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DEC. 2,1998
Page B4
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A Weekly Publication from
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Five Years O f Fighting For Worker’s Rights!
WOC Convention And Celebration To Be Held December 12
The W orkers’ Organizing Com
mittee (WOC) will hold its annual
Membership Convention and Com
munity Celebration on December 12,
1998. A membership meeting will be
held from 4 - 5 PM. The entire commu
nity is invited to the celebration, which
starts at 6:30 PM and ends at 11 PM.
The event will be held in their new
location, 722/734 East Burnside Street.
The convention celebrates five years
o f active organizing for workers’
rights, and will include updates on
current campaigns, awards, food,
activities for children, a raffle, music
and entertainment, and dancing.
About 250 people are expected to
attend.
In advance of the Convention,
WOC will hold an Open House on
December 10,1998 from 7-9 PM. Cur
rent and potential members are in
vited to learn about the work we are
doing in the community and opportu
nities for involvement.
The W orker’s Organizing Com
mittee is an organization run by and
for low-wage workers in the Portland
metro area. WOC is funded through
grassroots contributions and by sev
eral foundations, including the Catho
lic Campaign for Human Develop
ment. Their mission is to improve
living and working conditions for low-
•wage workers through dynamic or
ganizing, leadership development,
and the promotion o f solidarity and
understanding betw een different
groups o f people. WOC is an out
growth o f the Hotel Workers Orga
nizing Committee, which was founded
in 1993.
Two special guests have been
invited to entertain at the conven
tion and celebration. Los Jornaleros
del Norte is a 6 person musical group
from Los Angeles composed o f day
laborers. The band composes much
o f their own music, writing about
their experiences as day laborers and
immigrants. The music is lively, in
sightful and reflects the diversity o f
Latin American cultures from which
they come. The band also repre
sents a new way o f organizing, us
ing their highly accessible music to
motivate and educate people around
the issues that day laborers face.
This will be the first time that Los
Jornaleros del Norte will perform in
Portland.
United Voices is a youth group
that performs spoken word, poetry,
rap and traditional dance. The perfor
mance group is part o f the American
Friends Service Committee’s Latin
American/Asian-Pacific youth lead
ership development program, and
provides a positive avenue for com
munication around and involvement
in different social and political is-
Hispanic Labor
Force Shows
Significant Gains
S alem - A groundbreaking re
port released today by the Or
egon Employment Department
shows tremendous growth in
Oregon’s Hispanic work force,
and significant contributions to
the state’s economy by Latinos.
The first-of-its-kind report, His
panics in Oregon’s Workforce
1998, details employment, in
come, education, unemployment,
and related information to de
scribe the Latino work force in
the state.
Oregon’s Latino population
grew by 66 percent between 1990
and 1997 compared with less than
15 percent growth in the state’s
total population. During that same
time, the Hispanic labor force in
Oregon more than doubled to
132,000, while the total labor force
grew by only 16percent. Oregon’s
L atino p op u lation is much
younger than the total popula
tion with 62 percent under age 30
compared to 41 percent for all
Oregonians.
Latinos made up just over three
percent o f the Oregon labor force
at the beginning o f the 1990’s,
but jumped to more than 7.6 per
cent in 1997.
The Employment Department
report finds the growing Hispanic
population is contributing to the
economy in several ways. For
example, the buying power o f the
population is about $1 billion in
the Portland-Salem area alone.
Also, new businesses catering to
Latinos are being established in
the state. And Hispanics continue
to make major contributions to
Oregon’s $3.1 billion-a-year agri
cultural industry.
Agriculture was the dominant
industry for Latino employment
in 1990, buy by 1997 it trailed
manufacturing and trade. Since
1990, Hispanic fcmployment out
side the farm sector has increased
The
M ira c le
T h e a tre
G ro u p , th e N o r th w e s t’s la r g
e s t H is p a n ic a r ts a n d c u ltu r e
o r g a n i z a t i o n , p r e s e n t s its
1 0 ,h a n n u a l F e s t i v a l d e
N a v id a d , a c o lla g e o f h o l i
d a y s k e tc h e s an d so n g s
s h a r in g th e j o y , r e v e lr y , an d
s o le m n ity o f C h r is tm a s . P e r
fo r m a n c e s a re F r id a y s an d
S a tu r d a y s a t 8 PM a n d S u n
d a y s at 2 PM fro m D e c e m b e r
4 th ro u g h th e 2 0 "1. M ir a c le
T h e a tr e is lo c a te d at 52 5 SE
S ta rk S t., b e tw e e n G ra n d and
by 165 percent, w hile H ispanic
em ploym ent in farm -related o c
cupations increased by 67 p e r
cent.
