THE NEWSPAPER OF THE NEW YORK CITY INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER ONLINE AT NYC.INDYMEDIA.ORG THE INDYPENDENT

THE REAL ENERGY CRISIS POWER PLANTS TAKE TOLL ON CITY’S KIDS by JOHN TARLETON Ray Berly is a polite, soft-spoken 10- blackouts this summer, NYPA is also Mothers on the Move, a South Bronx- year-old with short, dark hair and a sky- installing one power plant in based civic organization. Santiago’s 12- blue ribbon pinned to his neatly pressed Williamsburg, Brooklyn; two in Sunset year-old daughter suffers from asthma Catholic school uniform. He dreams of Park, Brooklyn; two in Long and has made repeated trips to the being a paleontologist and has a small Island City, Queens and one in hospital. “On any given day you library of dinosaur books. Basketball is Rosebank, Staten Island. can find the asthma wards in his favorite sport, but he gets red in the The neighborhoods within the Bronx hospitals full,” face when he tries to run around with a half-mile of the power Santiago said. other kids. plants are all poorer and NYPA spokesperson Joe “Most parents say to their kids, do you have higher percent- Leary said that site selec- have your lunch?’ when they leave for ages of minorities than tion was based on existing school,” said Ramon Marrero, 48, Ray’s the city as a whole, electrical hook-ups and stepfather. “We have to say, ‘do you have according to a NYPA that environmental New York City your nebulizer?’” assessment that was racism was not a factor. Ray’s asthma may get worse starting first made public by “These are the cleanest independent June 1 when the New York Power the New York Times. plants in the city,” Leary Authority (NYPA) brings ten new mini- The study also report- said. media center power plants on-line in poor, heavily pol- ed each site has, on However according to the luted neighborhoods along the East average, 100 other facili- same NYPA a s s e s s m e n t , River. Four of the new power plants will ties with air pollution per- each 44-megawatt, gas-burn- be installed in the South Bronx, which mits within one mile of ing turbine could produce as MAY 2001 has the nation’s highest asthma rate. They them. much 61 tons per year of pollu- will be just upwind from Ray’s school on “I feel like he (Governor George tants such as sulfur dioxide, carbon NO East 145th St. Pataki) is sending out a death warrant on monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen 7 Invoking the spectre of California-style our children,” said Darlene Santiago of oxides and (continued on page 9) Clockwise from top left: Construction of new INSIDE: WHITE HOUSE ENERGY PLAN RUNNING ON EMPTY - p.8, power plants goes forward at Port Morris in the Bronx. Young people protest in GOVERNOR PATAKI GIVEN ENVIRONMENTAL HONOR - p.9, Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Ray Berly, age 10, breathes from his asthma inhaler. ROLL YOUR OWN BLACKOUT! - p.9, ENERGY NUMBERS CRUNCH - p.10 Photos by John Tarleton INDYMEDIA HARASSED BY FEDS by ANANOGUEIRA m e n t s ,” says Evan Henshaw Plath, a which has never been tried in open court The Independent Media Center (IMC) member of the IMC Tech Collective. “It is before. may be forced to hand over server logs, about the government’s ability to track While the ECPA ostensibly protects containing user information from 36 of users of IMC websites. It is like asking the electronic communications of private its websites, to U.S. government agencies for membership lists.” citizens from undue surveillance, it who subpoenaed them as part of two sep- The 48-hour nonetheless pro- arate criminal investigations. period coincided vides an opening The subpoenaed logs reportedly con- with the FTA A for gove rn m e n t tain over 1.5 million Internet Protocol protests, which gen- The sweeping inquiry agencies to moni- addresses, electronic data that could be erated unprecedent- leads many to tor the ex i s t e n c e used to identify visitors to the IMC’s ed traffic to IMC and patterns of online presence, which has quickly n ews coverage, a believe that the order that communica- become a leading international news por- total of three mil- has little to do with a tion. The Nation tal for the anti-globalization movement. lion hits that week- magazine called it New York City Via the first subpoena, the FBI and the end. criminal investigation “a wish list for the independent Secret Service say they seek information Lee Tien, Senior l aw - e n f o r c e m e n t regarding two posts to the IMC Montreal S t a ff A t t o rn ey for and more to do with community.” media center “open publishing” new swire, wh i c h the Electronic the surveillance of Under the law, describe police infiltration of protest Frontier Foundation the government is groups and tactics to contain anti-free (EFF) says “this a growing political b a rred from WHAT IS THE IMC? trade protests. The information wa s kind of fi s h i n g accessing the con- With autonomous chapters in over 40 cities throughout movement. the world, the year-old Independent Media Center has allegedly stolen from a police car during expedition is anoth- tent of a priva t e quickly grown into an international network of volun- protests of the Free Trade Area of the er in a long line of email message, for teer media activists. Americas (FTAA) treaty in Quebec City overbroad and onerous attempts to chill example, but it can use computer pro- The IMC’s mission is to create a new media ethic by last month, which drew 60,000 people. political speech and activism.” He says grams to analyze communication patterns providing progressive, in-depth and accurate coverage The second subpoena was served on this order, “even without the ‘gag,’ is a “that illuminate invisible social networks of issues that affect us daily. We are a community- based organization using media production and distri- May 8 after a cryptic death threat against threat to free speech, free association and and identify key members,” say critics. bution to support and facilitate communities’ political a Cincinnati police officer was posted to privacy.” These logs could “provide a virtual and cultural self-representation. We seek to illuminate the Ohio Valley IMC site. The EFF stands alongside other well- who’s who of people associated with the and analyze local and global issues impacting individu- But unlike the Ohio subpoena, where k n own communication law ex p e rt s IMC and its political views,” said Nancy als, communities and eco-systems by providing media police asked for one IP address relevant including the Center for Constitutional Chang, Senior Litigation Attorney for the tools and space to those seeking to communicate their issues to the world. to the post in question, the other subpoe- Rights (CCR), the Electronic Priva cy CCR. Unlike corporate media, we do not pretend to be na casts a far wider net: it covers a 48 I n f o rmation Center (EPIC), and the Technical experts say that the request- unbiased. Subjectivity comes with the human package. hour period, with a log record 1.5 million Perkins-Coei law firm, who are all repre- ed “user connection logs” could reveal Rather, we espouse open dialogue, and the importance IP addresses long. It also contained a gag senting the IMC pro bono. personal information about Intern e t of placing the means of communication and creativity order forbidding the IMC to announce or So far the government has not received surfers, but they are unreliable as sources back in the hands of the people, and away from the drive of profit. discuss the existence of the order, which any of the subpoenaed logs. IMC counsel for identifying suspects in almost any The IMC’s work in cyberspace –please visit the local was challenged and later lifted. is considering a legal challenge that will crime. For one, with the use of common website at www. n y c . i n d y m e d i a . o rg or the global site at “This is obviously not about tracking strike at the heart of the 1986 Electronic w w w. i n d y m e d i a . o rg for up-to-the-minute re p o rts on the identity of people who stole docu- Communications Priva cy Act (ECPA ) , (continued on next page) actions and news near and far – features self-pub- lished stories as well as a wide sampling of photos, videos and audio clips. The New York City chapter’s print publication, the Indypendent, looks to bro a d e n the IMC’s reach through the written word by literally putting the news in people’s hands on NYC streets. WHAT CAN I DO TO GET INVOLVED? In aiming to tear down the walls between media pro- ducers and consumers, we encourage you to take part in this growing media (r)evolution. The options for L AT E S T involvement are numerous: write for the Indypendent, film events and rallies, self-publish art i- cles to the web, take photos, etc., or just help us ru n the office. As an organization relying entirely on vol- unteer support, we encourage all forms of part i c i p a- t i o n . ON THE Stop complaining about the media and all of its shortcomings – take action by voicing your insights and analysis. If you would like to become involved, email us at [email protected], call us at (212) 684-8112 for general information on the NYC IMC or visit www.nyc.indymedia.org. SUBMISSIONS NYC IMC The Indypendent seeks submissions from readers to cover news, cultural events, opinion, etc. Include con- While this revolution may not be tele- tact information and be diligent in citing sources. Kevin Prichard interviews Medical Marijuana Barbie for the weekly webcast. vised, the audio, photo, print, and video Articles should be less than 1,200 words in length. The photo working group continues to Indymedia “Newsreal” spot on the Letters should be under 300 words. Pictures and graph- working groups at the New York City ics are always needed. If possible send stories via email Independent Media Center are all work- deliver scenes from the streets, along Freespeech T V satellite network last and disc, although hard copies can also be accepted. All ing to spread the news and events that the with major events local and national, that month. In addition, the video team is mail should be sent to NYC Independent Media Center, mainstream media misses. color the Indypendent and the web news kicking off a weekly radical film series 34 E. 29th St. 2nd Floor, New York City, NYC 10016. In its third month of operations, the features. Collective photo projects for on Thursdays at Tr i b e c a ’s Wa l k e r We also urge readers to write or email letters to the both media are in their formative stages. Theater. For more information about the IMC for publication. Unsigned letters will not be pub- audio team’s Tuesday night Internet radio lished. The print team reserves the right to edit articles broadcasts have featured more voices of Contributions are always welcome. launch party-along with a benefit screen- for length, content and clarity but please give us the people’s media — from in-house The print team is now gearing up for a ing at Galapagos Bar, Brooklyn and fea- detailed information on how we can contact you to interviews with “Medical Marijuana DIY Dance Party benefit to keep the ture-length documentaries now in the review edits. We welcome your participation in the I n d y p e n d e n t alive and growing. T h i s works-check out the website for dates entire editorial process. Barbie” (see photo) to listener call-ins and audio reports from the WBAI legal evening of fun and dance will be held and locations. CONTRIBUTORS hearings. Contributors to Free Speech June 1 at 220 Grand St. (@Driggs Ave. in The New York City Independent Joshua Breitbart, Sarah Brockett, Mike Burke, Simon Radio News, an alternative news broad- Wi l l i a m s b u rg, Brooklyn starting at 8 Media Center, located at 34 E. 29th St. Finger, A.K. Gupta, Heather Haddon, Peter Holderness, p.m.). (@ Park Ave.). General meetings are Michael Muench, Ana Nogueira, Spencer, Jessica Stein, cast, have been collaborating with the John Tarleton IMC for its month of daily programs Now feeding its footage nationally, the every other Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; June since mid-May. NYC Video Team broadcasted its first 6th is the next meeting date. CITY CONSIDERS TRANSGENDER RIGHTS BILL by HEAT H E R H A D D O N has strong support from civil rights Transgender advocates marked a vic- groups and political leaders, including tory recently when the New York City mayoral hopefuls Public Advocate Mark Council moved toward outlawing anti- Green, City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, trans discrimination. On May 4, after Bronx Borough President Fernando nine months of stonewalling, a Council Ferrer and Councilman Peter Vallone. In bill was introduced to legally ban dis- a March forum, Vallone indicated that crimination based on “gender identity the bill would probably pass the council. and expression.” Ordinances protecting gender variant Initiative 754, also known as the peoples exist in almost two dozen cities, Transgender activists and supporters rally on the steps of City Hall. Perkins-Lopez Bill, after Bill Perkins including Los Angeles, New Orleans, (District 9) and Margarita Lopez Minneapolis and Louisville. Rusty M. Moore from the National been incarcerated; 52 percent had no (District 2), would amend the New Yo r k “ We are not safe until everyone of us Transgender Action Coalition. health insurance; 13 percent were home- City Human Rights Law to outlaw dis- is safe,” declared one transgender Perhaps the most well-known of such less; and 32 percent had attempted suicide. crimination against transgenders. T h e activist during a rally outside of City incidents, portrayed in the film B o y s “ G e n d e r-based discrimination often legislation has protected people based on Hall following the hearing. Many of the D o n ’t Cry, is the 1993 rape and murder leads to pariah status including the loss “sexual orientation” since 1987. 50,000 to 100,000 transgender individu- of transgendered man Brandon Teena in of a job, the loss of an apartment, and the The term “transgender” refers to trans- als living in New York experience daily Falls City, Nebraska. (The state Supreme refusal of service in public accommoda- sexuals who have had or plan to have a harassment and discrimination, accord- Court recently held accountable tions such as restaurants or stores,” states sex-change operation, along with cross- ing to Pauline Park of the New Yo r k Richardson County Sheriff Charles Laux a section of the bill’s text. dressers and others who do not live fully Association for Gender Rights A d v o c a c y for his failure to protect Te e n a . ) The protection based on gender identi- in the sex in which they were born. T h e ( N YAGRA), which is lobbying for the “ [ Transgendered people] are per- ty was originally included in the 1987 measure would also cover gender- v a r i a n t b i l l . ceived as freaks, and they’re perceived Human Rights Law amendment to pro- people, who do not clearly identify as “[The bill] sends a signal to the as people making decisions about their tect gays but gay leaders removed the male or female. employers, landlords and merchants that lives that are off-the-wall,” said section to ensure passage of the law. “It was a great, very personal hear- discrimination will not be tolerated in Councilman Bill Perkins in June. “If “ We have been waiting 31 years to ing,” said Councilwoman Christine this city,” said Park. This discrimination these people were black, it would be have this protection,” said Rivera, one of Quinn of District 3. For hours, members can take the form of violence and even called racism.” This prejudice extends the leaders of the 1969 Stonewall riots of the trans community vividly shared m u r d e r. There was a groundswell of beyond violence to a daily discrimination that launched the modern gay rights individual encounters of discrimination. activism and attention last year for trans- that still goes largely silent, say advo- movement. Advocates are hopeful about Quinn and 27 other council members, gendered people after the death of c a t e s . the bill’s passage, and its promise for have signed onto the bill. Amanda Milan, an A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n A 1996 Department of Public Health transgender individuals. “Its clear to me “This is only going to start the ball transgender woman whose throat was study conducted in San Francisco found that our time has come as a transgender rolling,” said Sylvia Rivera, head of the slashed in front of the Port Authority Bus that out of almost 400 transgender indi- c o m m u n i t y,” affirmed Rivera. “As a Street Transgender A c t i o n Te r m i n a l . viduals surveyed, 80 percent had been political movement our moment has Revolutionaries activist group, about the “Her murder last June galvanized the involved in sex work; 34 percent had arrived.” lobbying process. The proposed measure community as nothing else has,” stated injected illegal drugs; 65 percent had Indymedia Harassed. . . 99¢ DREAMS (continued from previous page) media gets a great deal of deference, this ‘Internet Protocol addresses.’ (AND WAGES) Internet Service Providers (ISP) as a way (IMC) is akin to a bulletin board,” imply- “Just because a journalist with a non- In a recent out-of-court settlement, to connect to the Internet, unique IP ing that it should not enjoy the same press traditional news organization might post owners of a chain of discount dollar addresses no longer necessarily trace freedoms. something that looks like a lead should stores agreed to pay $100,000, mostly in back to one individual computer, much However, “The First Amendment pro- not allow them (the FBI) to demand the back wages, to nearly a dozen Latin less one individual person. This could tects the right to communicate anony- identity of the anonymous source,” says American workers who were underpaid mean that the order fails to meet standard mously with the press and for political IMC counsel David Burman, a partner and mistreated. criteria that subpoenaed information be with Perkins-Coie. The mainstream press With the help of the North Bergen’s relevant, specific and non-speculative. has often published or leaked documents United Immigrants Association, 11 work- But from a surveillance standpoint, the obtained by theft - most notably the ers in January filed a lawsuit against the timing couldn’t have been better. Many Pentagon Papers, the top secret govern- New Jersey-based Universal Distribution IMC sites saw near record traffic due to ment report that exposed controversial Center, which operates over 40 stores, the protests in Quebec City and the soli- U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.” including 99-Cent Dreams, mostly in darity actions happening simultaneously While government officials such as New York City. In the suit, the employees around the world. Even the infa n t Schroeder have described the IMC as charged they were forced to work under Vermont IMC site received 145,985 over more bulletin board than news outlet, almost slave-like conditions. Often when the course of those 48 hours. IMC activists claim otherwise. store closed at night, workers would be Many believe that the intent of the The IMC has “open web pages, but locked inside until morning and left to order was to discourage association with also newspapers, radio casts and video sleep on cardboard boxes and eat from the non-traditional news organization. “It casts,” says one media activist. “The IMC the store’s stock of cheap food. Even all fits in nicely with the general cam- e m p l oys a different paradigm for its bathrooms were unavailable. paign of intimidation that was waged all newswire, not like the ‘traditional news Workers were also forced to work up to around the FTAA event — activists, jour- media,’ which has an ‘elite’ that chooses 70 hours per week without overtime for nalists and politicians being harassed by The Ohio Valley IM C ’ s subpoena. what gets on the page. When the IMC is just $180 - roughly $2.50 per hour, less CSIS [Canadian Intelligence],” wrote one not considered a news medium, what is than half the minimum wage. commentator on IMC newswires. p u rp o s e s ,” says David Sobel, General really being said is that it does not con- “We were treated like animals, the Observers also say the case highlights Counsel for EPIC. “To provide the same form to some other paradigm. The point bosses treated us with the point of their how different the government treats the protection to the press and anonymous is not to let the courts, the U.S. Attorney, shoes,” one worker Oscar Roldan told c o rporate press versus the altern a t ive sources in the Internet world as with more or the FBI decide who can be called a City Limits. “How much money are you press. Assistant U.S. A t t o rn ey Steve traditional media, the government must journalist. It is not up to some profession- going to need to pay for losing your Schroeder told the Seattle Po s t - be seve r e ly limited in its ability to al society.” respect? How much does it cost to win Intelligencer that while the “established demand their Internet identity — their your dignity back?” GM BABIES IN NJ

