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International Day of Action! Localize the Movement for
Global Justice! september 26, 2000
Targets
In solidarity with protestors in Prague, local actions will target
those in our communities who promote policies and practices similar
to those the IMF/World Bank impose on developing countries. Local
actions will vary from place to place (of course), but hopefully
the list below will help you think through options for September
26.
Take on a Local Union-Buster! As in the US, the Right
to Organize is frequently violated both in developing countries,
where the IMF/World Bank encourage "labor market flexibility."
In practice, this means lowering the minimum wage, weakening
labor laws, and busting independent, strong unions. Sound familiar?
In the US, employers like to enforce such "flexibility"
by intimidating, threatening, and even firing workers who try
to organize a union. 80% of employers in the US admit to hiring
outside consultants to run anti-union campaigns, often based
intimidation and distorting the law. Take on a local employer
who is trying to deny employeesâ right to organize, and send
a message to employers and elites around the world who are trying
to erode this right!
Fight a Local Government Privatization Plan! From health
care to social security, some of our most basic rights and entitlements
are under attack by right-wingers who want to shift control
of these services from our government to private, for-profit
companies. In developing countries, the IMF and the World Bank
are forcing governments to privatize basic services like health
care and education as a condition of getting loans. The results
have been disastrous in both places: lay-offs, higher prices
for consumers, and the growth of an underclass that can no longer
afford these basic services anymore. Take on a local government
that is trying to privatize a hospital or another basic public
service!
Protest a Giant Multinational Corporation in Your Neighborhood!
The policies of the World Bank/IMF have made it easier for
US corporations to move their operations anywhere in the world
and exploit the human and ecological resources of desperate
developing countries. While governments in developing countries
are been pressured to sacrifice their citizensâ basic rights
(like the right to organize and to earn a living wage) in order
to attract foreign investment, the results here at home have
been equally disastrous. Many corporations have moved production
to developing countries, and claim that they have no responsibility
for the well-being of the workers here who lose their jobs as
a result, nor for the workers exploited abroad. One result of
these practices is that real wages here in the US have stayed
flat or declined since the late 1970s, thanks to the increased
ability of US business to threaten to move production abroad
when workers try to organize.
On September 26, if you are having trouble identifying an appropriate
local target then . . consider one of the following Multinational
Corporations:
Nike. Probably the best-known offender in the global
economy, Nike continues to exploit workers in developing countries,
using contractors that pay workers pennies to make shoes and
clothes that are sold here at outrageous prices. For more information
on Nikeâs abusive practices, visit these websites: www.behindthelabel.org,
www.nikeworkers.org,
and www.nlcnet.org.
Wal-Mart. One of the largest retailer in the world
is actually a world-class abuser of workersâ rights and communities
here and abroad. Producing many of their clothes in hideous
sweatshops abroad, Wal-Mart also regularly suppresses employeesâ
right to organize here in the US. Visit www.walmartwatch.org
and www.nlcnet.org for
more information.
Sodhexo. This French-owned giant food service company
is not only rabidly anti-union on college campuses, it is also
the largest investor in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA),
a firm that profits building private prisons and. from a skyrocketing
incarceration rate. Sodhexo-Marriott is the largest food service
company on US college campuses and has a history of violating
workers rights.
Shell. The people of southeastern Nigeria have endured
four decades of oil excavation that has left their villages
crisscrossed by oil pipelines, their rivers and lands lifeless
because of oil spills, and their lives devastated by 24-hour
flaring of gaseous residue. Corrupt governments have sustained
themselves on profits shared by Shell and have sent in abusive
military units to repress local populations while protecting
the company's installations. Despite producing most of the country's
resources, most of the oil regions are without electricity,
schools, or running water. Protests in Europe and the U.S. were
invigorated by the government's execution of several activists
fighting Shell in 1995. While Shell participates in and profits
from the rapid gas price hikes in the U.S., it keeps pumping
profits out of Nigeria despite escalating violence amid continued
deterioration in living conditions.
Citigroup. As the largest financial institution in
North America and the third largest in the world, Citigroup
holds an ever-expanding grip on global financial markets, and
as a consequence, the global environment and local communities.
Citigroup subsidiaries like Salomon Smith Barney also underwrites
(helps sell) World Bank bonds, which fund the destructive activities
of the Bank. Join environmental activists seeking to stop Citigroupâs
environmental abuses, as well as the World Bank Bonds Boycott
and do an action at a local Citibank. (See www.worldbankboycott.org
for more information. Also see www.ran.org
to find out more the Rainforest Action Networkâs campaign against
Citigroup.)
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