively few signs of such a backlash, I admit. One early >warning signal: The July issue of Fast Company magazine, the monthly bible >for workaholics caught up in the "total dedication" ideology of Silicon >Valley, is titled "I Gotta Get a Life!" And some new books and movies are >beginning to paint the outlines of an emerging popular disaffection with >consumerism and commodity fetishism, a combination that Harvard University >professor Juliet B. Schor calls "the national religion" of the United >States. > >Schor has just published the book "The Overspent American," a sequel to >"The Overworked American." Th
FW-L Unemployment-research list in the UK (fwd)
> -- >*** >[Opening message posted on the unemployment > -research list posted 15th July 1997] > >WELCOME TO THE LIST!!! >I've started this list to provide a forum for discussion and >exchange of information on unemployment problems. There >seem to be many different groups and individuals with a >strong interest in unemployment, but no obvious focus for discussion. >Reports and papers are produced by individuals and groups, >but there is no widely circulated journal with a interest in the area >which might report the existence of these reports and papers. >So a lot of people seem to be talking past each other. > >My particular interest is in the measurement of unemployment. >I have a long standing interest in statistics, but was very >disappointed at the report of the Royal Statistical Society >on Unemployment Statistics made in 1995.A year or more >onward and I've been made aware of many ways in which the >LFS/ILO Unemployment Series as well as Count of Claimants >fail to do justice to many groups who might be considered as >unemployed. So why the cover up, I wonder?What does >government gain by failing to recognise or measure >the extent and size of Britain's labour reserves? > >The responses of the new Government so far have not got >beyond the election pledges. Many people seem sceptical >at the likely effectiveness of the measures taken to deal >with long-term unemployment, but this seems to be a >much smaller part of total unemployment than nearly >everyone imagines. On the other side, steps taken to >encourage single parents to enter employment >seem to have nothing to do with existing measures of >unemployment. But the steps taken do seem to label >single parents as unused labour supply. If single parents >so labelled become countable as unemployed, what of >other parents not in employment?? > >I don't expect answers to such questions. Just putting >them forward to indicate the width of the field and the kinds >of topics which discussions on the list could well cover. >More in next message. > >Ray Thomas, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University > >*** >
FW-L Interesting web source (fwd)
Despite the unseemly self-congratulation in the following post, you may want to check out this website for some connections to a variety of sources. Sally >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Sep 27 00:12:25 1997 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 20:46:53 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Empowerment Resources website. Hello. I want to let you know about my award-winning website- "Empowerment Resources for Personal Growth, Social Change, and Ecology". I now offer over 370 links and over 220 good empowerment resource books on personal growth, social change, and ecology (most discounted 20-30%) on my website at http://www.empowermentresources.com/, and I invite you to check it out, and if you manage a website, consider providing/updating a link to my website. My link info is in http://www.empowermentresources.com/page14.html#Adding_Links_To_Empowerment_ Resources. (Also, if for any any reason you don't want to receive any more e-mails about this website, just send a reply to this e-mail and type the word "Remove" in the subject header.) If you manage a website, thanks for reviewing my link info and website and considering providing/updating a link. If you add a link to my website, please send me a quick e-mail reply to let me know. Thanks. - Ed from Empowerment Resources. http://www.empowermentresources.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
FW-L Follow up on Affluenza (fwd)
>Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 12:04:33 -0400 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Win Armstrong <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Follow up on Affluenza >X-cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To Toes and other colleagues: > >I'm sorry Sumner Rosen's thoughtful memo re: following up on Affluenza was >not included with my memo in the previous mailing. I try again. I continue >to think it important that it is important that we who want alternatives >propose and offer to help develop them. This is one sample. Thanks to >several of you for letting me know this was not incuded the first time >around. Win > >Subj:Affluenza >Date: 97-09-16 20:13:23 EDT >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sumner M Rosen) >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sumner M Rosen) >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Winifred Armstrong), [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >This is for Scott Simon, long a favorite for his eloquence and >consistency. You can take pride in last night's show; I assume that you >had more to do with it than read someone else's script. It did much but >much more remains to be done; I encourage you and others to dig deeper and > look further. > >The engines of credit and consumerism feed a massive and powerful engine >of corporate dominance in economic life, public policy, and the focus >and constraints of the media, npr not excluded. Effective reduction in >the strength and reach of these engines will inexorably affect the >institutions that rely so heavily on them to sustain and protect their >profits and their market power > >.. Part two of this effort could be a close look at this dimension of the >system which both depends on and >entrenches ever more deeply the consumerist bias ofthe economy. To the >extent that the counter-forces that you discussed take root and grow >stronger, new >possibilities emerge for serious and enduring economic >structures and processes; among them are (1) less focus on obsolescence, >more on the useful life expectancy of products; (2) decentralization of >economic activity closer to users and communities, more accountable and >accessible based on a new - or renewed - contract or compact between >makers and users, (3) much stronger emphasis on renewable resources and >conservation of the ecological context, (4) a shift away from short-term >returns - and stock prices -to longer-term economic health and >viability.(5) new concepts about how to measure and increase user-consumer >satisfaction and the state of the economy. >This is a short list from a longer agenda of thought and action. > >The other major category for exploration involves the connections between >products, production and how work is done and rewarded. The >many-dimensional transformations of the work force have been addressed: >downsizing, contingent work, racial, gender and age inequalities, >geographic shifts in the >locus of economic activity, computerization, globalization, etc. But they >take as given the nature of the market for goods and services that was the >focus of the program. How do the changes that you can project and foresee >play out in the lives and rewards of working people ? How should the union >movement respond; what role can and should workers have in the new >configurations that are implicit in the de-consumerization that you >analyzed ? In "Healthy Work" Robert Karasek and his co-author describe a >truck factory >in Finland in which workers and users form bonds and relationships >that deepen over time; in this process one finds some of the keys to >the problems >associated with work-based stress and alienation, old concerns that >have persisted, grown even more severe, in our mature industrial and >post-industrial economies.This >last set of concerns is the focus of my work and that of colleagues. > >We're urging you on and look forward to next steps. > >Sumner M. Rosen :)
FW-L Radical Scholars & Chicago Labor Teach-in (fwd)
>Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 00:39:57 + >Reply-To: Carl Davidson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Carl Davidson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Radical Scholars & Chicago Labor Teach-in >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >8TH ANNUAL MIDWEST RADICAL >SCHOLARS & ACTIVISTS CONFERENCE > >A TEACH-IN >ON LABOR & >NEW ALLIANCES > >Strategies for Workplace, School >& Community in the 21st Century > >October 24-25, 1997 >Roosevelt University, Chicago > >Conference begins Friday, 1pm >and ends Saturday 10pm >Keynote Plenary: Friday, 7pm > >Speakers: Abdul Alkalimat, William Adelman, Bill Ayres, Liane Casten, >Carl Davidson, Bill Fletcher, Doug Gills, John Hagedorn, Manning >Marable, Robert McChesney, Kim Moody, Bertell Ollman, Mike Parker, >David Schweikart, Helen Slessarev, Pavlos Stavropoulos, Dan Swinney, >Carole Travis, Gerry Zero and many more... > >MAJOR PANELS > >--Labor's Alliances: Learning from History >--Radical Theory: Why Dialectics? Why Now? >--Unfair Burdens: Working Women, Today's Inequities & The Tasks of Unions >--The Media, Labor and Labor's Media >--Democratic Schools in a Democratic Society >--New Technology, Unions & Changes in Work >--Socialism's Future: A Debate >--Race, Nationality and Winning Alliances >--Structural Reform, Mass Campaigns & New Alliances >--Globalization, Neoliberalism and Labor Strategy >--Independent Politics: Labor-Community Alliances >--Welfare Reform, Income Policy & Trade Unions > >Also: Book & Literature Exhibits, Political Receptions, Videos, Cultural Events > >Roosevelt Co-Sponsor: School of Policy Studies >Organizational Co-Sponsors: Committees of Correspondence, >Democratic Socialists of America, Midwest Center for Labor Research >Open University of the Left > >Help by Registering in advance >$50 Sustainer $25 Regular $15 Student/Low income >Make Checks to Networking for Democracy > 3411 W Diversey, Chicago, IL 60647 >Contributions are Tax Deductible >Tel: 773-384-8827 Fax: 773-384-3904 >
FW-L Re: 10 Principles of Accountability (fwd)
An interesting set of ideas. Sally >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 18:17:26 -0700 >Reply-To: Caspar Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: The Other Economic Summit USA 1997 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Caspar Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: 10 Principles of Accountability >X-cc: Terry Cottam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Terry Cottam was kind enough to answetr my request for the text of the 10 >Principles. In his amazingly prompt reply,he also asked the following >questions: > >>Do they make sense? Are any points not clear? I would like to help adapt >>these into popular education materials that everyone can use. >> > >I am quite impressede by the general tenor of the "Principles" and have >taken the liberty of trying to maske them more readily comprehensible. For >me, the mandatory form is easier to grasp than simple statements, and I >have converted them to that form. I have also massaged the diction here and >there in ways which seem to me to make them easier to read. In some cases, >I have had to add a few words, but for me the added words speed >comprehension much more than they slow reading. > >Please let me know what you think. > > (Revised) Principles of Public Accountability > >Principles guide conduct. If we can agree on general principles of >accountability, we have the basis for developing the basic standards for >answering to the public. Here are ten illustrative principles: > >1. Disclosure of intentions. People in authority who are intending action >that would affect others in important ways must tell those others the >results or outcomes they seek to bring about. They must state why they >think the outcomes they intend are desirable and fair. > >2. Performance visibility. Actual performance must be disclosed through >adequate public answering by those who have the performance >responsibilities. Those in authority must answer publicly and promptly for >the results of their actions and for any learning they have applied from >them. > >3. Identifying the directing mind. In every government, corporation or >other organization there is a "directing mind and will" which must be >identified as the body publicly accountable for what people in the >organization or set of organizations intend to do, actually do, or fail to >do. > >4. Responsibility for taking precautions. Decision-makers in authority have >a duty to inform themselves adequately about significant risks to people's >safety, to the environment, and to social and legal justice. They must meet >the intent of the precautionary principle in their decision-making. They >must answer publicly for any failure to obtain reasonable assurance that it >is safe to proceed or, if in doubt, for failure to err on the side of >safety. (The U.S. Challenger space shuttle disaster is a well-known >example of directing minds waiving the precautionary principle). > >5. The citizens' precautionary principle. Citizens must apply the >precautionary principle to justice, equity, and the preservation of >community as well as to safety and environmental protection. They must, in >appropriate forums, set the standards for decision-makers-in-authority to >meet in publicly answering for their intentions, and they must hold them >fairly and publicly to account. > >6. Audit. Important answering must be validated by knowledgeable public >interest groups or by professional practitioners, or both. > >[I can't really fault this but I have considerable reservations about >professional practitioners as watchdogs.] > >7. Right-roles. Those who are actually accountable must answer publicly for >their intentions and results. The answering obligation is not to be shifted >to external inspectors, commissioners, auditors, ombudsmen or other >examiners. > >8. Corporate fairness. The directing minds of corporations must answer >publicly for serving the public interest when, in decision-making within >their power, a significant difference is likely to exist between serving >the public interest and serving the wants of corporation owners and >management. Reporting by those who are responsible for the oversight of >corporations must include the extent to which their supervision meets the >intent of the precautionary principle. > >9. Governing body and citizen responsibility. To ensure continued >answering, those legitimately holding responsible parties to account must >themselves act fairly and responsibly on answerings given in good faith. >This applies to both governing bodies and public interest groups. > >10. The wages-of-abdication principle. To the extent that citizens >abdicate their responsibility to decide standards for public answering and >fail to hold responsible parties fairly to account, they create civic >incompetence and give tacit authorization of the abuse of power. > >*** >I find 10 a little scary, because it assumes the existence of appropr
Hotel Workers Internships
>Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 13:34:30 -0400 (EDT) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Hotel Workers Internships > >I am writing on behalf of H.E.R.E. locals on the East and West Coast who are >urgently seeking interns. Please post this notice to lists you believe would >be helpful and announce in classes where there will be interest ! > >INTERNS WANTED: >EARN COURSE CREDIT FIGHTING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WORKERS RIGHTS > >Internships now available with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union in >the following locations: > >SAN FRANCISCO, OAKLAND, MONTEREY, AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA > >NEW HAVEN,HARTFORD, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT AND PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND. > >No Experience necessary: we are looking for creative individuals with a >committment to social and economic justice. > >WHAT INTERNS WILL LEARN: >interns will gain skills in organizing, community outreach and campaign >development by : > >1. working with organizers in the field >2. learning investigative research techniques >3. activating community support and boycott organizing > >WHAT INTERNS WILL EARN: >You can earn course credit, gain valuable skills, and the undying gratitude >of the cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers, and other workers who make up the >HERE membership ! Some locals can provide transportation stipends. > >Each of these HERE locals have a full time Community Organizer on Staff who >will train and develop interns on campaigns to support the hotel workers >organizing at the : > New Otani--Marriott--Lafayette Park--Monterey Plaza and >many more hotels. Research and building community alliances are key in >winning these struggles -- come join us ! > >TO FIND OUT MORE CONTACT: > >West Coast: Pat Lamborn (510)893-3181 Ext. 128 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >East Coast: Ellen Thomson (860)653-9354 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
FW-L The Jobs Letter No.66 2/2 (15 September 1997)
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 21:48:37 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: The Jobs Letter No.66 (15 September 1997) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal >Status: U > >to make some difficult decisions to stop a tide of welfare >dependency being passed onto the next generation. However, the >government's "code of social responsibility" as announced in the >Budget , will probably not be drawn up as proposed legislation >until early next year. > >Sowry says the new code by its very nature will be like the >fiscal responsibility legislation, and "broadly set the >guidelines we will use for the new social development and spell >out a set of responsibilities along with a set of rights we have >in society..." > >*The New Zealand Herald reports that welfare groups are >fearing that in response to the rise in beneficiary numbers, the >government may cut benefits -- the invalids benefit pays $36 a >week more than the dole -- and introduce tougher vetting of >invalids and sickness beneficiaries. > >AGE DISCRIMINATION >*The Human Rights Commission says that complaints >received on the basis of age discrimination made up 10% of the >formal complaints received last year. Brian Kirby, President of >Auckland Grey Power, says that these figures show a rising >bigotry against employing the elderly. Kirby: "Thousands of >people aged in their 50s are being put on the scrap heap by >employers who want to employ younger people at cheaper rates..." > >*In Wellington last week, a man was awarded $5,000 by the >Disputes Tribunal after the TAB refused to give him an interview >for a job. The Tribunal found that the 42-yr old man was not >given the job interview solely because of his age. > >IMMIGRATION TURN-AROUND >*The NZ government -- alarmed that the sharp fall in the >number of immigrants will hurt the economy -- is considering >changing immigration criteria in order to attract young, skilled >settlers with capital. The latest immigration figures show that >numbers are down to 15,900 from the 29,000 immigrants last year. >The government was aiming for 35,000 immigrants a year. > >Finance Minister Bill Birch told a recent Rotary Club meeting he >wants an influx of quality younger immigrants with high skills >and preferably some capital. Birch: "Migrant energies and skills >do not displace New Zealanders. They add a new dimension to the >economy which helps to underpin high levels of growth ..." > >LAURIE O'RIELLY >*The Children's Commissioner Laurie O'Reilly, who is >terminally ill, has made his last planned public appearance at >the Family Violence Symposium in Palmerston North. He used the >occasion to urge more support for the Commission's Fathers Who >Care: Partners in parenting programme. > >O'Reilly: " The most urgent thing now facing NZ is the issue of >fatherless families -- we have to address and develop a new >attitude to parenting, it is a shared responsibility. We have >been so liberal and brave and modern in meeting our own needs as >adults that we have overlooked our children -- and everyone has >an obligation to see that changed..." > >NEW BUSINESS LOBBY GROUP >*A new lobby group is being launched in order to give "an >alternative view" to the Business Roundtable. Auckland >businessman Dick Hubbard, of Hubbard Foods, is establishing >"Businesses for Social Responsibility", a group modelled after an >organisation with the same name in the United States. The new >group will have a permanent secretariat and will publish research >and reports. It will provide a forum for debate and discussion by >business and a network to share ideas and lobby government. > >Hubbard: "The Business Roundtable sees businesses as totally >focussed towards shareholder wealth. An alternative approach is >stakeholder theory, which sees business as having a range of >stakeholders, including not only shareholders but also employees, >suppliers and the wider community..." > >COMPANIES RE-THINKING CHARITY >*The Royal & SunAlliance is one of the first companies in NZ >to move towards "corporate volunteering" where businesses help >their staff carry out community work under the company's banner. >Example: employee Victoria Carpenter has recently spent a day a >week for twelve weeks working for the non-profit agency >Development Resource Centre. > >In the US, a survey of more than 450 companies has found that 90% >encouraged staff to become involved in community activities. In >Britain, a less representative study found that one in three >large companies had employee volunteering schemes. > >*The Royal & SunAlliance secondments were organised by >Wellington's Volunteer Centre. Darren Quirk, the Centre's >regional manager, has j
