Sept. 23, 2010 Vol. 52, No. 37 50¢
Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org
• Trabajadores domésticos • Inmigrantes y Arpaio
12
HONDURAS STRIKE
Resistance rises
8
SOMALIA
Puppets under siege
9
FRENCH PENSIONS
Strike against cuts
11
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hoos: . dunkl
New York on 9/11
Anti-racist unit withMuslims wins the da
By John CatalinottoNew York
Thousands of people gathered in City Hall Park near thiscity’s World Trade Center site on Sept. 11 to show solidarity with the Muslim community and condemn the racism and bigotry whipped up by the right wing over a plan to buildan Islamic community center in the neighborhood.The pro-unity rally, called by the Emergency Mobiliza-tion Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry, greatly out-numbered a heavily publicized and nanced Tea Party event protesting the community center. In addition, hun-dreds more anti-racists surrounded the Tea Party bigots tooppose their message of hatred.Just two weeks earlier an orgy of publicity in the corporate media and a big advertising budget gave a false picture of broad supportfor the anti-Muslim gang. The same mediaalso exploded with coverage of the pastor of anobscure, reactionary sect in Gainesville, Fla.,after he threatened to burn 200 copies of theQur’an on Sept. 11. Media attention to these vi-ciously racist events sparked physical attackson Muslims in the United States.In response, progressive forces joined to-gether to mobilize resistance to the anti-Mus-lim attacks. In New York they also exposed therole of the billionaire corporate backers of theTea Party, which tries to present itself as rep-resenting workers.In countries with large Muslim popula-tions like Indonesia and Pakistan, thousandsof people began to demonstrate at U.S. ofcesto protest the wave of anti-Muslim bigotry andxenophobia. In Afghanistan, mass demonstra-tions targeted NATO bases and government buildings.For almost a decade, the U.S. governmenthas used anti-Muslim propaganda to build sup-port for its occupations of Iraq and Afghanistanand its threats against Iran. But the anti-Mus-lim excesses at home were undermining U.S.diplomacy and its military occupations. In the week before the 9/11 anniversary, Gen. DavidPetraeus and Defense Secretary Robert Gatespersonally pressured Gainesville pastor Terry Jones to cancel the book burning.It was the response of the people that turnedthe tide, however. In Gainesville, 300 ralliedand marched in response to the threatened
OUTRAGE INLOS ANGELES
Over another police killing
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UNION PLAyERS
Football solidarit
y
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Continued on page 6
Larry HolmesSara Flounders,Lucy Pagoada andProf. Asha Samad-MatiasAmadi AjamuCynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan
hoos: r Burfild
DETROIT FIRES
Not just act of nature
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CAPITALIST CRISIS
How to ght it
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EDITORIAL:
WHAT NEXT?
10
Dima Abisaab of Al-Awda
age 2 sept. 23, 2010 we.g
WORKERS WORLD
this week ...
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In the U.S.
Anti-racist unity with Muslims wins the day 1Capitalist prots fueled San Bruno blast2On the picket line 2LA community resists racist cops 3Football players express union solidarity3Cause of Detroit home res4Chicago WWP conference 4 The capitalist crisis & how to ght it5Homelessness, poverty shoot up 5‘Low-Wage Capitalism’ author speaks in Midwest5Youth in Gainesville reject Muslim-bashing 6Activists demand release of Cuban 58Letters to the editor 10Birthday message from Leonard Peltier 11
Around the world
Protests erupt across Afghanistan7Iraqi prisoners escape US custody7Honduras strike shows strength of Resistance8Imperialist forces try to bolster weak Somalia regime9Juan Mari Bras, ¡presente!9‘Our pension funds to oppress Palestinians? No way!’9French workers’ general strike against pension cuts11Chinese Revolution improved workers’ lives11
Editorials
After Sept 11 — what next?10
Noticias En Español
Trabajadores domésticos12Inmigrantes y Arpaio 12
Workers World55 West 17 StreetNew York, N.Y. 10011Phone: (212) 627-2994Fax: (212) 675-7869E-mail: ww@workers.org Web: www.workers.org Vol. 52, No. 37 • Sept. 23, 2010Closing date: Sept. 14, 2010Editor: Deirdre GriswoldTechnical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell,Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead,Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John ParkerContributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe,Greg Buttereld, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel,Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales,Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash,Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette,Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria RubacTechnical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger,Bob McCubbin, Maggie VascassennoMundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez,Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez,Carlos VargasSupporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinatorCopyright © 2010 Workers World. Verbatim copying anddistribution of articles is permitted in any medium withoutroyalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the rst week of January by WW Publishers, 55 W.17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994. Subscrip-tions: One year: $25; institutions: $35. Letters to theeditor may be condensed and edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individual articles areavailable on microlm and/or photocopy from University Microlms International, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor,Mich. 48106. A searchable archive is available on the Webat www.workers.org. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. Sub-scription information is at www.workers.org/email.php.Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor,New York, N.Y. 10011.
