General strike in Panama
Workers in Panama began a general strike August 4 to
protest legislation aimed at weakening the union movement.
Cops fired tear gas grenades at the strikers, who barricaded
major streets in Panama City. Three workers were killed in
the clashes with police and dozens were injured. The cops
arrested 300 protesters.
The strike action was called by 49 unions, including the construction and banana workers unions, which have 70,000 members between them. Panama's president, Ernesto Balla dares, a wealthy businessman, claims the changes he is proposing would attract international investors and help lower the country's 13 percent unemployment rate.
U.S. congressman proposes
end to aid for Managua
U.S. legislator Jesse Helms, head of the Senate foreign
relations committee, said aid to Nicaragua should be
terminated because the government there was not doing enough
to resolve hundreds of millions of dollars in claims by U.S.
citizens who say their property was "stolen" by the
Sandinista government during the Nicaraguan revolution.
"Their [the Clinton administration's] priority," complained
Helms, "is filling the coffers of the Nicaraguan
government."
White House officials, however, told the New York Times July 31 that cutting off aid to Managua would destabilize the country and make it harder for the wealthy to get their property back or receive compensation. In the early 1980s many landless peasants were given land titles as part of an extensive agrarian reform. "If we destabilize the country the first thing that will go down the tubes is any Nicaraguan interest" in returning property, warned one U.S. diplomat.
Shaky truce signed in Chechnya
Russian and Chechen officials signed a tenuous military
truce July 30. The fighting over the last eight months has
left an estimated 40,000 people dead. The accord calls for
the release of all prisoners as the first step toward laying
down weapons. Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev approved the
accord August 2, but also sacked his chief negotiator for
making too many concessions. Chechen and Russian military
commanders in Grozny exchanged a small number of prisoners
August 3.
Russian president Boris Yeltsin sent thousands of troops into Chechnya last December to crush the Chechens' fight for independence. Heavy military casualties - officially 1,800 Russian soldiers - the huge costs of the war, and opposition among many Russians have put pressure on Moscow to end its slaughter of the Chechen people.
Israeli soldiers evict settlers
Israeli soldiers evicted 500 Jewish settlers who were
squatting on West Bank hills August 3. The evictions marked
the fourth day of battles between the settlers and Israeli
troops and police. The settlers were protesting a proposal
that would expand Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.
Under the plan Israeli troops are to pull out of areas in
the West Bank, where 140,000 Israelis live among 1 million
Palestinians.
The settlers are demanding that the accord, which is being negotiated by the Israeli government and Palestinian officials, be put to a national referendum. Tel Aviv seized the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the 1967 Arab- Israeli war.
Japan banking crisis deepens
The Bank of Japan bailed out Cosmo Credit Corp., the
fifth largest credit union in Japan, August 1, with some
$450 million to cover withdrawals. Cosmo's depositors
withdrew more than $900 million in cash in two days - almost
20 percent of total deposits. Officials at the credit union
displayed cartloads of money to assure depositors of ample
cash reserves. Cosmo lent heavily to real estate speculators
and is saddled with nearly $2 billion in bad debt.
Japan's banks are burdened with at least $570 billion in bad loans and the country is facing its worst economic crisis in decades.
Fishing pact approved at UN
Delegates from 100 countries approved a treaty August 4
that would supposedly curtail the global decline in fish
stocks. The agreement still needs approval by the 185-member
General Assembly of the United Nations and at least 30
nations before taking effect.
Mike Sutton, of the World Wildlife Fund, said most fisheries were not covered by the pact. "Our main concern about the treaty is that it covers only about 20 percent of world fisheries," he said. Catches of wild fish are dropping by several millions tons a year. The agreement would give governments that sign the treaty the right to set fishing quotas and to board boats suspected of overfishing.
Antarctic ozone hole widens
The depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica has
worsened over the past ten years, according to Jonathan
Shanklin, a meteorologist with the British Antarctic Survey.
"If anything, there's an acceleration of the depletion,"
said Shanklin, one of the three scientists who announced the
discovery of the ozone hole in 1985.
Ozone is a form of oxygen that protects against harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Its destruction is caused by pollution from compounds containing chlorine or bromine.
Sexual harassment victory
Del Laboratories Inc. agreed August 3 to pay 15
secretaries nearly $1.2 million in punitive damages for
sexual abuse imposed on them by the company's chief
executive, Dan Wassong. The amount was the largest
settlement the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has
ever obtained in a sexual harassment case.
"He made you feel dirty," said one of women, who only lasted two months as an assistant to Wassong. In all some 30 other women came forward to corroborate the complaints of sexual harassment in the government suit. Women "don't need to suffer these kinds of indignities just to collect a paycheck," said Gilbert Casellas, chairman of the commission.
Judge blocks scab ban
U.S. district judge Gladys Kessler blocked the Clinton
administration's executive order barring the government from
awarding contracts to companies that permanently replace
striking workers. The executive order is delayed until a
federal appeals court can hear a lawsuit filed by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of
Manufacturers, and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bridgestone/Firestone is being "investigated" for hiring scabs earlier this year at its plants during a strike. The company said hiring of replacement workers was a necessary part of doing business.
U.S. jobless rate edges up
The U.S. labor department reported August 4 that the
unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent as factory jobs were
shed at an accelerated pace. About 85,000 factory jobs were
lost in July; 188,000 factory workers have been added to the
unemployment roles since March.
The labor department's survey of payrolls also revealed a six-minute lengthening of the workweek. In addition, the report showed that 7.8 million workers, or 6.1 percent, held two or more jobs in July. This is an increase from the 7.2 million workers, or 5.8 percent of the workforce, who held two jobs a year earlier.
- MAURICE WILLIAMS