AFL-CIO & WTO

Stephen E Philion philion at hawaii.edu
Fri Oct 8 18:04:10 PDT 1999


Lisa and Ian, Thanks for these reports, they're very helpful in understanding the present situation...Steve

Stephen Philion Lecturer/PhD Candidate Department of Sociology 2424 Maile Way Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 Honolulu, HI 96822

On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Lisa & Ian Murray wrote:


> I'll vouch for the truth of the self-aggrandizing, ersatz radicalism of the
> misinforming Naderites. Their lead organizer in Seattle from DC is
> definitely a misogynist with a Napoleon complex who has turned off a lot
> folks here in town -- and the workers in the office want a union!
>
> King County alone has 200,000 union members. We are working hard with the
> people on the KC labor council to call a strike for 11/30. So big John is
> scott-free on that count.
>
> When Mike Moore [WTO] was in town last Friday we barbecued him; a deliberate
> misreader of history, yet quite capable of the self-deprecating aside. He
> is on public record in calling for the elimination of the "3rd world" debt.
> [he walked right into it!] By the end of the meeting he had his head in his
> hands and the WTO lead economist -- a guy named Peter Lowe -- was scrambling
> for documents and words for an attempt at an answer.
>
> ian
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> > [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> > Sent: Friday, October 08, 1999 8:20 AM
> > To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> > Subject: AFL-CIO & WTO
> >
> >
> > I just spoke with someone with good contacts within the AFL-CIO who
> > says the Seattle Weekly article I forwarded here the other day - the
> > one reporting that labor had pretty much withdrawn from the WTO
> > battle - is hogwash circulated by self-aggrandizing Naderites who
> > want to position themselves as the authentic militants (and cardboard
> > dinosaurs are an important part of any such strategy). The major
> > difference, says my source, between the AFL-CIO and the other groups
> > is that the Federation wants labor standards incorporated into any
> > new trade agreements, and the others don't because to do so would
> > lend the WTO legitimacy, when all they want to do is snuff the WTO
> > entirely.
> >
> > I'm not vouching for the truth of any of this, but it seems worth
> > reporting.
> >
> > Doug
> >
>
>



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