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PO Box 57300Washington, DC 20037dc@workersorgWorkers World Party(WWP) ghts for socialismand engages in struggleson all the issues that facethe working class &oppressed peoples —Black & white, Latino/a,Asian, Arab and Nativepeoples, women & men,young and old, lesbian,gay, bi, straight, trans,disabled, working,unemployed & studentsIf you would like to knowmore about WWP, or to join us in these struggles,contact the branchnearest you
Continued to page 3
Data show immigrantsvital to U.S. economy
Contrary to what’s stated on Fox News or atTea Party rallies, immigrant workers play anincredibly important role in the U.S. economy. A report issued Aug. 30 in time for Labor Day,underwritten by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, reports, “Statistical analysis of state-level data shows that immigrants expandthe economy’s productive capacity by stimulatinginvestment and promoting specialization. Thisproduces efciency gains and boosts incomeper worker. At the same time, evidence isscant that immigrants diminish theemployment opportunities of U.S.-born workers.” AuthorGiovanni Peri shows that theeffect of immigration on wagesis really positive — equivalentto a $5,100 annual raise for workers on average between1990 and 2007 (measured inconstant 2005 dollars). Take that,Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin!
Mott’s workers deend jobs,union as strike ends
The Mott’s applesauce and apple juice workers held theirpicket line for 114 days. Dr Pepper Snapple bosses blinked onSept. 13. That Monday, in the midst of the local apple harvest,DPS offered Local 220 of the Department Store union, which isa division of the Food and Commercial Workers union (RWD-SU-UFCW), very different contract terms than the workershad rejected on May 23. Gone were demands for $1.50 an hourpay cut, with additional 50-cent cuts the next two years, for atotal of $2.50 an hour. Gone were the demands for a pensionfreeze and a big jump in employee costs of medical care. Gone were DPS’s dreams of being able to run the plant with low-paidscab labor, jettison the skilled workers and kill the union.Instead DPS offered a wage freeze, with a $1,000 sign-ing bonus, reduced pension contribution and a 401(k)plan for new hires, and 20 percent employee costsfor medical care. Local 220 RWDSU-UFCW voted185 to 62 to ratify the three-year contact on Sept. 13.Though it wasn’t a clear-cut victory, the workers were able to stop a highly protable company’s draco-nian attack. A very dangerous precedent wouldhave been set for all workers in this recession if
Capitalist prots ueledSan Bruno blast
On the Picket Line
By Sue Davis
By Betsey Piette
Another deadly accident in the rapidly expanding andlargely unregulated U.S. gas and oil industry has devas-tated a community. A re in San Bruno, Calif., on Sept. 9 killed at least sev-en people, injured more than 60 others, and destroyed ordamaged dozens of homes over a 15-acre area in a resi-dential neighborhood. This horric re resulted from therupture of a natural gas line.Prior to the blast, residents reported smelling gas inrecent weeks, but Pacic Gas & Electric Co., the utility company that operates the 30-inch-diameter pipeline,denied that any of its crews had worked on the line. Itshould be pointed out, however, that PG&E has had 19signicant pipeline incidents since 2002. According to experts, the 305,000 miles of onshorenatural gas lines that span the U.S. routinely suffer breakdowns and failures. In 2008 alone, at least 365people were killed and 1,553 injured from 44 signicantgas pipeline accidents across the country. During the lasttwo decades, more than 5,600 serious pipeline accidentshave been reported.The section of gas line that ruptured in this San Fran-cisco suburb was ranked as high risk because it ranthrough a highly populated area.Ironically, one of those killed in the inferno was Jac-queline Greig, a San Bruno resident and an analyst forthe California Public Utilities Commission. She workedon a commission team that advocates for consumersand environmental protection pertaining to natural gas.Grieg had been reviewing PG&E’s plans to upgrade itsnatural gas lines.Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprot advocacy group set up after a 1969 ex-plosion killed three people in Bellingham, Wash., said,“The industry always says that if you take care of pipe-lines, they’ll last forever. But what we see over and overagain is companies not doing that, and corrosion andother factors are causing failures.” Weimer noted thatonce a high-pressure pipeline fails, anything can cause adeadly blast. (Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 11)This catastrophic accident and others that have occurredover the years in both the gas and oil industries point upthe inadequacy of government regulation of privately owned for-prot companies. First, there are not enoughregulations to prevent accidents like this one. Second, thegovernment does not enforce rules nor punish errant com-panies that out health and safety concerns. (Another casein point is BP’s ravaging of the Gulf of Mexico and the gov-ernment’s “do little, if anything,” approach.)Under capitalism, the mad dash for prots alwaystakes priority over protection of human lives and the en- vironment. In fact, the government’s interest here is toprotect corporate ownership and prots, no matter what,unless there is a mass struggle that forces the govern-ment to issue some protections. However, this does notget to the root of the problem. What this disaster cries out for is socialized ownershipof gas and oil resources and production. Unlike the cur-rent capitalist system, this would take the prot motiveout of the picture. A national, regional or local people’splanning board comprised of environmentalists, urbanplanners, engineers, safety experts, workers and com-munity members would gure out how to provide thepeople with the safest and most economical energy whileguarding the well-being of human beings and the envi-ronment. That’s the way it should be.
