US violates worker's internationally recognized rights

The ICFTU has published today a survey where it criticizes the US for it's "anti-worker" policies and the wide-spread use of "Union-busting" techniques: "There is an entire industry in the United States of consultants and lawyers whose sole purpose is to suppress the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain collectively. During union organising campaigns, about 75 per cent of employers hire these people to run anti-union campaigns that are often based on mass psychology and distorting the law."(1)

This report further states that US's "own government doesn't do more to protect workers' basic rights" and that the US administration is "the most anti-worker government since Herbert Hoover. It has stripped 40,000 of its own employees of the freedom to bargain collectively, and threatened many more workers' freedom to form a union. It's outrageous in a nation where private sector employers block workers' organising efforts with near impunity".

Other countries

The US is not in good company. The report cites Burma, Colombia and China just to name a few. These countries however do not have real democratic structures in place(Burma and China) or are ravated by a "war on drugs" that is maintained at the expense of it's own people (Colombia).

Ohter "western" nations are cited also in this report. Check out the link below for the full report.

Dying for a cause

This report mentions many deaths of union activists. These deaths often follow nothing else than publishing an article about corrupt governments (like Burma).
Today, like in the past people are dying for the simple reason that they fight for their rights! Those people are giving their lifes for their fellow citizens and workers, they deserve more attention from the mass media than just a short article in the middle pages like the one that the Washington Post has published.


(1) ICFTU's annual survey of violations of trade union rights
(2) Washington Post article that compares US to dictatorial countries in it's labor practices

Reagan, Great or just greatly annoying?

Some would say that Reagan is one of the great presidents of American history. I would say that those (mostly "W" and his friends) are just plain ignorant or gullible or (mostly corporation and their owners) interested in the policies that RR started in it's heyday.

The big lie

One of the things that Reagan was said to be was that he was for "small government", interesting however to see how his government budget grew, and grew, and grew.
Of course, the real people on the street really thought that he was for leaner government, since all the money went to corporations through the "secret" pentagon budget...(4) Not very different from what "W" is doing, come to think of it...

Russia

One argument is that Reagan was the reason why the USSR collapsed. That argument is not only false (the USSR was going under already for a long time, many European politicians predicted it) but if it would be true it would be the most negative contribution to the world that one USA president had made. If you don't believe me ask any Russian that did not get super rich through the corrupt privatisations of the oil giants.

Iran hostage drama

I've also heard on radio someone saying the it was a great moment when one minute after 12 in the day of his swearing in, RR announced the end of the hostage drama in Iran.
Unmentioned was the fact that it was Jimmy Carter was actually the president that got the hostages freed.
Worth mentioning was that RR slept late that day and when someone went it to call him he replied "Do I really have to?". There, now you know what he thought of his job! Makes you proud he was your president, right? Right...

Nicaragua

Well, maybe not in it's brightest moment, USA was condemned by the world court for "illegal use of force" against Nicaragua. Shortly after it withdrew acceptance for the court's jurisdiction (which was accepted in 1946, after the second world war). Another great moment of American history...
Nicaragua is not a big nation or a nation with a big army. It has about 5 million inhabitants and relies mostly on services and agriculture. It is also one of the hemisphere's poorest countries.
Still, the US did not hesitate in financing a local terrorist group (the Contras, hence the Iran-Contra scandal) against an elected government. And mining it's harbors!(1)
There you go, the US-administration as a financier of terrorism. This should not really be news for you, you've heard about Afghanistan, but that's only what is most known. US has sponsored terrorist groups in other countries (Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador... the list goes on).

RR's Heritage

So, there you go. The heritage that Reagan leaves after him is a legacy of support for terrorism, arms race (remember Star Wars, the militarization of space project?), and a surging deficit in the US.
You may not remember the effects of the budget hole (aka deficit) because of the the 90's boom (that Clinton presided over), but don't worry, if George W. wins again, you will know.
Oh, and don't forget his biggest contribution to dialog and social peace: he fired all air-traffic controllers when they went on strike. "That'll show them", he must have thought. Go cowboy!

However, to be fair, Reagan did make one big contribution to American history. He was the first ignorant, absent and facade president in the US. He made George W. possible... That's a contribution you want to remember....

Oh yeah, and do you remember who was vice-president at the time: Yes, you got it, it was George Bush!

Reagan was a president to remember, yes, but mostly to know what to avoid in the future. Otherwise we will commit the same errors again, and again (we already did with George W.!!)

(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1225283.stm
(2) http://www.wordiq.com/definition/International_Court_of_Justice
(3) http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/ni/ni-c04-s03.html
(4) http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Military_Budget/FY2003_MilitaryBudget_CDI.html

A "moderate" article about RR's presidency:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101842/#ContinueArticle

A list of military interventions by the US abroad:
http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/foabroad.htm


See you soon,
Your news-digest-subversive