A New Jersey medical facility announced in early May that it had overseen the birth of 15 genetically modified babies over the last four years. The Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St. Barnabas Medical Center in We s t Orange has used a new procedure that allows sterile women to conceive by giving them an ooplasmic transfer Vieques Supporters Seek U.N. Help from a fertile woman. D r. Jacques Cohen, scientific by PETER HOLDERNESS U.N. buildings. the bombing. director of assisted reproduction at Chanting “U.S. Navy out of Vieques, Since naval expropriation of the island “Take it for three more years? When the institute, recently published the Puerto Rico,” 27 activists were arrested of Vieques began in 1941, residents have something is wrong and it damages your results of the experimental procedure in front of the United Nations faced forced migration, high unemploy- health and your security and your rights, in the journal Science. A vale of Headquarters in Manhattan on May 15. ment rates and the destruction of natural it has to be stopped immediately, ” secrecy had hung over the controver- Members of the David Sanes Rodriguez resources and the local economy, mostly Governor Sila Calderon told Reuters sial project, which sometimes results Brigade said they occupied the 44th street based on fishing. The Navy now owns News Service last month. in babies born with a mix of genetic entrance to the U.N. for over an hour in over two-thirds of Vieques. The Navy defends the bombings as material from both “mothers.” solidarity with the people of Vieques. The 9,300 residents of the island live necessary training for real assaults. According to Reuters, doctors take Since 1999, over 1,100 people have sandwiched between two firing ranges Despite an increasing public outcry and an egg from an infertile woman, the been arrested in Vieques for trying to stop where napalm, uranium depleted bullets, the arrests of prominent actors, politi- egg from a donor woman and the the U.S. Navy’s bombing exercises there. and explosives are regularly deployed. cians and intellectuals from all over the sperm from the infertile woman’s The New York City arrestees, who range They have a 26 percent higher rate of U.S. and Puerto Rico, bombings contin- mate. The doctors then suck out a lit- in age from 20 to 81, will go to court on cancer than other Puerto Ricans, accord- ued in May. Military police used pepper tle bit of the contents of the donor June 28. ing to the Puerto Rico Department of spray and tear gas in a futile attempt to egg — the cytoplasm — using a The Brigade, a collective of activists Health. keep citizens off the bombing range. microscopic needle manipulated by and community leaders in New Yo r k In November, residents will vote on a The David Sanes Rodriguez Brigade, tiny robotic arms. The cytoplasm is City, charges that the military actions in carefully worded referendum on contin- named after the Vieques resident who then injected into the infertile Vieques violate the human rights of resi- ued Naval bombings. The Navy will was killed by an off-target navy bomb in woman’s egg along with the sperm to dents by endangering lives and health. either be forced to leave at the end of 1999, said that the U.S. actions demon- fertilize it. “ We believe that the human rights 2003, or will be allowed to stay and pro- strate why it no longer deserves a place at “(This) should trouble those com- abuses of the U.S. Government against its vide an additional $50 million to the the U.N. Human Rights Commission. mitted to transparent public conver- own citizens should be addressed by the island. The government of Puerto Rico The commission mandates that the U.N. sation about the prospect of using international community,” explained says these options are unacceptable and it respond to “serious violations of human ‘reprogenetic’ technologies to shape Marinieves Alba in the shadow of the has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop rights.” future children,’’ wrote Erik Parens of The Hastings Center in Garrison, New York, and Eric Juengst of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in a commentary in the journal Science.

