March 13, 2009 - No. 53 Who Should Fill Stelco's Orders?• Who Should Fill Stelco's Orders?
- K.C. Adams Who Should Fill Stelco's Orders?
Stelco's order book is an important inheritance seized by U.S. Steel when it purchased the company from the Brookfield/Mott bankruptcy schemers. Canadians insist at the very least that Stelco's order book be filled with Stelco steel. To fill those orders from U.S. Steel mills in the United States is unacceptable and anti-Canadian. Such a hostile move even appears irrational as it flies in the face of the reality of a Canadian dollar trading at 78 cents versus the U.S. dollar. How does it make economic sense to import expensive U.S. steel? Besides, during and after the Stelco bankruptcy fraud, the Lake Erie Steelworks in particular was held up as the crown jewel of modern integrated mills, the best and most productive mill in North America. But we don't hear such talk from U.S. Steel executives these days. Even accepting the crisis of steel demand as described by Goodish, orders still remain to be filled. Forty percent could at least keep the Stelco mills running to the same degree until other measures are taken to strengthen demand. The federal government touts its stimulus budget as including measures for publicly-funded infrastructure projects that will require steel, and Stelco should receive a portion of those orders. Does U.S. Steel plan to fill those new orders from the United States? That would be intolerable! John H. Goodish, U.S. Steel executive vice-president from Greensboro Pennsylvania is a U.S. imperialist agent similar to U.S. agent Rodney Mott who played a big role in selling out Stelco to U.S. Steel. Goodish speaks from the angle of defending the interests of the U.S. Steel Empire and his imperialist homeland. This outlook and vision considers Canadians chattel labour and our country a source of natural resources to be used when it suits the monopolies and cast aside when the situation becomes difficult. For much of last year when steel prices and demand were high the foreign monopolies were happy to use Canada's working class and mills, as they were making mountains of money. U.S. Steel in 2008 claimed almost $3-billion in profit of enterprise and $62-million more in interest-profit. But as soon as conditions soured, Canadian workers and their mills became disposable.
U.S. Steel is taking Stelco's existing order book and any new orders away from Canada. It is wrecking Canadian manufacturing for its own narrow egocentric aim. Meanwhile Canadians watch their employment and means of subsistence disintegrate before their eyes. That is unacceptable! It must not pass! Canadian politicians are not elected to serve and protect foreign or domestic private monopolies. The polity demands politicians serve and protect their constituents and the public good, certainly not U.S. imperialism! Canadians refuse to have the word "protectionist" thrown in their faces as a dirty epithet. What is wrong with protecting the security and rights of Canadians? What is wrong with having a self-reliant economy that does not depend on exports to prosper and flourish but trades for mutual benefit and to strengthen not weaken the internal economy?
Not one of our leading politicians has summoned U.S. Steel CEO Surma to Ottawa or Toronto to tell him pointedly that he cannot treat Canada like an annexed colonial territory and he had better reopen Stelco's mills immediately or hand over the keys. The Mayor and Ontario and federal governments have a moral and social responsibility as Canadian politicians to step in and demand that Stelco's order book and any new orders be filled with steel from Stelco's Hamilton and Lake Erie mills. They have a duty to stand up, defend Canadians and their socialized economy, and enact emergency measures to keep Stelco mills running and to bring public control over the steel wholesale market so that all Canadian mills can keep producing. Anything less is pandering to U.S. and other foreign owners and monopoly right. Anything less is anti-social nation-wrecking of the worst kind. Manufacturing Yes!
Nation-Wrecking No!
