News for
Nov. 29-Dec. 3, 1999
Links to commercial press stories are functional at the date of posting.
In some cases, these links may "expire" after a week or two, when the
newspaper would like to begin charging you to access their archives (all the old news
that's fit to... sell).
FRIDAY, December 3 -- MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED!
Peaceful labor-led protests change WTO agenda, redefine trade debate
THURSDAY, December 2 --
In today's Seattle Times -- Steelworkers rally
against WTO, "dumping"
...and also -- Angry SPEAA
engineers spurn Boeing offer
In today's Roll Call -- Support for unions up in new poll
WEDNESDAY, December 1 -- Regarding
yesterday's AFL-CIO Rally and March
In today's (Tacoma) News Tribune -- Union supporters
make their point
In today's Seattle P-I -- A
march and a message from union members
...and also -- Clinton
says he will support trade sanctions for worker abuse
TUESDAY, November 30 -- AFL-CIO's WTO Rally and March: Massive, Loud and Peaceful
MONDAY, November 29 -- Tuesday's
party doesn't end with march
In today's Seattle Times -- Unions press WTO
for labor rights
-- WTO
offers unlimited possibilities (Op-Ed by Governor Gary Locke)
In today's Seattle P-I -- Informed
protests will work the best (editorial)
News from previous weeks: Last week -- Nov. 15-19 -- Nov. 8-12
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Inside and outside the WTO Ministerial Meetings in Seattle this week, the debate on international trade has changed thanks in large measure to the tens of thousands of people who took to the streets Nov. 30 at the AFL-CIO-organized rally and march, by far the largest demonstration of the week.
The message of that peaceful, disciplined event--that the WTO must consider the labor, environmental and community costs of production as it establishes the rules of world trade--has transcended the violence of a handful of anarchists and resonated through the WTO meetings, into the White House, and around the entire world.
"The American labor movement's campaign to link trade rules with workers' rights has emerged as a pivotal issue at the ministerial meeting of the trade organization here," writes Steven Greenhouse in today's New York Times account of President Clinton's dramatic attempts to prod the WTO into becoming more open and establishing a working group on labor issues.
The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein, in today's analysis entitled "For Free Trade, A Redefining Moment", writes: "The trade debate, once the province of a tight group of technocrats, business leaders, trade lawyers and academics, has now spilled out onto the streets and into the living rooms of America... Even business leaders, emerging from their daily strategy session this morning at the Washington Athletic Club, acknowledged that the events in Seattle had crystallized a growing sense of unease among Americans about globalization."
"The trade community, in order to manage its agenda, will have to understand that we have to broaden that agenda to what had been thought of as untraditional issues," said Timothy Bennett, senior vice president of the American Electronics Association.
In today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the newspaper's editorial board reminded the soon-departing WTO ministers that "tens of thousands of responsible, law-abiding people came to Seattle to tell you they expect better of your organization than you've so far delivered... They want a fair deal for the workers whose labors underpin the global economy. That means humane working conditions, fair wages, the right to organize and an end to exploitation of children."
"Our demands for workers' rights, human rights and environmental and public health protections in trade agreements were delivered unequivocally, and people around the nation and around the world are now focused on the failings of the WTO," announced AFL-CIO President John Sweeney after joining more than 30,000 people in a peaceful march that snaked more than two miles through the heart of downtown Seattle.
Tom Buffenbarger, the president of the International Association of Machinists union, agreed that the Seattle WTO protest has had a dramatic effect on the talks with the Clinton Administration regarding international trade issues: "We've never had this kind of reaction from any government agency before, especially the White House. It's a movement forward."
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2The following story by Karlyn Bowman appeared in today's edition of Roll Call:
Roughly three in 10 (29 percent) in a July-September Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey said the description "union supporter" was perfect or close to perfect for them (8-10 on a 10-point scale) and 30 percent said the description was wrong or totally wrong for them (points 1-3). Those results were very similar to the ones Pew got when the question was asked in April 1987.
In an August Gallup/CNN/USA Today survey, 65 percent said they approved of labor unions while 28 percent disapproved. Approval of unions is up about 10 points from 1981 at the time of the air traffic controllers' strike, when 55 percent said they approved and 35 percent disapproved. Most of the uptick in approval came between the 1997 and 1999 polls.
When asked by Gallup to think about the future, 44 percent said labor unions would be weaker than they are today; 25 percent, stronger; and 28 percent, about the same. When asked about their personal preference, 30 percent wanted unions to have more influence than they have today. Thirty-two percent wanted them to have less; and 36 percent, about the same amount of influence.
Taking Sides: Unions or Management
When asked about the labor disputes "of the last two or three years," 45 percent told Gallup in August that their sympathies have generally been on the side of the union and 37 percent on the side of the companies. Those responses are not very different from the ones people gave in July 1952, when 47 percent said their sympathies were with the unions; and 36 percent, with the companies.
Members Satisfied With Union's Performance
In the Gallup survey, 18 percent said they or someone living in their household was a member of a labor union, and 81 percent said this wasn't the case. Of those people in the survey who were employed full or part time, 13 percent said they were members of labor unions, and 6 percent said they worked within a bargaining unit. Nine percent said others in their workplace were unionized. Of the non-union group in the survey, 21 percent said they would like to be in a union.