L atinos are m oving into jo b s
requiring higher levels o f skills
and education, b u t an em ploy
ment gap rem ains in professional,
e x e c u tiv e , a d m in istra tiv e and
m anagerial occupations. T hese
occupations rep resented 26 p e r
cent o f em ploym ent for all O rego
nians in 1997, but only five p e r
cent o f H ispanic em ploym ent.
A nother gap exists w ithin the
governm ent sector, w hich has
three percent o f H ispanic em ploy
In te g ra n te de la C o m isió n de
m ent versus 13 p ercent o f all O r C o n c o r d i a y P a c i f i c a c i ó n
(C o c o p a ) y de la su b c o m isió n
egonians.
1990 Census data show ed H is e n c a rg a d a de e la b o r a r el d ic ta
panics had per c ap ita personal
m en so b re la L ey de D e re c h o s y
incom e o f $6,996 in 1989 com C u ltu ra In d íg e n a s , el se n a d o r
pared to the all-O reg o n ian level
p a n is ta
B e n ig n o
A la d r o
o f $ 13,418. In 1996, there was 1 ittle
a d v ir tió q u e lo s tra b a jo s para
d iffe re n c e betw een h o u seh o ld
l e g i s l a r e n e s a m a te r ia no
incom e am ong H ispanics and all
p u e d e n s e g u i r m á s tie m p o
O regonians, w ith 49 p ercent o f d e te n id o s .
H ispanic households earning less
S i e l P R D i n s i s t e en su
than $25,000 com pared to 48 per n e g a tiv a a p a r t i c i p a r en la
cent for all households. H ow ever,
household size am ong H ispanics
is larger than that for all O reg o
nians.
A lthough som e labor force-re
lated gaps have narrow ed betw een
L atinos and the population as a
w hole, certain differences rem ain
great. For exam ple, O regon’s H is
Agentes judiciales y militares
panic high school dropout rate
que in te g ra n la B ase de
was 15.7 percent during the 1996-
O p e ra c io n e s M ix ta s (B O M )
97 school year w hile the all-stu
asentada en el municipio de Ayutla
dent rate was 6.7 percent. A sim i
em pezaron la búsqueda de los
lar difference occurred over the
presuntos guerrilleros que ayer
past several years.
e m b o sc a ro n a p o lic ía s de
In addition, the unem ploym ent
Tecoanapa, con resultado de dos
rate for H ispanics co n sisten tly
u n ifo rm a d o s m u e rto s y dos
w as above that o f the labor force
heridos. Los operativos incluyen
as a w hole over the past seven
la instalación de retenes en la
years. In 1 9 9 7 ,7 .6 p e rc e n to fth e
región.
O regon labor force was H ispanic,
El director de la Policía Judicial
w hile alm ost 11 percent o f the
del Estado (PJE), Marcos Román
unem ployed w ere H ispanic.
Bahena, confirmó hoy la muerte
del director de Seguridad Pública
S ix th . A d m is s io n is $ 1 0 . F o r
r e s e r v a tio n s o r f u r th e r i n f o r
m a tio n , c a ll 5 0 3 /2 3 6 - 7 2 5 3 .
I n s p ir e d b y th e la te R u b é n
S ie r r a ’s c o n c e p tu a l w o rk ,
V o ic e s o f C h r is tm a s , a sh o w
h e c r e a te d w h ile a r t i s t i c d i
r e c to r o f S e a ttle ’ s G ro u p
T h e a t e r , th e F e s t i v a l de
N a v id a d f o llo w s th e j o u r n e y
o f T o n y , w h o is o n a q u e s t
f o r th e m e a n in g o f C h r is tm a s .
A s he s e a rc h e s fo r u n d e r
s t a n d i n g , to r n b e tw e e n im
a g e s o f c o ld c o m m e r c ia lis m
a n d s a i n t l y s e l f l e s s n e s s , he
e n c o u n te r s a m e d le y o f i n d i
v id u a ls , e ach re v e a lin g a
u n iq u e c u l t u r a l p e r s p e c t i v e
o f th e h o l i d a y . T h e F e s t i v a l
de N a v id a d is a d e lig h tf u l an d
p a s s io n a te s y n th e s is o t o u t
lo o k s fro m p e o p le o f d i f f e r
e n t a g e s , g e n d e rs , e th n ic
and
g e o g ra p h ic
back
g r o u n d s , h e l p i n g T o n y to
f in d th e c o m m o n g r o u n d th a t
u n ite s h u m a n ity f o r th e h o l i
days.
D u rin g
th e
F e s tiv a l,
M ir a c le w ill b e c o l l e c t i n g
d o n a t i o n s to a id th e p e o p le
o f H o n d u r a s , in n e e d fro m
th e d e v a s t a t i o n o f H u r r i
c a n e M itc h in N o v e m b e r .