we.g sept. 23, 2010 age 3
Under threat of bosses’ lockout
Football plaers express
union solidarit
the strike had failed. But the workers arereturning to work with their jobs and theirunion intact, and in these times that’ssomething to be really proud of. As Local220 President Mike LeBerth told the New York Times, “Was it worth it? Yes, because we stood strong and the company knows we’re a force to be reckoned with.” (Sept.13) Thanks, Local 220, for defending theright of all workers to a job with dignity and union representation.
Adjunct aculty protestin Chicago
The United Adjunct Faculty Associa-tion at East-West University in Chicagoheld a picket line Aug. 26 to protestEWU’s unfair labor practices. That same week the National Labor Relations Boardled an unfair labor practice against EWUfor violating federally protected rights of adjunct faculty. The problem: When wordleaked out last spring that the adjuncts, who constitute 85 percent of EWU’s edu-cators, were organizing a union with theIllinois Education Association, they wereall red. (laborbeat.org)
Asian/Pacifc Islandworkers abused
A powerful new report released Aug.12 by the Asian Pacic American Labor Alliance, “Breaking Ground, BreakingSilence,” exposes the workplace violationsand conditions affecting Asian Americansand Pacic Islanders. The report is basedon the rst hearing organized by APALA,the AFL-CIO and more than 20 nationaland local organizations in November2009, with more than 200 Asian Ameri-cans and Pacic Islander trade unionists,allies, elected ofcials and academicsparticipating. The workers testied abouthealth and safety violations, immigrant worker exploitation, wage theft, employerintimidation and union suppression,among other issues. A series of hearingsis now underway in selected U.S. cities.To learn more about the report and thehearings, visit www.apalanet.org.
Tell P.R. governor to stopanti-worker brutality
On May 21 the president of Local 481of the Food and Commercial Workersunion, Luisa Acevedo, and her son, Frank Pizarro, were brutally beaten at a fund-raising event for Puerto Rican Gov. LuisG. Fortuño. They were attacked by police while peacefully protesting the governor’srecent signing of legislation outsourcingtens of thousands of public sector jobsand negating collective bargaining rights.Though they were hurt badly enough toneed hospitalization, the two have sincerecovered. To send a message to Gov.Fortuño to stop all anti-worker actionsand police brutality, click on Take Actionon ufcw.org.
By Monica Moorehead
The 2010 National Football Leagueseason began on Sept. 9 with an un-expected but welcome show of soli-darity displayed by the two opposingteams — the New Orleans Saints, whoare the defending Super Bowl cham-pions, and the Minnesota Vikings.Players from both sides came on theeld together before the start of thegame raising their ngers in the air toshow support for their union, the Na-tional Football League Players Associ-ation. On Sept. 12, more than 12 otherteams carried out similar gestures be-fore playing their opening games.The players wanted to send a clearmessage to the NFL billionaire own-ers who are threatening a lockout againstthem next March when the collective bar-gaining agreement expires. If a new con-tract is not agreed upon by next spring,the entire 2011 football season will be in jeopardy of being cancelled.The main issue behind the impendinglockout is the billions of dollars in prof-its that the NFL teams generate in greatpart for the owners, especially in televi-sion revenues, food concessions, NFLgear sales, higher ticket prices, includingluxury boxes, and much more.The owners control 56 percent of theseprots. The players are demanding a largerpercentage of the revenues while the boss-es are seeking to reduce players’ salaries.Several sports commentators have re-acted negatively to NFLPA standing upfor their rights, hoping to turn the fansagainst the players.There is a misconceived notion by many sports fans in the U.S. and worldwide thatall professional football players belongingto the NFL are greedy multimillionaires.There is no denying that high-proleplayers — especially quarterbacks likeTom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Man-ning — make tens of million of dollars an-nually and can play for many years. Favrehas begun his 20th year of play. However,in reality, the overwhelming majority of these players make much less than the su-perstars and usually experience the short-est career span of any of the U.S. profes-sional sports — 3.6 years. (BloombergNews, Sept. 8)Putting aside any bonuses playerscan make just for signing for a team andperforming other tasks, the minimum base salary for NFL players in 2009 was$295,000, and that’s if they were ona team roster for at least three games.(ehow.com)The violent nature of the NFL gamescreates tremendous career-ending andeven life-threatening injuries for theseplayers, including multiple concussions,
On the Picket Line
After immigrant worker is killed
L.A. communit resists racist cops
By Scott ScheerLos Angeles