FW-L The Jobs Letter No.66 (15 September 1997)
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 21:48:37 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: The Jobs Letter No.66 (15 September 1997) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal >Status: U > >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 6 6 >- >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 15 September 1997 > >edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust >P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand >phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 >Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >I N T H I S I S S U E >- >CTU MAORI JOBS REPORT >COMMUNITY TASKFORCE >ONE IN THREE ON BENEFITS >CODE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY >COMPANIES RE-THINKING CHARITY >NEW BUSINESS LOBBY GROUP >UPS STRIKE AND PART-TIME WORK > >T H E J O B S L E T T E R >an essential information and media watch >on jobs, employment, unemployment, the future of work, >and related economic and education issues. > >Kia taea ai te tangata te whiwhi mahi >ahakoa ki whea, ahakoa ko wai. >Our objective is that every New Zealander will have the >opportunity to be in paid work. > >The Jobs Research Trust -- a not-for-profit Charitable Trust >constituted in 1994 to develop and distribute information that >will help our communities create more jobs and reduce >unemployment and poverty in New Zealand. > >D I A R Y - THE STATE OF JOBS IN NEW ZEALAND >-- > >20 August 1997 >The American UPS parcel-workers strike has been settled, with the >Teamsters Union gaining many benefits for part-time workers. The >US labour secretary Alexis Herman hails the UPS settlement as "a >model for the workplace of the 21st century in the way it invests >in both full-time and part-time workers ..." > >24 August 1997 >Salaries and wages rose 2.5% in the June year compared to last >year, according to the latest Labour cost index produced by >Statistics NZ. > >25 August 1997 >The Anglican Diocese of Dunedin calls for the government to >continue to support tax-payer- funded welfare, and to desist from >political and promotional efforts to make "dependency" >undesirable. > >The Lottery grants board has decided to cut its funding for >special-needs equipment for disabled people, saying it has found >itself providing essential equipment that other government >agencies should take responsibility for. > >26 August 1997 >The Dargaville clothing manufacturer Calman Manufacturing is to >close, with the loss of 37 jobs. It says it can no longer compete >with cheap imports from Asia and Fiji. Two Whangarei clothing >companies -- Linstrom Clothing and Dione Manufacturing -- have >also closed recently, blaming lower import tariffs. > >27 August 1997 >Tasman Milk Products subsidiary Silverhorn has formed a joint >venture with a US firm that could take it's health products into >the US. The deal will hopefully save the 70 jobs at their >Brightwater factory, which was threatened with closure. > >Forty activists mount a protest outside the Christchurch >Convention Centre to protest the public display of the America's >Cup. The cup is becoming a focus for protests against "corporate >control of NZ". The coalition of community groups at the protest >call themselves Cup-Crap -- the Campaign of United People against >Corporates Ripping off Aotearoa's Public. > >28 August 1997 >300 Porirua vehicle assembly workers from Mitsubitshi Motors stop >work to march on parliament in protest against the Motor Industry >tariff review which will lead to widespread job losses in the >sector. > >The latest National Bank survey of business opinion shows that >business confidence is rebounding. > >31 August 1997 >Housing NZ has achieved a $111 million profit, despite a rent >freeze and a reduction in the state housing pool. > >1 September 1997 >A Business Herald poll shows that business leaders want more >structural reform of the economy and the resumption of >state-owned asset sales. > >5 September 1997 >A report commissioned by the Maori development ministry Te >Puni Kokiri reveals that property and business interests, >including housing, farms, forestry and fisheries controlled by >Maori, is now worth $10.6 billion. The report also says that >there is widespread feeling that these assets are not being used >to the greatest benefit of Maori, and that Maori business skills >and administrative structures are not up to scratch. > >A snap review of staff at Clear Communications has resulted in >the loss of between 30-40 jobs in the corporate support >functions. > >6 September 1997 >Mother Teresa of Calcutta 1910_1997. Tireless worker for the poor >in India and around the world, founder of the Missionaries of the >Poor, and Nobel laureate. > >7 September 199
FW Monthly reminder
*FUTUREWORK LISTS MONTHLY REMINDER* FUTUREWORK: Redesigning Work, Income Distribution, Education FUTUREWORK is an international e-mail forum for discussion of how to deal with the new realities created by economic globalization and technological change. Basic changes are occurring in the nature of work in all industrialized countries. Information technology has hastened the advent of the global economic village. Jobs that workers at all skill levels in developed countries once held are now filled by smart machines and/or in low-wage countries. Contemporary rhetoric proclaims the need for ever-escalating competition, leaner and meaner ways of doing business, a totally *flexible* workforce, jobless growth. What would a large permanent reduction in the number of secure, adequately-waged jobs mean for communities, families and individuals? This is not being adequately discussed, nor are the implications for income distribution and education. Even less adequately addressed are questions of how to take back control of these events, how to turn technological change into the opportunity for a richer life rather than the recipe for a bladerunner society. Our objective in creating this list is to involve as many people as possible in redesigning for the new realities. We hope that this list will help to move these issues to a prominent place on public and political agendas worldwide. The FUTUREWORK lists are hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. To subscribe to FUTUREWORK (unmoderated) and/or FW-L (moderated) send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] saying subscribe futurework YourE-MailAddress subscribe FW-L YourE-MailAddress NOTE: To get the digest (batch) form of either list, subscribe to futurework-digest or fw-l-digest. To post directly to the lists (once you are subscribed), send your message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please include 'FW' or 'FW-L'in the subject line of your message, so that subscribers know the mail is from someone on the list. FUTUREWORK, the unmoderated list, is for discussion and debate. Subscribers often add a topic/thread identifier on the subject line (e.g. 'FW downward mobility') to focus discussion--a very good idea--but this is essentially an open list. FW-L, the moderated list, serves as a bulletin-board to post notices about recommended books, articles, other documents, other Net sites, conferences, even job openings, etc. relevant to the future of work and to the roles of education, community and other factors in that future. It serves subscribers as a calmer place to post andbrowse. Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell serve as co-moderators for FW-L. Normally, posts to this moderated list should be limited to one screen. Archives for both lists are/will be available via the FW WWW Home Page (under construction) at the URL/location http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/Research/FW If you ever want to remove yourself from one of these mailing lists, you can send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe futurework (or other list name) YourE-mailAddress If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list, (if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list itself) send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is the general rule for most mailing lists when you need to contact a human. We look foward to meeting you on the FUTUREWORK and FW-L lists. Sally LernerArthur Cordell [EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED]
FW Now for something completely different...
Try the trick at http://www3.mcps.k12.md.us/users/rsfay/magic/index.html If you can figure out how it works, please report back to the list. Beats me (but I was never good at tricks)! Sally
FW-L Population increase
>Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 15:09:46 -0400 >From: Steve Kurtz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Organization: Gaia Preservation Coalition & National Centre for Sustainability >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Population policy news clip >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >FYI-- > >By PRANAY GUPTE >(c) Earth Times News Service > >President Clinton's address at the United Nations Monday was >encouraging to everybody who shares his support for promoting >sustainable economic development and environmental security. But, at a >time when developing nations are looking to Washington for renewed >leadership on international social issues, the President missed an >opportunity to highlight the root cause of many global economic, >social and environmental maladies: population growth that is >alarmingly high in countries that can least afford such growth. > >Mr. Clinton is surely aware that the world adds 100 million people >each year, mostly in the 127 countries of the third world. At this >rate, global population, now nearly 5.9 billion, will climb to 8 >billion by the year 2010. Such numbers contribute significantly to >environmental degradation, and deteriorating health, education and >municipal services. Rapid deforestation--another bane of the third >world-- has resulted from the fact that 70 percent of families in poor >countries rely on wood as their sole source of fuel. Lack of access to >potable water is increasingly posing hazards to children in the >developing world. More than 31,000 children under the age of five die >each year from preventable diseases. And despite all the cheerful talk >in the financial community about globalization, job creation simply >hasn't keep pace with population growth. Is it any wonder, then, that >more than a third of the world's people lives below the poverty >line--defined as percapita income of less than the equivalent of $350 >annually. > >Notwithstanding Mr. Clinton's hearty endorsement of sustainable >economic development, the United States seems to have relinquished its >leadership on the global population issue. Its annual assistance to >the UN Population Fund--perhaps one of the most efficient field >organizations in the multilateral system--has been suspended by the >Republican-dominated Congress on ideological grounds. The House of >Representatives just last week voted heavily against renewing such >aid, not only for UNFPA but also for private-sector organizations such >as the London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation. The >reason? That these organizations implicitly endorse abortion because >they give assistance to countries such as China, where abortions are >performed. Both UNFPA and IPPF insist that support of abortion is not >their policy, but that falls on deaf ears in Congress. > >Each year, 24 million women enter the child-bearing stage in poor >countries, and a vast majority of them do not have access to adequate >family planning services. Why doesn't Mr. Clinton underscore this? >Instead, what we heard from him yesterday was an emphasis on free >markets, on entrepreneurship, on access to capital--as if repeating >these mantras will miraculously foster a new environment of growth and >change in languishing societies. Of course, he did sympathize in his >speech with the victims of globalization, the "have-nots," but much >too often the Clinton Administration hasn't dared to rise beyond its >rhetoric and go to the mat for development programs in an insensitive >Congress. Maybe population simply isn't a convenient topic in the >current political calculus. > >Global poverty cannot be wished away. It's fine for the private sector >to invest in Nike factories, but where's the much-needed investment in >social development? What's needed desperately is slowing population >growth through more attention to reproductive health, education for >girls, and employment for women. An important new study by Population >Action International, a Washington think-tank, has shown that greater >access to schooling for girls and young women leads to lower birth >rates; a secondary school education often results in later marriages. >The PAI study shows, for example, that a Peruvian woman who has >completed 10 years of education typically has two or three children, >while a woman with no formal education has up to 10 children. Smaller >families often mean better health-care for children and enhanced >economic prospects for adults. > >But donor countries are lessening their assistance to developing >nations: the figure for 1996 was barely $50 billion, almost $10 >billion less than five years earlier. The U.S., a traditional leader >in population issues, spends less than $1.50 per person for population >aid to developing countries, and the ideological sentiment in Congress >favors shrinking such aid. > >Strengthening population and reproductive-health prog
RE: FW-L Unemployment-research list in the UK (fwd)
>From: "R.Thomas -Ray Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: FW-L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >owner-fw-l <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: RE: FW-L Unemployment-research list in the UK (fwd) >Date: Fri, 26 Sep 97 21:33:00 BST >Encoding: 25 TEXT > > >Joining details etc. > >The unemployment-research list is hosted by <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >which is supported by our Economic and Social Research Council (which >pre Thatcher was called the Social Science Research Council like >in the US). > >I think the mailbase software is much the same as LISTSERV. >To join you send the command: > > join unemployment-research Bill Clinton > >Or just 'help' to get a list of commands. >It is currently a fairly small list, with just a half dozen >or so messages a week. If you want to get the wisdom >already stored in earlier messages you should use the >commands > > send unemployment-research 1997-08 > send unemployment-research 1997-09 > >etc. to get the messages sent in August and Sept respectively. > >Ray Thomas,
The Jobs Letter No.67 1/2 (1st October 1997)
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 09:41:22 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: The Jobs Letter No.67 (1st October 1997) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 6 7 >- >a subscriber-based letter >published in New Zealand 1 October 1997 > >edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust >P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand >phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 >Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >I N T H I S I S S U E >- >INTERNET HOT-LINKS >COMMUNITY TASKFORCE BROKERING >ETSA MAORI JOB FEES >CODE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY >JOB FORECASTS >MORGAN AND BANKS JOB INDEX >WANGANUI COMPUTER >ROBERT THEOBALD > > >T H E J O B S L E T T E R >an essential information and media watch >on jobs, employment, unemployment, the future of work, >and related economic and education issues. > >Kia taea ai te tangata te whiwhi mahi >ahakoa ki whea, ahakoa ko wai. >Our objective is that every New Zealander will have the >opportunity to be in paid work. > >The Jobs Research Trust -- a not-for-profit Charitable Trust >constituted in 1994 to develop and distribute information that >will help our communities create more jobs and reduce >unemployment and poverty in New Zealand. > >D I A R Y - THE STATE OF JOBS IN NEW ZEALAND >-- > >14 September 1997 >A British study has found that if government ministers want to >raise school standards, they should end child poverty instead of >spending more on education. The study, called Literacy, Numeracy >and Economic Performance, by the Centre for Economic Performance >(based at the London School of Economics) says that a serious >programme to tackle child poverty might do far more for boosting >attainment in literacy and numeracy than any modest intervention >in schools. > >16 September 1997 >A report on Tomorrows Schools by the Council for Educational >Research says that teachers and principals are working longer >hours, and increasing numbers of them are describing their >workloads as excessive. > >17 September 1997 >The number of registered unemployed has risen by 7,198 people or >4.4% to reach 170,624. Employment Minister Peter McCardle blames >the rise on a data-matching exercise that has found that >thousands of people receiving the unemployment benefit were not >registered as unemployed. > >Labour's Steve Maharey says that this explanation does not >wash with him. He believes that unemployment is ballooning out of >control, and Peter McCardle's explanation does not explain why >there are more than 16,000 or 10% more people unemployed now than >there were a year ago. > >A new Treasury report on Private Providers in tertiary >education, says that there are 800 PTEs (private training >establishments) half of which have been established since 1990. >The PTEs provide courses for 100,000 students, with some 43% of >the students being Maori (compared with 11% in the mainstream >tertiary sector). > >18 September 1997 >Up to 70 civilian staff at Trentham Army Camp are uncertain about >their job futures after the work they do was awarded to a private >company. > >The Alliance launches a new campaign to build support for >measures to close the gender pay gap. Alliance's Laila Harre: >"The gap between men's and women's wages has increased since the >Employment Contracts Act took effect, and this indicates that the >marketplace alone will not deliver pay equity..." > >19 September 1997 >Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network, has >announced plans to donate $1 billion to United Nations >humanitarian agencies over the next 10 years and called on other >wealthy people to do the same. > >The British Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is to spearhead a global >initiative to cancel the debt of the world's poorest countries by >the year 2000. He proposes that by 2000, 75% of the world's >poorest countries should have schemes designed to cancel or >relieve their debt. This will free domestic resources to invest >in education, health and the relief of poverty. > >20 September 1997 >The Wellington City Council is to employ unemployed people >under Community Taskforce to record the number-plates of >motorists who are running red lights in the city. > >Worker's accident pay will be slashed from 80% of their pre- >accident earnings to 65%, if the government accepts official >recommendations as part of a revamp of the ACC. > >21 September 1997 >A Belgian study shows that couples in which both partners >work argue more than couples with one breadwinner. > >The Employment Service in Whangarei is buying bikes for >jobseekers in a bid to get over the district's lack of public
