Cockburn
/ St. Clair's Scorching New History of a Decade of War
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Today's
Stories
June
4, 2004
Chris
Floyd
Masked and Anonymous: Inside America's
Animal House
June
3, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
Iran's Nuclear Dilemma
Dr.
Susan Block
America in tha Hood
Michael
Donnelly
The Bully and the Brahmin
John
Chuckman
Insanity in America: US Ranks Number
One in the Deranged
Christopher
Brauchli
The Return of Cardinal Law: Rome
on $12,000 a Month
Samia
Nassar Melki
Caravaggio in Iraq
Mike
Whitney
Subverting Justice: Pre-Trial Ruminations in the Padilla Case
Diane
Rejman
Memorial Day Isn't Just About the Dead
Scott
Morris
"WMDs" in Cuba
Paul
de Rooij
Palestinian Misery in Perspective
June
2, 2004
Brian
Cloughley
The Liars are Winning
Ray
McGovern
How Far Would They Go? Beware "Credible
Intelligence"
Josh
Frank
The Anybody But Bush Offensive
Mike
Whitney
The Afghanistan Failure: Bush's Warlord Patriots
Jackie
Corr
Iraq and Ireland: Three Tales from Butte, Montana
Robert
Jensen
The US Lost the Iraq War...and It's a Good Thing, Too
Alexander
Cockburn
"Bye, Bye Boonville!"
June
1, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Instant Karma: Bush's Sins Catch Up
with Him
William
A. Cook
Manufacturers of Fear and Loathing in
Rafah
Dave
Lindorff
Will the Times Clean House?
Kevin
Zeese
Inside the Kerry / Nader Meeting: Did
the Kerry Campaign Lie About What Was Discussed?
Jacob
Levich
Coming Soon: Return of the Draft,
a Bipartisan Production
Kathy
Kelly
Voices in the Wilderness v. the US
Government
Website
of the Day
Remind Us
May
29 / 31, 2004
Lee
Ballinger / Dave Marsh
The Origins of Memorial Day
Janine
Pommy Vega
Memo for Memorial Day
Mike
Ferner
On Their Way to Abu Ghraib
Alfred
W. McCoy
The Cruel Shadow: the Long History of CIA Torture Research
Douglas
Valentine
An Open Letter to the NYT: Questions, Questions, Questions
Chris
White
First to Fight Culture: a Former Marine on the Marine Motto
Bruce
Anderson
The Awful Injustice to Tai Abreu
David
Vest
Get Ready for Kerry's War: the 100 Year Quagmire
Saul
Landau
Torture: the Logical Outcome of Bush's War for Democracy?
Kurt
Nimmo
Abu Hamza al-Mazri, Made in the USA
Elaine
Cassel
The Secrets of Surveillance: Ashcroft, Snoops, and Gag Orders
Will
Potter
The New War on "Terror": Protest the Torture of Chimps;
Get Arrested as a "Terrorist"
Ben
Tripp
They Fiddled While Nero Got the Matches
Dr.
Susan Block
Save Abu Ghraib!
Kia
Kojouri
Nukes, the US, Israel and Iran: an
Interview with Sasan Fayazmanesh
Mickey
Z
D-Day: 60 Years is Enough!
Jon
Brown
Correcting the Correction at the Times
Patrick
B. Barr
Pre-emptive War Insurance
Stephen
Gowans
Bad Apples in a Bad Barrel
Tom
Gorman
Gore on Bush in Iraq: the Approach May be Exotic, But It's Hardly
New
Dave
Zirin
Fighting for Boxers' Rights: an Interview with Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad
Gregory
Weiher
Bush to Arabs: "Go Get Yourself Some Democracy"
Erik
Cummings
Jung Meets Bush
Poets'
Basement
Davies, Ford, Kearney, McLellan and Albert
May
28, 2004
Rafael
Rodriguez Cruz
Curtain of Silence on the Cuban 5
Greg
Moses
Bush's Misleading Speech on Abu Ghraib
Dave
Lindorff
Dissing Independent Contractors:
Those Who Do the Dirty Work
Norman
Solomon
Leaping for Lies at the Times
Rep.