The anger of the mostly Central Ameri-can migrant neighborhood of Westlake inLos Angeles erupted in the streets for fournights over a police slaying. A 37-year-old Guatemalan day laborer, ManuelJamines, was shot twice in the head ona crowded street on Sept. 5. He was un-armed according to eyewitnesses. After the slaying, militant demonstra-tions each night were attacked by police with tear gas and rubber bullets. Cops wielding batons charged into crowdsof angry residents and demonstrators.People ed, regrouped and fought back.There were injuries on both sides andmore than 30 arrests.The rebellion alarmed Los Angeles Po-lice Department brass who desperately at-tempted to “spin” the situation and hopedit would go away. “Manuel Jamines wasintoxicated,” they said. They claimed heheld a knife high over his head and lungedat the police. They brought up his immi-gration status and said he was using afalse name.The mayor prophesized that the of-cers involved would be shown to be “he-roic” by the investigation. But everythingthe cops said and did resulted in more an-ger from the community.Organizers from the Southern Califor-nia Immigration Coalition and other ac-tivists who have been out in the commu-nity leaeting each day found nothing butsolidarity for Manuel Jamines.One woman who received a leaet onthe street called SCIC to say she had seenthe shooting. She had reported what shesaw to the LAPD, but they painted a pic-ture that was the opposite of what she hadtold them, and she wanted to get the truthout. At a hastily-organized press confer-ence, activists brought out Ana’s testi-mony using only her rst name. “Jamineshad no knife when he was shot, and hedidn’t lunge at police,” she had told them. When the LAPD organized a “townhall meeting” on the evening of Sept. 8,Police Chief Charlie Beck was frequently shouted down. Even the establishmentpress saw the meeting as unsuccessful. It wasn’t that the LAPD hadn’t done their job thoroughly. They had their spokes-people lined up to praise the police. Thechief promised there would be a “thor-ough” and “transparent” investigation.But a long line of community residentstenaciously stood waiting for their chanceat the microphone. The line stretchedfrom near the front of the large roomto near the back. Community membersseemed to outnumber 100 to one thehandpicked police supporters.Many spoke of being mistreated for being Guatemalan. Some spoke in theirnative language of K’iche’, a Mayan lan-guage which was the only language Man-uel Jamines spoke and understood. Theirremarks were translated into Spanish andEnglish, and drove home the point that when the police shouted at him in Span-ish, Jamines didn’t understand them. Westlake is a community of more than afew languages.Others demanded to know why the po-lice didn’t use their much-touted “nonle-thal” means when dealing with Jamines.To the jeers and shouts of the entire room,a police speaker responded that bicyclecops carry only lethal weapons. Another man said the police were “outof control” in the neighborhood, and thatpeople had gotten their teeth knocked outand their property stolen by cops. Westlake is an occupied neighborhoodand the cops are from the Rampart Divi-sion, whose brutality and corruption wereexposed in the late 1990s. It forced a fed-eral investigation and a consent decreethat only lapsed this year. Fifty-eight cops were tried for beating and shooting peo-ple, committing theft and selling drugs inthis very neighborhood.Of course most of the cops got off, butit was one of the worst police corruptionscandals in U.S. history. This history speaks volumes about racism towards mi-grant workers.But if this wave of anger is any indica-tion, consent decrees and public relationsare the least of the LAPD’s problems. Ac-tivists are in the streets of Westlake hand-ing out leaets for another demonstrationscheduled for Sept. 18.torn knee ligaments, broken spinal cordsand much more. Anuntold number of players become ad-dicted to painkillersto deal with the long-term effect of theseinjuries.Once these play-ers face retirement,including early re-tirement, they getadequate health carecoverage for only alimited amount of time. Current playersalso want to see more of the revenue goto providing health care for retired NFLplayers. Another important issue for the play-ers is that the owners want to expand the16-game regular season to 18 games next year. The NFLPA opposes this propos-al as a further health risk to the playersand a maneuver on the part of the bossesto squeeze even more prots out of thepopularity of the players. In the end, NFLplayers are nothing more than highly paidgladiators who are superexploited fortheir skill, talent and popularity.On Sept. 12, the NFLPA passed outcards to its members asking that they voteto decertify the union in order to block the owners from legally carrying out thelockout. “This is purely a procedural mat-ter and is a non-story until March,” saidGeorge Atallah, the NFLPA’s assistant ex-ecutive director. (Philadelphia Inquirer,Sept. 12)
Cleveland Brownsplayers take a heroicstand, Sept. 12.
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