The Jobs Letter No.67 2/2 (1st October 1997)
>Comments: Authenticated sender is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "vivian Hutchinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >"The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 09:41:22 + >X-Distribution: Moderate >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Subject: The Jobs Letter No.67 (1st October 1997) >Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Priority: normal > >* Max Kerr, ETSA general manager, says that Te Ararau had not >been checked with the Human Rights Commission, but he was sure it >was on safe ground. He says the scheme was necessary because >Maori were not equally represented in industry training, and >extra efforts were needed to help them get this training. > >TREASURY RECOMMENDS BENEFIT CUTS >* Treasury has proposed slashing welfare benefits by >$40/week if beneficiaries fail to measure up to set standards of >parenting as part of the government's planned code of social >responsibility. A leaked Treasury paper Well Baby, Well Child >suggests that money cut from a parent's benefit go to an official >responsible for spending the money on behalf of the government. >The paper suggests that beneficiaries lose another $30 if they >failed to take action when their child had unexplained absences >from school. The money would go to the school to spend on getting >the child to class. Those beneficiaries who repeatedly failed >the test could lose their benefits altogether. > >The Code of Social Responsibility was an idea signalled in the >Budget by Winston Peters, and is part of NZ First policies. Mr >Peters has indicated that the Code could include benefit cuts. > >Social Welfare Minister Roger Sowry denies that the benefit- >cutting plans in the Treasury paper are being taken seriously by >cabinet in its process of drawing of the Code. Sowry: "This is >not a benefit-cutting exercise ... I want to make it clear that >the Code will cover all NZ'ers. It won't be targeted at one >particular group in society..." > >V O I C E S >-- >ON LEAKED TREASURY PROPOSALS FOR BENEFIT CUTS >AS PART OF A CODE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY > >"What we are talking about is a code of social responsibility -- >a form of contract between a welfare recipient and the state. In >the future we hope to provide beneficiaries with a plan that >details what the government expects of them in exchange for the >help they receive from taxpayers ..." -- Social Welfare Minister >Roger Sowry > >"Suddenly a select group of government members, in league >with a bunch of Treasury officials, have decided that they hold >the key to perfect parenting. They're going to tell the rest of >the country how to be proper mothers and fathers. > >"This will have a negative impact on the children. They are the >ones who will pay for their parents failure to meet someone >else's idea of perfect ..." -- Maori Council chairman Sir Graham >Latimer, concerned that the Code could endanger the human rights >of all NZ'ers. > >"Docking $30 off a benefit from parents who do not try to get >their truant kids back to school is a nonsense idea. And giving >that $30 to the school to pay the costs of getting a child back >to school is even greater nonsense ..." -- Educational Institute >national president Bill Noble > >"By the time you've had people to assess that the benefit should >be docked, and then you give it to whichever agency is going to >spend it on the child, and then they review the parents' >performance, you've spent a whole lot more money and welfare >resources, and probably not solved the problem..." -- Labour's >Social Welfare spokesman Steve Maharey > >"If you've got an alcoholic mother and you dock $40 from her >benefit and spend it directly on the child, then that's all >you've done. There's nothing there that addresses the alcoholism >or any other of the problems that family has that is causing the >child's neglect..." -- Child researcher David Fergusson > >"It must be acknowledged that it's not just beneficiaries who >need encouragement to be responsible parents. Rather than >limiting a code of social responsibility to punitive measures, it >should also include parenting education and support..." -- NZ >First Youth Affairs Minister Deborah Morris > >FORECASTS : 100,000 MORE JOBS >* The Reserve Bank and NZIER have both predicted strong >forecasts for job growth in NZ into the year 2000, giving heart >to the government's central employment strategy of providing >"real jobs" through stronger economic growth. Both agencies >project accelerating job growth, with the Reserve Bank >forecasting an employment increase of 96,000 and the Institute of >Economic Research predicting an even greater increase of 102,000 >over the period to the year 2000. > >MORGAN AND BANKS JOB INDEX >* The Morgan and Banks job index shows a slight drop in >optimism for employment in the coming quarter, Nationally, 16.2% >of the 1000 organisations surveyed intend to increase
FW-L Upcoming wrok-related event in Toronto (fwd)
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 23:36:56 -0400 (EDT) > >Join NDP leader HOWARD HAMPTON, union members, concerned citizens and >activists of all ages for: > >NEW THINKING >ON A FUTURE FOR YOUNG WORKERS > >A full day of discussions, displays, demonstrations, music and multi-media >for working people of all ages. > >Saturday, October 25, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. >MacDonald Block, Queen's Park >900 Bay Street, Toronto > >And in the evening: > >'KICK IT' > >at the Take Back Our Future Cabaret, 349 A College Street, with live music >and more. > >Full fee: $60; Students, seniors, or underemployed: $10 or whatever you can >afford. >Registration fee includes two buffet meals. You must register in advance. > >New Thinking on a Future for Young Workers is part of the Dialogue for >Change series of events intended to provoke discussion on new thinking for >Ontario's future. > >The goal: to generate ideas for research, debate and action by the NDP in >preparing to become government again > >This Dialogue event will take on the challenge of youth, work and jobs in a >variety of ways. There will be displays of successful approaches, >demonstrations, video and performance art, comedy, music, resource people >and speakers with front-line experiences, and working groups developing >specific strategies. > > > >To Register: > >Phone the Dialogue for Change events line, (416) 591-5455, ext. 567, and >leave the >information requested below, or > >E-mail the information requested below to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or > >Fax this form to (416) 599-4820 or > >Mail this form to Dialogue for Change, ONDP, 33 Cecil St., Toronto, ON M5T 1N1 > > >-- > >Name:_ (attach list for additional names) > >Affiliation (for name tag) ___ > >Phone: Fax:__ >E-mail___ > >Number of persons attending _ Amount paid $ >(Fee: $60, Students, seniors, under-employed: $10 or >whatever you can afford) > >Payment by: cheque VisaMasterCard > >Card Number expiry date __ > >Workshop choices: Please pick from the list below. You will be assigned to >one. >1st choice _2nd choice ___ 3rd choice __ > >--- > >A. A foot in the door -tackling youth unemployment. >B. Employment standards and why they matter. >C. Overworked vs. unemployed - choices for sharing the work >D. Fairness and security for the new contingent and part-time workforce >E. Supports for self-employment and entrepreneurship >F. Communities that work - community economic development and the >role of the > voluntary sector >G. Shifting gears - Training myths, realities, and good approaches. >H. The changing nature of work in a technological society >I. Organizing youth workplaces, gaining youth support: the challenge to >organized > labour >J. Taking back our economy >K. Achieving equity in the workplace - building support for fair policies. >
FW Toronto conference -- PLEASE FORWARD (fwd)
>Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 21:16:05 -0300 (ADT) >From: Michael Gurstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Toronto conference -- PLEASE FORWARD (fwd) >To: Canadian futures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Precedence: Bulk >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >-- Forwarded message -- >Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 15:02:05 -0700 (PDT) >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >[EMAIL PROTECTED], Centre for Research on Work & Society <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >National Anti-Poverty Organization <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >End Legislated Poverty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Cc: Alliance for a Connected Canada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Toronto conference -- PLEASE FORWARD > >PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE. > >I am working with Andrew Reddick of the Public Interest Advocacy >Centre in Ottawa; Vanda Rideout, who recently completed her Ph.d >in the political economy of communications at Carleton University; >and Elaine Bernard, of the Harvard Trade Union Program to put on >the workshop on telecommunications. (See XIV below.) It promises to >be a lively and relevant session. > >Please forward this message to four or five individuals and >organizations who may be interested in the overall issue of challenging >corporate rule -- especially folks who are interested in the subject of >communications. We want to ensure a good turnout for this >workshop. > >Thanks. > >Sid Shniad > >The Council of Canadians and the International Forum on >Globalization in collaboration with the Polaris Institute present > >GLOBAL TEACH-IN >Challenging Corporate Rule: A Citizens' Politics for the 21st Century >November 7-9, 1997 >University of Toronto > >Who's really in charge of this country anyway? Who has the real >power to govern and rule? The politicians? Or the CEO's of the big >corporations? What kind of citizen's politics do we need to develop to >restore our democracy? > >Public Forum on Economic Globalization and Corporate Rule >Friday, November 7 >7:00 pm to 10:00 pm >Convocation Hall, University of Toronto > >Moderator: Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute > >Opening Remarks >Maude Barlow, The Council of Canadians >Jerry Mander, International Forum on Globalization > >Voices from the Planet > >Vandana Shiva, Research Foundation for Technology >Science & Natural Resource Policy, INDIA >Owens Wiwa, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni >Peoples, NIGERIA >Sara Larrain, Chilean Ecological Action Network, CHILE >Jean-Pierre Page, Confederation Generale du Travail, FRANCE >John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies, USA >Bob White, Canadian Labour Congress, CANADA >Martin Khor, Third World Action Network, MALAYSIA > >Live Entertainment > > >Panel: Canadian Perspectives on Corporate Rule >Saturday, November 8 >9:00 am to 10:30 am >OISE Auditorium > >Buzz Hargrove, Canadian Auto Workers >Elizabeth May, Sierra Club of Canada >Heather-jane Robertson, Canadian Teachers' Federation >David Langille, Centre for Social Justice >Murray Dobbin, The Council of Canadians > >20 Workshops on Corporate Rule >Saturday, November 8 >11:00 am to 5:00 pm >OISE Hall and Faculty of Education > >I. Banking on the Debt >How do the big banks influence Canada's monetary and fiscal >policies? What can we do to check their power? > >II. How Safe is Our Food? >What companies are leading the drive toward the deregulation of food >production? How can we close the fridge door on them? > >III. The Corporate Grab for Medicare >What corporations are looking to cash in on Canada's multi-billion >dollar public health care system? How can we stop them? > >IV. McSchools >How are corporations invading our schools? What can we do to keep >our schools public? > >V. The Business Blueprint for Social Security >How are corporations profiting from cut-backs to social programs? >What strategies can citizen's use to fight back? > >VI. The Corporate Privateers >Which corporations are lining up to cash in on the privatization of >public services? How can our communities organize to preserve our >public sector? > >VII. Media Moguls and their Message >How does the increasing corporate concentration of media ownership >affect the diversity of news, information, and entertainment we >receive? What can viewers and listeners do? > >VIII. The Power Brokers >What energy corporations are lobbying for relaxed environmental >rules and pushing for the privatization of public utilities? How can we >pull the plug on their plans? > >IX. The Corporate Underground >How have the big mining corporations compelled governments to >reduce environmental and industry regulations? How do we stop them >from burying our communities and the environment? > >X. Corporate Deals on Wheels >What have the big automakers, airline companies and railways done >to rollback government regulations? How do we get the concerns of >the public back on the road? > >XI. The Emp
FW-L US census data on child poverty(fwd)
>Children's Defense Fund Update >October 3, 1997 >In this issue: >--Census Bureau Data >--New Child Health Insurance Program > >--- Census Bureau Data --- > >*** BIG ECONOMIC GAINS LIFT VERY FEW CHILDREN OUT OF >POVERTY *** > >This week, the Census Bureau's release of 1996 income and >poverty statistics reported a continued rise in the median >income in 1996, the fifth year of U.S. economic recovery. >The figures disappointingly showed that even while the >median income rose, child poverty rates for 1996 were >virtually unchanged. The rate of child poverty declined by >only three-tenths of one percent from 1995 to 1996 (from >20.8 percent to 20.5 percent) and actually rose slightly for >children in working families. Overall, there were 14.46 >million children living in poverty in 1996, compared to >14.66 million children in 1995. > >Moreover, the number of uninsured children up through and >including age 18 rose to 11.3 million in 1996, or 15.1 >percent of all such children -- the largest numbers ever >recorded by the Census Bureau. "Many claims have been made >about families who have left welfare," said CDF President >Marian Wright Edelman. "While far too little is known about >their children's well-being, today's data warn us that many >are failing to rise out of poverty, and, even worse, some >are losing their health coverage as well." > >A number of other unfortunate records were set in this >year's poverty statistics: > >* The number of poor families with children headed by >someone who worked during the year reached 3.6 million in >1996, higher than any year since 1975, when these data were >first available. > >* 69 percent of all poor children live in a family where >someone (not always the head of household) worked in 1996, >also a record high, and up from 61 percent as recently as >1993. > >* 1996 marked the first year on record in which Hispanic >children were the poorest racial/ethnic group of children. >Child poverty rates increased slightly for Hispanic and >White children (to 40.3 percent and 16.3 percent >respectively), while declining slightly for Black children >(to 39.9 percent). > > >As the 1996 welfare law is implemented, increasing numbers >of families with children are joining the ranks of the >working poor. The Census data suggest that without >concerted action by business and government, children will >not only experience unrelieved poverty but are also likely >to lose health coverage. > >* For more information on the Census Bureau Report, contact: >T'Wana Lucas at (202) 662-3542; ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >or visit the CDF Website at: . > >---New Child Health Insurance Program--- > >*** STATES NEED TO KEEP MOVING TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW CHILD >HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM *** > >The statistics in the rise on uninsured children issued by >the Census Bureau this week underline the compelling need >for states to move quickly to implement the new child health >insurance program Congress passed this summer. "Children in >low-wage, working families with incomes too high for >Medicaid -- exactly the group targeted by the recent child >health bill -- are falling through the ever-widening hole in >the employment-based insurance system," concluded Marian >Wright Edelman. "We call upon every Governor and state >legislator to use the $4 billion a year in new child health >grants to make sure these children get the health coverage >they need to grow up healthy and strong." The new child >health law will cover children up through and including 18 >year olds. > >A number of states are moving quickly to implement the new >State Child Health Insurance Program, using the federal >funding that was made available beginning October 1st. The >program gives states grants to provide health insurance for >uninsured children in working families through expanded >Medicaid or separate child health programs. > >A Children's Defense Fund survey of 30 states' actions on >child health implementation, through September 29th, >provides the first national snap-shot of how states are >implementing the new program. The survey found several >trends of note: > >A number of states have adopted or proposed substantial >early expansions of health coverage: > >* Numerous states plan to expand affordable, comprehensive >coverage to uninsured children by building on existing >programs. In some states, state officials propose or plan >to cover previously uninsured children through Medicaid, >which provides the full range of services that children >need, with low family costs. > >* A number of states have created task forces or working >groups. Certain states have established advisory groups to >recommend approaches or describe options for implementing >the federal legislation for uninsured children in families >with incomes above the existing Medicaid levels. > >* A few states have begun brand new programs. Some states >signed new programs into law that were passed during their >regular legislative sessions and other states
Philadelphia Area Teach-In.
>Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 05:29:54 -0600 (MDT) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Art Shostak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Philadelphia Area Teach-In. >Mime-Version: 1.0 >X-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >Brothers and Sisters: This coming Saturday, October 18th, the faculty of >several area >colleges will help conduct the Phildelphia area's first-ever Labor >Teach-In. PLEASE call it to the attention of any you know in the area - >and urge them to join us. > >Major national and local union intellectuals will join with 400 or so >college students at the Philadelphia Community College (17th and Spring >Garden) from 9:30 am to 3pm. Panels and workshops will emphasize audience >participation. A freat time will be had by all! > >While we at most schools have few, if any courses that cover the situation >of the >largest democratic and authentic labor movement in the world, many students >of ours have a healthy curiosity that might help get satisfied by their >attendance at the free Teach-In. Please call it to their attention, and if >they have any questions I would be glad to try and answer them via e-mail >or at 215-895-2466. > >It goes without saying that your attendance and participation would be very >welcomed. > >Sincerely, Art Shostak, Professor of Industrial Sociology > >Arthur B. Shostak, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Department of >Psych/Soc/Anthro, Drexel University, Phila., PA, 19104; 215-895-2466; fax >610-668-2727. >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://httpsrv.ocs.drexel.edu/faculty/shostaka/ >"This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do >with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson > >Arthur B. Shostak, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Department of >Psych/Soc/Anthro, Drexel University, Phila., PA, 19104; 215-895-2466; fax >610-668-2727. >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://httpsrv.ocs.drexel.edu/faculty/shostaka/ >"This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do >with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson >
FW-L Organizer Openings: on the move @Yale (fwd)
>Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 19:33:48 -0400 (EDT) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Organizer Openings: on the move @Yale >X-Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Please post and forward to friends and colleagues who will be interested ! > >>ORGANIZER POSITIONS AVAILABLE with HERE >HOTEL EMPLOYEES AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES UNION >in SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT, NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, DC. >> >>Significant organizing opportunities exist currently in southern Connecticut >>among progressive HERE locals working together. Full-time, permanent >>positons available with: >> -Local 34, the Clerical and Technical Union at Yale >> -GESO, Graduate Students and Employees Organization at Yale >> -Local 217, Hotel and Restaurant Emplooyees and Bartenders Union in CT/RI >> >>Work involves internal and external organizing including leadership >>development and representaion skills. External organizing targets include >>one of New Haven's largest employers; a citywide, multi-employer, nonNLRB >>campaign, and the Yale graduate teaching assistants. The Local 217 position >>requires bilingual skills in either Spanish or Haitian Creole. >> >>Full-time, permanent positions also available in progressive locals in New >>York City and Washington, DC for organizers bilingual Spanish/English. > >SALARY:Depends on Experience, includes excellent benefits package >> >To Apply: Send cover letter and resume to: no e-mailed resumes please!) >>Ellen Thomson, Est Coast H.E.R.E. Recruiter >>PO Box 322 >>Granby, CT 06035 >>or fax to 860-2516049 c/o Local 217 >>email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >
FW-L Conference: Work, Difference and Social Change (fwd)
>Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 12:14:38 -0400 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Phil Kraft <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Conference: Work, Difference and Social Change >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Priority: 3 (Normal) > > Apologies for Cross Postings! > >Conference May 8-10, 1998 > >Work, Difference and Social Change: >New Perspectives on Work and Workers >Two Decades after Braverman's_Labor and Monopoly Capital_ > >State University of New York at Binghamton >Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 >USA > > Apologies for Cross Postings! > >Conference May 8-10, 1998 > >Work, Difference and Social Change: >New Perspectives on Work and Workers >Two Decades after Braverman's_Labor and Monopoly Capital_ > >SUNY-Binghamton >Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 >USA > > >All, > >The final Conference Announcement and Call for Papers will go out the >end of this month. If you'd like a paper announcement, let me know and >I'll add your name to our mailing list. In the meantime, you can visit >our web page, which has a printable registration form: > > http://sociology.adm.binghamton.edu/work > >The page is regularly updated. It will list the final program schedule >and paper titles by late March. > >There have been a few changes since the preliminary announcement: > > - We have extended our deadline for paper submissions until January. >We are doing this to accommodate requests we've had from authors outside >the US. > > - Also in response to several requests, we have decided to accept >submissions in French, Spanish and German. Accepted papers will be >printed in the Proceedings with an extended English abstract. The >conference presentation must still be in English. > > - We are happy to announce a special panel by the editors of Monthly >Review -- Harry Magdoff, Paul Sweezy and Ellen Meiksins Wood. MR Press >will announce the 25th Anniversary Edition of _Labor and Monopoly >Capital_ at the Conference. > > - There will exhibits and editorial representative from labor-friendly >presses. > > - Continental Airlines, which provided service to Newark, will no >longer serve the Binghamton airport after December. The other New York >airports and major US cities are served by US Airways (formerly USAir), >Northwestern, and United. We expect another airline to begin service to >Newark before the conference. The Syracuse, New York, airport is about >an hour further away and is served by a larger number of carriers. It's >an easy drive, and week-end car rentals are cheap, especially for >several persons traveling together. > > - And we have a new conference phone -- (607) 777-6844 -- complete with >annoying voicemail message in case no one is around to answer it. Our >email address remains [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send faxes to (607) >777-4197, attention Conference Committee. > >We have been pleased by the early response to our first announcement -- >more than pleased. Although the deadline is still three months away, we >have already received a remarkable number of papers . The early >submissions are very good and range broadly: the creation of class >consciousness among 19th century US industrialists; gendered divisions >of labor; work time; commodified images of work; case studies of >"participation" schemes; and more. On the basis of the papers already in >hand, Braverman +20 will be more international, more activist and more >wide-ranging than the first one. And this time we will have a band. > >Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions. > >For the conference committee, > >Phil Kraft > >Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="vcard.vcf" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Content-Description: Card for Philip Kraft >Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="vcard.vcf" > >Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:vcard.vcf 1 (TEXT/ttxt) (00010A7D)
FW-L National Day of Action for Workfare/Welfare Justice, December 10, 1997 (fwd)
>Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 20:20:07 -0500 (EST) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Labor Research and Action Project <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: JwJ National Day of Action for Workfare/Welfare Justice, December >10, 1997 > >Jobs with Justice has called a National Day of Action for Workfare/Welfare >Justice for December 10, 1997. A number of organizations have endorsed this >National Day of Action. > >The themes for the Day of Action will be: > > * Jobs -- The real issue is the creation of full-time jobs paying a >liveable wage. > > * Workers' Rights -- Displacing workers from their jobs and creating >exploitative > workfare jobs without any "employee" rights or protections is not >reform. > >* Justice -- We cannot stand by while poor people are vilified, children >go hungry > and greedy corporations divert scarce public dollars into private >profits. > >Tactics and targets will vary from state to state -- actions will be locally >determined. > >Individuals have begun planning for the Day of Action in at least 25 states >and 31 cities. > >To find out whether anything is already being planned in your area, or to get >suggestions for possible actions you can plan, contact Jobs with Justice at > > (202)434-1106 > > or Fax (202) 434-1482 > > > >Ed Ramthun >AFSCME >Indianapolis, Indiana >
FW Monthly Reminder
*FUTUREWORK LISTS MONTHLY REMINDER* FUTUREWORK: Redesigning Work, Income Distribution, Education FUTUREWORK is an international e-mail forum for discussion of how to deal with the new realities created by economic globalization and technological change. Basic changes are occurring in the nature of work in all industrialized countries. Information technology has hastened the advent of the global economic village. Jobs that workers at all skill levels in developed countries once held are now filled by smart machines and/or in low-wage countries. Contemporary rhetoric proclaims the need for ever-escalating competition, leaner and meaner ways of doing business, a totally *flexible* workforce, jobless growth. What would a large permanent reduction in the number of secure, adequately-waged jobs mean for communities, families and individuals? This is not being adequately discussed, nor are the implications for income distribution and education. Even less adequately addressed are questions of how to take back control of these events, how to turn technological change into the opportunity for a richer life rather than the recipe for a bladerunner society. Our objective in creating this list is to involve as many people as possible in redesigning for the new realities. We hope that this list will help to move these issues to a prominent place on public and political agendas worldwide. The FUTUREWORK lists are hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. To subscribe to FUTUREWORK (unmoderated) and/or FW-L (moderated) send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] saying subscribe futurework YourE-MailAddress subscribe FW-L YourE-MailAddress NOTE: To get the digest (batch) form of either list, subscribe to futurework-digest or fw-l-digest. To post directly to the lists (once you are subscribed), send your message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please include 'FW' or 'FW-L'in the subject line of your message, so that subscribers know the mail is from someone on the list. FUTUREWORK, the unmoderated list, is for discussion and debate. Subscribers often add a topic/thread identifier on the subject line (e.g. 'FW downward mobility') to focus discussion--a very good idea--but this is essentially an open list. FW-L, the moderated list, serves as a bulletin-board to post notices about recommended books, articles, other documents, other Net sites, conferences, even job openings, etc. relevant to the future of work and to the roles of education, community and other factors in that future. It serves subscribers as a calmer place to post andbrowse. Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell serve as co-moderators for FW-L. Normally, posts to this moderated list should be limited to one screen. Archives for both lists are/will be available via the FW WWW Home Page (under construction) at the URL/location http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/Research/FW If you ever want to remove yourself from one of these mailing lists, you can send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe futurework (or other list name) YourE-mailAddress If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list, (if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list itself) send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is the general rule for most mailing lists when you need to contact a human. We look foward to meeting you on the FUTUREWORK and FW-L lists. Sally LernerArthur Cordell [EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Price We Pay: The 10 Worst Corporations of 1998 (fwd)
>Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:34:34 -0500 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: The Price We Pay: The 10 Worst Corporations of 1998 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Comment: Please see http://lists.essential.org for help > >What did we learn in 1998? > >Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates' net wealth -- $51 billion -- is >greater than the combined net worth of the poorest 40 percent of Americans >(106 million people). > >Hundreds of hospitals are "dumping" patients who can't afford to pay. > >The feds are criminally prosecuting big tobacco companies for smuggling >cigarettes into Canada. (Never mind addicting young kids to smoke and thus >condemning them to a certain, albeit, slow, death -- can't criminally >prosecute them for that.) > >There's a bull market in stock fraud. > >Prescription drugs may cause 100,000 deaths a year. > >Two Fox-TV reporters in Florida are fired for trying to report on adverse >health effects associated with genetically engineered foods. > >The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes that genetically engineered >foods be labelled "organic." > >Coal companies continue to cheat on air quality tests as hundreds of coal >miners continue to die each year from black lung disease. > >The North American Securities Administrators Association estimates that >Americans lose about $1 million a hour to securities fraud. > >Robert Reich says that megamergers threaten democracy. Corporate crime >explodes, but the academic study of corporate crime vanishes. > >Three hundred trade unionists around the world were killed in 1997 for >defending their rights. > >Corporate firms lobbying to cripple the Superfund law outnumber >environmental groups seeking to defend it by 30 to one. > >Down on Nike? Chinese political prisoners allegedly make Adidas products. > >Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois is a corporate criminal. Chemical >companies are testing pesticides on human beings. > >Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, questions whether the Pentagon's >financial controls have suffered a "complete and utter breakdown." > >Environmental crimes prosecution are down sharply under Clinton/Gore. >Bush/Quayle had a better record. > >Bell Atlantic buys Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are >illustrations to sell telephone products. > >Companies that have workers die on the job continue to be met with fines. >Criminal prosecutions still rare. > >This is the price we pay for living in Corporate America. Wealth >disparity, megamergers and the resulting consolidation of corporate power, >commercialism run amok, rampant corporate crime, death without justice, >pollution, cancer and an unrelenting attack on democracy. > >The 1998 market run-up might make plugged-in America feel good about >itself, but big business is eating out the democratic foundation of the >country, and when the empty shell crumbles, what kind of chaos might we >anticipate? > >If you have justice on your mind, herewith for the tenth consecutive year >is Multinational Monitor's effort to pinpoint those responsible. It is, >admittedly, a short list -- the Ten Worst Corporations of 1998. But it is >a representative list, and as the damage becomes more apparent, as the >outrage at, and contempt for, our fearless leaders grows, surely the list, >too, will grow. > >The Ten Worst Corporations of 1998 are: > >* Chevron, for continuing to do business with a brutal dictatorship in >Nigeria and for alleged complicity in the killing of civilian protesters. > >* Coca-Cola, for hooking America's kids on sugar and soda water. Today, >teenage boys and girls drink twice as much soda pop as milk, whereas 20 >years ago they drank nearly twice as much milk as soda. > >* General Motors, for becoming an integral part of the Nazi war machine, >and then years later, when documented proof emerges, denying it. > >* Loral and its chief executive Bernard Schwartz, for dumping $2.2 million >into Clinton/Gore and Democratic Party coffers. The Clinton administration >responded by approving a human rights waiver to clear the way for >technology transfers to China. > >* Mobil, for supporting the Indonesian military in crushing an indigenous >uprising in Aceh province and allegedly allowing the military to use >company machinery to dig mass graves. > >* Monsanto, for introducing genetically engineered foods into the >foodstream without adequate safety testing and without labeling, thus >exposing consumers to unknown risks. > >* Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, for pleading guilty to felony crimes for >dumping oil in the Atlantic Ocean and then lying to the Coast Guard about >it. > >* Unocal, for engaging in numerous acts of pollution and law violations, >to such a degree that citizens in California petitioned the state's >attorney general to revoke the company's charter. > >* Wal-Mart, for crushing small town Ame
