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
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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
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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