From irag at iglou.com Wed Jun 17 13:48:28 2009 From: irag at iglou.com (Ira Grupper) Date: Wed Jun 17 13:48:08 2009 Subject: [LMR-Discuss] Labor Paeans--June 2009 Message-ID: <002401c9ef73$d2a9f140$77fdd3c0$@com> Labor Paeans-June 2009 by Ira Grupper Layoffs in Louisville; the keys to equality in Mississippi (Published by FORsooth, newspaper of Louisville chapte of F.O.R. [Fellowship of Reconciliation] ) This column is devoted to two separate and distinct issues, labor in the current economy, and the fight for civil rights and justice. The city of Louisville, Kentucky, like so many other U.S. cities, is hit hard by the financial meltdown. So, who should pay the price for corporate greed? Why, union workers, of course. The mayor, in May, vetoed an ordinance passed by Metro Council that would have set a "prevailing wage," a decent wage minimum for construction workers on projects that receive at least $300,000 in city tax dollars. "At a news conference yesterday, (Mayor Jerry) Abramson did not cite any specific ways the ordinance would create obstacles to job creation. He was pressed for specifics on at least four occasions." (Louisville Courier-Journal 5.20.09). The mayor followed this up a few days later by proposing a budget that would lay off ninety five full time and 24 part time city employees, and leave empty many unfilled positions. The Courier-Journal (5.2.09) quotes Denny Norris, president of Teamsters Local 783, which represents about 600 city employees: " 'A lot of these folks that will get notices were working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week through snow and ice,' Norris said, referring to public works crews that cleaned up debris left behind after January's ice storm." Organized labor, nationally, has slowly begun to cohere and fight back. But some elements of organized labor are responding to the economic crisis in a different way. Take, for example, the "Keep it Made in America" national bus tour, which recently stopped in Louisville. It is sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), the Mayors and Municipalities Automotive Coalition, the United Autoworkers (UAW), and the United Steelworkers (USW) . The tour hopes "to draw attention to the 7 million jobs supported by the U.S. auto supply chain. Business, labor, and community leaders will rally support for policies to revitalize the auto sector and U. S. manufacturing. "The U. S. auto industry creates manufacturing and service jobs all across the country. More than 3.4 million workers are employed in auto-related industries in the 11 states on the 'Keep It Made In America' bus tour." Your columnist appreciates the fact that "(t)he overall objective for this activity is to call for an Auto restructuring Plan that maximizes domestic production, automobile industry jobs, and retains sufficient American automobile production capacity to take advantage of the eventual resurgence of the automobile demand in America ." We need to ask our union brothers and sisters supporting this effort to please explain how this is a progressive cause. The labor movement's old "Buy American" campaign did nothing to show international working class solidarity. Years ago, at the two Ford plants in Louisville, we were told, you had better not drive a "foreign" car onto their parking lots; your windows might get busted out. What is 'American'? Look under the hood of a Ford and you'll find parts from all over the world. Look at all the "foreign" cars now being produced in the US. Should they not be purchased? How can you tell if a Toyota is made in the US or elsewhere? Toyota is not Japanese, or American. It is multi-national, part of a multi-national corporation, and the working class needs to fashion a multi-national, as opposed to a narrow-national, response. Make no mistake about it. Your columnist is very troubled by all the U.S. manufacturing jobs that have moved out of the country, including his own, leaving millions of U.S. workers without work. Yes, let's support a return of U.S. manufacturing. But let's not support a plan that feeds a narrow protectionist view that is doing the working class a disservice by pushing this campaign. Layoffs usually result in workers losing health care coverage. Paul Krugman (NYTimes 5.11.09) comments on the news that major industry players - including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - have proposed to President Obama a plan to control healthcare costs. "The point is that there's every reason to be cynical about these players' motives. Remember that what the rest of us call health care costs, they call income." Illusions are not helpful when dealing with real-world problems. Like the illusion that the medical profession is nothing but a noble calling, above the profit system. Reports the New York Times on April 27: "(Obama administration) officials said they were particularly concerned about shortages of primary care providers who are the main source of health care for most