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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1982)
Page 4 Portland Observer, September 1, 1982 EDITORIAL/OPINION A Labor Day Message Not a good day for Labor Monday is Labor Day — the day set aside to honor the workers and the unions that repre sent them. There is not much to celebrate in 1982 — with an official unemployment approaching 10 percent and a union-busting administration in office. Workers are asked to give up rights and benefits and protection that their predecessors fought and died to gain. Hanging over all is the threat that the employer will either close the doors — or in the case o f the large corpora tions — pick up and move to a third world na tion where labor is cheap. A t the same time that unemployment is booming and unskilled jobs are disappearing, the administration is eliminating vocational education and job training programs. Reduc tion o f vocational and adult education funds w ill result in an estimated 20 percent reduction in high school vocational training and a 40 percent reduction in post-high school pro grams. The administration has also proposed the elimination o f special programs to train women, minorities and the handicapped. The result is an under class o f people who are unemployed, unemployable and easily exploitable. The future does not look bright for the worker or for the unemployed as the country’s economy continues to sink deeper into depres sion and the administration continues to blame the victims. No DC state in sight On August 22, 1978, Congress proposed an amendment that would make Washington DC a state. In the three years that have passed only ten states, including Oregon, have ratified the amendment. It is improbable that the necessary 39 states w ill ratify this amendment; it w ill probably die as quickly as ERA did. The state legislatures o f our land are not too eager to support civil rights for anyone, let alone the citizens o f Washington DC, the vast m ajority o f whom are black. In the meantime, the people o f DC have held a constitutional assembly and have w rit ten a constitution that w ill go before the voters in November. I f the constitution is adopted, DC w ill petition Congress for statehood. I f DC were to become a state, it would be the nation’s most progressive, for contained within the draft is the statement that every per son within its jurisdiction have “ an income sufficient to meet basic human needs.’ ’ It would protect abortion rights, the civil rights o f homosexuals, public employees’ right to strike, a system o f laws that protects the defen dant. One basis for the inability o f DC to achieve statehood is racism; another is the fear o f the Republicans that DC would send two Demo cratic Senators and one Democratic Represen tative to Congress. Add to this a constitution that protects rights o f the people and it is no wonder that statehood finds rejection. by Norman Hill, A. Philip Randolph Institute For working people. Labor Day is traditionally a moment o f celebra tion. It is a moment when we pay tribute to the working men and women o f our country who produce the great wealth o f our land. It is a time when we recognize the dignity o f work and acknowledge that work is a means by which life is made more meaningful and purposeful. It is a time when, traditionally, we honor America’s labor unions, which remain the principal means o f economic advancement fo r blacks and all working Americans. This Labor Day, however, re quires us to depart from tradition. For this Labor Day — the second since the Adm inistration o f Presi dent Ronald Reagan took office — finds our country confronting a se vere economic and social crisis. The unemployment rate o f 9.8 percent is the highest since the end o f W orld War II. Black unemployment stands at 18.5 percent. The country is in the midst o f a protracted recession brought about by the fiscal and economic policies o f this Adm inistration. In the midst o f this economic down turn, the Reagan Adm inistration has mounted the most significant attack on social programs since the Great Depression. Huge cutbacks in government aid In other ways, it marks the begin ning — the beginning o f a new era in which Americans w ill shop around fo r phone equipment, long-distance and other phone services. In any event, the judge’s decision w ill have serious and far-reaching implications. The immediate effect w ill be an increase in rates. Ratepayers can expect their phone rates to go up, al- MIMBEH investigate the extent o f human and infrastructural damage in Lebanon; • Efforts be intensified to aid the affected population w ith adequate material and manpower resources; • Redevelopment and a p p ro p ri ate training programs be undertaken in cooperation with Palestinian na tional institutions; • A special fu n d financed by member states be established to dis seminate in fo rm a tio n about Pales tinian rights through N on-G overn mental Organizations; • Ties and s im ila ritie s between Zionism and a p a rth e id be w idely publicized in A frica , the Caribbean and African-Am erican communities in the U.S.; • The General Assem bly invest the Committee w ith powers to issue Palestinian travel documents in lieu o f passports. Delegates from Senegal, Nigeria, Benin and M adagascar fu lly sup ported the recom m endations, but E g y p t’ s representative expressed some reservations. A , an earlier session, Arab states were chided fo r not supporting the P alestinian struggle as actively as A fric a n states support their libera tion struggles. Arab League delegate M r. M o n c e f E l M ay agreed that Arab response to the Lebanon crisis was lim ite d , b u t he assured that "A ra b s w ill not abandon the Pales tinians.” The assemblage, some 300 Arab and A frican emissaries, African lib e ra tio n o rg a n iz a tio n representa tives, U .N . o ffic ia ls and others, heard panelists throughout the week stress the need fo r a Palestinian hom eland and an end to Israeli aggression supported p rim a rily by the U.S. government. A frican-A m erican speakers were in te rn a tio n a l law expert Gay M c D o u g a ll, Tem ple U niversity professor A lfre d M oleah, Antioch Law S chool professor H arold M cDougall and Black Press Review editor Alice Palmer. It is expected that the fin a l Seminar report w ill in large measure in co rp o ra te the ideas proposed in the recommendations. Yet despite (he onslaughts o f Rcaganism we have witnessed the validation o f civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph's view that organ ized labor is the only force under our economic system which unites divergent constituencies o f working people. It is the only mass-based in stitution in which we can find repre sented blacks, Hispanics, women, and the dispossessed. It is