FW--Scenarios for the 21st Century On-Line
>Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 17:17:35 -0500 >From: Island Press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >WHICH WORLD WEB: SCENARIOS FOR THE 21st CENTURY ON-LINE > >A companion web-site to the book, WHICH WORLD?: SCENARIOS FOR THE >21ST CENTURY , has been launched by Dr. Allen Hammond at Which World Web. >This site provides supplemental on-line materials to the book. > >In Which World?, Hammond examines the critical trends and identifies the >factors that matter most in shaping the future. He presents scenarios that >describe and analyze three different trajectories into the future: > > * Market World > In which economic and human progress is driven by the liberating > power of free markets and human initiative; > > * Fortress World > In which unattended social and environmental problems diminish > progress, dooming hundreds of millions of humans to lives of > rising conflict and violence; > > * Transformed World > In which human ingenuity and compassion succeed in offering a > better life, not just a wealthier one, and in seeking to extend > those benefits to all of humanity. > >Which World Web stimulates the debate (initiated by Dr. Hammond's book) on >some of the most important issues of our time. It offers a unique on-line >resource for all those interested in sustaining the earth's legacy and >raises questions >about the future, such as: > > * Are free market approaches sufficient to bring a better and more > properous future? > > * Might poor countries be overwhelmed by growing populations, > deteriorating resources, and weak governments? > > * Will the price of progress be a diminished Earth for future > generations? > > * Or will fundamental social and political change transform our societies > and create a more peaceful, equitable, and environmentally-sound world? > >The site is organized into 3 main sections. > > * Trends: Both global and regional > > Information about a number of critical trends including > Demographic (population), Economic (income, economic growth), > Environmental (pollution, land/water scarcity), and Social and > Political (literacy, democracy). Trends are examined globally and > for each of 7 major continental-scale regions of the world. These > trends, projected out to the year 2050, suggest constraints on the > future. > > * Scenarios and a Resource Library > > This section contains short scenarios--structured stories--that > offer conflicting perspectives on how events in each of these > regions may unfold in coming decades. > > * An Online Dialogue on the Future > > The site will also be hosting an online dialogue about the future. > You can register by leaving your name and email on the main > Comment page. If you desire, you can use the comment tool to post > your comments now on what you find in this site or your answers to > the questions the site raises about the future. Dr. Hammond plans > to contact a group of people---those who have expressed an > interest in these topics through the comment tool--- to invite > them to participate in a facilitated discussion about long term > sustainability issues. > >The site also contains a library of links to related websites. Amogst these >sites you will find sources of environmental and economic data, educational >resources, and more. > The URL is http://mars3.gps.caltech.edu/whichworld// >Visit Eco-Compass http://www.islandpress.org for an enhanced >version of this feature.
FW More on work under the corporate agenda (fwd)
The Ottawa Citizen January 13, 1999 National & international business: TOP U.S. COMPANIES SUED OVER FOREIGN 'SWEATSHOPS' LOS ANGELES (AP) - Newly filed lawsuits allege that thousands of Asians have been lured to the U.S. territory of Saipan, in the South Pacific, where they are forced to live under guard in rat-infested quarters while making popular clothing tagged "Made in the USA." More than 50,000 people, mostly young women, have been recruited from China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand with promises of good wages, only to wind up in sweatshops that "would make medieval conditions look good," plaintiffs lawyer William Lerach said Wednesday in Los Angeles. U.S. companies named in the suits have generally rejected the allegations. Saipan, a tropical isle in the Northern Marianas, "is Americas worst sweatshop," plaintiffs lawyer Al Meyerhoff said in New York City. Three lawsuits seek more than $1 billion US in damages, seizure of profits and unpaid wages for conditions they claim have persisted for a decade. Two class-action suits representing workers were filed in federal courts in Los Angeles and Saipan. The human rights groups Global Exchange, Sweatshop Watch, Asian Law Caucus and the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees filed suit in state court in San Francisco. Abuses in Saipan have been documented in the past. This represents the first legal attempt to hold U.S. retailers accountable for alleged mistreatment of workers by subcontractors under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, lawyers said at news conferences in New York City and Los Angeles. The subcontractors force people to work up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and threaten them with beatings and verbal abuse if they refuse unpaid overtime to meet quotas set by factory managers, the lawsuits allege. Workers passports are confiscated on arrival, they are not allowed to leave the factory compound and their social activities are strictly monitored, Lerach said. The 32 Saipan factories are mostly owned by Chinese, Japanese and Korean subcontractors. Of the 18 companies named in the lawsuits, Nordstrom, Warnaco, Tommy Hilfiger, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart, Osh Kosh BGosh and Dayton Hudson Corp. insist they hire subcontractors that strictly follow U.S. labour laws. Other companies said they had no comment or did not immediately return phone calls. Wal-Mart said it does not accept merchandise from factories in Saipan. Pamela Rucker, spokeswoman for the industry group National Retail Federation, said whether it is misleading to use a "Made in the USA" label is a matter for the Federal Trade Commission and truth-in-labelling laws to regulate. "Without seeing the charges, the most that we can say is that retailers are understandably shocked by any such allegations made, and that they have codes of conduct they share with their suppliers, and that they only use suppliers that share the same commitment to moral, legal and ethical production," Rucker said. One woman identified as "Jane Doe I" claims she was told by co-workers when she arrived that employees who become pregnant have to get an abortion or be deported, the Los Angeles suit says. Other women echoed those claims in the documents. The workers live as many as eight to a room in guarded barracks enclosed by barbed wire and have no access to drinking water except the bottled water theyre forced to buy, the suits say. The suits allege some women are forced to work with injuries and endure sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, unhygenic food and severe malnutrition while relatives in home countries are sometimes intimidated. Many allegedly pay as much as $7,000 US as a "recruitment fee" to work. Some are lured by recruiters who say they will be living just an hours train ride from Los Angeles, Lerach said. "I took the job because, like millions of people, I wanted to come to America," said Carmencita Abad, a Filipino native who spent six years on the island working for one of the companies. She said quality inspectors representing The Gap visited her factory, but conditions did not change after they left. Many earn less than $500 US a month, she added. In the fiscal year that ended in October, the 32 Saipan companies shipped an estimated $1 billion US worth of wholesale clothing duty-free to the U.S. mainland, saving more than $200 million US, Lerach said. Officials from the U.S. Labor Department and other agencies uncovered abuses in Saipan late last year, but attempts to impose reforms were met with resistance by the local bureaucrats and business owners who virtually rule the island, Lerach said.
FW Protesting to Bell management
I've just been told by a Bell supervisor that their preferred way for people to protest Bell Canada's treatment of their operators would be to call the VP's number and convey your thoughts: 1-800--267-7734. Sally >
FW Where the money goes-US style (fwd)
>Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 13:24:40 -0500 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: The Insanity Defense >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Comment: Please see http://lists.essential.org for help > >Need a definition for Washington? > >Try institutional insanity. > >Consider this: The United States, the world's only remaining military >superpower, is about to embark on a military buildup unmatched since the >peak of the Reagan-era Cold War. > >President Clinton is preparing to propose a boost in the defense budget of >$112 billion over six years -- on top of the already monstrous $265 >billion of federal money spent annually on the military. The weapons >procurement budget alone is scheduled to grow 50 percent in the next half >decade. And the Congressional Republicans are set to demand an even >greater jump in military spending. > >What's happened, you might ask: Was there a coup in Russia? Has the Cold >War resumed? > >Uh, no. It is not the Empire that's struck again, itUs the >military-industrial complex. > >During the Clinton presidency, the U.S. defense industry -- with >encouragement and subsidies from the Pentagon -- has undergone an >ear-splitting consolidation that has left but three major contractors: >Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon. Today's Lockheed Martin is the >product of the merger of Lockheed, Martin Marietta, Loral and parts of >General Dynamics. Boeing leaped to the top tier of the contractor pack >with its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas. Raytheon gobbled up Hughes. > >With manufacturing facilities spread across the United States, these three >companies now have enormous political influence -- they can promise that >new military contracts will mean jobs in the districts of hundreds of >members of Congress, and in nearly every state. They supplement this >structural power with huge campaign contributions -- more than $8.5 >million in the 1997-1998 electoral cycle, according to the Center for >Responsive politics -- and even bigger lobbying investments -- nearly $50 >million in 1997 alone, according to the Center. To complete the package, >the industry invests in a variety of hawkish policy institutes and front >groups, all of which churn reports, issue alerts, factsheets, >congressional testimony and op-eds on the critical need for more, and >more, and more defense spending. > >Combined with the powerful lobby from the Pentagon and its chicken-little >worries about shortcomings in U.S. military "readiness" and the ability of >the United States to fight two major wars simultaneously, the defense >contractors have successfully positioned themselves to reap the benefits >of a new explosion in military spending. > >As William Hartung of the World Policy Institute notes in a new report, >"Military Industrial Complex Revisited," nothing indicates the power of >the contractor lobby more than its ability to extract more money from >Congress for weapons purchases than the Pentagon itself has requested. > >Hartung highlights the example of the C-130 transport plane, which is made >by Lockheed Martin just outside of the congressional district of former >Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. In the last 20 years, the U.S. Air >Force has asked for five C-130s, but Congress has funded 256. "This ratio >of 50 planes purchased for every one requested by the Pentagon may well be >a record in the annals of pork barrel politics," Hartung writes. The >C-130s go for about $75 million a piece. > >Even more remarkable, perhaps, is the "Star Wars" program. With the >collapse of the Soviet Union, the program's original mission no longer >exists. Although the Pentagon has poured $55 billion into the program in >a decade and a half, as Hartung notes, it has been a miserable failure in >technical terms. Undeterred, the Congressional leadership added an extra >$1 billion in Star Wars funding in the 1999 federal budget. Chalk up >another victory for Lockheed and Boeing. > >But nothing compares to bonanza that the defense sector is about to reap. >Without even the bogeyman of a perceived Soviet threat and in a time of >rigid adherence to budget austerity, the weapons makers and their allies >are about to usher in a new era of military profligacy and industrial >waste. > >With the U.S. infrastructure crumbling, its Medicare system imperiled, >child poverty at unconscionable levels in a time of unparalleled economic >expansion and global warming threatening the well-being of the entire >planet, a remotely sensible version of "national security" would >prioritize these concerns over maintaining the military budget at current >levels, let alone increasing it. > >Unfortunately, the lobbies for public works, the sick and aged, the poor >and the environment cannot match the influence of the weapons makers. >Their urgings that the federal government inve
How the free marketeers see themselves in Canada(fwd)
>Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 18:30:56 -0500 >> >How Paul Tellier got to be CEO of the year >~~ >Globe and Mail Thursday, January 14 > >by Rick Salutin > >I'd like to look at how the business media have treated our economy in >recent times, by focussing on the Financial Post's 1998 choice for CEO of >the year: Paul Tellier of Canadian National Railway. It says a lot. >Actually, "Financial Post's choice" doesn't put it properly, since the pick >was made by "a select group of businessmen," not by Financial Post >journalists. But this is consistent with a key technique in financial >journalism: you phone up employees at Bay St. and Wall St. firms and print >what they say. It's the flowthrough approach to reporting. > >So why is Tellier a significant choice? He's the man who went from top spot >in the federal civil service to being head of CN in 1992. He saw it through >privatization and made CN, says the Post, the "richest and most successful >initial public offering in Canadian history." It "drew numerous U.S. >investors" after Tellier "quelled their doubts." (I'll get to how.) "Shares >have jumped" and "Profit has increased year after year." > >Tellier, then, is a hero because that's how the stock market sees him, and >the business media as a matter of course revere the market's judgments. But >how credible are those judgments? This week, the markets rated the Internet >server, America Online, with 10,000 employees and sales last quarter of >$858 million, as worth more than GM, with 600,000 employees and sales of >$34.4 billion. They ranked Yahoo, with 673 workers, about equal in value to >Boeing, with 230,000. I know the markets are just taking a fit about the >Internet: that's the point. They're always throwing a fit, then abandoning >it and throwing another. If you never have another economic thought, look >at those figures and ask yourself if it makes sense to let these hysterics >set the benchmarks for economic judgments and heroes. > >How did Tellier raise profits and the price of CN shares? He "slashed the >number of jobs by a third." Then this fall, perhaps encouraged by being >chosen CEO of the year, he slashed 3000 more. He's down to half the 36,000 >jobs he began with. American writer Doug Henwood calls this the bulimic >approach to management. It's become the main route to higher profits, >rather than improved technology or productivity - despite how those terms >hover in the media ether. New technology is no more prominent now than in >previous eras, and productivity is in a trough. So you fire many and those >that remain, you work them harder and pay them less, and they'd better >accept it or they could be gone too - like the Bell operators about to >lose their jobs to cheaper workers in the United States. That's the secret >of success like Tellier's. > >He's CEO of the year because he sucks up to the stock market and beats up >on his workers - and that's what business leadership is all too often about >today. I suppose not everyone will agree with this description but one of >its virtues for me is it helps explain a major mystery of public life in >the last decade: the panic over deficits. > >I confess I've never understood it. People like the Globe and Mail's >Jeffrey Simpson kept saying "we can't just go on piling up deficits." But >why not? Other eras saw worse deficits but no one panicked and they righted >themselves. When current deficits began to drop, it happened mainly because >the economy improved or interest rates fell. > >Deficit panic had one clear result though. It was the excuse for shredding >the social safety net working people relied on: unemployment insurance, >welfare, medicare etc. Those programs weren't responsible for high >deficits. Unemployment and interest rates or even, in Alberta's case, >subsidies to business, were much more at fault. But scaling the programs >way down made workers far more vulnerable to the strategies and goals of >CEO's like Tellier. "Nothing boosts the freedom of maneuver for non-elites >like a hospitable safety net," writes Henwood in his book, Wall St. With >the net shredded, it's far harder to hold out against raids on your wages, >conditions and benefits- not to mention your job- carried out by the >Telliers under the approving gaze of the markets. You pretty well have to >take any job under any conditions, because a job is the only safety net you >and your family have left. If governments restore some of the net now, the >message has still been sent; workers won't ever feel as secure again. >Intimidating the workforce by busting social programs, I'm saying, was the >real agenda behind deficit panic, and a CEO like Tellier, with the markets >in mind and his workforce in his gunsights, counts on that. > >It makes you wonder why the Telliers of the past let a social safety net be >created in the first place, during the years after World War Two. The >answer, I'd say, even if this sounds like it's coming out