Bill Delahunt
Bush's Cruel New Rules on Cuba
Paul
McGeough
Chalabi Baba and the 40 Thieves
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
India and Nehru: 40 Years After
Alexander
Cockburn
NYTs: "Maybe We Did Screw Up...a
Little"
May
27, 2004
Amy
Goodman / David Goodman
Fatal Errors: the Lies of Our Times
Douglas
Valentine
Ragging the Dogs of War at the
NYTs
John
L. Hess
The Times Confesses...Kind Of
Stew
Albert
Dellinger, the Wrestling Pacifist
Dave
Dellinger
a 1993 Interview
Christopher
Brauchli
Tax Breaks for Scions...to Hell with Poor Kids
Rampton
/ Stauber
Banana Republicans: Pumping Irony
May
26, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
Goodbye, David Dellinger: He Was a
Friend of Ours
Robert
Fisk
The Things Bush Didn't Say in His Speech
Zeynep
Toufe
New Draft UN Resolution Permits Perpetual Occupation
Conn
Hallinan
Bush and Sharon: the Oil Connection
Tom
Stephens
2 + 2 is On My Mind: More Morons
and War Crimes
Derek
Medley
Protesting Gov. Bigot
CounterPunch
Wire
FBI Abducts Artist; Seizes Art
Andrew
Cockburn
The Trail to Tehran
May
25, 2004
Joe
Bageant
The Covert Kingdom: On Earth as It
is in Texas
Col.
Dan Smith
A Question of Human Dignity
Gary
Handschumacher
Visiting Lori Berenson: Time to Bring Her Home
Toni
Solo
A Developing War in the Andes
Marc
Estrin
September Song: Disturbing Questions
About 9/11
Stephen
Banko, III
A Vietnam Vet on "Supporting the
Troops"
Website
of the Day
The Wizard of Whimsy
May
24, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
Dan Senor is Safe!
Kurt
Nimmo
Dirty Tricks & TortureGate: the
Missing Taguba Pages
Sam
Hamod
Gen. Zinni: "Wrong War, Wrong
Place, Wrong Time"
Mike
Whitney
The Wedding was a Bomb
Stan
Goff
Open Season on MAMs
Image
of the Day
A Photo from Abu Ghraib We Didn't See on the Front Page of the
NYTs
May
22 / 23, 2004
Paul
de Rooij
Colin Powell, a Political Obituary
Jeffrey
St. Clair
When War is Swell: Bush and the Carlyle Group
Elizabeth
Weill-Greenberg
Her Son Was Told He Wouldn't See Combat; Now He's Dead: an Interview
with Sue Niederer
Brian
Cloughley
America is Committing War Crimes in Iraq
Saul
Landau
Democracy in Latin America: Great for Investors; Not So Good
for People
Brandy
Baker
Feminists Stand By Their Man: Abortion, Judges and Kerry
Randall
Robinson
Bushwhacked in the Caribbean
Uri
Avnery
The Rape of Rafah
Ben
Tripp
Assume the Worst
Bruce
Anderson
News from Ecotopia: the Truth About the Wine Business
Josh
Ruebner
Why I Burned My Israeli Military Papers
Peter
Wolson, Ph. D.
Exhibitionistic Revenge at Abu Ghraib
Chloe
Cockburn
In Defense of "Troy": What Hector Could Teach Rummy
Linda
Burnham
Sexual Domination in Uniform: an American Value
Adrien
Rain Burke
War of the Necrophiliacs: Spc. Sabrina Harman and Her Corpse
David
Krieger
Charting a New Course for US Nuclear Policy
Ron
Jacobs
Turnaround
Poets'
Basement
Ford, Albert & LaMorticella
May 21, 2004
Ray
Close
The Canards of the Apologists
Christopher
Brauchli
"The Object of Torture is Torture"
Amira
Hass
Darkness at Noon
Jack
McCarthy
Camilo Mejia: Can the Son of a Sandinista Get a Fair Trial from
the US Army?