CU O M O WO N ’ T ST O P EX E C U T I O N S

Andrew Cuomo, the New York gubernatorial candidate and son of death penalty opponent Mario Cuomo, has vowed to carry out exe- cutions if he is elected, the New York Post has reported. Although the governor is granted the power to commute death penalty sentences, Cuomo, who claims he opposes capital punishment, said he would not automatically commute “call to action for NBC’s advertisers.” od on a bill proposed by the any sentences or work to overthrow Protestors The group also engaged in Rockette-style Environmental Protection Agency in the death penalty. dancing and chanting. Cardboard squares December that would require GE to care- “The law doesn’t say if you don’t held high in the air spelled out, “G-E + N- fully dredge 100,000 pounds of PCB’s like the death penalty, you automati- Slam GE B-C = P-C-B’s.” from the various “hot spots” in the river’s cally commute the sentence. Between the years of 1947 and 1977, bottom. Friends of a Clean Hudson aimed Commutations are for special occa- by MICHAEL MUENCH GE dumped over one million pounds of to call attention to the fact that NBC sions, with special circumstances, While NBC previewed its 2001-2002 Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls into the Chief Executive Bob Wright personally and that’s how I would view it.” TV lineup inside Radio City Music Hall Hudson River from GE’s plant at Hudson pressured Council members to vote C u o m o ’s Democratic opponent on May 14, activists from the Friends of Falls, approximately 200 miles north against the clean-up plan. Carl McCall, state comptroller, a Clean Hudson touted another story out- Manhattan. Activists claim Wright’s lobbying is a voiced a similar view: “I’d have to be side: General Electric’s (NBC’s parent Cleaning up the mess would cost blatant abuse of NBC’s power due to the willing to enforce the law. Even company) refusal to clean the Hudson General Electric about $460 million. network’s power to shape public opinion, though it would be tough and I’d find River. GE’s PR budget in the Albany region has especially with city elections on the it distasteful. I’d have to do it.” The Friends, a coalition of 12 local and reportedly already topped $60 million. h o r i z o n . One of the Council members national environmental and public inter- April 17 also marked the end of a New NBC’s Bob Wright lobbied was mayoral est groups, passed out flyers issuing a York City Council public comment peri- candidate Peter Vallone. Democracy When? WBAI Suspends Show During Fundraising Drive by JOHN TARLETON inside the station tell him the fund drive is WBAI (99.5 FM) began its spring going poorly. fundraising drive by banishing its most “It’s about as busy in there as the Des well known program — “Democracy Moines Airport at 3 o’clock in the morn- Now!” — from the New York airwaves. ing,” Credico said. The award-winning morning news Dan Coughlin, former director show was pre-empted on May 16 (though Pacifica Network News (PNN), suspects it is still being aired nationwide except in Go o d m a n ’ s preemption may be permanent. Los Angeles) for the duration of WBAI’s “It’s about testing the waters to elimi- three-week spring fundraising drive. nate the program entirely,” Coughlin While the show’s host Amy Goodman said. WBAI’s interim general manager broadcast from an auxiliary studio, Utrice Leid was unavailable for com- “Morning Show” host Santiago Nieves ment. urged New Yorkers to contribute money Earlier in the week, Michael Palmer, in support of radical, cutting edge radio. treasurer for the Pacifica National Board, “To take that program off the air for resigned in the face of mounting nation- three weeks is unconscionable,” said wide protests outside the real estate bro- Judy Solomon, a 30-year listener who kerage firm where he works. On the same was picketing outside the station’s head- d a y, Congressman Major Owens (D- quarters at 120 Wall Street. Brooklyn) held a three-hour hearing on WBAI, one of the five member sta- the Pacifica crisis. tions of the left-leaning Pacifica Meanwhile, Free Speech Radio News, Network, has been in turmoil since founded by striking Pacifica stringers, Pacifica’s national management fired the has begun a daily half-hour newscast that station’s general manager, program direc- will be carried for a month on more than tor and other longtime employees and 20 community radio stations around the Thirteen hundred supporters rallied outside the station on April 28. volunteers last December in what critics country. FSRN has 90 stringers scattered have dubbed the “Christmas Coup.” across 20 states and six continents, and constant reminder of what PNN isn’t.” may become a permanent program. Goodman’s preemption helped spark former PNN anchor Verna Avery Brown FSRN’s daily newscast, which is being “We’re making history here,” Sutton hundreds of irate calls to the station’s is hosting the show. produced in San Francisco, Washington, said. pledge number (212-209-2950), tying up “They (Pacifica) want to shut down D.C. and Tampa with support assistance The strikers’news broadcast can be phone lines. Randy Credico of the this cast,” said Eileen Sutton, a banned in New York from the NYC-IMC, will heard at freespeechradionews.org. William Kuntsler Fund said his sources WBAI reporter. “But, they can’t. It’s a run from May 18-June 15. Someday, it Superbarrio Eludes NYC Police on May Day by DAVID WILSON rapher. Superbarrio himself vanished On May 2, the day after Superbarrio’s Garment Workers Solidarity Center; Police arrested five activists during before the police could reach him. performance, New York State AZUL (Amanecer Zapatista Unidos a street theater performance that Police arrested a sixth demonstrator Attorney General Eliot Spitzer en la Lucha); the Workplace Project; formed part of a peaceful May Day at a later rally on the same day but announced a $500,000 suit against the Sons and Daughters of Jamaica; South march for immigrant workers’ rights quickly dropped the charges. T h e deli’s owners on behalf of 31 present Asian Action and A d v o c a c y here on May 1. New York police other detainees were held until early in and former employees who had been Collective; the Mexican-American claimed that the performance had the morning of May 3; one is being paid as little as $2.61 an hour. Workers Association (AMAT); the v i o l a t e d an old city ordinance that charged with felonious assault. The May Day events, sponsored by Global Sweatshop Coalition; and the prohibits masks in an org a n i z e d East Natural was selected as the site the Organizing Committee for Coalition for the Human Rights of demonstration. for the street theater because of the Workers Rights, began at noon with Immigrants (CHRI). The National Hundreds of marchers stopped out- especially bitter labor struggle there. musical performances, poetry read- Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty side the East Natural Food Market, at ings and political speeches in organized the rally at the IMF build- Fifth Avenue and 13th Street near Union Square and proceeded ing; Reclaim the Streets sponsored Greenwich Village, to watch Mexico on a three-and-a-half mile Superbarrio’s wrestling match. City’s popular “Superbarrio” wrestle march that took the demon- “This is the second year in a row various enemies of immigrant work- strators to a rally in the that the police have arrested May Day ers, including “INS Agent” and Garment District and finally marchers on the basis of this mask “Greengrocer Unionbuster.” T h e to the International law,” said Jerry Dominguez of AMAT. masked and colorfully costumed Monetary Fund’s New York “This year they brought out hundreds Superbarrio — whose name roughly headquarters on Second of cops to arrest a few guys in tights. translates as “Superneighborhood” — Avenue, nearly seven hours Apparently they’re terrified of a has been a regular fixture at communi- later. The march, which had peaceful demonstration that brings ty demonstrations in Mexico City for nearly 500 participants at its immigrant workers and their native- the past 15 years. His New Yo r k high point, demanded gener- born supporters together to demand appearance was intended to highlight al amnesty for all immi- the right to organize.” a two-year campaign by mostly grants. Superbarrio was not available for Mexican workers in local delis to be The march drew a comment, but sources close to the represented by UNITE Local 169. broad range of groups and masked crusader said that he feels he Superbarrio’s performance was in nationalities. Among the is needed in New York and that his progress when police suddenly groups participating were the brush with the law is unlikely to keep charged the crowd, destroying some Filipino Workers Center; the him from continuing his work here. props and banners, and hauled off five Palestine Education activists. Police reportedly roughed up Committee; “Workers in (David L. Wilson works with the Global several participants and spectators, Action,” a project of Make Sweatshop Coalition and the Coalition for including an Associated Press photog- Superbarrio unmasked on May Day. the Road By Walking; the the Human Rights of Immigrants) EU’s GOT MAIL (YOURS) The European Union is considering Living Wage Crashes NYC Harvard Club legislation that would require telecom- munications companies to archive by JOHN TARLETON records of all phone calls and emails for Local supporters of the Harvard liv- seven years for use in criminal investiga- ing wage campaign made their voices tions. heard during the three-week student sit- Statewatch, a British civil-liberties in that focused national attention on the watchdog group, unveiled the plan after labor practices of the world’s wealthi- obtaining secret documents, which the est university. EU had classified. On May 3, 50 to 60 New York-based “Authoritarian and totalitarian states Harvard alumni held a sit-in, made would be condemned for violating human impassioned speeches and passed out rights and civil liberties if they initiated flyers at the venerable Harvard Club of such practices,” said Tony Bunyan, editor New York. They came to express their of Statewatch. “The fact that it is being support for a group of 35 or so students proposed in the ‘democratic’EU does not at Harvard that had occupied make it any less authoritarian or totalitar- Massachusetts Hall since April 18 ian.” demanding that their university pay all Businesses may resist the plan due to its workers a living wage of $10.25 per the huge archiving costs. But government hour. The New York alums also came leaders from the UK, Belgium, Germany, to prod the consciences of their fellow France, Netherlands, and Spain are push- Harvardites. Living wage supporters lock down at the Harvard Club of New York. ing the rest of the 15-member Council of “We are here today to remind our- the European Union toward the change. selves and our classmates that poverty and lack of dignity should not be the Progressive Student Labor Movement freshman year work study program. foundation of Harvard’s economic (PSLM) launched its living wage cam- She quit after encountering a men’s SRI LANKA BANS existence,” said Mark Engler (Class of paign on campus in 1998 and has bathroom that was soaked with the ‘98). “...As Harvard Alumni we are repeatedly been rebuffed by the stench of urine, had a sink coated in GM FOOD IMPORTS privileged for the rest of our lives by University. shavings, tubs of beer and ice water Days after Sri Lanka became the virtue of the University’s wealth of A contingent of unionized workers blocking the way and stacks of porn world’s first nation to ban outright the resources. We are outraged that this at the Harvard Club came out at one magazines on both sides of the toilet. import of genetically modified foods, the privilege is built on the backs of work- point to express their support for the Later, she moved off-campus. to co-op U.S. requested a World Tr a d e ers who cook, clean, build, and main- sit-in and the living wage campaign at housing. Organization investigation on the legality tain an atmosphere of luxury in Harvard. The protesters received a call “I felt like I was living in a hotel,” of the ban which took effect May 1. exchange for poverty wages.” via cell phone from their comrades at she said. “Everything is structured “Many foreign scientists have criti- Engler was one of six alums who sat Mass Hall. Meanwhile, one bemused there so that students don’t have to cized the bio-technology and its health down in the front lobby, formed a circle alum claimed he hadn’t seen such an think about anything but their studies.” risks. The Food and Advisory Committee and locked arms. They were surround- uproar at the Harvard Club since the The standoff ended on May 8 with of the Ministry of Health after a research ed by supporters while other members University changed the wording of its the University agreeing to a moratori- study on the subject for a period of one of their group stood at the entrance diplomas from Latin to English. um on outsourcing of jobs while a non- year had imposed the ban on the importa- passing out flyers and seeking petition Almost all Harvard students live on binding 20-person committee of facul- tion of genetically modified foods, mate- signatures. The club’s management campus for four years and their every ty, staff, students and workers formu- rials, organisms and food additives,” said declined to have anyone arrested. Most need is attended to. The employees are lates new policy recommendations. S.Nagiah, the nation’s Chief Food and of the protesters were young profes- supposed to be invisible. But for those Engler, who has been involved in Drugs Inspector of the Ministry of Health sionals who have graduated from who refused to ignore their presence, anti-sweatshop and living wage cam- defending the ban. Harvard in the past three years. the plight of the workers finally paigns for the past five years, is hope- The WTO, however, has requested that With an endowment of $19 billion, became unbearable. ful that the Harvard sit-in will have a Sri Lanka back its ban with scientific data Harvard is the wealthiest not-for-profit “I think there’s a real sense of galvanizing effect on campuses across that GM food is unhealthy. institution in the world except for the shame, a sense of injustice,” said the country. “We know of no credible scientific Vatican. Yet close to 2,000 Harvard Laurel Rayburn (Class of ‘00). “It’s like Berkeley in the ‘60s where evidence justifying Sri Lanka’s ban. We employees make less than $10.25 per Rosslyn Wuchinich (Class of ‘99) an action can resonate across the coun- believe it is totally unwarranted,” said hour, the living wage that the city of received a taste of what Harvard work- try,” Engler said. “This is something Weyland Beeghly, agricultural counselor Cambridge, Massachusetts pays its ers have to endure while cleaning that could be one of those signs of the of the U.S. Embassy in India. municipal employees. Harvard’s dorms for several weeks as a part of her times.”