Among unionized workers in the survey, 21 percent said they were completely satisfied with the job their union was doing representing their interests, 58 percent were somewhat satisfied; 9 percent, somewhat dissatisfied; and 12 percent, completely dissatisfied.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1The Washington State Labor Council would like to thank and congratulate the estimated 30,000 labor union, environmental, human rights and fair trade activists who participated in yesterday's AFL-CIO-organized rally and march. The event was a militant, peaceful and effective demonstration of legitimate grievances with the World Trade Organization and our country's international trade policies.
Unfortunately, much of yesterday's attention was focused on the handful of self-proclaimed anarchists who were bent on senseless and pointless property destruction. While we deplore the acts of this small group, we are frustrated that the damage they did extended far beyond the smashed windows and defaced buildings. They also managed to distract public and media attention from the largest non-violent demonstration in Seattle's history.
None of the downtown protesters who participated in the violence were affiliated with the AFL-CIO rally at the Seattle Center, where absolutely no incidents of violence or property destruction were reported. By all accounts, the violence and the conflicts with police downtown either preceded or followed the labor-organized march through the area.
From the beginning, labor has been committed to voicing our concerns in a militant, but safe and lawful manner, and we accomplished that yesterday. It is now our hope that the public debate can return to the important and legitimate issues associated with world trade policy, and the opportunity the WTO now has to substantively demonstrate it takes the concerns of citizens as seriously as it does those of corporations.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30
AFL-CIO's WTO Rally and March: Massive, Loud and Peaceful
Tens of thousands of labor, environmental and fair trade activists rallied and marched today in downtown Seattle, calling on the World Trade Organization to "make global trade work for working families." More than 20,000 attended the AFL-CIO-organized rally at the Seattle Center's Memorial Stadium and were joined by some 15,000 more protesters as they marched downtown.
As union and other activists rallied peacefully at the Seattle Center, media attention was drawn to a few hundred protesters two miles away near the Convention Center, the scheduled site of the WTO Ministerial Opening Ceremonies. Those protesters created a human chain to prevent WTO ministers and delegates from attending the ceremonies. At some point, police began using tear gas and firing rubber pellets into the crowds to disperse protesters. That's when a handful of self-proclaimed anarchists dressed in black ninja-like costumes began smashing storefront windows and igniting dumpsters. The ceremonies were delayed and later cancelled by WTO organizers because so few delegates could get safely to the Convention Center.
Meanwhile, at the Seattle Center there were no incidents of violence as more than 20,000 heard from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and other speakers ranging from Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, to Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, and Wei Jingsheng, a Chinese dissident. The raucous gathering had a festive atmosphere despite intermittent rain, and featured hundreds of colorful banners, signs and costumes. But none were more prominent than the AFL-CIO message, "If the WTO doesn't work for working families, it doesn't work."
"Until the W.T.O. addresses our issues, we should not and must not permit our country to participate in a new round of trade negotiations," Sweeney told the cheering crowd. To thunderous applause, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees President Jay Mazur added, "The rules of this new global economy have been rigged against workers, and we're not going to play by them anymore."
Shortly after noon, rallygoers massed outside the Seattle Center Memorial Stadium and marched a dozen or so blocks into downtown, where the police had clashed with protesters earlier. Thousands more activists joined the AFL-CIO marchers and the procession ultimately extended a couple of miles, snaking through town.
Some protesters tried to get labor marchers to split off from the march route at several intersections, exhorting them to join in blocking several nearby streets. Although a certain amount of confusion resulted that slowed the progress of the march, with very few exceptions labor protesters continued peacefully along the pre-arranged route and arrived back at the Seattle Center safely and without incident.
Late in the afternoon as darkness began to descend on protesters who remained downtown, there were additional reports of violence and conflict with police forces. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell declared a State of Civil Emergency, requested the assistance of the National Guard, and declared a dawn-to-dusk curfew.
As Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, had announced to the 20,000-plus at the morning rally: "Welcome to the first -- and last -- WTO meetings in Seattle." And probably in the United States, as well, until the organization responds to people's demands regarding labor and environmental impacts of international trade. (For more information about the rally and labor's demands, click here.)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Tuesday's party doesn't end with march
Skip the Interstate 5 traffic jam after Tuesday's WTO Rally and March and walk over to the Seattle Center's Mercer Arena for a musical event and fundraiser from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for the locked-out steelworkers of Kaiser Aluminum.
Guest speakers include United Steelworkers of America President George Becker, syndicated radio host Jim Hightower and Sen. Paul Wellstone. Musical entertainment will be provided by Ann Feeney, Rebel Voices and Mike Younger.
Avoid the I-5 parking lot and dry off with friends at this important event benefitting folks who've been out of work for more than a year. For more info about their struggle, check out www.uswa329.org.
If you have a news item regarding unions in Washington state that you would like to have posted on WSLC OnLine, please e-mail or fax a news release to (206) 285-5805.
