Workers Around the World: 10/9/97 id PAA30265; Sat, 4 Oct 1997 15:27:09 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the October 9, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD: OCTOBER 9, 1997 BASQUE COUNTRY: COPS KILL INDEPENDENCE ACTIVISTS Spanish paramilitary Civil Guards killed two young Basque activists on Sept. 24 in Bilbao, capital city of the Basque province Bizkaia. Police claim the two were killed in a shoot-out; independence supporters charge it was a cop ambush. Only one of the two killed could be identified immediately--Gaizka Gaztelumendi, 27, who was shot through the ribs. The other victim was shot through the heart. Karmelo Landa, a member of the national board of the left- wing Basque party Herri Batasuna, pointed to statements of a Basque Nationalist Party member of congress indicating that Spain's Interior Ministry was planning a police ambush in Bizkaia. He renewed HB's demand for the Spanish government to stop repressing the Basque independence movement and to withdraw security forces from the Southern Basque Country, the four Basque provinces under Spanish rule. Cops arrested 12 other activists in the wake of the killings and held them incommunicado under repressive "anti- terrorist" legislation. The Spanish government holds over 600 Basque political prisoners. At least 150 people have been killed by police in disputed circumstances, according to the Euskal Herria Journal. KURDISTAN: TURKEY INVADES IRAQ-AGAIN Just four months after a massive Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, up to 20,000 Turkish troops poured across the Iraqi border to attack the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Iraq, Iran and Russia immediately condemned the Turkish military's violation of international borders. Turkish troops were backed by over 100 tanks as well as U.S.-made F-16 fighters and F-4 fighter-bombers. Supporters of a rival group, the Kurdish Democratic Party, fought alongside the Turkish troops, as they did in May. The PKK has been fighting to form an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey since 1984. Its fighters often retreat into the area to escape attacks by the Turkish military. But northern Iraq is under the de-facto political control of the KDP. This group assumed power under the wing of the Pentagon, which imposed a "no-flight zone" after the 1991 Gulf War. The area is patrolled constantly by U.S. intelligence planes; no military operation could take place there without U.S. approval. In response to the invasion, PKK units launched rocket attacks against military targets in Hakkari, according to the pro-Kurdish MED-TV television station. SOUTH KOREA: AUTO WORKERS STRIKE KIA, GOV'T Workers at south Korea's third-biggest auto maker walked off the job Sept. 27 to protest collusion between banks and the government to sell the company to another giant conglomerate. Some 15,000 of Kia Motors' 25,000 workers-- both white- and blue-collar--chanted, "Down with Kang Kyong- Shik." They were referring to south Korea's finance minister. And they chanted, "Down with the government." Kia nearly went bankrupt in July, weighed down with over $10 billion in debt. Banks gave the conglomerate a two-month grace period. Workers gave up benefits to keep the firm afloat. On Sept. 26, Kia's creditors turned down a new debt- rescheduling plan in order to throw the auto giant into receivership. Workers accuse the government of manipulating the courts so that Samsung, another huge corporation, could buy Kia. "There is proof that there is a plot to hand Kia over to Samsung," said strike leader Lee Jae-Seung. Unions representing Kia workers said they would return to work on Oct. 1, but would strike again after Oct. 6 depending on further court rulings. Families demand release of political prisoners Eighty family members of political prisoners held their 200th demonstration in Seoul on Sept. 25. They charge that over 900 people are being held under the regime's brutal National Security Law--some for over 30 years. The NSL prohibits espousing communism, and any "unauthorized" contact with north Korea. The law has been used against student activists and militant unionists challenging the U.S.-backed southern regime. LIBYA: OFFICIALS PROPOSE NEW AFRICAN UNION Ministers and officials from 10 African countries meeting in Tripoli drafted a treaty for African union on Sept. 17, according to Libya's JANA news agency. Foreign ministers from Libya, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Mali and Chad, along with senior officials from Egypt and Tunisia, approved a draft text of the treaty to be discussed by the countries' heads of state at a future meeting. JAPAN: GAY GROUP WINS LEGAL VICTORY The Tokyo High Court awarded a gay-rights group $1,333 in damages after finding that the city's board of education discriminated against Occur--the Society of Gays and Lesbians in Action. The board refused to allow the group to hold an overnight study meeting at a city-run youth hostel. The case was the first gay-rights lawsuit in Japan, according to independent journalist Rex Wockner. "The rejection was unconstitutional as it denied gay people equal access to the public facility," the court ruled. "Indifference and ignorance will not be tolerated." "We are happy with the ruling because it stated clearly that the Tokyo government's rejection was illegal," said Occur spokesperson Masaki Inaba. "Discrimination against homosexuals is prevalent, and today's ruling gives hope for homosexuals." Hundreds protest U.S. warship Hundreds of anti-nuclear and pacifist demonstrators greeted the U.S. Seventh Fleet on Sept. 27 as its flagship docked in Tokyo. "We don't want the port call," the protesters shouted. New U.S.