Be Careful What You Vote For ! : Melbourne Indymedia

While on his morning walk, Prime Minister John Howard falls over, has a heart attack and dies ... because the accident and emergency ward at his nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time.

So his soul arrives in Heaven and he is met by Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"Welcome to Heaven," says Saint Peter, "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Liberal around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in; I'm a good Christian; I'm a believer," says the PM.

"I'd like to just let you in, but I have orders from God Himself. He says that since the implementation of his new HEAVENCHOICES policy, you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in Heaven. Then you must choose where you'll live for eternity."

"But I've already made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," replies Howard.

"I'm sorry ... But we have our rules," Peter interjects. And, with that, St. Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down ... All the way to Hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf course. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The temperature is a perfect 22C degrees. In the distance is a beautiful club-house. Standing in front of it is Bob Menzies and thousands of other Liberals luminaries who had helped him out over the years ---Harold Holt, John Gorton, Bill McMahon, etc. The whole of the Liberal Party leaders were there ... Everyone laughing, happy, and casually but expensively dressed. They run to greet him, to hug him and to reminisce about the good times they had getting rich at the expense of 'suckers and peasants.' They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar.

The Devil himself comes up to Howard with a frosty drink, "Have a tequila and relax, John!"
"Uh, I can't drink anymore, I took a pledge," says Howard, dejectedly.

"This is Hell, son. You can drink and eat all you want and not worry and it just gets better from there!"
Howard takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who he thinks is a really very friendly bloke who tells funny jokes like himself and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like the ones the Liberals pulled with the GST and the Free Trade Agreement promises.

They are having such a great time that, before he realises it, it's time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves as Howard steps on the elevator and heads upward. When the elevator door reopens, he is in Heaven again and Saint Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit Heaven," the old man says, opening the gate.

So for 24 hours Howard is made to hang out with a bunch of honest, good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about things other than money and treat each other decently. Not a nasty prank or short-arse joke among them. No fancy country clubs here and, while the food tastes great, it's not caviar or lobster. And these people are all poor. He doesn't see anybody he knows and he isn't even treated like someone special! "Whoa," he says uncomfortably to himself. "Bob Menzies never prepared me for this!"

The day done, Saint Peter returns and says, "Well, you've spent a day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose where you want to live for eternity."

With the 'Deal or No Deal' theme playing softly in the background, Howard reflects for a minute ... Then answers: "Well, I would never have thought I'd say this -- I mean, Heaven has been delightful and all -- but I really think I belong in Hell with my friends."

So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down, all the way to Hell. The doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren scorched earth covered with garbage and toxic industrial wasteland, kind of like the eroded, rabbit and fox affected Australian outback. He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and chained together, picking up the roadside rubbish and putting it into black plastic bags. They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with grime. The Devil comes over to Howard and puts an arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand," stammers a shocked John, "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a club-house and we ate lobster and caviar and drank tequila We lazed around and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable!"

The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly and purrs, "Yesterday we were campaigning; today you voted for us!"

UAW Brings Together Unions from Eight Nations to Plan Joint Organizing Strategies

The UAW spearheaded an unprecedented meeting of auto unions from eight nations to meet the challenges of globalization by developing shared strategies for moving toward the future and Amy Masciola from the AFL-CIO Organizing Department sends us this report.

Last week, representatives of auto unions from eight countries agreed to form an ad hoc global auto sector organizing working group to gather and share information, develop strategic organizing targets and coordinate solidarity among participants.

The UAW convened the meeting at its headquarters in Detroit. Participants included trade unionists from Argentina, Brazil, France, Thailand, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, the AFL-CIO Organizing Department and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

In welcoming participants, UAW Vice President and National Organizing Director Terry Thurman summarized the goals of the meeting:

We understand that in order to maintain the high standards we have fought long and hard for in the United States, we must work together to raise labor standards around the world. We must have a global strategy to unite workers in a struggle against the ill effects of the global economy.

Thurman, who chaired the three-day meeting, said that in gathering trade unionists from across the globe, the UAW sought to share information and develop an action plan to address the global assault on workers’ rights.

The same employers operate auto and truck assembly and parts factories around the world. With the big auto companies operating internationally, it is incumbent on auto unions to do the same.

Des Quinn attended the meeting on behalf of Unite, a new union formed this month from the merger of two of Britain’s largest unions, the Transport & General Workers Union and Amicus.

We know that the companies’ top priority is profits, not people. Executives will ruthlessly shift production without regard for the economies, communities, and workers they leave behind. If we work together to raise labor standards around the world and to show the bosses that they cannot pit worker against worker in a competition for the cheapest jobs, then we will build real power for workers.

According to Hyewon Chong of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union:

Workers in South Korea face a lot of repression from employers when they try to organize and our labor law does not protect their rights. Workers are threatened, fired, and even endure physical attacks for their union activities. We are excited to have the chance to share our experiences and develop strategies that help us build workers’ power in South Korea and around the world.

Valter Sanches of the Brazilian metalworkers’ union CNM-CUT described campaigns his union waged to organize workers at DaimlerChrysler’s suppliers in Brazil and the effort required to ensure the parts companies respected their employees’ rights to organize.

These are the kinds of coordinated efforts that we as trade unionists should engage in on a global scale. When we work together we can challenge companies that oppose workers’ attempts to organize a union.

Representatives from each union described the legal frameworks for forming and joining unions in their respective countries in order to shed light on the variety of tactics used by companies to avoid or weaken unions. Many participants said that the issues they face in helping workers form unions in their own countries are strikingly similar to those faced by activists in the United States. Participants shared information about the multinational companies doing business in their countries, their unions’ density and bargaining coverage and their organizing priorities.

In concluding the meeting, Terry Thurman reiterated that the UAW is committed to supporting auto workers’ struggles around the world, whether they are in bargaining or organizing or defying trade union repression.

We are committed to the global struggle for workers’ rights and we are prepared to step up in support of our brothers and sisters around the world,” he said. We are eager to move beyond symbolic gestures of solidarity and develop joint strategies to combat the global assault on workers’ rights.

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Tags: UAW, global unions, Unite, DaimlerChrysler
Channels: Organizing & Bargaining

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1. by Bill_Z
May 31st, 2007 at 11:25 pm

The Bush White House taken an arrogant stance agaist the AFL-CIO and globalization for over six years.
Working families are deliberately disrespted by the Bush Admin.
Everyone who works for a living should care about the effects of globaliztion upon working families.
The Republican/Bush Admin. would like nothing better than for Working Families “not to be concerned” about globalization and the effects it has on Organized Labor.
As a lifetime union member it is enlightening to see the AFL-CIO
lead the way to a better world for all working families.
In Unity,
Bill Zona
Local 1021
2. by Haywood
June 1st, 2007 at 9:48 am

Joint organizing and bargaining is the only way to go. I work for an aerospace company (Hamilton - Sundstrand - a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.) that is abandoning Rockford, Illinois for the one-party corporate state of Singapore. Employers wouldn’t be so quick to run away if they faced strong unions everywhere. Capital is global; so Labor must be global, too.