the only institution which seeks to defend the interests o f these diverse constituen cies. Thus the labor movement is the central instrument for social prog ress in our time. And, in this elec tion year, its role in setting the eco nomic and political agenda for the forces committed to social justice is the vital task o f our time. In a very real sense, this Labor by Congressman Ron Wyden The parent company (A T & T ) w ill provide long-distance service — in competition with other long-distance suppliers — and w ill be allowed to enter data processing and other communications fields. In many ways, the judge’s deci sion marks the end o f an era. For as long as most o f us can remember, the Bell System (or A T & T ) has been the phone company — the company that supplied the phones, the equip ment and the service for the vas, m ajority o f Americans. Dakar, Senegal - U N IT — Partici pants in the seventh United Nations Seminar on the Question o f Pales tine meeting in D akar the week o f August 9,h sharply criticized Israel’ s invasion o f Lebanon and re co m mended that the U .N . C om m ittee on the Inalienable Rights o f the Pal estinian People "consider the u tility and v ia b ility o f convenin g a W ar Crim es T rib u n a l to assess Is ra e l’ s conduct o f hostilities.” P L O representative D r. A dnan A bdel R ahim , o th e r P alestinian , S W A P O and A fric a n -A m e ric a n panelists also asked that in its final report the C om m ittee recommend that: • The Secretary General demand that Israel produce im m ediately a comprehensive list o f all persons de tained as a result o f the war; • The In te rn a tio n a l Com m ittee o f the Red Cross be given fu ll access to the detainees; • Combatants and civilians be ac corded the “ fu ll panoply o f protec tions o f the l l l r d and IV ,h Geneva Conventions o f 1949 respectively” ; • D elegations be appoin ted to There can be no question now that the A dm inistration’s policies have led to real suffering on the part o f the poor and the working poor. Today, there can be no question that the Adm inistration's policies have created a disaster o f major proportions for blacks and all workers. Day marks the beginning o f the 1982 electoral campaign. The results o f this campaign w ill be a referen dum on the policies o f Ronald Rea gan. Economically these policies have been a tragic disaster. But only i f blacks (urn out to vote in numbers greater than ever before w ill we be able to ensure that this economic disaster is translated into u political disaster fo r its architects. This Labor Day must be a mo ment o f summoning up strength for the d iffic u lt battles that confront us. This Labor Day must be a moment o f reflection in which we recognize that we are one link in the long and d iffic u lt struggle o f working people to achieve dignity und justice. Above all it must be a moment o f re newed commitment to the principles so eloquently formulated by A. Philip Randolph when he slated that, "Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from w ithin. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted. Freedom and justice must be strug gled for by the oppressed o f all lands and races, and the struggle must be continuous, fo r freedom is never a final act, but a continuing, evolving process to higher and high er levels o f human, social, econom ic, political and religious relation ships." W ashington Hot Line Last week, a federal judge gave f i nal approval to a plan to break up the Bell telephone system into eight smaller companies. Under that plan, the seven local telephone companies (including Pa cific Northwest Bell) w ill be respon sible for providing local phone ser vice. Arabs consider war crimes trial to education and jobs training mean (hat poor workers, both black and white, are locked out o f an economy in which education is the principal means o f advancement. III Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association j MEMBER though less than they would have under an earlier proposal outlined by the Justice Department and AT&T. And in some ways, the change may seem inconvenient. Consumers w ill have to shop around for long distance services, phone equipment, etc., instead o f being able to make the one-stop they do today. Bu, if it is implemented correctly — and i f changes are made as needed along the way — the long- range impact o f the judge’s decision could be exciting. Consumers w ill be able to com parison shop, to look around for the best deal jus, as they do when buy ing furniture, a home, or any other necessary item. And long-distance services should improve as M C I Communications Corporation and other long-distance suppliers move into the field and be gin to compete on a better footing with the Bell system. This is no, to say tha, Judge Greene’s decision is the final word in developing communications pol icy in this country. It is not — neither should it be. In reaching his decision, the judge was limited to the scope o f the anti trust suit filed by the government against A T & T . Thus, he was pro Portland Observer The P o rtla n d Observer (U S P S 959 6 801is published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killings worth, Portland. Oregon 972,7. Post Oftice Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon Subscription«: S10 00 per year in the Tri County area Post m aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer, P .0 Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 At McGUberry. Editor/Publisher Association - Founded Í M 5 hibited from addressing the many other areas o f communications that desperately need consideration. In addition, many experts feel the judge did no, go as far as he could have in promoting competition in the areas which he was permitted to address. Thus, it is im portant tha, Con gress turn its attention to developing a comprehensive telecommunica tions policy for this country — and tha, it do so soon. It attempted to do so earlier this year, bu, was thwarted by a massive lobbying campaign financed by A T& T. Congress also must m onitor care fully the impact o f Judge Greene’ s decision on ratepayers, sharehold ers, local companies and employees. I f the interests o f these groups are no, being adequately protected, Congress must make the necessary changes to see , ha, they arc. In the final analysis, Congress — no, the courts or the bureaucracy — should set telecommunications pol icy in this country. Members o f Congress arc elected by the people, and as such, are d i rectly responsible to them for their actions. Unelected bureaucrats and judges arc less accountable, and thus less suited for making such far- reaching public policy decisions. A! Williams, Advertising Manager 283 2486 National Advertising Representativa A m alg am ated Publishers. Inc. N ew York
