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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1983)
U.S. political prisoners NFL previews Page 5 Homemade Christmas gi Page 6 Page 4 PORTWND OBSERMER Volume XIV, Number 7 December 7, 1983 25C Per Copy U*PS 959-680-855 Reagan escalates war M ore Marines died in Lebanon Sunday and they were joined by a navy pilot The Marines are in Leb anon as part o f a multi-national “ peacekeeping fo rce." The Navy is part of an administration "show of force.” The action that led to the deaths was a U .S. reconnaissance over flight o f Syrian positions in eastern I cbanon. The Syrians shot at the planes; the U S. retaliated with a bombing raid, and two o f the raid ing aircraft were shot down by the Syrians The Druse forces, locked in a civil war with the unpopular m i nority government of 1 ebanon, shelled the U.S. Marines guarding the airport. The current chapter in the civil war was set o ff by the 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon. As the Israelis withdrew from some areas (they still occupy Southern Leban on). the uneasy truce was broken as the Muslim majority attempted to take power from the upper class Christian minority. The U .S. took advantage of the situation to establish a presence in Lebanon through participation in the "peace keeping" mission, but this role has gradually been changed to one of propping up the Gemayal government. Israel also is sending reconnais sance planes over Syrian positions, including pilotless "drones " Syria has announced that it shot down two of these planes over I ebanon and Syria Defending his country's action, the Syrian Defense Minister said. "T h e interception by our air defenses of Americn planes is within our legitimate right o f sell defense because we are engaged in a just wat against unfair oppression by Amen can imperialists and Zionism Our forces will always confront any lor eign air force that may fly over the positions o f our forces." The fatal air strike, in which one U .S pilot was killed and another captured, might have been an effort to test Syrian defenses A senior U.S admiral said inform ation about Sy rian aircraft batteries was made quiate but the raid gave them need ed inform ation. About 40 missiles and thousands o f anti aircraft rounds were fired at the 28 planes. The Navy admitted that the bat tleship New Jersey's guns could have reached the targets without the danger ol loss of U .S. lives. In the meantime. Israeli occupa lion forces in Southern I ebanon are facing increased opposition I ast month a car bomb destroyed mill tary headquarters; last week I eban ese set o ff three bombs and am bushed a personnel carrier; on Sun day hand grenades were thrown at a patrol. Local missile firm protested Top: Jamila Harris. Jumoka Aakari. and Ayoda- la Aakari join in chanting "Run. Jaaaa. Runl” at laat Saturdaya rally to kick off Jaaaa Jackaon'a campaign in Oragon. Bottom: Ron Harndon. who is co-chairing the Jesse Jackson for President Committaa, ad dresses the crowd of 260 Jesse Jackson support ers at the Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church »860 was collected toward the »6.000 needed to qualify for federal matching funds. Contributions, which count as a tax-credit, ahould be made to the Jesse Jackson for President Committee. P O Box 6797. Portland. OR 97228 6797. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Refuse the Cruise = easy arrests by Chuck Goodmacher M ajo r media and press coverage o f the "Refuse the Cruise” civil dis obedience action December 2nd at Precision Castparts in M ilw aukie focused on the confrontation that took place there. Protesters block ading workers. Workers getting angry at protesters. Police officers forcibly removing protesters from the site and handcuffing them, etc. "58 Arrested At Local Protest,” heralded the banner front-page Sat urday Oregonian Although sensationalism ts what the protesters created in their partic ular response to the great danger posed by the creation and deploy ment o f first-strike nuclear wea pons. most interactions with police officers at street level were civil. Demonstrators and arresting o ffi cers showed guarded respect for each other. During the days before and just at the start of the civil disobedience, the police seemed to be rather ner vous and expected the worst to hap pen At least $0 officers were on hand Friday morning, with more ready to be called in from five law enforcement agencies: Portland. Milwaukie, and Oregon State Police and the Multnom ah and Clackamas County Sheriff offices. In prepara tion for an expected second wave of blockaders, the Portland Police Mounted Unit and additional o ffi cers were sent to the Milwaukie plant. One o f the 50 officers taking part in preparations prior to the action worriedly commented that at the last demonstration he was in (Berke ley, 1970), demonstrators threw po tatoes with nails stuck through them at the police. W ould anything like that happen at Precision Castparts? But non-cooperation rather than physical confrontation seems to have been both the means and the end for the protesters. Demonslra tors went limp when being arrested and not one expletive was heard After the arrests were made, officers relaxed and even began joking with some o f the protesters. One M ilw aukie police officer told the protesters' lawyer he had chosen very nice clients. "Com pared to the '60s and ’ 70s,” commented Police Bureau Inform ation O fficer David W . Simpson, “ this was easy. The pro testers are not a hostile crow d." Fifty-eight persons protesting production o f cruise missile parts were arrested Dec. 2nd as they blocked access to a titanium castings plant and the company headquar ters of Precision Castparts corpora tion in Milwaukie. "This action is to protest flight testing of the cruise missile in C an ada.” said organizer Chuck Bell of the Refuse the Cruise Coalition. Testing o f the controversial missile begins in January over parts of snow-covered Canada which resem ble Russia. Bell said local protesters hoped to slow production o f the missile by preventing workers from entering Precision Castparts' titanium cast ings plant, where an essential cruise part is made. Cruise opponents say the 20-foot long nuclear missile is a first-strike weapon which escalates the arms race Its small size makes it easy to hide, they say. and its sophisticated guidance system enables the cruise to hug the ground and