Re: <amarc-1> Brazil and Puerto Rico

[Bram Dov Abramson <bram@tao.ca>]

Telecom strikes across the globe?  Alongside Brazil and Puerto Rico,
Michael Eisenmenger reminds us of Bell Atlantic workers in the USA:

>Meanwhile the workers of Bell Atlantic (a major telecom
>provider that gobbled up NYNEX last year) are out on strike. What is one
>of their major issues? The forty hour work week! It seems overtime is
>mandatory for workers at this highly profitable telecom. In spite of the
>legacy of workers revolts throughout the turn of century, those brave
>souls who fought and died for 'our' rights (like the 40 hour week) have
>been long since forgotten in the high stakes rush on the global
>competition boardgame.

Colombia, too.  Deedee Halleck points us to a site put up by a New Yorker
in Colombia:

>Jamie McClelland, a young man from the Paper Tiger collective,
>recently returned from a visit to Colombia and has a useful
>web report on the communication groups he visited there.

The location: <http://165.230.26.130/papertiger/colombia>.  A variety of
'third sector' media and networking initiatives are represented and
reported on; below, I'm including Jamie's dispatch on Colombia's own
telecom strike.  The strikers' slogan, apparently: "Colombia es Telecom,
Telecom es Colombia, Hermano Colombiano, defiende tu nación".  My Spanish
isn't so good, but I suspect this means: "Colombia is Telecom, Telecom is
Colombia, Colombian brothers, defend your nation."  Which is an interesting
take on a movement for communication rights.

cheers
Bram

[by Jamie McClelland, at
<http://165.230.26.130/papertiger/colombia/telecom.html>]:

Throughout my stay in Colombia, telephones were the bane of my existence.
Unfamiliar tones, the frequency of busy signals, the lack of voice mail and
answering machines, the fact that I had no number for people to call me,
and most importantly, the difficulty I had speaking Spanish - all these
were factors contributing to my uncharacteristic aversion to the little
machines.

One day, before going to Colnodo, I attempted to use the only public phone
I have found that will allow me to call out of the US. Since the Telecom
workers were on strike, all the Telecom offices were closed (which is how I
usually called the US). At the Central office, however, there were a bank
of outdoor phone, one of which would take my card.

Unfortunately, however, the day I went happened to be day after the
government announced a contingency plan for holding the run-off
presidential elections without Telecom labor, thus eliminating the labor
union's primary bargaining chip. The government proceeded to declare the
negotiations dead. In response, Telecom labor held a huge rally at the
central office, prompting the police and military, equipped with large
intimidating guns, to cordon off the entire block including my precious phone.

Well, I reasoned, it was for a good cause. I can sacrifice a phone call in
solidarity with Telecom labor.

After watching and listening for a while (Colombia es Telecom, Telecom es
Colombia, Hermano Colombiano, defiende tu nación), I approached one of the
speakers and cautiously introduced myself (conscious that US Transnational
companies were undoubtedly one of the culprits of the demonstration).
Carlos, the man I spoke with, was very nice and explained what the
demonstration was about.

The Government, not surprisingly, seeks to sell the national phone company
to several multinational phone companies. The strikers, obviously concerned
about their jobs, are also concerned about losing control of a very
important asset. According to Carlos, if the sale goes through they will
lose their national sovereignty and national security. From his explanation
and from listening to the chants, I really sensed a fusion of labor
politics and nationalism (coincidentally, the World Cup was in progress as
well). I did my best to explain how in the US we are fighting the same
fight, which he readily acknowledged.

Unfortunately, Telecom labor is having the same luck as we are: the next
day the strike was called off and the Telecom workers, defeated, returned
to work.

---
   Bram Dov Abramson                   bram@tao.ca
   C.P. 48099 - Montreal Quebec - H2V 4S8 - Canada
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