Anarchoblogs

I'm impressed. I'm really and truly impressed. For a long time now I've had "visitors" who are not exactly the curious average citizen. They are basically of two types. One is the various government agencies, usually Canadian but sometimes American, who are "news gathering" in general. They will drop by concerning a particular issue, person or organization, and its understandable that they have to pretend to be working their office staff. In the end I expect that they gather so much trivia and repeated posts from the internet that their activities are pretty well useless. But isn't that something of a part of the definition of "bureaucracy" ? It's actually been a long time since either the RCMP or the Defense Research Establishment has dropped by here, and I sort of miss the buggers. Maybe, just maybe, after an extended period they finally got the idea that nothing sensitive is ever discussed here. Maybe, just maybe, the lightbulb finally went on in their heads and they realized that I have always been opposed to the sort of "sensitivity" that they publicly always oppose themselves but privately promote in certain instances. Ah well, I'm sure they have enough 'fake work' to occupy themselves without dropping by here.

Then there is the other category...private enterprise. I suppose it is simply good corporate policy (if that is not an oxymoron) for a business to keep a beady eye on how it is portrayed in the media, even in tiny little blogs. I've certainly seen dozens upon dozens of these corporate checks over the years. There are even supposed internet "services" who offer businesses info on how they are being portrayed on the internet, and I suspect that they are a great shell for doing nothing but a google search 99 times out of 100. Who am I to say how a corporation should waste its money on this sort of thing or on the innumerable "management consultant" scams ? If they didn't waste it here they'd waste it elsewhere.

The latest incident, however, is over and beyond the usual. It began with the previous article on the CAW's demonstration against the plant closure of Siemens in Hamilton. Fairly standard. I've probably written hundreds of similar articles on labour issues. These quite often attract the attention of the corporation concerned. This, however, is the first and only time that the corporation has gone to the extent of breaking into my private email. They even went so far as to look into the emails that I have sent to others. There are actually very few of these which I hadn't previously deleted, and I'm sure that none of them were of any use to the company. God only knows how they did this. In any case I have done my best to block future access.

The original break in occurred via a 'Suddenlink' IP 74.198.28. this was forwarded via email to a Rogers IP 99.247.178 in Pickering Ontario. There are multiple links to Siemens in Pickering. Now, as I said I've seen corporations snooping before, and it hardly bothers me. At its low level it has resulted in the owners of some smaller business owners getting drunk and firing an angry email back to the blog. I think, however, that Siemens is the largest outfit that I have ever pissed off. They rank #40 in the world according to the Fortune 500. I don't think I have pissed off any of the top 39 yet. Give me time. Comparing their revenues to that of 'countries' they make more money than the GDP of 137 countries across the world. They are also very much the definition of a "conglomerate" with their fingers in more pies than I have fingers and toes. Some of their interests are, of course, in IT. Hence their ability to track critics. One also has to say that as a German company that one has to "admire" their Teutonic thoroughness bordering on obsession. Nobody else goes to such lengths.

I'm uncertain if Siemens has broken any laws by their actions, but I am quite certain that it would be impossible to make a legal case against them even if they have. This whole entry then is just a cautionary tale of the depths that corporations sink to probably regularly.

This Thursday April 22 will be the now traditional Earth Day. While there is some small competition from people who hold that the day of the Spring Equinox should be the date the powers that be have pretty well made this artificial holiday into a worldwide event. As seems usual for this sort of thing the child has grown and grown, and now we have 'Earth Week'. For those who are interested, in addition to the Wikipedia article highlighted above you can find more information on the USA Earth Day site and the Earth Day Canada site. No doubt other countries have their own pretenders to the title of "official site". For myself, however, I really don't care. Why ? Read on.

Now, I have no objections to people taking the opportunity to have a big party. I'm rather pleased by it as a matter of fact. I could only wish, however, that it wasn't mixed up with a gigantic, almost Roman clerical, dose of hypocrisy...the pretense that the participants are actually doing something that will accomplish the nebulous goal of "saving the Earth".