-Japan defense guidelines, announced in New York on Sept. 23, give the Pentagon much wider access to Japanese civilian ports in case of unspecified "emergencies" in Asia. Tens of thousands of Japanese have taken part in demonstrations against the U.S. military presence in their country. INDONESIA: INT'L SOLIDARITY VS. ANTI-LABOR ATTACKS Labor leaders from around the world attended the second congress of the Sejahtera (SBSI) union in Jakarta on Sept. 19. SBSI is banned by the Indonesian government; its president, Muchtar Pakpahan, remains in jail serving a four- year sentence for leading a "workers' riot" in 1994. Representatives from the French General Workers Confederation, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Federation of Dutch Protestant Unions, the World Confederation of Labor and the Canadian Labor Congress attended the illegal congress. Several of the international guests got a taste of Indonesian repression when riot police stormed the meeting just hours after it opened. Two Australian unionists--Gregg Sword of the ACTU and Regional Secretary Ma Wei-ping--found themselves in jail with 11 Indonesian unionists, including SBSI's legal secretary Lufti Hakim and treasurer Rasmina Pakpahan. The Australians were released the next day. The Indonesians were released hours later, but were told to report to the police station twice a week. "We are not deterred" from supporting SBSI, said Hassan Yusuf of the CLC, "nor are we intimidated" by the actions of the police. "We believe SBSI is able to give hope to the worker," said Wily Thys of the WCL. "It is a potential gem in Asian trade unions." Repression didn't end on the international delegates' departure on Sept. 21. On Sept. 23, police attacked a demonstration of over 1,000 striking factory workers. The mostly women workers from two local show factories were demonstrating at parliament to demand transportation pay and meal allowances. Police beat eight of the strikers as they were peacefully marching home. The strike idled the Sindo Pratama and Multi Beta Pertiwi factories, which produce sport shoes like Elisse and Starmond. The better-paid factory workers in Jakarta earn about $2.30 per day. KUWAIT: OIL WORKERS STRIKE About 100 export terminal operators at the Al-Ahmadi refinery of Kuwait's state-owned monopoly Kuwait National Petroleum Co. struck on Sept. 27. They demanded promotions and higher wages. Workers threatened to spread the strike to all three of KNPC's refineries if the company refuses to negotiate. KPNC officials refused to negotiate until the strikers return to work. The government also condemned the strike, saying, "The cabinet asserts its rejection of the phenomenon of striking or threats of striking and affirms there must be no negotiations in the shadow of strikes." The Al-Ahmadi refinery is the biggest of KNPC's three refineries. Workers there produce about half the monopoly's total output. The strike is the first at KNPC since 1981. PHILIPPINES: `NO MORE MARTIAL LAW!' Over a million people marched in cities and towns across the Philippines on Sept. 21 against Gen. Fidel Ramos' bid to change the country's charter so he can seek another term as president. "No to charter change" and "No return to martial law" were some of the slogans that dominated the rallies. A broad spectrum of political groups built the demonstrations. It ranged from ex-president Corazon Aquino and the Catholic Church to the militant New Patriotic Alliance (BAYAN). An estimated 750,000 people attended the rally in Manila. Over 100,000 each gathered in Davao City, General Santos, Cebu and Bacolod City. Tens of thousands rallied in smaller towns and cities across the islands. BAYAN organized a contingent of 50,000 from its bases in the workers', peasants', students' and women's movements. The May 1st Union (KMU) leader Crispin Beltran, representing the country's most militant unionists, burned an effigy of Ramos and Gen. Renato de Villa, Ramos' right-hand aide. Jose Maria Sison, founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines and chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front, sent a message of solidarity to the Sept. 21 demonstrations from his home in exile in the Netherlands. "Charter change now or later will not bring any good to the people so long as those who make the charter changes represent the exploiting classes, are beholden to the imperialists," he wrote. "It is a resounding victory in the continuing struggle of our people," BAYAN Secretary General Nathaniel Santiago declared of the nationwide protests. CANADA: JOB LOSSES HIT IN DAYS OF ACTION In North Bay, Ontario, a city of only 50,000, a crowd of 25,000 turned out on Sept. 27 to demonstrate against budget cuts, job losses and other attacks on workers carried out by the Tory premier of the province, Mike Harris. The demonstration was organized by a coalition of labor unions led by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the postal workers. Ontario has the most people and industry of Canada's provinces. North Bay is about 200 miles due north of Toronto on Lake Nipissing. Harris has been closing hospitals and cutting back on schools. This demonstration is one in a series of Days of Action called over the last two years. Other large worker protests have been held in the Ontario cities of Toronto, Hamilton, London, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Peterborough and Waterloo. The next protest will be held in Windsor, right across the border from Detroit, on Oct. 17 and 18. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. Web: http://workers.org) ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytlab-10.04.97-15:27:03-974