FW: Seattle

Dhlazare at aol.com Dhlazare at aol.com
Fri Dec 3 08:46:53 PST 1999


In a message dated 12/3/99 11:16:29 AM Eastern Standard Time, dhenwood at panix.com writes:

<<

I'm way behind on reading email, so someone else may have pointed

this out, but the U.S. WTO delegation is now saying that Clinton

"misspoke" when he said that labor rights violations should be

sanctionable under the WTO. Once again proving the truth of that old

adage - originally from an Arkansas unionist, right? - that he'll

shake your hand while he's pissing down your leg.

Doug >>

Yes, it was an Arkansas unionist, the leader of the state AFL-CIO, if I remember correctly. Still, making labor rights violations sanctionable undr the WTO strikes me as madness, an example of trade union bureaucrats attempting to use the instruments of big capital in order to advance their own parochial interests. The legal position of labor in the U.S. is egregious. Unions are busted with impunity, union organizers are fired by the thousands, -- yet AFL-CIO is calling upon this self-same government to penalize other govts for failing to adhere to proper labor standards. Talk about failing to get one's own house in order before criticizing others! What next -- sending in U.S. B-52s to bomb other countries for failing to respect minority rights? (Oops, sorry, but that's already been done....)

Dan L.



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