avoid radar detection as it rushes with pinpoint accuracy toward its target. Under contract with the prime contractor, Boeing Corporation, Precision Castparts makes eleven housings which are part of the mechanism which controls the mis sile's ability " to go up and dow n,” according to Castparts vice-presi dent for administration Roy M a r vin. About 150 demonstrators braved snow and rain to gather before dawn at the plant on S.E. Johnson Creek Blvd As day-shift workers showed up. protesters linked arms in front o f the gate and sang folk songs as police handcuffed, then dragged and carried them to a wait ing bus. Others stepped in to take the place of those arrested. Support ers shouted encouragement. One protester confined to a wheel chair was placed on a stretcher and carried to the bus by police, who re assured him that he could bring his wheel chair. "G o o d luck, V ic to r," shouted his friend. •‘ I just hope people arc going to pay attention," said another pro tester, who declined identification. " L ife is going on as usual as these bombs are being produced It's really strange,” he said. " W e 're doing it for children," said a woman. There were signs— " N o cruise is good news," “ We all have too much to lose, stop the cruise,” and a large blue and green earth skew ered by missiles paraded across the street. T raffic backed up for blocks as workers waited in their cars. " I t ’ s a hassle; they shouldn't block the streets," said one worker who want ed the police to move faster in removing the protesters. "O n ly in Am erica," said Dan I attanzi, a grinder in the titanium foundry " I hate to sec it, these pro tests and these missiles being m ade," he said, but he also felt that the cruise missile was necessary to stay ahead of the Russians. He thought Precision (astparls should stop production "only if everybody else docs." " W e are a manufacturing com pany that is contributing to the country's defense,” said Marvin "W h a t this has done is to heighten our resolve that what we’ re doing is correct. W e will continue to make these parts." The protest caused some employ ecs to be late for work and sent " a stir of excitement" through the plant, but caused no other problems for the company, he said March organizers disagreed " I t ’s real clear that business has been dis rupted here," said Hell " It's kind of a rebirth ol the direct action movement where people go where the injustice is happening and physi cally put their bodies on the line to do something about it ," he said. " I I we keep coming back, it's bound to have some effect sooner or later." Besides the cruise parts. Precision (. astparls makes sophisticated cast mgs for other military applications. M ilitary contracts accounted loi J' percent o f the company's 1983 busi ncss, "which means that 35 percent o f our employees owe their jobs to that business," said M arvin. I’ reci sion ( astparls has I'M ) employees and sales approached $90 million in 1983. According to the company's 19«, annual report, Precision < astparls has made or will make parts lor a variety ol military aircraft, includ mg the I 14. I 15,1 1 6 ,1 1 8 , 1 20, Stealth bomber, < 130. ( 5b, K ( 13' and K ( 10. I he company has also made pails lor General Dynamics harpoon and Raytheon patriot missiles, the M I battle tank, and General llcctric 20min and 25mm (.ailin g guns, ac cording to the August, 19K3 issue ol Oregon Business magazine. Hoeing, Pratt and Whitney and General Dy nannes arc major customers. AFSCME spearheads comparable worth drive by Lam ia Duke Grassrool News, N .W .— Last week the Federal Court dealt with the issue of pay equity between the sexes. In Washington the State was found guilty o f discriminating against women by paying them less than their male counterparts. This ruling has put the term of compara ble worth in today's headlines. In Portland the International Sec retary-Treasurer o f the organization that spearheaded the drive for com parable worth, the American Feder ation o f State, County and M unici pal Employees, (A F S C M E ). W il liam Lucy, addressed 100 people at tending Commissioner Charles Jor dan’s luncheon forum at the Monte Carlo restaurant. Lucy told the inform al gathering that Washington Slate is not alone in paying women less than male em ployees. "N ationw ide, studies have shown men are earning the top half of the salary grade while women were earning the bottom half. The public work force is rigidly sex-seg regated." Lucy said some jobs are filled ex clusively by women " In every job classification (he wage distribution for women is way below the dis tribution for men. These findings are so consistent I have no reason to believe that Portland is any d iffe r ent.” Lucy also added that this dispar ity is not limited to the public sector. He said the issue o f comparable worth should not hinder affirm ative action. " I t will just enhance existing affirm ative action programs. The problem is the perception that they are positioned against each other. Black women are discriminated against more because (hey are worn en and the problem is lack of pro motional opportunity. "T h e problem o f pay discrimina tion overrides race. The pattern is too consistent and systematic to conclude it came about through the invisible hand o f the marketplace. It is the result o f the all-too-visible hand o f discrim ination." Lucy added that once states are made aware o f the problem, " it is almost immoral not to try to correct it." The current diminishing strength o f unions will not affect this issue, Lucy said during the question and answer period. "T h e issue is dis crimination and discrimination is against public law and policy. Bringing parity in the pay scales ol men and women ts one issue both public and private employees will have to con fro n t." A F S C M E advocates using collec tive bargaining, litigation and edu cation in its pay equity efforts. Lucy concluded with the belief that states ought to confront this issue early to save millions of dollars rather than facing the issue in court. "Injustice has to be addressed re gardless of the economic situation. In the past child labor laws, m ini mum wages and health and safety laws were seen as economic threats. Just as they were not threats, com parable worth is not a threat. It is the law ." -«■a*•• William Lucy addraaaaa a lunchaon forum held by Commiaaioner Charlea Jordan on the laaua of wage dlacrimination (Photo: Richard J Brown)
