
Issue No 41		26 November 1999

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Economics

Seattle Numbers Grow for WTO Protest

News of the agreement to smooth China's entry to the World Trade Organisation has created its own "China Syndrome" for organisers of the Seattle WTO event.

Although the White House is calling the deal "historic," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says "the truly historic turn of events will take place in the streets of that wonderful working-class city, Seattle."

" The attempt to bring China into the WTO is "less likely to reform China, as its advocates claim, than it is to further deform the WTO," he says.

In addition to the November 30 march and rally, US labor activists will participate in the 50th anniversary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; an ICFTU conference on globalisation and workers rights; a Steelworkers Rapid Response conference; an interfaith gathering, procession and a "human chain"; a USWA benefit for locked-out Kaiser Aluminum workers; a forum on workers rights, trade, development and the WTO ; and a USWA march and rally to the Seattle docks.

A new poll by the University of Marylands Program on International Policy Attitudes found that 93 per cent of Americans agree with this statement: "Countries that are part of international trade agreements should be required to maintain minimum standards for working conditions."

The city of Seattle is changing the name of Pine Street, one of the key legs of the march route through downtown, to Union Way on November 30 in honour of the WTO event.

Dozens of rally captains and marshals completed training to make sure our march and rally are orderly and secure. More that 800 Machinists will serve as marshals.

The media have featured warnings from businesses that WTO protests might be dangerous, bogus cautions that threaten to dampen participation by working families. The training session was open to the press in an effort to counteract misinformation.

For more information on unions campaign to make the WTO work for working families, check out the Washington State Labor Councils website at www.wslc.org and the AFL-CIO website at http://www.aflcio.org.

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  Issue 41 contents

Interview: A Bob Each Way
ALP tactician Bob McMullan is responsible for charting Labor industry policy into the next millennium. He tells us where he嚙編 heading.

Unions: Organiser of the Year
Just ten days to go before entries close for our $2000 air ticket. Here嚙編 another nomination.

History: Labour Daze
A report from the 6th National Biennial Conference of the Australian Society For The Study Of Labour and Community.

Politics: Tomorrow嚙編 Questions
While the turn of the century sees Sydney play host to the Olympic games, the International Youth Parliament 2000 will bring world focus to contemporary issues facing young people.

Health: Red Ribbons
December 1, World AIDS Day has a special place in the history of the AIDS pandemic.

International: Organised Chaos
Persistent rumours are floating around Jakarta that the former boss of the official pro-Soeharto Indonesian trade union movement is about to be charged with corruption.

Economics: Seattle Numbers Grow for WTO Protest
News of the agreement to smooth China嚙編 entry to the World Trade Organisation has created its own "China Syndrome" for organisers of the Seattle WTO event.

Satire: Too Many Media Players!
The Productivity Commission has issued a report calling for the abolition of existing cross-media ownership laws.

Review: Leviathan
John Birmingham has lifted the lid on Sydney嚙編 shady past - and found trade unions to be at the centre of the sordid tales.

Deface a Face: Reith Loses His Shine
With his Second Wave looking more like a splash in the bath-tub, Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith still reigns as the union movement嚙編 favourite bogeyman.

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