That's what it is - pretense. It's all very "nice" to send the yard apes out to pick up trash

from the local parks for instance, but whatever this has to do with changing to a more "sustainable" economy escapes me entirely. Similarly I have no desire to mindlessly consume "green bric-a-brac". I have plenty of green shirts already thank you very much, and once more the point escapes me. Except to observe that such consumption is the precise opposite of the sort of simplification that might actually make our societies more ecologically sustainable.

Neither do I have much interest in listening to the barely disguised advertisements for corporate and government sponsors as they tout their 'green credentials'. To me it smells of scam, and yes I have more than my fill of advertising every day as well. I'd prefer new green shirts. If the reader is interested in one of tens of thousands of examples of how business hopes to expand into this lucrative market then check out this salivating call to prosper. Think I'm wrong about the snake oil aspect of the whole thing ? Consider what sort of business Canada's reigning King of Con Rahim Jaffer was involved in. That's right. 'Green Technology'.

I think the key word in all the above is the term "expand". I have no doubt that certain important reforms can be accomplished even in our present political and economic system. Still, if we are to lead a life that is both sustainable and also humanly fulfilling I cannot see how this can be done when we are burdened with an economic system whose very nature demands continual expansion. Neither can I see how this can be done when this drive is mirrored and quite often exceeded by centralized government and its planning. Both the corporations and government presuppose the division of society into order givers and order takers. Any reforms that might come about by their efforts will see the costs borne chiefly by the order takers and the benefits reaped disproportionately by the order givers. That's the way it will be.

I see little to celebrate about such a skillful piece of fraud, unless, of course, you wish to admire its sheer larcenous beauty in a purely intellectual fashion, like admiring the work of a safe cracker. I wish everyone a good party, but it'll be an ordinary workday for me. Now if organizers of such events would borrow a page from the month before and promote green beer as part of their anti-consumption consumption well then I might at least stop off for a drink.

The garment industry in Bangladesh has an unenviable record of unsafe workplaces. Death follows death, often at the 'wholesale level'. Here's a story from the Maquila Solidarity Network about the continuing situation.

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Five years after the Spectrum disaster, why are Bangladeshi workers still at risk?
April 11, 2010

April 11 marks the fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Spectrum/Shahriyar Sweater factory in Bangladesh, which killed 64 workers and injured 80, 54 of them seriously. The collapse focused global attention on the chronic safety problems in the Bangladesh garment industry.

The 2005 Spectrum factory collapse was not a natural disaster; the deaths and injuries were entirely preventable. The factory owners had blatantly violated building code and health and safety regulations, the Bangladeshi government had failed to enforce those regulations, and European retailers sourcing from the factory had failed to detect the serious problems at the factory.

Five years later, the February 25, 2010 fire at the Garib & Garib Sweater Ltd. factory in Bangladesh, which took the lives of 21 workers and injured another 50, is a brutal reminder that more effective and proactive action is needed to ensure that garment workers in Bangladesh can go to work without fearing for their lives. Within weeks of the recent Garib & Garib fire, another worker lost her life at the Matrix Sweater factory.


Between 2005 and 2010, close to 200 garment workers have died at work in Bangladesh while producing clothes for well-known international brands.

More should have been done to prevent these disasters from occurring. More needs to be done to ensure further disasters are prevented.

To mark the anniversary of the Spectrum collapse, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN), and the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) are calling upon all buyers sourcing garments in Bangladesh to take proactive, sustained, and coordinated measures to help eliminate systemic health and safety problems in their Bangladesh supply factories.

In consultation with unions and other stakeholders in Bangladesh and the US-based Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), and incorporating proposals developed earlier by the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF), we have compiled a list of actions that companies sourcing garments from Bangladesh should take within their own supply chain to prevent future tragedies.

We are also asking that companies collectively press the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to take specific actions to address these problems industry-wide in Bangladesh.

•See the letter we've sent to international brands
•Read more about the health and safety dangers in Bangladesh in MSN's April 2010 Update

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-CHILE:

A DIFFERENT SORT OF LOOTING:

There is, however, another form of looting that has been going on for centuries. Here, from the Anarkismo website is a call to end that much more serious theft.