Americans. One proposal - to increase Medicare payments to general practitioners, at the expense of high-paid specialists, has touched off a lobbying fight. "Family doctors and internists are pressing Congress for an increase in their Medicare payments. But medical specialists are lobbying against any change that would cut their reimbursements. Congress, the specialists say, should find additional money to pay for primary care and should not redistribute dollars among doctors - a difficult argument at a time of huge budget deficits." Now, we don't pretend knowledge about specific numbers of slots needed in medical schools for different areas of medical care. What we do know is that people who made the mistake of being poor, working class or "middle class" are currently deprived of medical care, unlike poor countries like Cuba and Venezuela, and unlike Europe and Canada. We also know about iatrogenic diseases, diseases resulting from the activity of physicians; usually used for any adverse condition in a patient resulting from treatment by a physician or surgeon. Now that you know what iatrogenic is about, re-read the quote, two paragraphs above. It's enough to make us sick. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We now turn to the topic of civil rights. On June 20 your columnist will be in Philadelphia, Mississippi to participate in a memorial service and conference marking the forty fifth anniversary of the deliberate and cold-blooded murders of three unarmed men by racists in Philadelphia, Mississippi. James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner and Andy Goodman were non-violent civil rights workers, martyrs in the fight for democracy in America, in a major battle to end apartheid made-in-the-USA.- - - - - - - - There is glorious news to report about Philadelphia, and we'll save that for the end. But we must focus on the murders in 1964. The Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals ruled in 1969: "There is ample--in fact, overwhelming--untainted evidence that the defendants conspired together to have Price, a deputy sheriff, arrest Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman, United States citizens; that Price would hold them in custody until such time that when released, Price, Arledge, Barnette, Roberts, Snowden, Jordan and Posey could and would intercept them, assault and kill them; and that each was present at and participated in the murder of the three men and the disposal of their bodies by burial fifteen feet beneath the top of an earthen dam deep in the woods. "Specifically, we find ample proof of conspiracy and each appellant's complicity in a calculated, cold-blooded and merciless plot to murder the three men." Reports the Arkansas Delta Truth and Justice Center recently: "Eight people who faced federal conspiracy to deny civil rights or other charges in the 1960s related to the murders of the three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi are still living. "But only Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen has finally faced state charges. Why only Killen? What about the others? Earl Akin - presently living, Mississippi. Olen Burrage - presently living, Philadelphia, MS . James Thomas "Pete" Harris - presently living, Meridian, MS. Billy Wayne Posey - presently living, Meridian, MS. Jimmy Snowden - presently living, Hickory, MS.. Jimmy Lee Townsend - presently living, Philadelphia, MS . Richard Willis - presently living, Noxapater, MS. Why was Mr. Killen the only person prosecuted by Mississippi on state charges? Now, for the gloriously stunning news. The times, indeed, they are a-changin', as the Bob Dylan folk song tells us. In Philadelphia, Mississippi, a town of 8,000 residents with a 55 percent white population, James Young has become the first African American ever elected mayor! " "When you've been treated the way we've been treated,' Mr. Young told CNN, choking up and then pausing to wipe the tears from his face. 'That's why it's so overwhelming to be a part of this history. " 'The places where we were locked out, I'm gonna have the key,' he said. 'The places we couldn't go, I've got the key. No better way to say it than that.' " Still, your columnist wants to find out a few things. What is the specific program upon which Mr. Young won? How did this differ from his opponent's program? We need to know his plan for governance. This takes nothing away from the importance of the victory. But without more information, we are simply saying: thank goodness, it has only taken almost half a century since the assassinations for a Black person to attain office. Again, the victory is so sweet. We must wish James Young, that is Philadelphia, Mississippi MAYOR James Young, all the very best. What a stunning victory this is for all Americans. Contact Ira Grupper: irag@iglou.com # -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://gulfbridge.net/pipermail/lmr-discuss/attachments/20090617/fff2864b/attachment.html