Labor Boycotts MCI Fundraising Bash (Re: UAW prez slams Gore on China PNTR

Nathan Newman nathan.newman at yale.edu
Tue May 23 12:45:26 PDT 2000


Having just started my summer job here at the Communication Workers of America (CWA) legal department, I just received email informing everyone that there would be no tickets for the DNC's fundraising Gala "The National Tribute to President Clinton."

Sweeney has apparently asked all labor folks to boycott the event as a protest over the China trade vote.

So folks are really pissed. Too bad most of the usual third party folks on this list can't hype the Dem's betrayal of the working class, since they are in the cheering section with the Wall Street Journal, the DNC and the RNC for passage of the China trade deal :)

-- Nathan Newman

On Tue, 23 May 2000, Andrew English wrote:


>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Weiss <Lweiss at Americas.org>
> To: 'mnlabor at egroups.com' <mnlabor at egroups.com>
> Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 12:03 PM
> Subject: [mnlabor] FW: UAW president Yokich jumps all over Gore, not just House, on PNTR
>
>
> See particularly the final paragraph!!!
>
>
>
> Released today:
>
> Statement by UAW President Stephen P. Yokich:
>
> President Clinton and Vice President Gore hail the U.S.-China agreement on
> WTO accession, "a hundred percent win" for America that will increase U.S.
> exports to China and create jobs for American workers. Nice words, but they
> made the very
> same claims for NAFTA. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.
> On this issue of critical importance to working people -- one that could
> cost hundreds of thousands of American workers their jobs -- President
> Clinton and Vice President Gore once again have sided with multinational
> corporations against workers here and abroad.
> Over the past weeks, proponents of giving China PNTR have portrayed the
> same multinational corporations who today are exploiting the Chinese
> government's well-documented brutal repression of basic human and workers'
> rights to fatten profits as the champions for a more free and open Chinese
> society. Meanwhile, the labor movement's insistence that the Chinese
> government demonstrate progress on human and workers' rights before the U.S.
> Congress permanently gives up its power of annual review is dismissed as
> selfish, myopic, and worse.
> We are deeply disappointed that Vice President Gore has failed to speak
> out against these cynical attacks on the labor movement and our partners in
> this fight. Instead, he has tried to have it both ways on China PNTR. One
> moment, presidential candidate Gore is telling the labor movement that he
> believes human rights, workers' rights, and environmental protections
> should be included in core trade agreements; the next, Vice President Gore
> is holding hands with the profiteers of the world and singing the praises of
> the U.S.- China WTO accession agreement while lobbying for PNTR for China.
> And, obviously, we cannot turn to Republican candidate George W. Bush; his
> positions on issues of concern to working families are far worse.
> America's working families need and deserve a president they can count
> on to stand with them on their tough issues, not just the easy ones. That's
> why we have no choice but to actively explore alternatives to the two major
> political parties. It's time to forget about party labels and instead focus
> on supporting candidates, such as Ralph Nader, who will take a stand based
> on
> what is right, not what big money dictates. Supporting those who support us
> is our political agenda, not just a slogan.
>
>
>
>
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