[PEN-L:11113] Day of Action on Workfare
For those groups which have been or are interested in working on workfare/welfare reform issues, you may want to know that -- Jobs With Justice is discussing a national day of action on workfare/welfare reform in December (date not finalized). The three themes of the proposed day of action are: 1. Jobs: the real issue is the need to create good jobs 2. Workers rights: destroying public sector jobs or creating exploitative workfare jobs is not reform 3. Justice: we cannot allow greedy corporations to profit from the dismantling of the safety net (privatization of welfare services). Jobs With Justice will be holding its annual conference in Chicago, October 24-26. For more info about JWJ check the web page: www.igc.apc.org/jwj For more info on Phoenix JWJ check our web page: amug.org/~aenglish/cazjwj.html -Andy English Phoenix AZ
[PEN-L:8226] ASU Labor teach-in
On April 8-9, Central Arizona Jobs With Justice will be sponsoring "A Teach-In With the Labor Movement" at Arizona State University in Tempe. The teach-in will be modeled after the successful teach-in held at Columbia University last fall. Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the national AFL-CIO, will be the keynote speaker. She is the first Chicana (or person of color) to be a national officer of the AFL-CIO. She was elected as part of the new reform leadership of the AFL-CIO in 1995. Chavez-Thompson is from Texas and organized thousands of Texas workers into the public employees union AFSCME. MECHA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) at ASU will be co-sponsoring. A teach-in planning committee is in formation. Phoenix area students, faculty and labor activists are needed to help plan the teach-in. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for Friday, Jan. 31 at 2:30pm (place to be announced -- it will be on the ASU campus). The overall theme of the teach-in will be organizing in the Southwest, especially among Hispanics, women, and immigrants, and organizing youth to be the next generation of labor activists. Fighting for the rights of workers and combating sexism and racism in the workplace will also be themes. Suggestions for panel ideas and potential speakers (Arizona residents preferred) are welcomed. E-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jobs With Justice is a labor-community coalition supported by the AFL-CIO. -Andy English organizer Central Arizona Jobs With Justice 439-0338
[PEN-L:1086] Arizona progressive conference
Brief Report on October 13-15, Progressive Unity Conference at Arizona State University Approx. 75 activists representing several dozen peace, human rights, environmental, and social justice organizations met for a three day conference at ASU. The two major urban areas of the state, Phoenix and Tucson, were well-represented. Activists from Globe and Flagstaff also attended. Workshops were held on sustainable economy, building real democracy, progressive unity, and youth politics. It was formally decided to launch a permanent network named the Progressive Unity Council of Arizona, and to hold a follow-up organizational meeting in February 1996. A steering committee will meet in the interim to develop by-laws and a statement of purpose. For more information contact, Andy English at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:1087] Arizona Workers Bill of Rights
Arizona State AFL-CIO calls for WorkerUs Bill of Rights ballot initiative. The Arizona AFL-CIO is circulating petitions to place an Arizona WorkerUs Bill of Rights on the November 1996 general election ballot. Organizers plan to collect 250,000 signatures statewide between now and the deadline for filing petitions in July 1996. They also plan to register tens of thousands of new voters. The initiative combines several proposals which have no hope of being heard in an extremist anti-worker state legislature. If passed, the proposals will become part of the stateUs constitution. *Establishes a state minimum wage covering all workers equal to 50 percent of the stateUs average wage. This provision will increase the minimum wage to $5.84 in 1997. It is expected that will bring about a large boost in the state average wage, leading to a second large increase in the minimum wage in 1998 to nearly $7 per hour. *Increases workers compensation benefits to 75% of the workers wages and benefits prior to the on-the-job injury and institutes an annual cost-of-living adjustment for those with long-term disabilities. *Prohibits employers from firing workers without just cause *Extend eligiblity for unemployment compensation to all workers and increases weekly benefits. *Provides that employers who receive economic development incentives from local government who subsequently close down and move operations to another state must return the subsidies they received and provide job training, health care costs, and supplemental unemployment benefits for 11 months to laid-off workers. *Guarantee private and public employees the right to organize. *** Progressive pro-labor groups are organizing to support the AFL-CIO initiative. Contact Andy English, [EMAIL PROTECTED], for more information.
[PEN-L:5443] re: Keynes is Dead Social Security
I disagree with Bill Mitchell's statment that environmental considerations mean the abolition of poverty is impossible. The physical resources of the Earth may be finite but technological development is not. New technologies being developed will allow for more efficient use of resources, resources can be stretched with recycling, totally new kinds of renewable sources of energy, food, and materials created. Secondly, why should we be limited to the Earth? Let's utilize space! The space program has been at a standstill because of the capitalist quick-buck mentality. We need to get into space, if the human race is not to be wiped out by next really big asteroid or comet that hits the Earth. Let not put all our eggs into one planet, OK? -Andy English
[PEN-L:4565] Kondratiev waves
Is there anything to the notion of Kondratiev waves? I tend to be skeptical, since the underlying technology of society changes so much during the 50-year "cycle" and because of the impact of large political events (World War Two for example), that such a large scale cycle could be governing the world economy. Some "marxists" I know swear by Kondratiev's thesis,however. Is there any real basis to it, in economic theory, Marxist or otherwise? -Andy English Phoenix Arizona On Fri, 31 Mar 1995, Carl H.A. Dassbach wrote: if Sachs says "we're" about to enjoy a period of long-term prosperity, maybe "we" refers to people like him, Harvard profs, etc., who are insulated from the competition that's producing a world-wide downward equalization of wages, living standards, environmental conditions, and the like. Make sense to me but I doubt that's what he had my mind. More likely, his statement was motivated by a simplistic beleif that we have hit the trough of the Kondratiev b-phase (after all, its been about 25 years - 1970-1995) and things should, if ND Kondratiev was right, be picking up again. Maybe, but there is no guarantee that the US will ride this upswing. - Carl H.A. Dassbach E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dept. of Social SciencesPhone: (906)487-2115 Michigan Technological University Fax: (906)487-2468 Houghton, MI 49931USA