Letter to the EditorRe: U.S. Steel In fall 2007, Steelworkers Local 1005 executives met with U.S. Steel CEO and chairman John Surma to discuss the acquisition of Stelco, the last Canadian-owned steel producer. Surma proclaimed that U.S. Steel does things "not because they have to, but rather because it's the right thing to do." On the U.S. Steel website, Surma reinforces "the Gary Principles" about "putting the well-being of the community over that of corporate interest, treating employees ethically, achieving the highest rewards with honesty, how selfishness can lead to negative results, and how he is guided by his moral compass." The decision to temporarily idle facilities with no announced startup date is forcing employees to make lifetime decisions in mere days. U.S. Steel is invoking obscure contract language -- instead of doing the right thing -- to deny employees pre-retirement vacation benefits that would greatly assist with these difficult decisions. U.S. Steel made a record $2.13 billion in profits in 2008. The only loyalties U.S. Steel or Surma have is to share prices. The damage done to employees and communities is of little concern. The decision to shut down operations here was indeed made in the best interest of the community -- but not ours, rather the investment community. Ron Wells
Aradco and Aramco Workers Defend Their Interests and Dignity of LabourOn March 11, workers at small parts suppliers Aradco and Aramco in Windsor took action to defend their interests and the dignity of labour. The workers, members of CAW Local 195 were told at 7:00 pm on March 10, that they were laid off and should not come to work the next day, and that Chrysler had pulled its business. "Nothing was apparently said during Monday's workday and then, all of a sudden, our members started getting calls not to come in," said Gerry Farnham, president of Canadian Auto Workers union Local 195 which represents the workers. "As it stands now, the workers have not received appropriate layoff notice, obviously, and they're owed back pay, vacation pay and, if this is a permanent situation, they are also owed termination and severance payments," he said, estimating that workers are owed a total of about $1.7 million in severance. "The bottom line is we're going to protect the interests of the workers and try our best to do what we can. There are laws put in place for severance pay -- one week's pay per year of service. It's not being upheld because of bankruptcies. This company hasn't said it's going bankrupt, they haven't even said they're closing the facility. So it's an awkward situation for us to be in," he said to the Windsor Star. Aradco and Aramco both supply the Big 3 with components used in the final assembly of their vehicles. The once locally owned companies were purchased two years ago by Catalina Management Group, an American firm based in Canton, Michigan. Chrysler responded to the closures in a news release saying: "We consider our supplier relationships to be a private matter. "It is Chrysler policy not to disclose the nature
of any individual supplier issues." Despite being owed pay and possibly severance, the
workers learned that Chrysler would attempt to remove already produced
parts, part molds for future production and possibly machines from the
plants. According to reports, the company owes Chrysler money
and this is the justification for trying to take out product and shaft
the workers.  Windsor, March 11, 2009: Aradco workers block the removal of product, molds and machines from the closed plants. In response the workers went into action and
blocked trucks from entering and demanded that they receive their pay
and severance before any product is removed. Since Tuesday, the workers
have been watching the plant around the clock to ensure that the
dispute is resolved in their favour. Workers
report that they are demanding their pay and severance, and that
without it, nothing will leave the plants. Workers also reported that in the final few weeks of work Chrysler had been increasing its demands for parts in an attempt to get their products out knowing they were going to cut their business with the company. It is likely, they feel, that both Chrysler and the company knew what was coming, and hoped to pull a fast one on the workers. They are determined not to be shafted and humiliated. The attempts to abscond with parts, molds and machines from the two small plants out from under the workers is all the more despicable given the context of the CEO of Chrysler's recent statements about possibly ending production in Canada. It shows that attempts to remove molds from the plants could well be to move more parts production to the U.S. in preparation for other moves later on. Either way, the workers and their union refuse to
accept what has transpired behind their backs and are being vigilant in
working out how they can defend their rights under the circumstances.
In a gesture to show they want things resolved based on negotiation,
the workers have permitted one load of
parts which Chrysler claims it needs for production to be removed.
Farnham told the Windsor
Star that:
"Because of the economic times and what's going on in the automotive
business I did say we will allow some parts out and we're going to do
that. However, there will be no tooling coming out of this plant for
Chrysler or any other company they may be building for until we can get
a resolution on severance pay for these members. Chrysler has given
Catalina some money, Catalina should be giving that money to our
workers."
13th International Day Against Police Brutality No to Police Impunity! Fight for a Society that Recognizes the Rights of All!