FW: A Living Wage (fwd)
Date:Sat, 23 Jan 1999 13:11:00 -0500 From:Charles Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Living Wages MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII "Fighting for a Living Wage" by Dr. Manning Marable "Along the Color Line" January 1999 According to most economists and corporate investors, 1998 was a banner year for capitalism. Rebounding from its disastrous decline last summer, the stock market roared back to record a 16 percent gain for the year. The stock market had netted even higher gains in the previous three years, above 20 percent annually. This means that more than two trillion dollars in equity has been produced -- at least on paper --in this recent bull market. Economists like to point out that 150 million Americans are invested in the stock market, mostly through their retirement plans, pensions, and individual stock accounts. What this fails to add is that the lion's share of this wealth is owned by a very small number of individuals. Statistically, about 10 percent of the U.S. population owns or controls more than 70 percent of the nation's total wealth. That figure includes all stocks, bonds, real estate, and all assets of any kind. The top 1 percent of the U.S. population actually owns about 40 percent of all wealth. Simple arithmetic tells us that the overwhelming majority of Americans, the 90 percent that have less than 30 percent of the capital and resources, have very different lives than most at the top. It is in this latter group that one finds nearly all African Americans, Latinos, single-parent households, working class and poor people. The great majority of American citizens have no expectations or aspirations for great wealth and opulence. We have nothing in common with the televised "lifestyles of the rich and shameless." We pay our bills setting aside money to buy a home or to put our children through college. Those of us fortunate enough to have job security can plan for our retirement, and perhaps even take a vacation once a year. To achieve these modest goals takes at least a "living wage," the basic level of income necessary to provide the most basic personal consumption needs of a family of four: food, housing, transportation, utilities, clothing, taxes and co-payments for health care and child care. A commitment to a living wage should guarantee Medicare benefit, to all workers, from their initial date of employment through the end of the periods covered by unemployment insurance, plus coverage for their spouses partners and dependent children. Unfortunately, despite the billions of dollars generated on Wall Street, the capitalist economy has conspicuously failed to produce living wage jobs for millions of Americans. A recent study by the National Priorities Project, in collaboration with Jobs With Justice, illustrates the problem by focusing on New York. The study first determined that a truly livable annual wage for a family of four in New York, using the criteria outlined above, was about $36,600. Using this wage benchmark, the study found that 70 percent of the jobs with the most growth in New York pay less than the livable wage. For example, the average secondary school teacher in New York has an annual salary of $32,883, or about 90 percent of the livable wage. Keep in mind that the livable wage is about one-third less than the average family income in New York State. This means that the livable wage is essentially a subsistence budget, with little or no money for "luxuries." Clerical supervisors in New York earn an average wage of $27, 872, or approximately three-fourths of the livable wage. Other occupations at less than the livable wage include janitors and cleaners, $21,320 (58 percent of the livable wage); receptionists, $20,342 (56 percent); and teachers aides, $19,261 (53 percent). Beneath this group of workers are those whom sociologist William Julius Wilson described as the "truly disadvantaged." These are millions of working people whose wages are actually below the federal government's poverty level, which is now about $14,500 for a family of four. For example, according to the National Priorities Project study, the fastest growing occupation in New York State today is in retail sales. The average annual wage for retail salespeople is only $14,248. The typical food preparation worker earns only $11,939 a year, about 33 percent of a livable wage, and well below the official poverty level. Cashiers in New York receive average wages of $11,586; waiters and waitresses, $11, 336. These economic trends in New York are shared throughout the country. For the bottom 80 percent of all wage earners, real hourly wages have fallen steadily, about 20 percent in the last 25 years. Conditions are predictably worse for African-Americans workers. By 1995, almost 40 percent of black workers earned less than poverty level wages. What is to be done? Since the capitalist economy and Wall Street clearly cannot produce jobs at livable wages,
FW Criminalization of the Poor (fwd)
London Free Press Columnist: Judy Rebick > January 22, 1999 > > The criminalization of Ontario's poor > > By JUDY REBICK > I am hearing from Premier Mike Harris a lot more than I want to. Every > time I turn on the TV or radio, there he is, pitching his government's > performance. Yesterday, I got a pamphlet in my mailbox about "safety." > The government has thrown hundreds of families into the streets because > of a 21-per-cent welfare cut, as documented in Anne Golden's report on > homelessness in Toronto, and he is talking about safety. > > According to recent reports, the government has spent $30 million on > partisan ads in the last two years. They don't have enough money to give > a pregnant woman on welfare a supplement so she can eat better but they > can spend almost $1 million on a pamphlet that harkens back to the good > old days when "we were able to leave our back doors open." The four-colour > pamphlet says it costs 20 cents to produce and distribute. It forgot to > say 4.1 million English-language versions and 250,000 French-language > versions have been distributed, bringing costs close to $1 million. > > Others have lambasted this outrageous and unprecedented use of taxpayers > money. Even the conservative National Post has taken the premier to task. > What the ads make clear to me is that the Harris Tories don't really care > about fiscal responsibility. > > The message of that little "safety" pamphlet makes it pretty clear what > they do care about. Our society is safer now than it has been in a while. > Violent crime has dropped for the sixth year in a row. Youth crime also > dropped. Most experts credit the drop in crime rates to demographics. > There aren't as many young men, who commit most of the crimes, as there > used to be. But that doesn't stop Harris from playing on public fears, > particularly those of older people about crimes like home invasions. > > The scariest line in the pamphlet is "in the past three years, more > dangerous offenders have been put behind bars and kept out of our > communities . . . Parole is being denied more than it is granted." > > Canada already incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any > country in the developed world, except the United States. Canada imprisons > more young people than the United States. But right-wingers like Harris > want to put more and more people in prison. It is a pattern. Right-wing > ideologues who oppose government spending on social programs to improve > the lives of the poor and disadvantaged always support increased > expenditures on police, prisons and military. > > The United States has imprisoned a significant percentage of its poor male > population. In the last 15 years, the prison population in the U.S. has > tripled. At a rate of 645 people imprisoned for every 100,000 in the > population in 1997, the U.S. imprisoned a higher percentage of its > population than South Africa under apartheid. The rate for blacks is 6,926 > imprisoned per 100,000 black people compared to 919 for whites. That's in > the U.S., not in South Africa. Factor in parole and probation and 5.4 > million Americans were in prison or in the prison system. That is five per > cent of the male population and 20 per cent of the black male population. > About 60 per cent of inmates are there for possessing or dealing drugs. > Some analysts have estimated U.S. unemployment rates would be two > percentage points higher if it counted the men in prison. > > In a conference recently broadcast by CBC Radio One's Ideas program, > American writer Barbara Ehrenreich pointed out how the deep class division > in the U.S. is self-perpetuating. When government spends little or nothing > on social assistance and more and more on the repressive forces of the > state -- police, prisons and military, poor people begin to see government > as the problem rather than a source of solution. All a ghetto-dwelling > black male sees of the government is police and prison guards. The idea > that electing a politician could promote community interests becomes more > remote. That is one explanation for the alienation of the majority of > Americans with their electoral system. In the last election, only 40 per > cent voted. > > When Harris asks in his pamphlet, "Who is more important these days, > convicted criminals or ordinary people like you?" he is starting down the > American path of criminalizing the poor and disadvantaged. The only way > the savage dog-eat-dog policies of the Harris government can succeed is by > convincing the middle class that poor people are bad people threatening > our way of life. Criminalization of the poor is how the U.S. succeeded in > creating the most unequal society in the developed world. I am sick at > heart that my tax dollars are being used to do the same thing in Ontario. > - - > Judy Rebick is host of CBC
FW Inequality and Health
From: Dennis Raphael[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >From Poverty to Societal Disintegration: How Economic Inequality Affects the Health of All Canadians For most Canadians real income decreased during the 1990's, and by 1996 the level of child poverty had begun to set ever-increasing records. At the same time the rich were getting richer, the cause of which is obvious to Peter Montague, the editor of Rachel's Environmental Newsletter: "The growing gap between rich and poor has not been ordained by extraterrestrial beings. It has been created by the policies of governments." While the extent of increasing economic inequality in Canada has been documented in reports such as The Growing Gap by the Centre for Social Justice, there has been little public discussion of the health effects of economic inequality. This is surprising since prestigious publications such as the British Medical Journal have stated: "What matters in determining mortality and health in a society is less the overall wealth of that society and more how evenly wealth is distributed. The more equally wealth is distributed the better the health of that society." Economic inequality may be the major public health issue facing Canada and other Western nations. Why is this so? Increasing Poverty Poverty is not good for children and other living things. The Canadian Institute of Child Health's report The Health of Canada's Children documented the profound variation between poor and non-poor children in incidence of death and illness, accidents and injuries, mental health and well-being, school achievement and drop-out, and family violence and child abuse. Explanations for these effects include material deprivation associated with poverty such as malnutrition, poor housing, and lack of clothing. More important may be poverty's grinding effects that produce feelings of hopelessness, lack of control, and depression, all processes that manifest effects through biological pathways and lead to disease. Health workers tend to focus on the health impacts of poverty through programs to teach skills and provide information and support to change individual lifestyles. These programs say little about the economic conditions that create health problems. Sadly, recent poverty figures suggest that Canadian governments seem to be working hard to increase, rather than decrease, poverty levels. Inequality Affects Everybody, Not Just the Poor It now appears that economic inequality affects the health of the well-off as well as the poor. For example, after 20 years of rapidly increasing economic inequality, the most well-off in Britain now have higher heart attack and child mortality rates than the least well-off in Sweden. Other data indicate that societies with less inequality have lower death rates -- even controlling for absolute level of economic resources. This is also so in USA communities: more economic inequality is associated with greater death rates - among the well off as well as the poor. In Unhealthy Societies: the Afflictions of Inequality, Richard Wilkinson shows that societies with greater economic inequality begin to "disintegrate" -- that is, they show evidence of decreased social cohesion and increased individual malaise. These are all precursors of increased illness and death. To illustrate, the well-off increasingly opt out of the public discourse. They send their children to private schools, lobby for two-tiered medical systems, hire security guards for their property; all of which heightens societal disintegration. In Canada, the well-off grow wealthier, but become subject to the same threats that the less-well off experience -- deteriorating health and educational systems, increased crime and violence, and greater danger on the roads -- among others. All of which is associated with a lack of personal control; an important predictor of illness and death. Another means by which economic inequality affects Canadian society is through the tax base. Societies with greater economic inequality and poverty have lower tax rates that favour the rich. In Ontario for example, income tax breaks to the well-off lead to reduced services to the most vulnerable. The result is less social cohesion, greater differences in health and well-being, and increased evidence of societal disintegration such as poverty and homelessness. Societal and Public Health Responses Canadians need to become more aware of the effects of increasing economic inequality. Currently, there is no one societal institution that monitors the health effects of government policies such as the ones creating economic inequality. Possible candidates for such a role are municipal, provincial and federal public health units. Acting as a kind of health ombudsperson, these units could advise governments and institutions on policies and actions that will enhance the health of the citizenry. They could assure that government an
FW Privatization on the way? (fwd)