Support your local Independent Media Center Spend Fridays in June with the IMC 6.1.01: Indypendent/IMC Print Team Benefit D.I.Y. Dance Party at 220 Grand St., (corner of Driggs) in Williamsburg, 8pm 6.8.01: IMC Video Team Benefit Party The Expresso bar on 353 Broadway (between Franklin and Leonard) 8pm 6.15.01: NYC IMC Benefit Party Galapagos, 70 N 6th St., Williamsburg. 9:30-2:00 $6 Info: [email protected] >>> 212.684.8112 FREE-FIRE POLICE WHACK AREA OF THE AMERICAS The Bush administration has pledged WEED MARCH an additional $550 million to the contro- versial Plan Colombia to “regionalize the Colombian conflict, so that the coun- by JOHN TARLETON arrested,” said Willie Duncan, tries in the area recognize that this is The aggressive police response to the 26, of New York. “But, they their problem as much as it is annual Million Marijuana March on May didn’t care at least until they C o l o m b i a ’s,” according to U.S. 5 came under heavy fire from protest were arrested. And then they Secretary of State Colin Powell. organizers and participants as they sifted started crying.” The new “Andean Initiative” is through the debris of an event in which Duncan himself was arrested designed to draw neighboring countries, 193 people were arrested. for following a trio of under- including Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, “I have seen skirmishes before at pot cover police and shouting “Pig! into the Colombian civil war to help the rallies,” said Steve Bloom, a senior editor Pig! Pig!” He said each under- United States put down Colombian of High Timeswho was pepper sprayed in cover officer had a quota of rebels. The March 12 announcement has the neck. “But, I’ve never seen anything five arrests. provoked fierce criticism from Latin as bad as what I saw on Saturday. It was “It was obvious from the American leaders, including a group of absolutely appalling.” way police interacted that they 100 academics, journalists, government The day’s events began with a festive 1 had collar quotas,” Duncan officials and community leaders who p.m. march down Broadway by 3,000- said. “I heard them asking each signed an open letter to Bush describing 4,000 people calling for the re-legaliza- o t h e r, ‘How much did you the potentially dire consequences of the tion of marijuana, which was criminal- get?’‘How much did you get?’ plan: “The expected environmental ized in 1937. The cannabis sativa plant or saying, ‘I’ve got two.’ ‘I’ve damage, increase in forced displace- can be used to produce food, fuel and got three.’‘I’m finished’.” ment, and worsening of the humanitari- fiber. It provides relief to people going O fficer Luis Cruz, a an crisis will affect the entire Andean through chemotherapy and is also known spokesman for the New York region.” for its recreational benefits. Police Department, said the The letter joined earlier criticisms Chanting “we smoke pot and we like it police acted properly. made by Andean leaders last year, as a lot!”, the crowd poured into Battery “There were arrests by offi- well as a vote in the European parlia- Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. cers in uniforms and by officers ment condemning the military approach There were several stages and the crowd in plainclothes,” Cruz said. sat on the grass listening to music and “ We are not aware of any speeches. The Statue of Liberty stood in police acting in an overly R2K: LEGAL BATTLE the distance. And, dozens of undercover aggressive manner.” Riding high down Broadway. officers began moving through the crowd 127 of the 193 arrested were CO N T I N U E S while hundreds of uniformed police charged with various offenses including anti-globalization protests, suggested that Almost 10 months after mass arrests ringed the perimeter. possession of marijuana and resisting protesters at next year’s marijuana rally rocked last year’s Republican National “I knew the moment I got there that a arrest, and 66 more were given tickets for take a more pro-active approach to their Convention in Philadelphia, activists lot of people were going to get busted,” “Obstructing a Government A g e n t ” own self-defense. He pointed out that continue fighting their charges in court. said Geoffrey Campbell of Berkeley, (OGA), according to Dana Beal of Cures demonstrators could tightly cluster them- Five people still face felony charges California. Not Wars. selves in a large circle, making it more (including three accused of assaulting Campbell, who began pointing out The lead legal liaison for Cures Not difficult for police to enter their ranks, Police Commissioner John Timoney) and undercover police to crowd members, Wars had a family emergency on the fol- and then all light up at once. 17 more have misdemeanor cases pend- soon found himself being chased onto the lowing day, Beal said. Most of the arrest- “Part of the plan is for a huge plume of ing, according to William Beckler of the stage where two more undercover police ed were represented by public defenders. smoke to hang over the crowd,” R2K Legal Collective. grabbed him. Campbell wiggled loose “I wanted to plead innocent and go to Campbell said. “But, I didn’t see that “I wouldn’t say we are successful and dove into the crowd only to have peo- trial but the judge, prosecutor and the happening.” yet,” Beckler said. “The legal battle con- ple back away. The police pounced on public pretender were all working in Beal said that posters have already tinues and there is no guarantee that it him once more and dragged him off. cahoots to give me ACD,” Duncan said. been printed for next year’s rally and that will be successful. The hardest cases are “It was insane that they would dare to “They want to move you out real fucking he hopes to fill the park so tight that the ones that are still open.” come on the stage in the middle of a First quick.” police can’t even get in. Bloom said more R2k Legal was founded to defend the Amendment protected event,” Bloom Under the terms of A C D police-protester dialogue might help, 420 people who were arrested during the said. “That was disgraceful. It set the tone (Adjournment in Contemplation of especially with a new mayor coming into Republican Convention. They originally for the day.” Dismissal), defendants were released on office next year. faced thousands of years in potential In spite of Campbell’s spectacular unsupervised probation (ranging from 6- “Giuliani is on his way out. This is his prison time. Over 90 percent have since arrest, crowd members continued blithely 12 months) and their records will be last year,” Bloom said. “He hates drugs. been acquitted or had their charg e s firing up joints only to find themselves expunged if they make it through the pro- He hates potheads. He’s a DA with a dropped. being led away in handcuffs. bationary period without any further vengeance.” So far, R2K Legal has raised and spent “I think they knew they could get arrests. However, anyone taking ACD is At last year’s marijuana rally 312 peo- $230,000. Three to twenty volunteers unable to ple were arrested. From 1992-2000, work 50 hours or more per week. Beckler sue the annual marijuana arrests in New York estimates that volunteers in Philadelphia police for jumped from 1,000 to 70,000 per year, and around the country have spent t h e i r according to Bloom. Ten percent of all 40,000 hours working on these cases. actions. marijuana busts in the country last year “It’s overwhelming to think how many “ W e occurred in New York City. lives have been changed and how much needed a The four leading Democratic candi- time has been spent on this subject,” said c o m m i t t e e dates for mayor have all promised to Beckler, a Columbia Law School gradu- to coordi- reduce the policing of people who pos- ate who was recently acquitted of felony nate legal sess small amounts of marijuana. Beal charges incurred while volunteering as a r e s p o n s e , ” sees the light at the end of the tunnel. legal observer at the Convention protests. Beal said. “We kept the struggle alive for the 8 When the criminal cases wrap up later years Giuliani was in power,” Beal said. this summer, R2K Legal plans to pursue C a m p b e l l , “ We’re like the guerrillas. We’ll win a civil suit against the City. “When every a veteran of because we’ll still be there when the army lying cop is brought to justice, I’ll call us v a r i o u s withdraws.” successful,” Beckler said. e n v i r o n - For more information, see Marijuana supporters pour into the streets on May 5. mental and www.r2kphilly.org WHITE HOUSE ENERGY PLAN RUNNING ON EMPTY by SIMON FINGER News Analysis columnist William Saletan has observed, the reason last It’s this assumption that undermines efforts at con- After months of closed-door deliberations led by year’s rolling blackouts and $2-a-gallon gas prices never servation — energy efficient technologies exist, after all. Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House on May 17 became a national issue is because Clinton and Gore had But the White House, through Spokesman Ari Fl e i s c h e r , released a plan to combat what it calls an energy supply nothing to gain by framing the debate in such a way, and has implied that conservation is un-American: “The pres- crisis by focusing on increasing production, sweeping their environmental record was hardly sterling. (During ident also believes that the American people’s use of away environmental regulations and opening public Clinton’s two terms, the automobile fuel efficiency stan- energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of lands to exploration for new sources of energy. dard dropped to its lowest levels since the ’80s because the way of life that the American people have come to In his speech formally introducing the “national of booming sales in the ’90s of gas-guzzling sports utili- enjoy.” Cheney was more explicit, snidely dismissing energy policy,” Bush opined that at least 1,300 new ty vehicles.) conservation as fine as a “personal virtue,” but not any power plants would have to be built over the next 20 While having promoted many of the same policies basis for an energy policy. years, along with 38,000 miles of new natural gas as Bush currently is, Clinton often couched them in the It’s not that conservation can’t work. A Department pipelines and thousands of miles of power lines; nuclear rhetoric of environmental policy. Since Bush can’t win of Energy sponsored study, which the White House tried power, which he called a “clean and unlimited source of the environment debate, he emphasizes energy. In con- to suppress, concluded that simple measures could energy” would have to be revived; and that environmen- trast, carbon dioxide emissions, river damming and the reduce 47 percent of the expected growth in energy use tal regulations must be loosened and public lands opened use of public lands were treated by Clinton, however over the next 20 years. But Bush and Cheney, both for- to oil, coal and gas exploration. shabbily, as environmental issues, which put some limits mer oil company executives, understand that there is lit- The speech echoed Cheney’s April 30 address in on White House policy making. tle profit in conservation, at least for fossil fuel which the Vice President dismissed renewable energy The energy issue is also driving the Bush-Cheney providers. and conservation in favor of supply-side solutions. foreign policy, from the scuttling of the Kyoto Protocol Most sides in the debate submit to the same But the Bush plan is founded on numerous assump- on curbing greenhouse gas emissions to the decidedly assumptions about what is possible. By describing some tions that have been unchallenged by the mainstream belligerent tone of America diplomacy. To Bush, these things as inevitable and others as impossible, the White media and even many of the plan’s critics. are not issues of diplomacy, but of energy. We live in a House has foreclosed real debate and dismissed real Contrary to the evidence, the energy plan assumes world, warns the President, where “a state like Iraq could solutions. that a national energy crisis exists due to supply short- hold us hostage.” For example, it is widely believed that we want to falls brought about by excessive environmental legisla- Amid such saber-rattling, recently echoed by Bush- enjoy continued economic growth, resource use must tion. Former President Jimmy Carter took issue with the confidant and South Dakota Governor William Janklow rise as a result. But since 1980, the gross domestic prod- “supply” crisis in a recent opinion piece in the discussing the need “to deal with these people in the uct has grown by 90 percent, while overall energy and oil Washington Post. “No energy crisis exists now that Middle East,” Americans may be forgiven for forgetting consumption have grown by only 26 and 12 perce n t equates in any way with those we faced in 1973 and that the leading provider of foreign energy is not some re s p e c t i v e l y . In the case of water, usage has actually 1979,” wrote Carter. Middle Eastern state, but Canada. dropped over the last decade of the booming economy. Forbes editor Dean Ackman recently pointed out in U.S. military planning in the post-Cold War world Similarly, Cheney uses the fact that non-hydro the on-line magazine Salon, “Although consumption has is increasingly focusing on “resource” conflicts, espe- renewable energy sources only make up 2 percent of cur- risen in absolute terms, there has never been a greater cially oil, according to Michael Klare, director of the rent electricity production to imply that renewables can abundance of known oil, natural gas and coal reserves… Five College Program in Peace and World Security never produce a significant share. Yet the European the United States has never had more abundant supplies Studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Klare Union, for one, plans renewables to constitute 22 percent of power selling at very low prices.” As A c k m a n calls attention to the staging of wargames based around of total energy use by 2010. Some veterans of the Clinton explains, the California energy crisis, which brought the energy scenarios, and notes that the largest U.S. arms administration argue that similar gains could be made in issue into the national spotlight, has not been caused by transfers in recent history have been to oil-rich countries the U.S. burdensome environmental regulations, but by an ill- like Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the While the administration argues that Americans plotted deregulation scheme. United Arab Emirates. Similarly, conflicts over energy will not stand for regulations, another arena in which the Similarly, Cheney lamented the fact that no oil could flare up in the resource-rich Caspian region or the o fficial Bush interpretation of reality has prevailed refineries have been built in 20 years, but he ignored the disputed oil fields of the South China Sea. emerges: it has successfully positioned itself as the reason why: They haven’t been needed. Until last year, The energy springboard has even boosted the champion of freedom and the free market, fighting says New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, “refining Pentagon’s plans to dominate outer space. The space against regulators who tell producers how to produce and was a persistently depressed business, plagued by over- lobby has long sought the use of nuclear energy for consumers how much to consume. But the administra- capacity.” Oil companies had so glutted the market in propulsion in space, which has long faced public resist- tion plan is no less coercive. It says we must use more 1995 that they successfully petitioned the Clinton admin- ance, as demonstrated by the outcry against the 1998 oil, more coal, more natural gas. istration to lift a ban on exporting Alaskan oil — a ban launch of the nuclear-powered Cassini probe to Jupiter. As Klare argues in response to the Cheney claim designed to stave off price shocks in the event of future The Oval Office’s enthusiasm for nuclear energy has that the U.S. cannot “simply conserve… our way out” of shortfalls. apparently rubbed off on NASA chief Daniel Goldin, the current squeeze: “Cheney has it all wrong. It’s really The acceptance of the notion that a shortfall in sup- who announced in May ambitious plans of landing a the other way around. There is simply no way that we ply exists reflects the broader public willingness to let manned craft on Mars by 2010, in all likelihood using can build one new power plant a week over the next 20 Bush and Cheney dictate the terms of the debate over the nuclear propulsion. Advocates of nuclear power claim it years to increase our energy supply. Even if we can find causes and cures of the current energy “crisis.” The Wh i t e is the only way to mount a mission to the outer planets, the money and procure sufficient oil and gas for these House argues that excessive regulation has prevented a proposition belied by the recent announcement of a plants, American communities are not going to make en e r gy supply from keeping pace with demand. But since joint project between the German and European Space room in their backyard for that many new refineries, 1999, California still licensed 11 new plants, making sus- Agencies to launch a craft to Jupiter using a solar-pow- nuclear reactors, nuclear waste dumps, coal-burning pect industry claims that it is being stifled by environmen- ered sail. power plants and gas pipelines. Even a determined pres- talists. Moreover, the efficiency and conservation meas- Nuclear energy is also needed to produce fissile ident cannot force American citizens to permit this. So ures instituted after the crises of the 1970’s have dramati- material for a new generation of nuclear weapons being the only way to meet our future energy needs is to bring cally increased the availability of affordable energy . pushed by the administration, and would likely power demand into better alignment with supply.” (In New Yor k According to journalist Jim Hightower, such ener- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s planned network City, the construction of 10 new mini-plants has galva- gy efficiency measures, recently slashed under of space-based weapons to wage war in or on the heavens. nized considerable opposition. See related article, p. 1) California’s deregulation policy, saved enough energy Critics, such as Greenpeace, say “America’s insa- Even more striking is that Bush seeks to use emi- for the Golden State to avoid building 20 new power tiable energy appetite — already the planet’s most rapa- nent domain, by which the government may seize private plants in the last 25 years. cious” is what drives such misguided policy. Americans assets for public use, to take the necessary land on which As effectively as the administration has controlled account for less than 5 percent of the world’s population, to build his countless acres of energy infrastructure. the debate on the causes of the “crisis,” equally master- but consume almost one-quarter of all oil produced. By controlling the spin, the Bush administration ful has been its ability to frame controversial issues in Even the Vice President recognized that “as a coun- has not only improved its chances for legislative success, terms of the “energy crisis,” making their prospects for try, we have demanded more and more energy.” His sub- but more so, it has limited the range of solutions. By political success all the more likely. sequent failure to address that insatiable demand, but bundling controversial issues into the energy debate, the Foremost have been the environmental rollbacks rather to subsidize it, reflects what the Washington Post White House has evaded public scrutiny. And by avoid- that the new President has so vigorously pursued. Energy called “the construction that Americans are entitled, as a ing discussion of a “demand crisis,” it has prevented the was a problem during the Clinton administration, too, but birthright, to as much cheap energy as we can find a use nation from finding a long-term solution to its energy it never became a great crusade. As Slate magazine for.” problem. It’s not too late to change the policy — the first background photo by JOHN TARLETON R O L L YOUR OWN B L A C K O U T ! Go v e r nor Pataki Given JU N E 21 To protest the Bush Ad m i n i s t ra t i o n ’ s ‘Environmentalist of dr aconian new energy policy, a the Year’ Aw a rd by JOHN TARLETON worl d wide voluntary rolling b la c ko u t Chelsea Piers at 23rd and Hudson where Governor George Pataki was honored the ceremony was held. According to the has been called for the f ir st day of as New York’s “Environmentalist of the group’s website, the governor was being Year” on May 14 by the League of honored because “no one in New York su m m e r , June 21. Conservation Voters while a group of has done more than Governor Pataki to neighborhood activists blasted the gover- protect, expand and improve our coastal “I t ’ s a simple protest and a symbolic nor as being out of touch and indifferent environments”. to grassroots concerns. Sigourney Weaver was the keynote ac t . Tur n out your lights from 7pm “I would say to Pataki that you make speaker and Senator Hillary Clinton was token visits to a place like Vieques where among the special guests at the $300 per to 10pm on June 21,” read an it’s easy to show concern about people’s plate dinner. Activists stood near the health,” said Pat Deangelis of the East entrance until they were confronted by announcement circulated widely on the River Environmental Coalition (EREC). police who threatened to arrest them for “But when power companies like Con being on private property. In t e rn e t . “Unplug w ha t e ver you can Edison seek to pollute neighborhoods in Susan Stetzer of EREC was one of your own backyard, you cave in and do those passing out leaflets describing Con unplug in your house.” nothing for the people.” Edison’s plans to expand a controversial Deangelis and about 10 other activists power plant on E. 14th St. in Manhattan. conducted a low key protest on the side- She has battled Con Edison in court for walk outside Chelsea Piers. They held up years and had talked with several of its signs and passed out leaflets to dinner lawyers just before she was forced to attendees. They said the state had allowed leave by police. power plants in their neighborhoods “They are denying our freedom of without taking into account their health speech,” Stetzer said of the police. concerns. “Giuliani’s police force is being true to “Pataki has a bad record in every area form in calling us a security risk for try- except protecting the environment for ing to pass out this information.” rich white folks,” said Brielle Epstein of City Councilwoman Kathryn Freed Communities United for Responsible happened to be walking by. She asked the E n e rgy (CURE). “This administration lead officer why the activists couldn’t has been completely unopen to public remain where they were and was told it input.” was a “safety issue”. She asked if they The New York League of could stand off to the side, away from Conservation Voters was founded in 1989 where cars were dropping off dinner by Paul Elston, Frances Beinecke, Robert guests, and was told no. F. Kennedy Jr. and Larry Rockefeller. It “You’re just trying to protect Chelsea has promoted upscale public-private Piers’ profits,” Freed said before she dis- “waterfront revitalization” projects like appeared inside.