Bill
Kauffman
Nader v. Bush
Omar
Barghouti
No More Tears for America
Ghali
Hassan
Moral Failure of the "Free World" in Gaza
Christopher
Reed
How the CIA Taught the Portuguese to
Torture
Website
of the Day
Eric Idle on the Bush Administration: Fuck You, So Very Much
May
20, 2004
Andrew
Cockburn
The Truth About Chalabi
Kathy
Kelly
A Visit from the FBI
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Brown and Bored of Education in India
Tom
Stephens & John Philo
The War Crimes of Bush, Cheney & Co.
Sam
Bahour / Michael Dahan
Genocide by Public Policy
Robert
Ovetz
Ending the Race for the Last Turtle
Billy
Wilson
The Most Important Thing I Learned at School This Year
Website
of the Day
Rafah Today
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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June
4, 2004
Cat
and Mouse
Caterpillar's
Assault on the UAW
By
MIKE GRIFFIN
As predicted the contract expiration
at Caterpillar Tractor Inc passed with little fanfare and no
action by the UAW International union leadership. After taking
a strike authorization vote, UAW leaders, and that's a stretch
of the imagination, continue talks in secret. The latest contract
expired April 1 of this year and after a solid rejection of Caterpillar's
"Best and Final" offer, UAW leadership have returned
to "secret negotiations" leaving an unhappy membership
in the dark. The sins of the past [betrayal of their members
in the six year struggle against Cat in the mid-nineties] continue
to haunt a UAW international mis-leadership, which has grown
progressively worse.
For the 8000 UAW members at
Caterpillar in four states, hope for a fair and just contract
could not be dimmer. The last contract, a six-year pact, laid
the groundwork for negative bargaining at Caterpillar for generations;
keyword, "generations". Under the feeble leadership
of former UAW president, Steve Yokich, with Richard Shoemaker
heading up the Ag-Implement division for the UAW, the UAW allowed
Cat to tier wages and benefits. Temp employees were agreed on
for the first time. Employees who received less pay and benefits
and who could only become full time, and members of the union,
when Cat decided. Temps are still being hired and guess who will
become trained, on-site scabs if a strike happened to occur?
Cost shifting to retirees on health benefits was part of that
contract as well. In spite of a UAW constitutional provision
calling for equal pay, UAW mis-leadership sold the farm. Top
leaders in the UAW were so desperate; they were willing to sell
out the more than 250 members who were discharged during the
dispute; most of them discharged illegally. A militant rank and
file twice rejected the contract until it included returning
their heroes to work. Sources say Shoemaker left the union hall
in Peoria IL through the back door after a televised press release
recommending the contract, avoiding members who had struggled
for six years. Yokich dropped more than 450 NLRB victories and
stooped to pay off scabs that sued for harassment even though
a judge had ruled there was no merit to their cases. In Denver,
UAW members of the parts division at Cat, had wage cuts so deep
many qualified for food stamps and the York PA plant moved to
North Carolina and opened non-union.
Early in the dispute in nineties
Cat sued the UAW over the issue of paying UAW Reps on the shop
floor, the backbone of "jointism" or "team concept".
A loss in that suit could have resulted in dismantling the cooperative
program costing thousands of UAW jobs in the Auto industry. An
unfavorable ruling, that it is in fact company unionism, could
have destroyed the system the UAW uses to maintain control of
its members, how they vote and control of convention results.
Many UAW members believe that fear was a deciding factor in caving
in to Cat's demands. In effect, that system allows the continuing
lavish lifestyle of UAW leaders, no matter how poor their performance
and no matter how many concessions UAW members are forced to
accept.