Date:Wed, 27 Jan 1999 18:13:42 +1300 From:Ross James Swanston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: CUPE Privatization Report MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I am reposting the following report which shows that Corporations are gaining control of our public services at an alarming rate for several reasons. These are:- 1) It seems to tie in with the lead article in the local newspaper of 26/1/99 headed up:- "STAFF CUTS ON CARDS FOR COUNCIL" I would appreciate feedback on my comments as well as on the report itself. This article reports on tentative plans of the Palmerston North City Council (New Zealand), which may be included in the upcoming Draft Annual Plan. A radical review of the Council's long-term financial strategy is necessary, or so it is claimed, because of escalating local body costs. Main points of the article are - staff cutbacks, a leaner organisation, user pays water charges and possible private sector involvement in the provision of services. 2) I am seeking feedback and comment from as many list members as possible on a number of issues the newspaper article raises so as to assist in formulating 'battle' strategy well in advance of the call for public consultation and submissions on the proposals. Issues raised in the article are:- a) COSTS. According to the City Manager the existing financial strategy is politically and publically unacceptable, because gross rates will rise by 45% and debt is expected to nearly double within 10 years. Under the new strategy, "while rates and user charges would be paid separately, they collectively would remain very similar to what the rate demand is today". I find this an amazing statement. On the face of it, and judging by the "Cupe Privatization Report"attached, this seems a fallacious argument. If the 'leaner organisation' is achieved and ratepayers get very little for their 'rate dollar' while most services including water, rubbish collection, road maintenance, (you name it), is contracted out to private providers, we are likely to end up paying far more than we do today, if only for the simple reason that private providers are there to make a profit, which must come from somewhere - the long-suffering ratepayers. b) EFFICIENCY. Further efficiency gains can be achieved over the next three years by introducing improvements to "internal processes", the article claims. c) QUALITY AND SAFETY. The article emphasises that levels of service will not be reduced and neither would the Council reduce its commitment to its current 10 year capital programme. Again, I would take that statement with a 'grain of salt' as it seems that privatizing public utilities does compromise levels of service as was shown by the problems experienced by Auckland in the delivery of electricity early in 1998 and the problem with water supply only a few weeks ago. d) STAFF CUTS. Then there is the important issue of job losses. According to the City Manager, staff losses are yet to be calculated as they will depend on what efficiencies can be achieved internally. This fails to take into account the fact that the Council has been going through endless restructuring and drives towards greater efficiency ever since the New Right agenda began to be implemented in the early 1980's. One has to ask - Just how efficient can an organisation become and is there ever an end to it? One thing is certain, if Palmerston North follows the pattern of elsewhere, greater use will be made of part-time and casual labbour as well as a general contracting out of work that used to be performed by the Council. Maybe this a part of what is meant by "efficiency gains" but I am not so sure. I would appreciate as much comment and feedback on these issues as possible. Cheers Ross Swanston At 01:39 PM 1/25/99 -0500, you wrote: >Last week CUPE released a wide-ranging annual report on privatization. > >The full text of the report can be found at the website of the Canadian >Union of Public Employees, www.cupe.ca > >Below is a brief summary of the report and information on how to order a copy. > >> CUPE Releases Major Report on Privatization >> >>_Workers' Summary_ >> >> Going public about privatization >> >> It's a hostile takeover that would inflame any shareholder's meeting. >> Corporations are gaining control of our public services at an unprecedented >> pace. >> >> CUPE's Annual Report on Privatization documents for the first time the >> depth and breadth of the corporate takeover that's happening in our >> hospitals, schools, municipal services, community centres, social services >> and utilities. When the dots are connected, a clear picture emerges of the >> threat to good jobs, public safety, quality and accessibility. >> >> Pillaging the public purse >> >> Contrary to the seductive patter pitching privatization, selling off public >> services doesn't save the public treasury money. Deals struck with >> corporations leave governments and taxpayers to assume
FW New poverty measure=less poverty (fwd)
More on the Market Basket Measure of Poverty. Richard Shillington has done a great paper outlineing what is going on at; http://home.iSTAR.ca/~ers2/poverty/MBM.htm Also more background at: http://home.iSTAR.ca/~ers2/poverty/poverty.htm Thought this was worth sharing as it details the impact of income inequality and also why the market basket poverty line is a problem,
FW BELL CANADA INVESTIGATING CREATION OF NEW SERVICES FOR OPERATORS TO MINIMIZE ATTRITION (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 16:35:37 -0800 >From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: BELL CANADA INVESTIGATING CREATION OF NEW SERVICES FOR OPERATORS >TO MINIMIZE ATTRITION > >Canadian Communications Network Letter January 25, 1999 > >Renegotiating with US company over ownership -- > >BELL CANADA INVESTIGATING CREATION OF NEW >SERVICES FOR OPERATORS TO MINIMIZE ATTRITION > >A shell-shocked Bell Canada is doing all it can to appear conciliatory >with its operators as it wraps up its second week of damage control. >The telco is trying to placate the Communications, Energy and >Paperworkers Union -- and its own customers -- by claiming it failed >to provide an accurate message when announcing it would outsource >operator services. The telco has also backed off its hard line tactics to >cut wages overnight and turn the division over to a majority-owned US >call centre operator. > >Bell now suggests it would "consider" a majority ownership position in >the new company with Excell Global Services, but Excell may have >limited interest in being a minority partner of a company spawned amid >public turmoil. The telco is no doubt burning the midnight oil with Excell >executives to see if there's a way for all parties to emerge unscathed. >Meanwhile, the operators' 52 offices in 39 municipalities in Ontario and >Quebec will be amalgamated into fewer locations which are yet to be >determined. > >Paulette Beaudry-Klug, VP operator services at Bell Canada, told >Network Letter that creating the new company is actually Bell's answer >for keeping operators employed. The union, most of the media and the >public have berated the telco for planning to outsource operator >services by creating the new company. Either Bell failed to telegraph its >intentions to protect operators' employment via new services, or Bell's >spin-doctors have suddenly created new policy in the guise of Bell's >original scheme. > >Bell claims it is trying to reverse a trend where calls requiring operators >are steeply declining. The telco has been monitoring US models where >operators have provided tourist travel information and performed other >call centre-style services for telco customers. If this is indeed the case, >it begs the question why the union incited the public's wrath just as Bell >was investigating task creation to keep its members on the payroll. >Granted, the operators are destined to earn less after the new company >is established, but that could be the trade-off for even a small degree of >job security. > >Bell says it was willing to discuss a transition period with the union, but >it didn't get the chance before the issue ignited. "We prefer not to >negotiate through the newspapers," says Beaudry-Klug. "Our >negotiations with our partner (Excell) have also not been concluded at >this point. (It's) a very unfortunate situation where there has been >misquoting and a misunderstanding about what was going to happen. > >"It is important to us not only to keep these jobs in our country, but also >to demonstrate we have something to be proud of," she adds. "An >American company is prepared to come in and invest in a business that >we believe we can turn around and offer. We'll negotiate with our >partner and see where the ownership will end up when negotiations are >completed." > >It appears operator services were in jeopardy long before Bell starting >looking for a partner. Last year, Bell operators handled about 83 million >calls, compared with more than 200 million 10 years ago. Five years >from now, operators are predicted to be handling about half the current >volume under the status quo. With the advent of automated toll >technologies, voice recognition equipment and free directory assistance >on the Internet, "live agents" are less in demand than ever before. In >tandem with losing about 30 per cent LD market share to competition >over the past few years, Bell knew it had to act. > >The future of operator services is unclear, but Bell sounds interested in >assigning new tasks to those who choose to stick it out. "In the US, if >you're visiting somewhere for the first time and you want to organize a >business dinner or see a show, you can dial 411 information," explains >Beaudry-Klug. "Not only will they connect you, they'll even make >reservations if you're interested. More and more travellers to the US are >returning here and asking why we don't have those services in this >country." The service could also provide contemporary information on >weather, road conditions and traffic reports, as well as provide >on-the-spot destination routes for travellers. > >"We believe if Bell Canada can be the first to offer those services, it >would be a golden opportunity," she adds. "We have the expertise and >technology -- we just needed to find a partner that has already lived >through the transformation that the industry is going through, and has >done so in a successful manner. They can bring their
FW Welfare protests in the US (fwd)
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 17:27:44 -0500 From: Graeme Bacque <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: OW-WATCH-L [Fwd: (en) MA State House: 30 arrested protesting welfare time limits (follow up)] >From the U.S., but nonetheless relevant... - Original Message Subject: (en) MA State House: 30 arrested protesting welfare time limits (follow up) Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 14:59:11 -0500 From: Tom Boland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ MANY WELFARE RECIPIENTS SET TO LOSE BENEFITS By Linda Kim, Associated Press BOSTON - About 3,700 people were poised to lose their benefits Tuesday as the state begins implementing its 1996 welfare reform law. And for more than 2,100 others who have filed for extensions, the date serves as a grim reminder of what is to come. Under the welfare reform law, able-bodied recipients whose children are older than 2 will lose their cash assistance after two years unless the state qualifies them for exemptions. Despite the Dec. 1 cutoff for the first wave of recipients to lose state aid, everyone will receive their first check in December, and many will get a second check, said Dick Powers, spokesman for the Department of Transitional Assistance. But some welfare advocates are angry, saying the two-year provision hurts poor families more than it helps them. Meanwhile, police arrested about 30 demonstrators who crowded the lobby of acting Gov. Paul Cellucci's office on Monday, demanding that he postpone the welfare deadline and reconsider the two-year limit. The protesters -- which included university professors, students, activists, union organizers and welfare recipients -- had pledged to remain in the lobby until benefits were extended or police threw them out. The demonstrators crowded the couches and floor of the entryway. Some of the protesters left when troopers warned the office was closing, but the rest stayed and sang "We Shall Not be Moved'' as police led them away. Eight of the protesters had to be carried out. The group will be charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing. No one from the governor's staff acknowledged the protesters. Governor Cellucci is in Israel. "How many babies do we need to find on doorsteps? How many shelters do we need to fill?'' asked Diane Dujon of Massachusetts Welfare Rights and the AFL-CIO women's committee. "This I'm sure will lead to the death or destruction of families,'' said Laura Walker, a mother of two disabled children who was on welfare on and off for 18 years. Rosemarie Freeland, a coordinator for the Franklin Community Action Corp., a nonprofit antipoverty agency, said the changes have left many welfare recipients confused. "There's so many changes happening so quickly that case workers and recipients are getting different information every week,'' she said. John Lehman, director of the Franklin Survival Center in Turners Falls, said the loss of benefits will hurt many in his rural western Massachusetts community, including some who successfully move from welfare to work. "If you get $6 to $7 an hour, that's good pay,'' Lehman said. "But you still are below poverty level. In this area, jobs don't pay that much. And a lot of companies don't provide benefits.'' Powers said about 41,000 families became subject to the two-year limit in December 1996. But that number now is 5,885 because more than 35,000 have gotten jobs, left the state, or moved in with relatives, he said. Statewide, 2,195 people have filed for a six-month extension. Powers said the state will not terminate benefits of those who filed for an extension. http://www.boston.com/news/daily/30/welfare.htm FWD Boston Globe - November 30, 1998 The A-Infos News Service COMMANDS: [EMAIL PROTECTED] REPLIES: [EMAIL PROTECTED] HELP: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/ INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org --
FW: London union conference (fwd)
"Changing work - changing unions" Unions 21 Conference on Saturday 27 February 1999 9.30 - 5pm at TUC Congress House, London, WC1 Featuring an opening plenary with Peter Mandelson MP Trade and Industry Secretary and John Monks TUC General Secretary Building on its reputation Unions 21 brings you the conference for trade unionists, politicians, academics, journalists, employers, and anyone interested in union and workplace issues. This conference will look at the role of unions in today's workplace, and ask how unions can maintain their public support. Join in the big debates on the future of trade union activism. Topics for debate and discussion: adapting to the changing workplace; unions' education and development; Europe - the single currency and jobs; the economics of tax and welfare; young people and "new unionism"; consolidating the legislative agenda; New Labour - New Links; the Private Finance Initiative; sustainable business and environment protection; flexible labour markets; and the changing workplace and the great electoral reform debate. Plus music and comedy, exhibition stalls, and book signing. For a full list of speakers, and details of commissions and plenaries, please send your address to Sarah Ward at: e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Post: Unions 21, FREEPOST, 6 Cynthia Street, London, N1 9BR Fax: 0171 278 4425 Tel: 0171 278 9944 Content-type: application/octet-stream; name="PIC12292.PCX" Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:PIC12292.PCX (/) (00016112) --
FW: UN calls for repeal of Ontario Act (fwd)
Date:Fri, 4 Dec 1998 17:23:08 -0500 From:Roy Adams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: UN Calls for Repeal of Ontario Act MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII United Nations Calls for Repeal of Ontario's Prevention of Unionism Act Now it is official. The United Nations' Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has marked the Harris government as a clear human rights violator. Paragraph 31 of the Committee's "concluding observations" on Canada's compliance with the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights refer to Ontario's Prevention of Unionism Act as "a clear violation of article 8 of the Covenant..." and calls on the government "to take measures to repeal the offending provisions." The Progressive Conservative government pushed through the Act even though The Society for the Promotion of Human Rights in Employment provided it with documentation and commentary from international human rights experts that the bill was offensive to international human rights norms and that it reneged on Ontario's international obligations under the UN's Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The entire text of Paragraph 31 is enclosed below. Please consider sending a fax to Janet Ecker the Minister of Social and Community Affairs (416 325 5221) asking her to comply immediately with the directive of the Committee. Roy J. Adams Chair, Steering Committee Society for the Promotion of Human Rights in Employment "31. The Committee notes that Bill 22, entitled "An Act to Prevent Unionization", was adopted by the Ontario Legislative Assembly on 24 November 1998. The Act denies to workfare participants the rights to join a trade union, to bargain collectively and to strike. In response to a request from the Committee, the Government provided no information in relation to the compatibility of the Act with the Covenant. The Committee considers the Act to be a clear violation of article 8 of the Covenant and calls upon the State Party to take measures to repeal the offending provisions." Roy J. Adams McMaster University tel: 905-525-9140, ext 23965 Hamilton, Canadafax: 905-521-8995 L8S 4M4 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/hrlr/profs/adamsr/index.htm "NO REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION"
FW: Book review of Corporation Nation (fwd)