POWER PLANTS TAKE TOLL ON CITY’S KIDS

(continued from page 1) volatile organic compounds such as ben- Protests have also occurred at con- Ferrer asked. “We deserve an answer to of death.” zopyrene and formaldehyde. struction sites in Sunset Park (May 12), that question.” In his lunch box-sized nebulizer, “I don’t think people understand what Long Island City (May 19) and New York City has 13,474 megawatts Ray has a mini-power plant of sorts. they mean by ‘clean,’ ” said A n a Williamsburg (May 22), which is also of energy available, almost 30 percent When an attack begins, he plugs the Maldonado of Pueblo en Marcha, another battling a proposed new 1,000-1,500 more than is needed during the hottest machine into a wall and clamps a trans- South Bronx-based organization. “It megawatt co-generation plant at the summer days, according to the National parent mask over his mouth and nose. might be cleaner than what they used Bayside Fuel Oil site at North 12th St. Resources Defense Council. The ten new The pump inside the nebulizer makes a before. But, it’s still going to pollute.” and Kent Ave. plants will augment the area’s power sup- noisy hum and sends warm air up a 3-foot Maldonado also points out that General Local Democratic politicians, includ- ply by 3-4 percent, an amount that could long plastic tube. The warm air mixes Electric, which polluted the Hudson ing Congresswoman Nydia Ve l a s q u e z be covered by increased energy conserva- inside a filter with liquid albuterol and River for decades with PCBs and has yet (D-Brooklyn) and Bronx Borough tion and the development of less-pollut- Ray breaths the mist deep into his lungs. to comply with state cleanup laws, manu- President (and mayoral hopeful) ing energy sources like solar or wind. “It’s too much to put a kid through, if factures the turbines. “How can we trust Fernando Ferrer, turned out for the Sunset “The technology is feasible,” said Beth it can be avoided,” said Marrero who also this company?” Maldonado asked. “They Park protest. Cullenane of Clean Power for the People. volunteers at Pueblo en Marcha. don’t have such a great track record on While cars roared overhead on the “But, the state needs to be more pro- Marrero expects the battle against the environment.” Gowanus Expressway, Velasquez noted active in using it.” the power plants to continue past June 1, that she now had seven power plants in both in the courts and on the streets. Grassroots Resistance her district. Ferrer criticized NYPA for The Nebulizer “I take the approach that we haven’t A citywide network of neighborhood wiggling out of doing a full Ramon Marrero compares an asthma lost as long as we’re fighting,” Marrero activists has emerged to fight the new Environmental Impact Review, which attack to drowning on land or having to said. power plants. Two people were arrested would have required a six-month public breathe through a straw. He had to pick Meanwhile, a fifth grader in the South outside Governor Pataki’s midtown comment period. When people were his stepson up at school seven times last Bronx is hoping that the state of New Manhattan office on May 7 and protesters asked to raise their hand if they had asth- s e m e s t e r. Ray’s most recent asthma York will rethink its current energy poli- picketed outside a $300 per plate dinner ma or knew someone with asthma, almost attack occurred in mid-April just before cies. “I don’t want more power plants,” ceremony on May 14 in which the everyone in the crowd of 75 people raised Easter vacation. It lasted a week. Ray said. “It’s bad enough already.” League of Conservation Voters honored their hand. “You can’t breathe,” Ray said. “You’re the governor as New Yo r k ’s “Will these plants make parents and coughing and wheezing and stuffs com- For more information, see “Environmentalist of the Year.” their children sicker than they are?” ing up in your throat. It makes me think www.williamsburgwatch.org THE INDY INDEX ENERGY NUMBERS CRUNCH

Number of permitted repositories that can legally store commercial reactor and defense nuclear waste in the U.S.: 1 Number of states through which waste will be shipped on its way to the sole repository of Yucca Mountain, Nevada: 43 Maximum number of accidents that the Department of Energy estimates may occur during the 24 years of planned shipments to Yucca Mountain: 310 Total number of tons of high-level radioactive waste that Congress has permitted Yucca Mountain to store: 77,000 The number of tons of nuclear waste that will need to be stored over the next 40 years if no more nuclear plants are built: 120,000

The number of tons of waste that will need to be stored over the same time period if construction of nuclear plants resumes at the rate proposed by the Bush Administration: 500,000 to 700,000

Per capita annual electricity consumption in kilowatt-hours in the U.S. in 1997: 12,133 Per capita electricity consumption in kilowatt-hours in the rest of the world in 1997: 1,381

Average tons of oil consumed per American in 1999: 8.93 Average of tons of oil consumed per African in 1999: .4

Revenue of the U.S. electric industry in 1999: $216,700,000,000 Revenue of all African governments in 1999: $124,000,000,000

Percent of total electricity used in a regular light bulb that is wasted as heat: 90 Reduction in pounds of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by replacing one traditional light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, over the bulb’s lifetime: 1,000

Amount of carbon dioxide, in tons, saved by one 500 kW wind turbine each year: 750 Number of trees required to absorb 750 tons of carbon dioxide in a year: 57,000

Amount an Iowan farmer would make annually from 1⁄4 of an acre of corn: $100 Amount same farmer would make annually in royalties leasing the same land for a wind turbine: $2,000

Total amount of profit in dollars of California’s nine major power suppliers in 2000: $7,745,000,000 Average percentage increase over 1999 profits for the same nine companies: 54 Total amount donated by these nine companies to the Bush campaign and other Republicans during the 2000 election: $3,748,000

Number of homes that could be powered by energy being saved from a program to cut energy use in federal buildings by 20 percent below 1985 levels: 1,250,000 Percent by which the Bush Administration has proposed cutting the budget of the same conservation program: 48

Number of new power plants Vice President Dick Cheney says is needed to meet national demands by 2020: 1,300 Number of new power plants that wouldn’t be needed if the Bush Administration had not reduced new energy efficiency standards on air conditioners from 30 percent to 20 percent: 138 Number of new power plants that wouldn’t be needed if all the conservation and efficiency measures were adopted as outlined in a government report that the Bush administration tried to squelch: 612

Percent of total U.S. electricity currently produced by non-hydro renewables: 2 Percent of total electricity that will be produced by non-hydro renewables in 2020, as estimated by Vice President Cheney: 6

Percent increase expected in the generating capacity of wind power in the U.S. this year alone, as estimated by the American Wind Energy Association: 60

Number of asthma attacks caused annually by fine particle emission from the dirtiest power plants: 603,000