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Stop the looting in Chile
by José Antonio Gutiérrez D.
[Castellano]

Stop the looting in Chile

Following the earthquake, Chile is facing a huge, difficult task. It is estimated that the country's reconstruction will cost about US$30 billion - such a huge figure that President Bachelet has raised the need to seek credit from the World Bank. But before diving into a new vicious cycle of debt to the international finance organizations, where we are likely to end up paying ten times the original amounts borrowed as a result of their exorbitant interest rates, it is imperative we consider whether the country is able to meet these costs itself and avoid the financial bondage we would otherwise be risking. If there is no such capacity, it is essential we study ways to ensure that most of the funds for reconstruction are found within the country, so as to minimize dependence on foreign loans and credit as much as possible.

I believe that it is important in these times of turmoil, to pay attention to the role that copper can play in rebuilding Chile. This mineral has already provided a reserve fund of US$18 billion which can be used in emergency and reconstruction tasks.

For this reason I enthusiastically join the campaign against looting that, more and more every day, is being stirred up by the media (feeding the collective hysteria of the masses) and by the more snobbish members of the local establishment: but instead of all this ado about the looting of supermarkets and shops, what we really should be doing is examining the systematic and multi-million looting of a "cornerstone" of the Chilean economy - copper mining - that is being quietly carried on by the large mining companies.

The contribution to domestic production of copper from CODELCO [1] was only 28% in 2007. Yet this company has contributed over US$21 billion to the Treasury since 2005. But the contribution from all the other corporations who control the bulk of production, however, goes no higher than a measly US$5 billion! What is this, if not looting on a grand scale from under the noses of the whole people, with the collusion of businessmen and politicians?

Over the period of the Bachelet government alone, the multinational copper-mining corporations have made off with US$70 billion thanks to all sorts of tricks to avoid paying duties and only a few years ago were forced to start paying royalties, though the amounts involved are laughable. For decades the Chilean people have had their main resource - copper - stolen without any shame. These are the thieves that worry me and these are the looters who are really screwing the whole country [2].

But they are not the only ones who are stealing what belongs to the whole people. The army, now posing as guardians of the common good, have been robbing the country for decades through the 10% tax on sales of copper that goes directly to their coffers. This privilege should be done away with as soon as possible so that these funds can be used in ways that benefit the people.

When you look at these figures, you can see who the real thieves in Chile are. If we stop this looting, the country will have enough money to rebuild without having to borrow from loan-sharks who would then go on plundering the people of Chile through the debt.

For this reason it is important that popular organizations apply pressure on the Chilean State for two pressing measures that the ruling classes in this country will never introduce of their own accord, since they either benefit from this plunder or have no interest in stopping it:
1. Re-nationalize copper2. Cancel the 10% tax on sales of copper for the benefit of the Armed Forces.We therefore spread this invitation to stop the shameless looting in Chile. It is a task that involves the whole people.
José Antonio Gutiérrez D.5 March 2010
Translation by FdCA-International Relations Office.
Notes:

1. CODELCO (Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile - National Copper Corporation of Chile) is the State's copper-mining company. It was founded after foreign-owned companies were nationalized in 1971.

2. These figures, and more besides, are available on the website of the Comité de Defensa del Cobre (http://www.defensadelcobre.info/).

The following, from the Clean Clothes Campaign, is somewhat ironic, coming as close as it does to International Womens' Day on March 8. One of the events that led to the establishment of IWD was the March 25, 1911 'Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire' in which 140 workers were killed. In that case exits were also locked. La Plus Ça Change I guess.

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21 Workers Die at Bangladeshi Factory Fire
Bangladesh unions and international labour rights organisations are calling for immediate action from brands and the government of Bangladesh following a fatal factory fire which killed at least 21 workers and injured a further 50.

The Garib & Garib Sweater Factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh has been producing knitwear for Swedish retailer H&M, reportedly a main buyer from the factory. The company's own website cites Otto, 3Suisses International, Pimkie, Provera, Lindex, Littlewoods, Wal-Mart and JC Penny as other current and previous buyers. The CCC is currently trying to verify this and other sourcing information provided by workers.The fire, seemingly caused by an electrical short circuit, started on the first floor of the seven story building at 9.30pm on Thursday February 25. As the fire spread, workers became trapped on the floors above. It appears, from witness statements and press reports, that emergency exits were blocked, the front gate was locked and fire extinguishing equipment was either missing or inappropriate. According to one survivor, rescue efforts were further hampered by the fact that firemen had to cut the window grills to access the building and rescue the trapped workers. No-one on the scene could tell fire fighters how many workers were in the factory at the time the fire began.