I haven't read this book, but it sounds relevant. Sally >Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 14:36:31 -0500 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: corporation nation >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Comment: Please see http://lists.essential.org for help > >Exxon merges with Mobil. Citicorp marries Travelers. Daimler Benz gobbles >up Chrysler. BankAmerica takes over NationsBank. WorldCom eats MCI. > >Corporations are getting bigger and bigger, and their influence over our >lives continues to grow. America is in an era of corporate ascendancy, the >likes of which we haven't seen since the Gilded Age. > >Charles Derber, a professor of sociology at Boston College, believes that, >contrary to the lessons our civics teacher taught us, it is undemocratic >corporations, not governments, that are dominating and controlling >society. > >In his most recent book, Corporation Nation (St. Martin's Press, 1998), >Derber argues that the consequence of the growing power of giant corporate >multinationals is increased disparity in wealth, rampant downsizing and >million dollar CEOs making billion dollar decisions with little regard for >average American. > >A couple of years ago, Derber wrote The Wilding of America (St. Martin's >Press, 1996) in which he argued that the American Dream had transmuted >into a semi-criminal, semi-violent virus that is afflicting large parts of >the elites of the country. > >That book tried to call attention to the extent to which violent behavior >could be understood as a product of oversocialization. > >"The problem was not that they had been underexposed to American values, >but that they could not buffer themselves from those values," Derber told >us. "They had lost the ability to constrain any kind of anti-social >behavior -- because of obsessions with success -- the American Dream." > >By anti-social behavior, Derber means the epitome of Reaganism -- "a kind >of warping of the more healthy forms of individualism in our culture into >a hyperindividualism in which people asserted their own interests without >regard to its impact on others." > >At the time, Derber was interviewed on a Geraldo show about paid assassins >-- people who killed for money. > >"It was scary to be around young people who confessed to killing for >relatively small amounts of money -- a few thousand dollars," Derber said. >"They said things like -- 'you have to understand, this is just a >business, everybody has to make money.' I pointed out on the show that >this was the language that business usually uses." > >At the same time, Newsweek ran a cover story titled "Corporate Killers." >On the cover, Newsweek ran the mug shots of four CEOs who had downsized in >profitable periods and upped their own salaries. > >"These corporate executives tended to use the same language as the paid >assassins on the Geraldo show, 'I feel fine about this because I'm just >doing what the market requires,'" Derber explains. "I develop an analogy >between paid assassins on the street and those in the suites. In the most >general sense, these corporate executives are paid hitmen who use very >much the same language and rationalization. I argue that corporations are >exemplifying a form of anti-social behavior which is undermining a great >deal of the social fabric and civilized values that we would hope to >sustain." > >With the hitmen parallel fresh in his mind, Derber began writing >Corporation Nation. In it, Derber points to the parallels between today >and the age of the robber barons 100 years ago -- the wave of corporate >mergers, the widening gulf between rich and poor (Bill Gates' net worth >(well over $50 billion) is more than that of the bottom 100 million >Americans), the enormous influence of corporations over democratic >institutions, both major parties bought off by big business, and a >Democratic President closely aligned with big business (Grover Cleveland >then, Bill Clinton today). > >One big difference between then and now: back then, a real grassroots >populist movement rose up to challenge corporate power, though it did not >succeed in attaining its core goals. > >Today, while there are many isolated movements challenging individual >corporate crimes, there is no mass movement attacking the corporation as >the cause of the wealth disparity, destruction of the environment, and all >the many other corporate driven ills afflicting society. > >Derber, a professor of sociology at Boston College, says that when he asks >his students, "Have you ever thought about the question of whether >corporations in general have too much power," they uniformly say they have >never had that question raised. > >Derber says that one good way to again build a populist movement to attack >corporate power is to study the language and tactics of the populists of >100 years ago. He has
FW: Videos on worker struggles for a living wage (fwd)
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Joan Sekler)
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
>[EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Alternative media in 1999
>Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 22:14:36 -0800
{snip}
>1. The video collective of LAAMN will be producing short 10-15 minute
>videos on struggles of workers in LA. Over the summer, we produced a 10
>minute video on the fight for a living wage in LA. Our first video in
>1999
>will highlight the story of hotel workers in Santa Monica. The hotels in
>Santa Monica have the highest occupancy rate in LA but pay the lowest
>wages
>to its workers, who also don't receive benefits, because all of the Santa
>Monica hotels, but one, are not unionized. We plan to cover workers'
>struggles in many industries and many areas of LA County, and these
>videos
>will be used as organizing tools. For more information, e-mail Joan
>Sekler
>([EMAIL PROTECTED])
{snip}
>*
>Joan Sekler
>Coordinator
>LA Alternative Media Network
>Phone / Fax: (310) 458-6566
>Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>http://home.labridge.com/~laamn/
>*
FW One perspective on the future of work
Date:Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:24:42 -0500 From:Charles Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: C of C: socialism MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Socialism: More Than Ever -- A Compelling Need Socialism. The pundits keep up the drum beat that it's outmoded, discredited, and defeated. But socialism has been a vision and a movement for hundreds of years. It's still around and will remain a vibrant and increasingly urgent issue for decades to come. Socialism is global, but it is also as American as cherry pie, with deep roots in the nation's history and traditions. It is embodied in the hearts and the exertions of many who believe in a country and world anchored on fairness, on genuine democracy of citizen participation, on equality and justice for all regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, on freedom to learn and to be enriched by a growing culture, on living in peace, on sharing in the ownership and control of wealth created by the majority, and benefitting >from an equitable distribution of income and property. Socialism will always be around because capitalism, despite its noisy self-congratulations, is making life increasingly harder for the working majority. The Dow Jones may be soaring, but Mary and John Jones are having a rough time. Every upward surge in the stock market in today's global economy reflects another "downsized" worker, another leveraged buyout and shuttered business, another union-protected industrial job shifted to a low-wage, environmentally lax country. New technologies, instead of making life easier for working people, are eliminating jobs by substituting machines for bank tellers, telephone operators, machinists, and many others. Unemployment may be down, but real wages have declined 16% since 1973. Millions today have to work two, even three low wage, non-union, no-benefits jobs to barely compensate for rapidly disappearing work at decent wages. The United States now embraces the most unfair distribution of wealth and income in the industrialized world. The average net worth per household of the top one percent is now $7,875,000; the net worth of the bottom one per cent is $900! Bill Gates's $40 billion is more than the combined worth of 40% of the nation's households! We are now at a watershed: each succeeding generation is worse off than the preceding generation. Democracy is our most treasured tradition. But it is sullied by the domination of politics by big money. Corporations get their tens of billions in "welfare" at the public trough while schools, health services, and housing needs go begging--and the poorest and most vulnerable are scolded for allegedly leeching off the taxpayers. No wonder that aFrom [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Dec 13 17:16:01 1998 Received: (from root@localhost) by dijkstra.uwaterloo.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) id RAA20850 for futurework-outgoing; Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:13:05 -0500 Received: from top.monad.net ([EMAIL PROTECTED] [204.97.16.3]) by dijkstra.uwaterloo.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id RAA20588 for <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:12:58 -0500 Received: from top.monad.net (nsv1-5.keene.monad.net [208.0.183.223]) by top.monad.net (8.8.8/What) with ESMTP id RAA23150; Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:12:06 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:14:21 -0500 From: Steve Kurtz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: ECOL-ECON <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, futurework <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, gaiapc-list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: sustainability: Improving community participation Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk This is a valuable resource, in my opinion. There are many others, but some are very specific or highly technical, others superficial. The internet is only as useful as we humans make it. Steve From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:WWW: Environmental sustainability: Improving community participation The practice of involving people and building environmental partnerships requires not only a specialist knowledge of the particular area (agriculture, biodiversity, etc.), but also skills in a diverse range of areas from information management through to conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving. The NRM_changelinks web site http://nrm.massey.ac.nz/changelinks/ has been designed as a practical resource for natural resource managers, NGO's, scientists, academics, community leaders and others working to help communities identify and adopt more sustainable environmental practices. The site provides a guide to a range of information, tips and techniques in fields such as sustainable development, adaptive management, participatory monitoring and evaluation,
FW The new schooling (fwd) (long)
>Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 00:03:41 -0500 > > 1. Schooling and Social Control > >-- >Date:Sun, 13 Dec 1998 11:11:32 EST >From:Dave Stratman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Schooling and Social Control >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain > >Please pass the following article to academic and labor lists: > >YOU'LL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH: >SCHOOLING AND SOCIAL CONTROL >by Dave Stratman > >A couple months ago these sample questions from the new MCAS (Massachusetts >Comprehensive Assessment System), given to all Massachusetts students in >grades 4, 8, and 10, appeared in the Boston Globe: > >MUSIC: Write a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with a flute and >drum. You will find a piano under your seat. BIOLOGY: Create life. Estimate >the difference in subsequent human culture if this form of life had developed >500 million years earlier, with special attention to its probable effect on >the English parliamentary system. Prove your thesis. HEALTH: You have been >provided with a razor blade, a piece of gauze, and a bottle of Scotch. Remove >your appendix. Do not suture until your work has been inspected. You have 15 >minutes. > >The "sample" was a parody, of course, but it made an important point: the test >was impossible. Students were subjected from 11 to 13 hours of tests in 17 >dayslonger than the tests required for college, graduate school, and law >school combined. Some school systems, concerned that young people would not >have the stamina to get them through day after day of test-taking, supplied >high-energy snacks and drinks to the kids. Parents were encouraged to get >their children to bed early. Teachers were told not to assign homework during >the weeks of testing. > These are "high-stakes" tests. When they are fully operational, >students in >grades 4 and 8 will need to pass the state tests to be promoted; students in >grade 10 will have to pass to be eligible to graduate. Teachers will be "held >accountable" for their students' grades. (Forty percent are expected to fail.) >Schools in which students perform poorly on the tests can be placed in >receivership by the state and their faculties dismissed. > The contents of the MCAS are secret: no educators in Massachusetts >except >certain officials of the Department of Education and the Board of Education >have been allowed to examine the tests for their age-appropriateness or their >relationship to what is actually taught. The tests were devised by a company >which had recently been fired by the state of Kentucky for major errors in the >design and marking of tests it had administered there. > In literature circulated to parents and students before the tests, >corporate >backers of "higher standards" boasted that "These are very, very tough >teststhe toughest that most Massachusetts students have ever taken" and that >"good attendance and passing grades" no longer entitle a student to a high >school diploma. To prepare our students "to compete with children from all >over the world," said the corporations, much more is required. > Tests similar to MCAS are being required of young people in state after >state. President Clinton is fighting for national assessments along the same >lines. > What's behind this rush to testing and "higher standards?" > >MAKING SCHOOLS "LEAN AND MEAN" > >As is often the case, these developments inside the schools reflect events in >the wider society. > In the past two decades, corporations have adopted new management >techniques >designed to undermine worker solidarity and integrate workers more thoroughly >into the company machine. Known variously as "continuous improvement" or >"management by stress," or "kaizen," the Japanese term for it, the technique >consists essentially of dividing the workforce into competing "teams" and >"stressing" the production system by imposing higher and higher production >quotas. As workers work faster and faster to meet the quotas, the company >achieves several key goals: production is increased; jobs are eliminated; >"weak links" in the system break down and are replaced. > Most important, " continuous improvement" creates great anxiety in >workers >about their ability to meet the ever-increasing goals, and encourages workers >to replace solidarity among themselves with loyalty to the Company Team. It >forces workers into constant speed-up. Workers are kept running so fast to >meet company goals that they don't have time to think or talk about their own >goals or work together to pursue them. > Corporate-led education reforms use similar strategies. They use >"School- >Based Management" and other techniques to isolate teachers in each school from >their colleagues around the system. Teachers are then encouraged to join with >management as a "team" to compete for students and survival with other >schools. The reforms use testing to keep raising the standards which students >and teachers m
FW Interesting URL for Institute for Social Inventions
A nice present to yourself. Sally >From: "Douglas P. Wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Interesting URL for Institute for Social Inventions >Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 03:30:48 -0800 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >X-Priority: 3 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >I've stumbled across an interesting web page for the Global Ideas Bank >put up by the Institute for Social Inventions. Even though they claim to >want "non-technological" inventions -- an oxymoron, by my definition, >I think the basic idea is very similar to the idea behind the term >"social technology". I suggest you all check it out -- it is > >http://www.globalideasbank.org/ > >I've ordered a couple of the books they publish, and will file a book review >when I've received and read them. From what's visible on line they look >interesting. > > dpw > >Douglas P. Wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.island.net/~dpwilson/index.html >
FW Death of the salesperson? (fwd)
CHANGING ROLE FOR SALES PEOPLE The growth of e-commerce is changing the role of the sales force. While human salespeople provide an interactivity that can't be matched by a Web site, they're also tremendously expensive compared to electronic channels. According to one analyst, electronically conducted sales of commodity products will "butcher the field sales force... Even with expensive items, such as buying company cars, I'd rather go to a Web site and compare lifetime running costs, look at financing options and then press a button to order, rather than talking to all the dealers." But at the other end of the spectrum, the human touch will remain essential: "Would you buy knowledge-intensive services such as management consultancy without sitting across the table and understanding who you are buying from? In these sorts of areas, I can't see the sales force being replaced. But the numbers will be tiny in comparison" Dell Computer, which has built its business on telephone and Internet sales, is now setting up customized Web sites for servicing corporate customers, adding a personal touch. E-commerce will create a cost-effective channel for supporting existing customers, allowing the expensive human sales force to concentrate on developing strategic customer relationships. "The direct sales force will create the new relationship, whereas the ongoing relationship will be more operational, via net-based links." (Nuala Moran, "Is This the Death of the Salesman?" Financial Times 24 Mar 99) http://www.ft.com/