Amount of oil that could be saved daily in barrels by increasing automobile fuel efficiency standards by 3 miles per gallon: 1,000,000 Maximum amount of oil in barrels that is estimated could be pumped out daily if drilling occurs in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: 1,000,000 World Bank Flees Spain for Web Citing fears of disruptive protests, the “Years ago people used to burn books World Bank has cancelled a meeting to try and clamp down on academic free- scheduled for Barcelona in June. dom; now they try to prevent academics “Victoire!” screamed a headline on the from reaching debating halls,” said World French Indymedia site after the bank Bank spokesperson Caroline A n s t e y. decided to conduct its business online “This is hardly progress. Fortunately the instead. Internet means that academic debates can Thousands of activists had planned to now take place on line.” c o n v e rge in Barcelona in what was But activists predict that the World expected to be one of the largest anti- Bank may still face direct action protests globalization protests during the — albeit virtual ones. “Summer of Resistance.” “If they are going to meet online, the “This cancellation constitutes a clear fact is we have plenty of people who are proof that citizen mobilization can be tech savvy enough to disrupt this meeting decisive to change the current neoliberal via ‘hacktivism,’ ” said one New York model,” wrote the Campaign Against the activist who credited the Quebec protests World Bank, which announced planned against the Free Trade Area of the protests would proceed Barcelona. Americas for convincing the World Bank “The motives which had inspired the to cancel its Barcelona meeting. protests still exist, and therefore the “No city wants to become the next Protests in Quebec City helped convince World Bank leaders to stay home. mobilizations will carry on as expected, Quebec or Seattle,” she said. despite the cancellation of the official "The fact that the World Bank has can- tive organizations and agreements. meeting,” the group stated. celled its meeting because of anticipated "The FTAA would still be a closely While the World Bank, like the protest shows how successful this move- guarded secret, withheld from the public, CRACKDOWN International Monetary Fund, is often ment has been in terms of confronting except for the phenomenal citizens' trade criticized for its undemocratic and secre- these institutions, but at the same time movement that has arisen in America and ON OREGON tive ways, a spokesperson from the Bank they continue their policies anyway — it all around the globe," wrote Jim claimed the protesters were the true is a qualified success." Hightower recently in his newsletter "The ANARCHISTS “threat to free discussion.” Protests also raise awareness of secre- Hightower Lowdown." Two Portland, Oregon anarchists have been indicted on assault and kidnapping c h a rges following a massive police DEMOCRATS KEEP FAMILY PLANNING GAG RULE IN PLACE response to a punk rock house party. Partygoers told the Willamette Week adopted by Ronald Reagan in 1984 during "Doctors everywhere must be allowed to that after police arrived to respond to a On May 16, 33 House Democrats a summit in Mexico City. It was then over- give women patients complete and med- noise complaint, Sgt. Michael Fort crossed the aisle, providing the crucial turned by President Clinton in his first ically-sound information... Hundreds of attacked one man who refused to answer swing votes to reinstate a measure that days in office in 1993, only to be reim- thousands of women with unplanned a question. Other partygoers allegedly would deny international non-govern- posed by George W. Bush earlier this year. pregnancies die every year due to com- started to yell at Fort, who — police claim mental organizations U.S. funding if they The matter came to the House during plications in pregnancy and childbirth. — was then dragged into a house by three provide any kind of abortion counseling. the debate over the foreign aid budget in The U.S. can do much through its aid to men and beaten. While using American dollars to the House International Relations family planning programs to reduce that Forty-three officers in 20 cars directly fund abortions abroad has long Committee, which revoked the gag rule, toll." Clinics would be forbidden even answered the call for backup and declared been illegal, the new policy forbids reinstating funding earlier this month. from treating women suffering the effects an emergency zone for blocks around the organizations from even talking about the When it went to the House floor for a full of a botched abortion. house. People were reportedly beaten and issue. Such a measure would be an vote, however, 33 Democrats threw their Because the groups that provide abor- tear gassed. unconstitutional violation of the freedom support behind the President, ensuring tion counseling are the same groups that Two of the three men were indicted by of speech if attempted on U.S. soil, but passage of the rule, which was carried by need American funding to respond to a grand jury on charges including kidnap- because the policy only affects overseas a narrow 8-vote margin. health crises including AIDS, tuberculo- ping, which carries a mandatory mini- agencies, it is considered legal. It would The plan has been roundly lambasted sis, malaria, malnutrition and al of the mum sentence of seven-and-a-half years. even bar organizations from advocating as anti-health and anti-woman by other ills plaguing poor nations, they are The police response to the March 29 the decriminalization of abortion in women's groups, family planning advo- effectively blackmailed into closing their party comes on the heels of increasing nations like Nepal where performing an cates and health experts, who consider mouths on an important issue that touch- surveillance by police, say local activists. abortion carries a 20-year sentence the policy a disaster for women in devel- es the lives of countless thousands of the In recent months there have been numer- Often referred to as the Mexico City oping countries. According to NOW world's most vulnerable people. ous reports of police stopping anyone Policy or the "global gag rule," it was first Executive Vice President Kim Gandy: who looks like an “anarchist,” question- ing them about their political beliefs, pho- tographing them, and copying address books. WOMAN CONVICTED OF KILLING STILLBORN Local observers say the police scrutiny may be linked to the establishment last On May 17, after 15 minutes of delib- she gave birth to a healthy child. In be specific effects of in utero cocaine year of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, eration, a South Carolina jury declared January, a South Carolina hospital con- exposure are correlated with other fac- which brings together local and federal Regina McKnight guilty of killing her sidered using the statute against a woman tors, including prenatal exposure to law enforcement personnel. fetus. McKnight, now 24 years old and a who refused a Caesarean section after 40 tobacco, marijuana, or alcohol, and the In response, Portland activists and recovering cocaine addict, was sentenced hours in labor. quality of the child’s environment.” In an punk rockers have formed an instant to 12 years in prison for delivering a still- Doctors claimed the prolonged labor accompanying editorial, Dr. We n d y response team to monitor the police in born baby in May, 1999. could harm the fetus, but the woman Chavkin explained that the crack baby similar situations, along with a “buddy Prosecutors claimed her addiction to delivered a healthy child without the ``has become a convenient symbol for an system” to assist those who are unexpect- crack cocaine caused the death. T h e operation. McKnight’s case is believed to aggressive war on drug users because of edly arrested. defense argued that any number of factors be the first homicide prosecution of this the implication that anyone who is selfish Oregon anarchists jailed on felony can cause stillbirths. Four doctors testi- type in the country. enough to irreparably damage a child for charges include Robert Thaxton, who is fied, presenting conflicting views. A study published in the March issue the sake of a quick high deserves retribu- serving 7 years for assault after a 1999 South Carolina law defines a third- of the Journal of the American Medical tion… This image, promoted by the mass Eugene Reclaim the Streets action and trimester fetus as a person. This statute A s s o c i a t i o n supports the argument of media, makes it easier to advocate a sim- Craig “Critter” Marshall, who recently was first applied in 1997, when Cornelia M c K n i g h t ’s lawyers. Debunking the plistic, punitive response than to address accepted a plea bargain of 5 1⁄2 years in Whitner was convicted of child abuse for myth of the crack baby, the study con- the complex causes of drug use.” connection with an arson in Eugene. using drugs while pregnant even though cluded, “Many findings once thought to FTAA’s MANY FACES by MIKE BURKE CANADA 6 percent under an EU deal compared to P u blic distrust of the FTAA has 1 percent under the FTAA, as European On April 22, in a fortified compound in reached extraordinary levels. Prior to the demand for its agricultural products Quebec City, 34 hemispheric leaders F TAA protests in April, a Canadian would be much higher. agreed to continue negotiations on the Labour Congress poll found that 21 per- Free Trade Area of the Americas and set a cent of adult Canadians, or 4.4 million MEXICO goal of January 1, 2005 to finalize the people, would have protested in the While Mexican leaders have backed deal.But the FTAA, which would create streets if they could have afforded to and the FTAA, some private business inter- the world’s largest trade bloc, remains far had the time. According to the poll, 74 ests hope to delay ratification in order to from a reality. It has been characterized percent of citizens want a national refer- benefit from special access to U.S. mar- by critics as “NAFTA on steroids” and endum on the FTAA and 90 percent want kets. “Who wants to share such privileged faces widespread opposition among the open parliamentary public hearings and access? general population of many nations and debates. The longer Mexico can hold on to that, some international leaders. Many Canadian concerns center on the better,” says Luis Rubio, who heads As with NAFTA, opponents fear the preserving national sovereignty and pub- the Center for Research and FTAA will give corporations extraordi- lic services, including health care. As a D evelopment, a Mexican think tank. nary rights over citizens and governments sign of what could come, UPS has chal- Under NAFTA, Mexican exports have as well as degrade environmental and lenged the legality of the Canadian gov- tripled with 88 percent of all exports labor conditions across the hemisphere. ernment’s parcel post delivery operation heading to the U.S. But Mexican workers “While the FTAA represents an ambi- claiming that the very existence of a pub- have not been as fortunate: wages have tious new attempt by trade ideologues to licly subsidized delivery system is not fallen, the income gap has widened, and push the envelope of trade and investment allowed under NAFTA. an economic geographical divide has liberalization in the Americas, the good formed between the northern and south- news is that there are many cracks in the ern states. According to a 2000 study by armor of the FTAA,” writes Marc Lee, a A Canadian Labour the Centre for Economic Research and research economist with the Canadian Teaching, 90 percent of foreign invest- Centre for Po l i cy A l t e rn a t ives. “The Congress poll found that ment under NA F TA has gone to the process surrounding it, and the political 21 percent of adult n o rt h e rn states of Nuevo Leon, will of the nations involved, are not near- Chihuahua, and Baja, California, as well ly as fortified as the walls of Quebec Canadians, or 4.4 million as the western part of Jalisco. City.” people, would have Citizens and leaders of many countries UNITED ST ATES have expressed many misgivings about protested in the streets if A recent study by the conservative the proposed FTAA. Below is an outline Institute for International Economics of some of their concerns: they could have afforded determined that the American public is to and had the time. split on globalization. “It is not just van- ARGENTIN A dalizing ‘anarchists’ in Seattle, or union On April 5, over 10,000 unionists, workers from trade-impacted industries, farmers, students, and leftists protested in JAMAICA who oppose globalization policies,” write Buenos Aires, where the final drafting M a ny small Caribbean countries, Kenneth F. Scheve and Matthew J. session of the FTAA took place. The including Jamaica, depend heav i ly on Slaughter. “It is a much broader share of demonstrators demanded that the FTAA tariff income collected when goods are U.S. citizens, divided across skill groups delegates stop their secretive ways and i m p o rted into the country. Jamaica is in all industries as a result of domestic allow citizens to view the text of the pro- lobbying to extend the schedule for tariffs labor-market competition.” posed trade pact. to be reduced. Although NAFTA has resulted in a loss of 400,000 jobs, according to the BRAZIL LATIN AMERICA Justice Department, Bush backs FTAA The nation’s main industries — From 1960 to 1980, when most Latin and plans to seek fast-track authority (he machine tools, chemicals, and electronics American economies were “welfare sta- dubs it “trade promotion authority”), — may be unable to compete against tist”, the per capita income in Latin which would eliminate the role of mammoth U.S. and Canadian corpora- America grew 73 percent, according to Congress in amending any trade agree- tions if all trade restrictions were lifted, the Canadian Financial Post. During the ments. domestic critics of the FTAA fear. “The last two decades, when the region has Progressive Democrats are expected to U.S. and Canada have enormous indus- undergone unprecedented trade liberal- insist on incorporating labor and environ- tries. In such an environment, how are we ization, the per capita income increased mental standards into any agreement. going to compete and develop our indus- only 7 percent. try?” asked Samuel Pinherio Guimaraes, VENEZUELA a government official, shortly before the MERCOSUR Among hemispheric leaders, President Quebec talks. While Pinherio’s statement Brazil, A rgentina, Uru g u ay, and Hugo Chavez is the FTAA’s most vocal was retracted by the Brazilian govern- Paraguay are already in a four-nation opponent. “For Venezuela the FTAA is ment, it reflects a common fear among trade pact known as the Common Market only a possibility, only an option and not Brazilians. of the Southern Cone, or MERCOSUR. A a destiny,” said Chavez, who has explored A few weeks prior to the Quebec talks, 1997 study by the Getulio Va rga s entering into smaller trade agreements Brazil was successful in stalling a U.S. Foundation in Brazil predicted that Brazil with neighboring nations. plan to push up the deadline for trade and Argentina’s economies would expand In June, Chavez plans to formally request negotiations from January 1, 2005 to far more quickly if a trade liberalization that Venezuela, South America’s largest January 1, 2003. pact was signed with the European Union oil producer, become an associate mem- Brazil will like ly insist that U. S . instead of the FTAA. The Brazilian econ- ber of the MERCOSUR. remove tariffs on steel and orange juice, omy, the study predicted, would expand at Chavez also criticizes the U.S. ban on which would be difficult for any U.S. an additional rate of 5 percent annually Cuba from negotiations. President to do because of the importance under an EU agreement, compared to of those products in the respective only an additional 2 percent under the All photos taken in Quebec City, April 20-22. economies of Pennsylvania and Florida, FTAA. Photo credits (clockwise from bottom left): two key electoral states. The potential economic growth dis- Peter Holderness, Peter Holderness, Heather crepancy was even greater for Argentina: Haddon, Peter Holderness, John Tarleton, Peter Holderness, John Tarleton, Peter Holderness by JOHN TARLETON News Analysis On April 20, thousands of people archical state actors can.” hundreds of activists. marched through Quebec City to the 11- A year later the Zapatista uprising “I think the time and energy is [not foot fence that organizers of the Summit erupted in Southern Mexico. only] worth it but absolutely necessary,” of the Americas had thrown up to keep Springing into action on the day Sitrin says. “We need to protect and take protesters at bay while hemispheric lead- (January 1, 1994) that the North care of each other. The way we organize ers met inside to negotiate an ambitious American Free Trade A g r e e m e n t and take care of each other today is a new Free Trade Agreement of the (NAFTA) went into effect, the Zapatistas reflection of the type of world we want to Americas (FTAA). o ffered a new paradigm for leftists. create. It takes energy but imagine if we Parts of the fence, which was the subject Instead of trying to seize state power like didn’t defend each other.” of months of debate, were torn down in a all previous guerrilla movements, the matter of minutes. The police responded Zapatistas have sought to create more Localizing the Global with a barrage of tear gas that lasted for democratic spaces in their communities Gretchen King, 24, is a media activist two days. Young militants battled securi- as well as in wider Mexican