Economic Summit Protests Continue
By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - It was an unlikely meeting.
An American merchant banker in a crisply pressed suit stood Tuesday under a graffiti-strewn railroad overpass discussing the global economy with protesters dressed in tattered jeans and camouflage fatigues.
Thomas Russo, vice chairman of Lehman Brothers Inc., was jostled and shoved as he left an economic summit but minutes later he was chatting with a group of seven protesters about their concerns over globalization.
``They pushed me around a bit,'' he said of the earlier confrontation. ``I knew I couldn't do anything about it because it would have started a riot.''
Unhurt and unperturbed, Russo began chatting with protesters.
``You want to hear what they have to say,'' Russo told The Associated Press. ``These people are sincere, they are good people. They have a view and somehow or other you have to incorporate their view into your way of thinking.''
Melbourne police were not so accommodating.
At least 22 protesters were hospitalized and scores more injured in a series of clashes that marred a generally peaceful second day of the three-day Asia-Pacific Economic Summit, which has been disrupted by thousands of protesters in the latest manifestation of displeasure at the rise of the global economy.
One police officer was hospitalized with breathing difficulties after an early morning scuffle.
And in a worrying development for the Sydney 2000 Olympics that open Friday, many protesters from Melbourne will also be staging demonstrations in Sydney.
``The people we are protesting against here ... will be the same corporations who are all over the Olympics putting their brands on what is essentially a corporate Games,'' said protest organizer David Glanz.
While delegates including Microsoft's Bill Gates inside Melbourne's Crown Casino complex discussed the recovery of Asia from its debilitating economic crisis, a ragtag group of about 3,000 protesters, their numbers briefly swelled by about 5,000 labor unionists, condemned corporations for exploiting workers in developing nations and for having poor environmental standards.
After protesters stopped about 200 of the nearly 900 delegates from entering the casino on Monday, police took stronger action early Tuesday, charging with batons waving through blockades to allow buses carrying delegates into the complex.
The police used the same tactics to get the delegates out again in the early evening.
Protest organizers accused police of using excessive force. Police said the measures were appropriate.
``What we have over the last few days is not peaceful protest but something verging on riot where we have had ball bearings, marbles, screws, glass and urine thrown at police officers,'' said Andre Haermeyer, police minister in the Victoria state government.
Protest spokesman Stephen Jolly condemned the police tactics.
``We've had a whole pile of protesters attacked by police on horseback,'' he said. ``It's way out of line.''
The demonstrators said the civil unrest was the only way to register their distrust of the heads of global corporations.
Two protesters were arrested Monday, and one Tuesday. They were released and were expected to be charged later with assaulting police.
Early Tuesday afternoon, about 5,000 union members marched from Melbourne's Trades Hall to the casino complex and staged a rally in support of the protesters.
At the conference, hosted by the privately funded, Switzerland-based World Economic Forum, Gates, who canceled two afternoon functions amid security fears, said the protesters were mistaken.
``World trade. If you block it, the big losers will be the poor people of the world,'' Gates said.
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Tuesday, September 12 5:18 PM SGT
Australian Accountancy Body Supports Wef Protesters
CANBERRA, Sept 12 Asia Pulse - The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) has expressed support for some of the points made by protesters outside Melbourne's World Economic Forum.
ICAA deputy Chief Executive Officer Allen Blewitt said such protests would continue unless business leaders acknowledged the community's concerns about globalisation.
"Whilst the ICAA... rejects the unfortunate violence, we have to separate the messages from the protesters and recognise that legitimate view points exist," he said in a statement.
"Unless the government leaders and corporations acknowledge that the environment in which they operate has changed... we will continue to see protests between corporate capitalism and the views of protest groups."
Thousands of people protesting against globalistation have blockaded Melbourne's Crown Casino in a bid to interrupt the World Economic Forum.
Mr Blewitt claimed that the protesters were essentially an extreme group of stakeholders, and leaders needed to acknowledge the social and environmental issues they raised.
He said that sustainable reporting and a long-term view of a company's relationship with stakeholders would help bridge the gap between the protesters and the corporate sector.
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Wednesday, September 13 4:49 AM SGT
Protesters, Police Gather Outside Econ Forum Early Wed
MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside one of the entrances of the Crown Casino complex early Wednesday in a bid to stop delegates from attending the World Economic Forum's Asia-Pacific meeting.
The protesters directly face a similar number of police, some on horseback.
More than 400 officers have sealed off a road at the rear of the complex, with helmeted riot police banishing batons, facing off a calm crowd of about 200 protesters.
Police are opening the line periodically to allow hundreds of commuters through on their way to work.
A spokesman for Crown Casino said there are three separate entrances through which police are letting buses carrying delegates come through.
At this stage there has been no violence.
Tuesday night, about 200 police wearing riot gear smashed through a blockade to allow 11 buses carrying delegates to leave the complex, according to Australian Associated Press.
A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokeswoman later said that up to 10 people were hospitalized following the confrontation, but details of their injuries weren't immediately available.
The World Economic Forum meeting began Monday and runs through Wednesday.
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Tuesday, September 12 6:48 PM SGT
Nike Answers Allegations of Labour Standards Violations
MELBOURNE, Sept 12 Asia Pulse - In response to union protests specifically targetting the Olympic sponsor, Nike defended itself against allegations of poor labor practices on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Leigh Hubbard told the protesters the sports clothing empire employed workers in Indonesia on wages of $A2 ($US1.11) a day when the bare minimum standard of living was $3.
Unionists chanted "A fair deal for workers - just do it" and "End global sweatshops" outside the store on the corner of Swanston and Bourke streets.
Trade union marshalls and police stood in a line outside the superstore to ensure the protest remained peaceful.
Nike's Director of Global Issues, Vada Manager, in Australia for the Olympic Games, was quick to defend the sporting giant.
He claimed that Nike paid Indonesian workers about 10 to 15 percent more than the local minimum wage, and that workers were paid from $A84 per month with free meals and accommodation provided.
Mr Manager also denied allegations that Nike products were made by outworkers - usually underpaid migrants working in their own homes.
And he said Nike supported the right of its workers to be union members.
His comments contradicted testimony by Indonesian union leader Romawaty Sinaga, who told protesters outside the World Economic Forum that textile workers in her country earned as little as $1.50 per day.
"Workers have been shot for demanding better working conditions," she said.
"Indonesian workers need support from Australian workers to end repression and exploitation."
The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union has criticised Nike for failing to sign up to the Australia's Homeworkers Code of Practice which aims to ensure corporations do not use outworkers.
TCFU state secretary Michele O'Neil spoke at today's rally wearing a t-shirt with the word "slavery" printed across it - the Nike swoosh substituted for the "v" - stressing the importance of workers supporting each other internationally.
Mr Manager said Nike had embraced its own global code of conduct and did not need to sign up to Australia's Homeworkers Code of Practice.