SOUTH AFRICA: Car workers put solidarity before jobs

South Africa’s National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) is opposed to the proposed relocation of DaimlerChrysler's C-Class Mercedes production to plants in the Eastern Cape in response to trade union militancy in Germany. More than 60,000 DaimlerChrysler employees downed tools in Sindelfingen, southern Germany, on July 10 to protest against plans to make Mercedes staff work longer hours. The car maker says it will shed 6000 jobs at its Sindelfingen plant and shift some production of the new C-Class Mercedes model to other plants in northern Germany and South Africa. Although relocating Mercedes production to South Africa would lead to the creation of jobs in the Eastern Cape, NUMSA spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli told the South African Press Association on July 29: “We can't allow employers to make workers compete against each other by using such threats during disputes”. [Visit <http://www.numsa.org.za/>.]

PERU: Global warming melting ancient glaciers

The snow atop Pastoruri, one of the Andes’ most beautiful peaks, could disappear along with many of Peru’s glaciers in the next several years because of global warming, according Peru's National Environment Council, CONAM. At 5191 metres in the northern Andes, the glacier that covers Pastoruri has shrunk at a rate of 19 metres every year since 1980. Today it covers a surface area of 1.8 square kilometres, about 25% less than a quarter of a century ago. Pastoruri is one of 18 glacier-capped mountains in Peru suffering the effects of climate change. “If climatic conditions remain as they are, all the glaciers (in Peru) below 6000 metres will disappear by around 2015", CONAM's President Patricia Iturregui told Reuters on July 23. Peru has the most tropical glaciers in Latin America and has already lost 20% of the 2600 kms of glaciers running through its central and southern Andes in the past 30 years, according to CONAM. [Visit <http://www.conam.gob.pe/>.]

COSTA RICA: General strike for trade union rights

Costa Rica's Trade Union and Teachers’ Coordination (CUSIMA), which represents 70% of the country's unionised workers, declared a general strike on July 29, calling for the full respect for trade union rights and defence of collective bargaining agreements negotiated by trade unions. The strike has the backing of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions' Inter-American Regional Organisation of Workers (ICFTU-ORIT). In its correspondence (http://www.icftu.org) to Costa Rica’s President Abel Pacheco, the ICFTU- ORIT urged the government to heed the demands of the country's trade unions. [From <http://www.global-unions.org>.]

UNITED STATES: Toxic Teflon chemical found in people’s blood

WASHINGTON — It was announced on July 29 that a new study in a peer-reviewed science journal has found that toxic chemicals used to make Teflon-coated cookware, as well as water- and stain-resistant coatings on paper, carpets and furniture, have been found in people’s blood. A study in Environmental Science & Technology revealed Teflon chemicals in people from Asia, North and South America and Europe. Practically speaking, these human-made Teflon chemicals never break down in the environment, and have been found to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals. A July 8 Environmental Protection Agency announcement revealed that Teflon maker DuPont had violated US federal law by hiding a birth defect study and water contamination data. Chinese officials plan to study the safety of Teflon cookware. In the meantime, stores in China have removed it from their shelves. Researchers at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have studied Teflon chemicals, and others of the related perfluorochemical family, since 2000. The EWG’s research and work on the issue are online at <http://www.ewg.org>.

ARGENTINA: `Jaguars’ block bulldozers destroying forest

Buenos Aires — On July 29, Greenpeace activists, dressed as jaguars, used motorbikes to track down bulldozers that were destroying precious forests in a remote region of Argentina. The forest is being destroyed to grow genetically engineered soya that is shipped to Europe and Asia to feed pigs, chicken and cows. The “jaguars” located the bulldozers clear cutting and burning the forest while on the prowl in Salta, on the border of the Great Chaco and Yungas forests. Five “jaguars” used motorbikes to intercept the bulldozers and block their path to the forest. They locked the machines using chains to immobilise them and stamped “Blocked by Greenpeace” on the diggers. [From the Environmental Media Service, <http://www.ems.org> and <http://www.greenpeace.org>.]

ECUADOR: Social Forum opposes regional free trade agreements

Quito — Participants at the Social Forum of the Americas meeting here slammed the unfavourable agreements that continue to make poor countries more dependent on rich nations, and the unfair trade system that prevails in the world. The forum is also discussed the possible regional consequences of a US-sponsored free trade agreement, currently under discussion at a meeting of government representatives of the Andean countries in Lima, Peru. These agreements reportedly require Latin American governments to allow foreign investment in the oil and gas industry, water and other natural resources. Another topic causing concern among participants is the increasing militarisation of Latin America, as well as Washington's interventionist and hegemonic policies. [From Prensa Latina, <http://www.plenglish.com>.]

Anti-war coalition wins council seat

LONDON — The Respect coalition won a seat in the London borough of Tower Hamlets when Oliur Rahman gained 878 votes in a by-election.

Respect already holds two seats, in Preston and Nuneaton, where sitting councillors left their parties to join the coalition

Speaking to the media at a picket line at the Stratford benefit office on July 30, 23-year-old Rahman said that “what we said to people was that if Tony Blair had £6bn to waste on a war, then why can’t he find money for our pensioners, for hard working people in this country and for students who are worried about paying their fees?”

From Green Left Weekly, August 4, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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