society. They and a graduate student in social anthro- ty forces while as many as 60,000 work- have called for “a world that contains pology in the declining rust belt city of ers, environmentalists and other con- many worlds” and have off e r e d Syracuse, New York. King says activists cerned citizens marched through another Zapatismo as one example of resistance, should take the large issues raised at the part of town. Then, everyone went home. not a template to be slavishly duplicated. mass actions and make them relevant in The Quebec protests were another mile- The mass actions from Seattle forward their own communities. stone in a still nascent movement against have, at least in part, reflected that plu- “I think this movement has to start corporate globalization. They turned the ralistic vision. The tendency of protesters talking about the kind of survival issues spotlight (at least in Canada) on the to hop from summit to summit has come that slap people when they walk out the FTA A and the secretive negotiations under fire from both inside and outside front door,” she adds. behind it. But now what? How far can activist circles. Yet, people keep on FTAAteach-ins were held in Syracuse this new direct action movement grow going. and the roster of speakers was sprinkled beyond its countercultural base? Will it “There’s definitely a crowd of 20- with local activists who could put global be able to affect real changes in a society somethings who’ve been traveling from issues in focus — a union organizer talk- dominated at every level by giant, summit to summit,” says Evan Henshaw- ing about the globalization of trade in transnational corporations? Are the mass Plath, founder of the protest.net website. services and the plight of university actions that have defined the movement “I’m one of them and it’s a lot of fun...the workers, an anti-nuclear activist talking since Seattle still relevant? And, will a biggest benefit is that all the people who about the deregulation of the nuclear growing acceptance of using “a diversity are doing local actions are given a chance power industry under free trade, a local of tactics” give this movement more flex- to connect and network. Whereas before, farmer relating the effort to produce ibility or isolate it from the broader pub- I think there was a pretty severe case of regional organic food to the globalization lic it seeks to influence? isolation.” of the agro-industrial complex. There will be mobilizations this sum- “It was an opportunity for people to The Globalization of Resistance mer in Cincinnati (anti-police brutality), both learn and to plug into stuff going on As Quebec emphatically restated, the Sweden (European Union), San Diego right where they are,” King says. “They urge to get in the way of those who wield (Biotech), Genoa, Italy (G8) and Bonn, were engaging real people on these global power continues to be irresistible, Germany (climate conference). A June issues and I think that was important.” and a diverse, teeming ecosystem of 25-27 World Bank conference in Paul Engler is an organizer for both protest has emerged in the past year and Barcelona was recently cancelled in the the Western Massachusetts Global Action a half as demonstrators around the world face of potentially large protests. For Coalition and the Hotel and Restaurant contest the values and priorities of corpo- Paul Rosenberg, 51, a longtime Los Employees Union. A recent graduate of rate-driven globalization. The protest Angeles activist, these mobilizations are Hampshire College, he considers himself monoculture of the past — neatly struc- indispensable. an anarchist, did jail solidarity after being tured groups falling in line behind recog- “Big mass actions are a necessity,” arrested at last year’s IMF/World Bank nizable leaders — is giving way to some- Rosenberg says. “They’re exhilarating protests in Washington, D.C. and is well- thing distinctly different as scruffy anar- and they expand people’s sense of the versed in the “Seattle model” with its chists, university students, renegade possible. Continuing to challenge pluto- emphasis on affinity groups (autonomous farmers, environmentalists, trade union- cratic planning meetings simply cannot cells of 5-20 people), spokescouncils (the ists, pagans, radical cheerleaders, be stressed too much. The basic notion of looseknit decision making bodies that Ghandian pacifists, unrepentant ‘60s rad- physically challenging these meetings is affinity groups use to coordinate their icals and others make common cause an incredibly powerful one.” actions) and direct action. However, against a deregulated global capitalism. Challenging powerful institutions can Engler also contends that radicals need to “We’re facing down hundreds of years have powerful repercussions. Anti-glob- know when to shed some of their coun- of colonialism and imperialism that’s alization activists have been subject to tercultural trappings in order to forge now called globalization,” says Warcry scare campaigns in the media, infiltration alliances with labor and other more of the New York City Direct Action of their meetings and organizations and mainstream allies. Network. “We’ve taken on a lot, but trumped up charges in the criminal jus- “When labor people or A f r i c a n - that’s O.K. That’s what we want to do tice system. American people have to organize within with our lives-to work to create a decent In one of the most controversial crack- the consensus model they are uncomfort- planet.” downs to date, the 400 or so protesters able with it and the culture that comes Ironically, the US military anticipated arrested during last summer’s demonstra- with it,” Engler says. “You have to reach the emergence of a decentralized, global tions at the Republican National out to people where they are at. Often resistance years before most radicals did Convention in Philadelphia originally you have to organize along pre-existing so. faced over 1,500 charges that could have social patterns and institutions.” In the 1993 article “Cyberwar Is collectively landed them thousands of The mass action model will face a new Coming,” Pentagon analyst David years of prison time. For Marina Sitrin, challenge in November when world lead- Rondfelt wrote, “the rise of networks, 30, of the New York Peoples Law ers try to vanish into the Arabian Desert especially all-channel networks, in which Collective, and other volunteers like her, to hold the next WTO Ministerial in the every node is connected to every other keeping the Philly activists out of jail Emirate of Qatar. Lisa Fithian of the Los node, means that power is migrating to became a full-time occupation. To date, Angeles Direct Action Network said the non-state actors who are able to organize the R2K Legal Office has raised and first thing activists should do is “claim into sprawling multi-organizational net- spent $230,000 and required 40,000 vol- victory” in forcing the WTO into hiding. works more readily than traditional, hier- unteer hours to successfully exonerate She suggested that activists may look to (continued on page 14) Vietnam: Atrocity was the Policy by A.K. GUPTA News Analysis Flick on your television to the History were going to encounter upon their return to Former CIAagent Ralph McGehee says, Killed In Action (Body Count).” His Channel and you’ll be treated to a seeming- the village. “one of Phoenix’s main results was the Bronze Star citation also refers to his team ly unending cavalcade of shows extolling Kerrey may be correct that the village mass and indiscriminate murder of killing 21 “Viet Cong communist aggres- the heroism and valor of our armed forces. was in a free-fire zone, but historians say Vietnamese civilians.” Other aspects of the sors.” The content is often the same — tales of there was hardly a place in the region that program included detaining thousands of Trying to comprehend Kerrey’s role in derring-do under fire, interviews with bat- wasn’t. There were few prohibitions on civilians and turning them over to the the conflict is not some academic exercise. tle-scarred veterans, grainy combat footage bombing anywhere in Laos, Cambodia and Pentagon’s South Vietnamese allies. Most The Pentagon is currently embroiled in the — though the setting may vary from WWII North Vietnam. Outside of cities, the of these detainees, claims McGehee, were Colombian civil war. There, paramilitary to Korea, Vietnam, Panama, the Persian Pentagon indiscriminately bombed virtually women and children. One Phoenix agent forces, often trained and supplied by the Gulf. all of South Vietnam. Throughout all of who testified before Congress in 1971 said U.S., have killed thousands of civilians in a While disputes may linger about the just- Indochina, by some estimates, U.S. forces during his year and a half in the program, he Phoenix-like terror campaign against sus- ness of a particular war, so the narrative killed over 1 million civilians. “never knew an individual to be detained as pected guerrilla supporters. goes, all can nonetheless agree that our Col. David Hackworth (Ret.), who says a [Viet Cong] suspect who ever lived The question remains of what punish- troops in the field fought bravely and hon- he served in the same area at the same time through an interrogation.” ment should be meted out to Kerrey. CBS orably. as Kerrey, claims his division killed over Another Phoenix agent who appeared News, which gave prominence to the inci- The revelation that former U.S. Senator 20,000 guerrillas during that time and a before Congress, Michael Uhl, testified that dent, claims in an accompanying article on Bob Kerrey may have committed war “large percentage of those were civilians.” “because of command pressure” all civilian its website that Kerrey can’t be prosecuted crimes in Vietnam has punctured this Currently a journalist, Hackworth detainees were listed as part of the “Viet for war crimes because he no longer serves Hollywood-inspired myth of combat hero- recently told T V personality Bryant Cong Infrastructure,” even though “not one in the military. ism. Kerrey, who currently serves as head Gumbel that “Vietnam was a massacre. It of these people ever freely admitted to This is disingenuous at best. There is no of the Manhattan-based New School was an atrocity from beginning to end.” being a cadre member.” statute of limitation on war crimes; prose- University, has been accused by one of his Because of considerable support among Special operations forces, such as the cutions are still occurring of WWII-era fellow veterans of leading a mission on South Vietnamese peasants for the NLF, the Seals and the Army’s Green Berets, trained Nazis. At the Nuremberg trials in Germany, February 25, 1969, during which soldiers Pentagon considered anyone outside of South Vietnamese police and paramilitary the victors, including the United States, knowingly claimed the lives of 21 civilians. U.S. control to be an “unfriendly.” Capt. units to carry out the Phoenix missions of established that there was no justification Kerrey claims the purpose of the mission David Marion (Ret.), who served as an assassination and kidnapping. for war crimes. No soldier can use the was to capture a local leader of the National adviser to the senior South Vietnamese offi- In the Mekong Delta, where Kerrey’s excuse, “I was only following orders” to Liberation Front, or Viet Cong as termed by cial in the region covering Thanh Phong, Raiders carried out some of their assaults, defend their actions, which Kerrey has its opponents. The guerrilla leader they says his superior’s attitude was, “You sup- SEAL advisers led local forces on an aver- attempted. were after, though, was not a soldier, but the port me and the government of Vietnam, we age of 15 missions a month, according to Given the United States’ zealous pursuit village secretary, basically the mayor. get along O.K. You do not, you’re Viet Kevin Dockery, author of SEALS In Action. of selected war criminals from the Balkan Gerhard Klann, who served on the Cong, you die.” For his role in the incident, Kerrey conflict, the proper course would be for seven-member team of elite Navy “Seals” In hopes of crippling the NLF, its ene- received the Bronze Star for “courage under Kerrey to surrender himself for prosecution. led by Kerrey, says upon entering the target mies went after its civilian infrastructure. fire.” An accompanying citation noted he Some may object that the architects of village of Thanh Phong in the sprawling The Central Intelligence Agency initiated served with “friendly foreign forces,” sug- the war, like former Defense Secretary Mekong River Delta, the soldiers found the “Phoenix Program” in 1968 to coordinate gesting the Seals were leading local forces. Robert McNamara or ex-Secretary of State only women and children. all terror programs in operation against the Thus, it appears, Kerrey was leading a Henry Kissinger, should be the ones in the Klann says after executing an elderly g u e r r i l l a s ’ civilian supporters. A n y w h e r e group of paramilitaries on a mission to kill docket. And they should. couple and their three grandchildren, with from 20,000 to 70,000 Vietnamese were civilians. Two recently declassified military But what happened on that night 32 Kerrey holding down the old man while his assassinated during the program’s three reports dated February 25, 1969, refer to years ago was not a made-for-television throat was slit, the special forces rounded years of operation. “21 VC KIA(BC),” meaning, “21 Vietcong episode of combat valor, but quite likely the up 16 other civilians and “slaughtered them” under orders from Kerrey. Kerrey claims his troops were fired upon and the civilians died in a chaotic night bat- AFTER QUEBEC... tle that ensued. However, Klann says the Seals (which stands for Sea-Air-Land units) (continued from page 13) shut down we should feel free to RESHAPE what tactics’, you’ve lost the arg u m e n t , never came under fire, and a villager who stock exchanges around the planet when protest means,” Rosenberg said, “particu- because violence totally discredits people says she witnessed the killings has corrobo- the WTO convenes on November 9. larly when they hide from us.” who are doing non-violent CD.” rated his account of the massacre. King has worked with microradio.net The “Next Big Event” in the United Confronted with the evidence in an inter- and the Emergency Broadcasters Bloc at Ongoing Debates States will occur when the IMF/World view with CBS News, Kerrey said to call it several large actions and she suspects the The FTAA protests in Quebec were Bank meet October 2-4 in Washington, “an atrocity . . . is pretty close to being genie is out of the bottle. “They (the among the fiercest to date. Security D.C. Veteran activists like Fithian find right.” He added that he’s “got to be pre- protests) will become more localized,” forces fired off almost 5,000 rounds of themselves trying to both embrace and pared to tolerate any consequences of this . she said. “Just because we don’t have tear gas in two days, blanketing the pop- defuse more radical elements like the . . up to and including somebody saying this access to their meetings, doesn’t mean ulation in a cloud of chemical irritants. Black Bloc even as they grow in popular- is a war crime.” this will stop. We’ll find new forms of Protesters, in turn, hurled everything ity. It is a dilemma that predates this new While Kerrey says he is haunted by protest. And that may be the best thing from stuffed animals to hockey pucks to movement by 30 years. “guilt” and “shame” for the incident, he has for the movement.” Molotov cocktails at the police. Whereas “The Black Bloc has captured the waffled on his culpability. In a press confer- British activists recently scored a coup the action guidelines in Seattle called for imagination of thousands of people,” ence on April 26, Kerrey said the assault when police practically shut down protesters to forsake weapons, violence Warcry said. She spoke slowly as she took place in a “free-fire zone” where any- London on May Day in response to or property destruction, organizers in gathered her thoughts. “We can’t define one was fair game. In an earlier interview activists well-publicized plans to do Quebec embraced the call for “a diversi- our resistance by what they (the media) with Gregory L. Vistica, the journalist who “direct actions” at a “Monopoly board” ty of tactics”, which some, like Engler, define as acceptable. If we turn our backs broke the story in the New York Times, of 26 pre-selected areas that contained read as a euphemism for “anything goes”. on each other, then this thing will fall Kerrey claimed, “We were instructed not to hundreds of potential targets. In another In the diverse new ecosystem of apart.” take prisoners.” vein, Rosenberg suggests that activists protest, Engler sees formations like the A year and a half after Seattle, the tra- But “Kerrey’s Raiders,” as his team was could converge on various cities and then Black Bloc as a kudzu-like weed that jectory of this most unorthodox (and dubbed, had descended upon Thanh Phong disperse through the streets in bands of threatens to overrun other life forms. unexpected) of movements remains less than two weeks prior to the killings to 10 — each with a puppet, a banner, a “Violence is breaking apart the move- uncertain. look for the secretary. In their after-action drum and several leafleters dressed as ment from the sides,” Engler said. “It’s a reports, the Seals noted that they “interro- clowns — before converging once more small minority that unilaterally forces (Other stories and interviews by gated 14 women and small children.” From on a central location. what they think should happen at an John Tarleton can be found at