H e r l i n d a M a r tin e z , fro m
H o n d u r a s , is o r g a n iz in g th e
d r iv e to s u p p o r t H o n d u r a n
a r t i s t s in t h e i r e f f o r t s to r e
b u ild th e m o r a le a n d s p i r i t
o f t h e i r c o u n tr y m e n .
T h e r e w ill b e in f o r m a tio n
a b o u t th e b e n e f i t i n g o r g a
n iz a tio n in th e th e a tr e lo b b y
d u r in g th e r u n o f th e s h o w .
Con o sin el PRO debe reanudarse
la legislación indígena
e la b o ra c ió n del d ic ta m e n , PR I
y PA N tie n e n que v a lo ra r la
p o s ib ilid a d de d is c u tir y
a p ro b a r p o r m a y o ría la re fo rm a
c o n s titu c io n a l
in d íg e n a ,
a g re g ó .
H iz o n o ta r q u e e se p u n to
d e b e d e fin irs e en la re u n ió n
p ro g ra m a d a p a ra el p ró x im o 17
de s e p tie m b re , en la q u e los
c o o rd in a d o re s p a rla m e n ta rio s
d e s c u tirá n lo s a v a n c e s en to rn o
d e la s in ic ia tiv a s s o b r e lo s
p u e b lo s in d io s y su s d e re c h o s .
A la d ro r e s a ltó q u e in c lu s o
e n la p a s a d a r e u n i ó n d e
d ip u ta d o s y se n a d o re s co n el
s e c r e ta r io de G o b e rn a c ió n , lo s
r e p re s e n ta n te s d e l E je c u tiv o y
el L e g isla tiv o a c o rd a ro n q u e de
no lo g ra r el c o n s e n s o en lo s
te m a s de la a g e n d a n a c io n a l,
b u s c a ría n la a p ro b a c ió n d e las
le y e s p o r m a y o ría , lo q u e , a su
ju iic io , te n d ría que a p lic a rs e en
e l c a s o d e la s i n i c i a t i v a s
in d íg e n a s .
D ijo lu e g o que d ifie re del
p la n te a m ie n to p e rre d ista de que
l e g i s l a r en e s to s m o m e n to s
so b re lo s d e re c h o s de las e tn ia s
in te rfie ra en la s n e g o c ia c io n e s
e n tr e E j é r c i t o Z a p a t i s t a d e
L ib eración n acional (E Z L N ) y el
g o b ie r n o . ‘ S o n d o s a s u n to s
d is tin to s , p o rq u e las p ro p u e sta s
no só lo son p a ra C h ia p a s y sus
e tn ia s, sin o p a ra to d o s los p u e b
los in d io s del p a ís .”
Buscan a miembros del ERPI que
emboscaron a policías
• w
p.»
» • -,
•
X •>*
a .
de Tecoanapa, José Carmen Nava
C a rra n z a , y la del se g u n d o
comandante de la Policía Preventiva
municipal, Raúl Diéguez Teresa, en
tanto que resultaron gravem ente
h e rid o s los a g e n te s S id ro n io
Ayodoro Roque y Alfredo Gómez
Aquino.
Los policías fueron emboscados
la tarde del viernes presuntamente
p o r m ie m b ro s del E jé rc ito
R e v o lu c io n a rio
de,
P u e b lo
Insurgente (ERPI), a la altura de la
comunidad de Las Mesas, cuando
regresaban de un operativo.
Román Bahena dijo que “aunque
existen indicios de que sí fueron
ellos (el ERPI) los que llevaron a
cabo esa acción”, aún no puede
adjudicarse al grupo guerrillero el
ataque.
Señalo que para dar con los
responsables de la emboscada, la
Policía Judicial Federal y la del
estado, así como grupos especiales
del Ejército Mexicano de la BOM
asentada en Ayutla, peinan la zona
e in s ta la ro n re te n e s en los
principales caminos, en busca del
grupo armado. En tanto que los
grupos de judiciales con sedes en
los municipios de Florencio Villareal,
San M arcos y A yutla tam bién
re a liz a n in v e s tig a c io n e s p o r
separado.
En las declaraciones ministeriales
de los p o lic ía s p rev en tiv o s
sobrevivientes, se asienta que la
emboscada ocurrió a las seis y media
de la tarde de ayer, cuando regresaban
de un recorrido por la comunidad de
Chacalapa, y en el tramo de la carretera
federal Tecoanapa-C’hilpancingo, en
tre las comunidades de El Limón y Las
Mesas, unos diez sujetos armados,
vestidos con ropa café, les dispararon,
y en el lugar quedaron casquillos cali
bre 7.62 de rifles AK-47.
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