The National Garment Workers Federation and other organisations supporting the workers and their families call for:

1)the immediate arrest of the factory owner,
2)immediate payment of 500.000 Taka for the families of the dead workers;
3)provision of medical treatment and necessary compensation for the injured workers;
4)effective and immediate measures for compensation of the victims on the longer term, and
a credible investigation into the circumstances under which this tragedy could have happened.

The Bangladesh garment industry has a horrendous safety history. Since the start of this millennium, the Clean Clothes Campaign has highlighted 9 other similar cases with a total of 273 deaths (see for more info: http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/international-action-day-bangladesh).

We are angry and saddened that once again workers have paid the price for the failure of international brands, the Bangladesh government and the Bangladesh industry to take adequate steps to prevent such incidents from happening. A culture of impunity still exists that allows such incidents to be written of as simply tragic accidents, allowing everyone involved to deny responsibility for the consequences. A recent inquiry into one of these cases, KTS Sweater, found that the owners were cleared of criminal convictions, despite admitting to locking workers into the factory, after the police involved changed the charge sheet. (see http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=128183)

The Garib & Garib Sweater Factory case once again proves that company audits are failing to pick up serious violations of international labour rights and corporate codes of conduct, and that the labour inspectorate and government monitoring of labour laws is woefully inadequate. At the same time the constant repression of trade union organisation within workplaces and the failure of brands to work with trade union representatives means that workers themselves are unable to report and challenge health and safety violations. If the industry is really serious about preventing future deaths they must start involving workers directly in monitoring health and safety standards. This can only be done through supporting the right to organise and working directly with trade unions.

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Local unions concerned about Regina's 'Infinite Horizons' strategy:
By Joe Couture, Leader-Post February 19, 2010

REGINA — The heads of three union locals that represent City of Regina workers noted their concerns Friday about the city’s recently introduced “Infinite Horizons” branding strategy.

“I struggle with the need to brand ourselves or create an image, especially with something as obscure as a stylized ‘R’,” said Marvin Meickel, president of CUPE Local 7, which represents inside city workers.

He noted the old logo, which had a rendering of the city skyline, and the logo that came before it, which included a crown, were sufficient to represent the city.

Both Tim Anderson, president of CUPE Local 21, which represents outside city workers, and Mike Ehmann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 588, which represents transit drivers, said Friday they, too, thought the previous logo was fine.

Meickel said he gives credit to Mayor Pat Fiacco for his efforts to make the city’s image more positive, noting that is important. But he said he doesn’t understand why city needs to keep spending money on its image when the existing image seems to be well-received.

“We seem to be riding a fairly high tide of city growth and province growth,” Meickel continued. “Were we really lacking as far as that particular brand or logo? I would say, ‘No’. Could the money have been spent in other areas? I would say, ‘Absolutely’.

“There’s all sorts of challenges that the city continues to face that would involve a financial commitment, but they’ve decided to take this particular direction.”

The cost is at the centre of the concerns of the other two union leaders, too.

Anderson said he expects the final price tag for the branding initiative will be significantly more than the $320,000 paid to the advertising firm that developed it.

“We have a number of issues facing the city,” he said. “With the provincial government reneging on their promise to share revenue, we’re looking at a mill rate increase, I would assume. I think the timing of the logo could have been postponed until we can afford it. At another time, it wouldn’t have been that bad.”

Anderson said he thinks spending on the brand now shows a lack of fiscal responsibility.

“I think it comes down to wants and needs,” he said.

Ehmann said, “The money could have been spent better elsewhere,” noting the transit department’s recent well-publicized fleet challenges. “They could have bought a bus.”

Meickel questioned whether a public-sector corporation such as the city even needs to have a style of brand like a private-sector company. The new branding appears to be of such a style, he added.

“I think some people, including myself, just don’t quite understand it,” he said. “Maybe time will give me an opportunity to be more comfortable with it.”
jcouture@leaderpost.canwest.com