the report, which contains Kerrey’s name, it “Having established the reality of action, whether they recognize it or not. www.cybertraveler.org) seems likely that the Seals knew what they protest whenever these meetings are held, Once you accept the phrase, ‘diversity of by BILL WEINBERG On April 28, Mexico’s Chamber of hand for a photo-op on April 20 when Deputies approved a package of constitu- 700 soldiers pulled out of the jungle set- tional reforms on indigenous autonomy tlement of Guadalupe Tepeyac. But the sought by the Zapatista National troops established a new base at the next Liberation Army (EZLN) and its Indian settlement up the road, Nuevo Momón. supporters. But the rebellious Indians say The release of over 100 Zapatista sym- changes made by the Senate rendered the pathizers from prisons throughout The Zapatistas are greeted with a welcome rally in San Cristóbal de las Casas, the colonial package unacceptable and broke off dia- Mexico is the third signal rebels are capitol of Chiapas, upon their return from Mexico City. logue with the government in response. demanding. Of these, 11 remain behind President Vincente Fox had signed the bars in state prisons, mostly due to the reform package, known as the San intransigence of state governors. Andres Accords, upon assuming office Although the EZLN communiqué did COCA GROWERS TURN last December. The pact is named for a not threaten a return to war, a statement village in the Zapatista home state of by the National Indigenous Congress UP THE HEAT IN BOLIVIA Chiapas where congressional negotiators (CNI) warned of a “resurgence of the by BILL WEINBERG April 24, calling for toll reductions. They hashed out the agreement with EZLN armed movement in Chiapas,” and called Over 300 peasant coca growers or blocked streets and were met with yet leaders in 1996. on supporters to prepare resistance “cocaleros,” mostly Aymara Indians, more chemical weapons. During the con- Twenty-four EZLN “comandantes,” nationwide. marched on the Bolivian capital of La frontation, a tear gas canister struck and including the charismatic The EZLN and CNI say the new text Paz on April 23, following a 200-mile killed a striker, and an elderly woman Subcommander Marcos, had just com- of the revised bill is closer to the version cross-country trek from Cochabamba, to died when another canister smashed pleted an historic cross-country tour to proposed by the previous President demand water rights, agrarian reform and through her nursing home window. Mexico City to demand government Ernesto Zedillo (and rejected four years an end to forced eradication of their After attending the Free Trade Area of action on the Accords. On March 11, ago by the EZLN) than the original text crops. The “March for Life and the Americas summit in Quebec City, over 100,000 Mexicans rallied in the cap- agreed to at San Andrés. Sovereignty of the Peoples” was publicly President Hugo Banzer returned to La ital’s central plaza to greet the rebel lead- The original text guarantees indige- warned away from the capital by Interior Paz on April 25 only to be confronted by ers, who were unarmed but wearing their nous communities “the use and enjoy- Minister Guillermo Fortún, who thun- four hunger-striking Congress members trademark ski masks. For weeks, the ment of the natural resources of their dered, “I said: you’re not going to arrive demanding the government negotiate Indians pressed for a chance to publicly lands and territories,” defined as all lands marching!” with protesters. The left-opposition is address both houses of Congress, which “indigenous peoples use and occupy, More than 1,500 cocaleros from the calling for Banzer, a former military dic- barely approved their request by a10- except for those whose direct control cor- coca-growing regions of Cochabamba tator, to step down. vote margin. On March 28, the Maya responds to the nation.” The new propos- and Los Yungas formed feeder marches On April 26, as more roadblocks went comandantes — minus the non-Indian al makes an exception for the more vague from their villages, but were repeatedly up on the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz road, Marcos — took Mexico’s highest podi- “strategic areas.” The original version blocked and attacked by police, who the government announced a program of um for a nationally televised address. But held that “the location of the indigenous threw tear gas and arrested hundreds, debt forgiveness for the region’s of Mexico’s 648 federal legislators, only peoples should be taken into account” in thinning the protesters’ranks. campesinos, a key peasant demand. But 207 attended. Most Congressional mem- drawing electoral districts. The new pro- Cocalero leader and Congressman Evo Santa Cruz business leader Jorge Valdés bers from Fox’s own National Action posal says this should be done “when fea- Morales, along with 10,000 workers and warned, “If the cocaleros want corpses, Party (PAN) — which is at odds with the sible.” urban supporters, greeted the protesters they’ll have corpses.” president over the Accords — refused to Meanwhile, violence in Chiapas just outside La Paz and joined them in Banzer is unlikely to budge on drop- attend. between pro-government paramilitaries marching to the city center. After being ping the U.S.-mandated eradication pro- In deliberations following the and Zapatista loyalists, which had ebbed chased out of the centrally located San gram, in which cocaleros are forced to Zapatista address, Fox, the PAN and since the presidential transfer of power Francisco Plaza by police firing tear gas, burn their crops or have elite police units many opposition legislators closed ranks last December, has started to re-emerge. the marchers were welcomed by striking do it for them. Peasants say the eradica- behind the revised pact, which passed the On April 20, in the highland village of students at a nearby university campus, tion will devastate them economically at lower house by a margin of 386-60. With Venustiano Carranza, eight Maya Indians where they were again attacked by a time when they already face pressure this development, the EZLN declared were killed in a land dispute between the police. from banks and creditors. Cochabamba’s that none of the “three signals” they had pro-EZLN Emiliano Zapata Campesino The following day, Morales water company is also in debt, and has established as a precondition for return- Organization (OCEZ) and the Bartolome announced that if the government did not broached charging campesinos for access ing to the peace table had been met. Alliance paramilitary. The eight were all respond to cocalero demands, the protest- to water. An uprising last year over sky- Passage of the Accords is the first “sig- Bartolome Alliance followers, gunned ers would return home and start blockad- rocketing water fees ended with govern- nal.” down while working their fields by ing roads in the Department of ment compromises on these issues, but An April 29 EZLN communiqué said masked men with machine guns. Four Cochabamba. The next day, cocaleros protest leaders say Banzer is dragging his the compromise “betrays the San Andrés days earlier, paramilitaries in Chilon had felled trees, blocking the road between heels on debt relief and other demands Accords.” It claimed government hard- attacked pro-Zapatista peasants. A Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Police while charging ahead with the eradica- liners “want to turn the March of woman was raped, a youth wounded, responded with tear gas, and 2,000 army tion. Indigenous Dignity into a defeat” and are three houses burned and 25 people dis- troops were sent in. The Coordinating Cocalero leader Evo Morales has “closing the door on dialogue and placed. It was the first major paramilitary Committee in Defense of Water and Life, gained a congressional seat, but he is peace.” It concluded, “There will be no attack since Fox took power. which is part of the nationwide umbrella being challenged for leadership of the more contact between the Fox govern- Venustiano Carranza has been the group Unified National Mobilization peasant movement by the more radical ment and the EZLN. . . . The Zapatistas scene of considerable bloodshed between Coordinating Committee (COMUNAL), Felipe Quispe Huanca, who goes by the remain in resistance and in rebellion.” the paramilitary and Zapatista sympa- organized the cocalero protests. name “El Mallku” (Aymara for “condor”) The second signal is the removal of thizers since the Chiapas revolt began in Bolivians championing other issues and is less disposed to negotiate with the army bases from Zapatista communities 1994. also took to the streets. In Southern Taria, government. El Mallku recently won in the Chiapas rainforest. But observers police fired tear gas at peasants who leadership of the United Bolivian say the troops are merely reconfiguring For news from Chiapas, visit blocked roads, demanding repairs on the Wo r k e r-Campesino Confederation, the their positions rather than withdrawing www.chiapas.indymedia.org highway linking their remote region to key cocalero group and a pillar of the from the conflict zone. Fox’s Chiapas the outside world. Transportation work- Water and Life movement. peace pointman Luis Alvarez was on ers staged a 24-hour strike in La Paz IN THETHE FI R S T PE R S O N HOW I HELPED START A UNION by STEPHANIE GREENWOOD higher-margin services, such as the new “aroma therapy” work, usually having gone without meals for much of the center rumored to be opening soon. shift (a major issue for the residents was the high cost of Here’s how you start organizing a hospital residents One of the pediatrics residents said the decision was food in the hospital and its unavailability after 2 p.m.). union: page someone. If they call back, ask them if an abandonment of children’s healthcare needs. “Right Once we get the union, will we get free meals, a raise they’ve heard of the union campaign and if they would now I would not want my child to get care here,” he said. and better staffing? No, but it will help. Both the resi- be able to come down and talk with you for a few min- Residents hold a fairly high position on the hospital dents and the organizers had to balance between patience utes. If they are not busy dealing with a major trauma, ladder and are supposed to ally with management. Their and anger, keeping expectations in line while maintain- crushed under oceans of paperwork, past the 24-hour unionization is an exciting trend in a growing coalition of ing enough optimism to see the work through. mark in a call shift or ideologically opposed, they may organized hospital workers who are uniting with com- Not to say that the whole process was monotonous. say yes. munity groups, activists and progressive politicians to When enough signatures had been gathered to demand I sweated through my first two conversations, both with force hospitals away from a relentless bottom-line logic union recognition, over 30 people assembled in the cafe- friendly medicine residents interested in forming a union and toward maintaining essential social services. teria and marched to the CEO’s office to deliver the peti- chapter at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital. When I left the tions in person. We were met by a nervous secretary who hospital, I was sure I had “eject this union organizer” Small Steps had a handwritten note from the CEO instructing her to stamped on my jacket. As I headed back to my tell us to talk to Human Services. Manhattan office, where I work for the 11,000-member In practice, the process of organizing a union has only The administration was headquartered in a fancy Committee of Interns and Residents, I mused over flashes of idealism and high-road inspiration. Most of the building several blocks from the hospital. Residents had whether it was worthwhile to bring better working con- day-to-day work — getting petitions signed, passing out neither time nor permission to leave their posts. Their ditions to a group of young professionals making buttons, doing outreach for meetings, following up on march succeeded in bringing together people from dif- $37,000-$55,000 per year, and who will soon be earning meetings, planning for meetings, conducting meetings, ferent specialties for the first time to make a direct twice that much and living lives of individual prestige. demand on top management. That the bosses promptly The next eight months gave me answers that I won’t soon hid behind their bureaucracy could not obscure the sig- forget. Dependent on the nificance of the move from talk to action or the desire for an organized voice that was coming from a broad spec- Disaster Zone trum of departments. institution for their Building the political pressure to force recognition of I quickly learned that most interns and residents (med- the union seemed slow. But it was much faster than going ical school graduates who have entered a three-year licenses, their jobs through the tangled legal process that the National Labor training program that will certify them to be practition- Relations Board has established for unions seeking offi- ers) often work under disastrous conditions. They are and in the case of cial government recognition. required to be “on call” virtually all the time — admit- Waiting for the legal process to finish and the govern- ting, caring for and documenting the conditions of many immigrants ment to schedule a vote would probably take five years. patients — while learning medical procedures and how Most residents graduate in three. In this campaign, the to function within the hospital’s hectic hierarchy. their visas, re s i d e n t s hospital agreed to an early election due to the political They typically put in more than 80 hours per week, pressure exerted by Local 1199 (which represents over while paying exorbitant rents for housing adjacent to a re part i c u l a r l y 200,000 health care workers in the New York area), local their hospitals, repaying school loans and, often, raising politicians and the residents themselves, as well as the families. possibility that the licensed physicians might also begin For what often amounts to less than $10 an hour, resi- vulnerable to organizing. dents not only take responsibility for front-line patient After nine months of discussions, doubts, arguments care, but often pick up the slack as hospitals cut support e x p l o i t a t i o n . and committee building, the residents voted 283-44 to staff, resources and training. unionize. They are currently negotiating their first col- Dependent on the institution for their licenses, their jobs scheduling more meetings — is mundane. lective bargaining agreement with the hospital adminis- and in the case of many immigrants their visas, residents The fights we really wanted to win — saving the pedi- tration. are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. atrics residency for example — couldn’t even be fought The union will give them a position from which to With managed care and cutbacks in Medicaid reim- for lack of resources and organizational groundwork. I advocate for themselves—to improve their ability to bursements, more “throughput” (moving patients quick- was learning that organizing does not bring solutions; but deliver quality care and to get a good education that will ly from admission to discharge and collecting whatever lack of organizing guarantees that things get worse. make them better doctors in the future. I also hope it will money is possible) is promoted while “overproviding” Necessary but insufficient applied to most steps of the be a vehicle through which they can join with other services is strongly discouraged. campaign as well. Each meeting, conversation, trip to a residents around the country in agitating for better One doctor told me, “If I didn’t have medical school legislative member’s office or to a community board, healthcare policy. loans, I would quit tomorrow. This is not about caring for each letter of support, each day another person wore a Small campaigns like these aren’t enough to bring patients anymore. The way things are now, I regret union button was another small piece of pressure brought about global economic justice. But, they are a step in the becoming a doctor.” to bear on a complicated, financially distraught institu- right direction. Less profitable departments such as pediatrics are tion. Since we didn’t know in advance which combina- especially hard hit. In the hospital I was working at, the tion of tactics would be effective, all the pieces were pediatrics department lost its Intensive Care Unit, its pul- important. Do you have a story about your monologist, its asthma clinic and a number of specialists For residents whose overriding problem was a lack of community or a political struggle? Tell us in the previous year due to decreasing admissions. time and energy for out-of-work activity, the piecemeal about your battles, accomplishments, Infants with complications would often have to be nature of building a campaign required lots of faith and disappointments. Tell us in the First Person. referred to better-equipped facilities. motivation to keep going. How will we get the union? We are always looking for contributions to During the union campaign, the hospital announced Well, come to a meeting with Community Board 9 and this monthly column. that the pediatrics residency program could not be sus- ask for its support. Will that work? No, but it will help. tained due to its low returns and competition from else- This approach doesn’t always move someone who has Contact us at [email protected] where. The program was to be “phased out” in favor of put in 28 hours straight, dealing with crises and paper- or at (212) 684-8112.