This 13th International Day Against Police Brutality is being held at a time of grave crisis for the capitalist world. It is affecting all aspects of society and is accompanied by a profound credibility crisis of "representative democracy," which only represents the interests of a tiny minority. In Canada and in Quebec, the workers and people are being asked to remain patient while the policy of paying the rich, which has led to the present crisis, continues without relent. In his address to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Raymond Bachand, Quebec's Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and Minister responsible for the Montréal region, said amongst other things that: "Today, we must be responsible for one another. We have that solidarity in Quebec. It's our greatest strength." It's another variant, à la Québécoise, of the theme "common purpose" and the one nation politics of Obama, Harper and Ignatieff, in which to have security the workers and people are supposed to support the monopolies to be competitive in the world markets. It is noteworthy that the declaration was made at the same time that Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget was holding her pre-budget online "consultation" which clearly revealed the ruling circles' continued pursuit of the anti-social offensive. It is also no coincidence that the population has been invited to consult the Montmarquette Report in order to make an "informed" choice. The report, tabled in April 2008, recommended an end to the "free-lunch culture" and "inadequate user fees" for public services and created such a stir that the Charest government shelved it. It proposes an increase in electricity rates, tuition fees, an increase in subsidized daycare centre fees, the installation of water metres and the introduction of tolls on all new roads and on entrances to the Island of Montreal. There's no doubt that those who dare to stand up and affirm there is an alternative to this anti-social agenda will be labelled radicals, leftists or otherwise marginalized. They will be depicted as enemies of this sacrosanct "solidarity" and will have to face the brutality and violence of the state. This refusal to respond to the legitimate demands of the workers and people comes hand in hand with the further fascization of the state which is now meddling in all facets of life beginning at a very young age. Preparations are even underway to install surveillance cameras in school buses. President of the Montreal Police Brotherhood Yves Francoeur could not have been more clear: "Our job, as police officers, is repression. We do not need a socio-cultural agent as director, we need a general. After all, the police are a paramilitary organization, let's not forget it." Though police forces deny carrying out racial and social profiling, Montreal Police spokesperson Paul Chablo has confirmed that the new anti-mask and anti-insult regulations that the City of Montreal wants adopted clearly target the May Day demonstration and the International Day Against Police Brutality. Despite the fact that since it was introduced, the Taser has killed over 200 people in North America, Charles Momy, President of the Canadian Police Association can still can say: "It is our position that all police officers should be authorized to carry CEWs [conducted energy weapons]." As for the Harper Conservative government, it is preparing to adopt "anti-gang" legislation, ostensibly in response to "gang-related" violence. All of this is totally unconscionable and must stop. It once again highlights the necessity to continue and intensify the struggle against police brutality, impunity and state fascization. All this violence and brutality cannot be brought to an end without the setting up of new arrangements that recognize that everyone has rights by virtue of being human. Quebec and Canada are definitely in need of a new direction. No to Brutality and Police Impunity!
Filipinos Call for Independent Investigation of RCMP and Accountability for Racial ProfilingAs the four RCMP officers involved in the stun gun-related death of Robert Dziekanski begin testifying today at the Braidwood Inquiry and amidst calls for increased police resources to deal with "gang-related violence," the local Filipino community warns against more racial profiling. They also continue to call for a thorough independent investigation and police accountability for the RCMP's treatment of the family of homicide victim Charle Dalde. A press conference took place February 25 at the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver. Speakers included Cezar Dalde, father of Charle Dalde the 25 year-old youth killed in Richmond last year, Carlo Sayo, National Chair of the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance and David Eby, Acting Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association. Since the tragic death of Charle Dalde on March 18, 2008 the Dalde family have yet to receive a public apology for the unnecessary rough and traumatizing treatment they received from the Richmond RCMP immediately following Charle's death. The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has confirmed that it will be conducting a review of the RCMP's treatment of the family of homicide victim Charle Dalde. The purpose in requesting the independent review is that the review of the Richmond RCMP's conduct will lead to "public acknowledgement by the RCMP that their conduct in this case was inappropriate, and an assurance that different procedures will be followed in future cases involving the families of victims of crime." (Source: Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance)
Note: "Top 5 Police Brutality Videos"Huffington Post published online an item which includes its "Top 5 Police Brutality Videos," Murray Whyte reports in the Toronto Star. "In order, they include a New York City officer toppling a speeding cyclist into a pole; another NYPD officer beating a suspect repeatedly by the roadside; a swarm of Philadelphia cops dragging people out of a car and kicking and pounding them to the ground; a University of Florida student Tasered by police; and, in perhaps a moment of comic vindictiveness at Huffington, a video of a cop accidentally Tasering himself," Whyte writes. Go to YouTube and search "police brutality," and almost 18,000 results come back, he says. "More are added to the rapidly growing archive every day, including, just this week, the brutal beating of a 15-year-old girl in custody with the Seattle Police Department, whose main affront to the officers in question appeared to be childishly -- and harmlessly -- kicking her shoe in their direction." (Source: Murray White, Toronto Star, March 7, 2009)
Quebec Government Must Immediately Adopt
|
In a meeting with Hamilton
Mayor Fred Eisenberger, U.S. Steel vice president and chief
operating officer John Goodish reportedly said, "Orders were down 60 to
70 percent." (Source: Hamilton Spectator, March
11) Even without the federal and Ontario governments taking emergency
measures to
maintain Canadian steel demand, Goodish admits 30 to 40 percent of
Stelco's order book remains intact. Stelco steelworkers and the Mayor
have every right to ask how U.S. Steel is going to fill those orders.