Recently, Caterpillar sued
the State Of Illinois over an upgrade of the state's anti-strikebreaker
law signed by Governor Rod Blagojevich. Finding the right judge
these days is not that difficult. Like many unions today, UAW
leadership has sought remedy in the courts instead of fighting
with the only power they have; their members. In spite of nearly
a billion dollars in their treasury, the UAW has caved in all
over the country and now every employer expects a "me too"
contract ladened with outsourcing and concessions. The spin-offs
at Ford and GM at Delphi and Visteon parts divisions and others
in the auto industry agreed to by a pathetic UAW leadership,
has whet the appetite of every UAW employer. The UAW has agreed
to thousands of jobs being out-sourced and huge concessions in
wages and benefits. In Indiana last year, current UAW President,
Ron Gettlefinger,[Getfingered as he is disaffectionately referred
to by disgruntled members] agreed to a whopping ten dollar an
hour pay cut. To force the members to accept the cuts, some were
offered a chance to move to another plant and were not allowed
to vote on the concessions. No doubt the cuts will follow those
who moved. In the UAW today there are thousands of UAW Gypsies
who have moved from plant to plant because of job losses, many
of them agreed to by the UAW. Throughout the mid-west Caterpillar
has dozens of non-union parts suppliers who have taken UAW jobs.
The UAW is literally bleeding to death in membership, but refuse
to mount an offensive, opting instead, to cooperate with employers
and strong-arming their own members. Promises by the industry
to allow unfettered organizing in outsourced jobs have fallen
far short of expectations. Organizing by the UAW in other areas
has been dismal at best.
As if the Yokich leadership
wasn't bad enough, Gettlefinger has lowered the bar. As Regional
Director for the UAW in Louisville KY, Gettlefinger took the
low road. After authorizing a strike at Accuride Wheel in Henderson
KY and vowing to stand by his members for "as long as it
takes", the UAW suspended strike benefits for 650 members
in an effort to force the members to accept the most devastating
contract in UAW history. The company was notified several days
before Local 2036 leadership of the suspension. After a spirited
picket of Solidarity House [UAW headquarters in Detroit] by activists
and supporters from across the country, the UAW reinstated strike
benefits, but ultimately decertified the local and left Accuride
to be run by scabs. Members who hade paid dues for decades were
sold into despair. Imagine how this betrayal affected the members
and their families who were guilty of no more than supporting
the union they fought for?
All Cat has to do is lay patiently,
thumping its tail, for the UAW mouse with only its head in the
hole and its ass hanging out a mile, to make the decision to
give up the flesh for the greater corporate good. That decision
is coming from what must be the most laughable union leadership
in labor history. We may see a little street theater in the next
few weeks, but there will be no fight, and UAW members will again
pay the price for corporate unionism.
Mike
Griffin runs the War
Zone Education Foundation in Decatur, Illinois. He can be reached
at: MgriffWZEF@aol.com
Weekend Edition
Features for May 29 / 31, 2004
Mike
Ferner
On Their Way to Abu Ghraib
Alfred
W. McCoy
The Cruel Shadow: the Long History of CIA Torture Research
Douglas
Valentine
An Open Letter to the NYT: Questions, Questions, Questions
Chris
White
First to Fight Culture: a Former Marine on the Marine Motto
Bruce
Anderson
The Awful Injustice to Tai Abreu
David
Vest
Get Ready for Kerry's War: the 100 Year Quagmire
Saul
Landau
Torture: the Logical Outcome of Bush's War for Democracy?
Kurt
Nimmo
Abu Hamza al-Mazri, Made in the USA
Elaine
Cassel
The Secrets of Surveillance: Ashcroft, Snoops, and Gag Orders
Will
Potter
The New War on "Terror": Protest the Torture of Chimps;
Get Arrested as a "Terrorist"
Ben
Tripp
They Fiddled While Nero Got the Matches
Dr.
Susan Block
Save Abu Ghraib!
Kia
Kojouri
Nukes, the US, Israel and Iran: an
Interview with Sasan Fayazmanesh
Mickey
Z
D-Day: 60 Years is Enough!
Jon
Brown
Correcting the Correction at the Times
Patrick
B. Barr
Pre-emptive War Insurance
Stephen
Gowans
Bad Apples in a Bad Barrel
Tom
Gorman
Gore on Bush in Iraq: the Approach May be Exotic, But It's Hardly
New
Dave
Zirin
Fighting for Boxers' Rights: an Interview with Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad
Gregory
Weiher
Bush to Arabs: "Go Get Yourself Some Democracy"
Erik
Cummings
Jung Meets Bush
Poets'
Basement
Davies, Ford, Kearney, McLellan and Albert
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