Stelco's inventory will eventually run out as the Hamilton blast
furnace has already been down since last
November and Lake Erie's will soon be extinguished.
Mr. Goodish
simply makes a declaration that the
order book is down and steelworkers must bear the burden until
"markets improve" whenever that may be. End of story as far as he is
concerned. He neither feels compelled to explain the underlying causes
of this economic crisis and the necessary steps
to get the people of the U.S. and Canada out of the mess nor does he
assume any responsibility on behalf of the captains of global industry
for the failures of their system. Instead, he tells the Mayor the order
book is down 60 percent as a result of an unfathomable act of god
beyond human control and then asserts,
again without explanation, that all orders will now be serviced by
their U.S. mills forcing Stelco steelworkers into unemployment,
draining Canada's EI and other public funds, and forcing the country to
go without significant production of wealth while steel mills are idle.
And on top of this, Canadians must accept
these attacks quietly with good grace while Stelco's existing and new
orders are moved to Goodish's U.S. homeland and the owners of U.S.
Steel capital protect their wealth, power and privilege above all else
at the expense of Canadians. No thank you Mr. Goodish, Canadians are
nobody's fools. We want an alternative
plan to deal with the crisis. Simply declaring the Stelco shutdown as
"efficient" for U.S. Steel à la CEO Suma does not wash. Canadians
demand an alternative that is efficient and effective for
nation-building, the working class and public good.
The worst
"protectionists" are Harper and McGuinty
and their slavish protection of U.S. monopolies! For example, not one
of those so-called Canadian leaders stood up for the dignity of
Canadians and called out Chrysler LLC President Thomas Lasorda when he
sat in a parliamentary committee and
threatened to take Chrysler production out of Canada if the parasites
of his hedge-fund owned auto monopoly did not receive billions more in
bailouts and Canadian workers did not give 25 percent more in
concessions.
On March 15, the 13th
International Day Against
Police Brutality will be held. On that occasion actions will be taking
place worldwide to express the growing concern of people regarding the
intensification of police brutality. In Montreal, the Collective
Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) is inviting the population
to demonstrate to demand an end to racial and social profiling, police
impunity and justice for the victims of brutality.
Comprised of 4 million Cuban women, the FMC
works
on national
issues like increasing food production, energy saving, productivity and
work discipline in general. Founded on August 23, 1960, it has been
recognized for its excellent work in different international events and
with international organizations,
including work alongside UN bodies on projects and programs, and
monitoring bilateral cooperation with several nations. The FMC
maintains excellent relations with more than 2,000 female international
personalities and institutions.
During the opening session, participants paid tribute to the
founder of the women's organization, Vilma Espin, who made outstanding
contributions to the rights of women in Cuba and in the world for
nearly 50 years. Delegates also approved a new logo for their
organization, which depicts the Cuban
heroine and revolutionary woman, carrying a rifle on her shoulder. FMC General Secretary Yolanda Ferrer
conveyed the greetings and congratulations by Cuban President Raúl
Castro to the plenary meeting.
Cuban
President Raúl Castro, speaking in the name of the Communist Party
and Fidel, congratulated all Cuban women during the closing
ceremony of
the congress. FMC Secretary General Yolanda Ferrer makes a presentation to Cuban President Raúl Castro. |
In a moving moment, the FMC leaders gave special recognition to Fidel and Raúl, architects of their battles and victories, the driving forces behind the struggle for women's equality, and similarly acknowledged Machado Ventura, a constant and attentive interlocutor of the aspirations of Cuban women.
The elected members of the National Committee and the National Secretariat were presented at the event and Yolanda Ferrer was confirmed as the organization's general secretary.
In his closing words, Machado Ventura stated that, with their altruism, responsibility, and truly heroic efforts, Cuban women are an example and motivation and deserve the recognition of the entire Cuban people.
The delegates sent a message of solidarity and sisterly greeting to all women around the world and expressed gratitude for the innumerable and valuable demonstrations of support received in the battle against the blockade and for the release of the Cuban Five. They urged women to continue supporting the normalization of family visits, especially to René and Gerardo. They also reaffirmed that they will continue cooperating with 98 other countries in the construction of a future with social justice and equality for all humanity.
(Sources: Granma, Agencia Cubana de Noticias, Prensa Latina, InsideCostaRica.com)
Read The
Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca