In Middle East, Ban pledges to help settle all key issues within 24 months

Visiting Ramallah today where he witnessed the challenges Palestinians face first-hand, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his commitment to help the Israeli and Palestinian sides reach a settlement in the next two years.

China’s Growth Shifts the Geopolitics of Oil

March 19, 2010

China’s Growth Shifts the Geopolitics of Oil

By JAD MOUAWAD
New York Times

Last summer, Saudi Arabia put the final bolt in its largest oil expansion project ever, opening a new field capable of pumping 1.2 million barrels a day — more than the entire production of Texas. The field, called Khurais, was part of an ambitious $60 billion program to increase the kingdom’s production to meet growing energy needs.

It turns out the timing could not have been worse for Saudi Arabia.

Only two years ago, consumers were clamoring for more supplies, OPEC producers were straining to increase their output, and prices were rising to record levels. But now, for the first time in more than a decade, the world has more oil than it needs.

As demand slumped because of the global recession, Saudi Arabia was forced to shut about a quarter of its production. After raising its capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day, Saudi Arabia is now pumping about 8.5 million barrels a day, its lowest level since the early 1990s.

“2009 was painful for us as it was for everybody else,” said Khalid A. al-Falih, the president and chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state-owned oil giant, and a company veteran who was promoted to the top post at the beginning of last year. “We experienced the same cash flow constraints that everybody did. But we adjusted quickly and, certainly, everything that was strategic to us was not touched.”

The recession also precipitated a milestone for Saudi Arabia and the global energy market. While China’s successful economic policies paved the way for a quick rebound there, the recession caused a deeper slowdown in the United States, slashing oil consumption by 10 percent from its 2005-7 peak. As a result, Saudi Arabia exported more oil to China than to the United States last year.

While exports to the United States might rebound this year, in the long run the decline in American demand and the growing importance of China represent a fundamental shift in the geopolitics of oil.

“We believe this is a long-term transition,” Mr. Falih said in a recent interview. “Demographic and economic trends are making it clear — the writing is on the wall. China is the growth market for petroleum.”

Saudi officials have said they favor prices of around $80 a barrel. Despite soft demand and high levels of inventories, oil futures in New York have averaged $75 a barrel over the last six months. On Friday, they closed at $80.68.

In the United States, some experts believe that energy-efficiency measures, as well as the government’s push for biofuels and its plans to limit carbon emissions, are putting the nation on a long-term path to lower oil consumption.

The American talk about energy independence rankles Saudi officials, who maintain that the goal is unrealistic and could end up damaging energy markets by undermining investment now, thus leading to higher prices in the long run.

Mr. Falih said he welcomed energy-efficiency measures but insisted that fossil fuels would dominate energy demand for decades.

“I was here in the 1980s after the 1970s price shocks, and I remember all the debates,” Mr. Falih said. “But ultimately the policies were reasonable. And the United States continues to search for that reasonable ground.”

Saudi officials have recognized that structural changes are taking place in the United States. A few months ago, Aramco sold its storage facilities in the Caribbean, a signal that it was abandoning the East Coast market, according to analysts. (The Saudis stopped striving to be the top foreign supplier to the United States years ago. The kingdom now trails Canada, Mexico and Venezuela for exports to the United States.)

That is not to say the Saudis are cutting ties with the United States. Aramco is expanding its Motiva refinery, in Port Arthur, Tex., which it owns with Royal Dutch Shell, to increase its capacity to 600,000 barrels a day. That will make it the largest refinery in the United States, overtaking Exxon Mobil’s Baytown refinery.

Edward L. Morse, an energy expert who heads global commodity research at Credit Suisse in New York, said the transformation was a healthy development in relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States. It also means the end of the “U.S. discount,” where Aramco sold oil to American refiners for about $1 a barrel less than to Asia.

“The Saudis don’t see the need to subsidize their oil exports to the United States anymore,” Mr. Morse said.

Last year, Saudi exports to the United States fell to 989,000 barrels a day, the lowest level in 22 years, from 1.5 million barrels a day the previous year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Meanwhile, Saudi sales to China surged above a million barrels a day last year, nearly doubling from the previous year. The kingdom now accounts for a quarter of Chinese oil imports.

Saudi Aramco recently inaugurated a huge refinery in the Fujian province, in the southeast coast of China, which is projected to receive 200,000 barrels a day of Saudi crude, and is looking at a second project in the northeast city of Qingdao.

It is also planning to build two refineries in Saudi Arabia, as joint ventures with Total and ConocoPhillips, that are primarily destined to ship products to Asia.

India is also courting Saudi attention. After a visit in March to Riyadh by India’s prime minister, Saudi Arabia outlined a goal to double its exports to India. The kingdom already accounts for 25 percent of the Indian market after its exports grew sevenfold from 2000 to 2008.

“Oil flows are shifting from West to East, and Saudi supplies that used to go to Europe and the United States are now headed for Asia,” said Jean-Jacques Mosconi, the senior vice president for strategy at Total of France.

Brad Bourland, a former State Department official who heads research at Jadwa Investment in Riyadh, said: “Saudi Arabia used to be very much an American story, but those days are gone forever. That’s just a reflection of a globalized world and the rise of Asia. They now see their relationship with China as very strategic, and very long term.”

Some energy and security experts have pointed out that the Saudi government is keen on displacing Iranian oil sales to China to persuade Beijing authorities to back tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, a position that has the support of the United States.

“We know the Saudis and others have delivered the message to the Chinese that instability in the gulf is not in their interest,” Douglas C. Hengel, the deputy assistant secretary for energy, sanctions and commodities at the State Department, said last week during a conference in Houston.

But Jon B. Alterman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the falling dependence of the United States on Saudi oil could turn into a problem for the Saudis, because the United States guarantees their security in the Persian Gulf.

“The Saudis are particularly concerned about the shape of the global market where all the growth comes from the east and all the security comes from the west,” Mr. Alterman said.

China’s oil demand is set to grow by 900,000 barrels a day in the next two years. Chinese oil consumption reached 8.5 million barrels a day last year, compared with 4.8 million in 2000. It will account for a third of the world’s total consumption growth this year.

While China is by far the fastest-growing oil market in the world, the United States is still the top consumer: despite the slump, Americans consumed 18.5 million barrels a day in 2009. That amounts to 22 barrels of oil a year for each American, compared with 2.4 barrels for each Chinese.

“To me, this is a long-term business,” said Mr. Falih during the interview.

“And that is how I look at the United States and China — as markets for commodities that will be in demand for years.”

Military leaders testify about energy efficiency

National security is at stake, state panel told
By Onell R. Soto, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 9:30 p.m.
Cutting Americans’ addiction to fossil fuel isn’t a tree-hugger issue but a national security one, a retired Navy vice admiral told state lawmakers yesterday.
The United States consumes a quarter of the world’s oil, and much of that comes from countries that aren’t friendly to us. Meanwhile, we have a military that increasingly marches on oil, to the point where long convoys must cross dangerous territory to deliver fuel for troops in vehicles that get 3 miles a gallon.
Two top military leaders told state senators that the armed forces are taking energy issues seriously — by working on ways to make their operations at home and abroad more efficient.
The testimony, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was part of a hearing by a state Senate committee on climate change designed to gather more information on how energy use affects national security.
Getting more oil within the United States is not a solution, said retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn, a consultant on energy security issues.
“We cannot drill our way to sustainable prosperity and security,” he said.
And because oil is a commodity, deciding to avoid buying it from countries that don’t like us doesn’t solve the problem, because other people will.
Whenever we gas up, he said, “part of that money inevitably is getting to states that fund terrorism.”
Oil extraction in developing countries causes instability between haves and have-nots, he said, showing a slide of an impoverished fishing village next to an oil terminal in Nigeria.
And global warming can lead to fights over scarce resources like arable land.
“The pressure of climate change, left unchecked, will create many more Darfurs,” he said.
For the Marine Corps, a big issue is making sure that fighting forces are supplied with the fuel and energy they need to move around and communicate, said Maj. Gen. Anthony M. Jackson, who commands Marine Corps Installations West, including Camp Pendleton.
“It is critical to those Marines and soldiers to accomplish the missions this country sends them on,” he said.
Modern warfare has increased energy use dramatically. Fighting vehicles have to be heavier to survive roadside bombs and as a result, use more fuel.
Troops are equipped with GPS, night-vision goggles, radios and other devices, all with batteries that must be charged.
“It is energy-intensive,” Jackson said.
Half of the tonnage in supply lines, he said, is fuel, and nearly a third is water. Getting fuel into a place like Afghanistan makes it cost about $15 a gallon, and that jumps dramatically, to $400, to get it to troops in forward operating bases.
To deal with that, the Marines are looking at using water purifiers and solar chargers, plus making their vehicles more efficient, he said.
The Navy, meanwhile, is also working on lowering its energy usage, said Rear Adm. William French, commander of Naval Region Southwest. He oversees installations in California and Nevada, where conservation efforts have reduced energy usage by 18 percent since 2003.
The Navy is working on using biofuels in new ships, he said, plus generating power from the sun and the wind on its bases.
The state’s climate change laws — designed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions — are under attack from politicians who say they should be put on hold until the economy recovers.
The Democratic senators who put together yesterday’s hearing, Christine Kehoe of San Diego and Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, disagree.
“We have no time to waste,” Kehoe said.
Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; onell.soto@uniontrib.com

What’s the difference between biofuels and biodiesel?

— The EditorsSanta Fe, New Mexico
Hmmm…it seems like you need some educating, here. And being the jackbooted, card-carrying henchman of the liberal media–and author of the white-knuckle-ride non-fiction biofuel thriller entitled Greasy Rider–that I am, I’m just the person to provide it. In fact, I’ll go beyond simply defining “biofuels” and “biodiesel.” I’m going to give you the Ultimate Glossary of Sustainable Energy for Huggers of Tall Perennial Woody Plants That Consist of a Main Trunk and Branches. I promise that it will be as unbiased as Webster’s Dictionary. Almost.
Alternative energyA term cleverly hijacked by the nuclear and coal industries to lump themselves together with biofuels, solar, geothermal, and wind as “alternatives” to oil. The correct phrase to use when referring to green power is “renewable energy” (see entry below). Unfortunately, the PR flacks for coal and nuclear have been so successful in their efforts that “alternative energy” has become a part of the lexicon. Its use instantly sends Sierra Club types into seizures.
BiofuelsFuel (either liquid or solid) created from organic, renewable materials (usually plant matter). Common biofuels include ethanol (which I explain below as evil in most forms), biodiesel, cow farts, and even wood chips. The drawback to biofuels is when they’re produced from food crops, like corn or soybeans because this creates a competition between energy producers and the starving masses for the same commodities. The result can be a rise in food prices, placing a heavy burden on the poor and people in Third World countries. That’s why biofuels from sources like algae hold so much promise. I use biofuel in my veggie-powered car, but it’s a recycled waste product–a.k.a. french-fry grease that comes from restaurant deep-fat fryers.
BiodieselDiesel fuel that’s made from renewable organic sources such as algae, vegetable oils, or animal fats. It can be pumped straight into the fuel tank of a diesel vehicle. Most of the time, it’s mixed with traditional dino-diesel. A sign at the gas pump for B2 fuel, for instance, indicates that the contents are two percent biodiesel and 98 percent fossil fuel. B20 is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent traditional diesel. B99 is as close to the pure, uncut Grade A stuff as you can get.
Clean coalThe words “clean” and “coal” go about as well together as “benign” and “Death Star.” No such technology exists, no matter how much politicians pandering to voters in Pennsylvania and West Virginia like to talk about it. Around 47 percent of the electricity produced in the United States comes from coal, and coal power accounts for about 42 percent of the world’s carbon emissions (otherwise known as greenhouse-gas emissions). It’s the most carbon-spewing fuel we’ve got. Making it “clean” largely involves capturing the carbon it emits and burying it underground or beneath the sea.
EthanolEthanol is simply pure alcohol, like what you can extract from beer, wine, or vodka. It’s generally made from corn, which is very bad. Here’s why: Corn is a highly water- and fertilizer-intensive crop that encourages erosion of the topsoil (even though it tastes so damn good on the cob). When corn-based ethanol is in demand, it shoots up the price of corn, and farmers plant fewer other crops, like soybeans and wheat, which also become costlier. On top of that, huge natural gas-fired plants are needed to distill ethanol from corn. The real promise of ethanol comes from potentially getting it from algae or plant waste like sawdust, grass, and corn stalks.
Do you have a question of your own?
Nuclear powerThere’s been a big push to promote nuclear power as a clean source of energy (discounting the tens of thousands of tons of radioactive waste from nuclear plants that we’re already sitting on in the U.S.) because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases. As distasteful as the prospect may seem to environmentalists, though, this form of energy may be a necessary ingredient in dramatically reducing emissions in the near term.
Renewable energySimply put, energy created from natural sources–like solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. Unlike fossil fuels, you can never run out of renewable energy (at least not until eight billion years from now, when the sun expands into a red giant and swallows the earth like a guppy).

Polar bear, bluefin tuna trade bans rejected

Proposed international trade bans on polar bears and Atlantic bluefin tuna failed to pass on Thursday at a 175-nation meeting aimed at protecting endangered species.

The United States favored both bans and was disappointed in the vote, but held out hope for passage of a resolution that would make climate change a factor in future decisions by the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES.

The meeting of CITES in Doha, Qatar, will consider the climate change resolution along with trade protection for about 40 species — including sharks, coral and elephants — during its two-week conference ending on March 25.

Polar bears are under pressure from the melting of their icy Arctic habitat, and are listed by the United States as a threatened species for that reason. The primary exporter of polar bears is Canada, which has recently scaled back the number of hunting permits for the bear.

While CITES uses trade restrictions to protect species at risk, Tom Strickland, assistant U.S. Interior secretary, said that climate change will have to be taken into account and that polar bears are the first species to need this consideration.

“The polar bear was the first canary in the coal mine,” Strickland said of the climate change impact on the animal.

“I think we’re going to find at every CITES meeting from here on out that we’ll be looking at species and their vulnerability in terms of the effect that climate change has had on them, whether it’s drought or rising sea levels” or other ecosystem changes, he said.

“CATASTROPHIC DECLINE”

Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the CITES vote is not the end of the story for the bear.

“The ironic thing is that all the countries of the conference acknowledge that global warming is posing a huge challenge for this species,” Wetzler said. “When you have a species threatened by global warming, it only makes sense to reduce all the other stresses, including hunting.”

Strickland blamed the failure to pass a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna on pressure from commercial interests in Japan and inaction by other regulatory bodies, notably the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

“The science is compelling, the statistics are dramatic, that this species is in a catastrophic decline,” Strickland said at a telephone news briefing from Washington.

Stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna, prized as a delicacy in Japan, have plunged more than 80 percent since 1970, according toCITES. Japan imports about 80 percent of the catch.

A single fish can weigh up to 1,430 pounds (650 kg) and fetch more than $100,000. The fish is found in the north Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.

“The abject failure of governments here at CITES to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction,” said Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner Oliver Knowles.

France, Italy and Spain catch most of the tuna consumed by the global market.

In 2009, a quota of 19,950 tons of tuna was set by ICCAT, but many fish are caught live in nets, transferred to farms and fattened before slaughter.

“The market for this fish is just too lucrative and the pressure from fishing interests too great, for enough governments to support a truly sustainable future for the fish,” said Susan Lieberman, director of international policy for the Pew Environment Group.

Source:
Reuters,”Polar bear, bluefin tuna trade bans rejected“, accessed March 18, 2010
Cable Network News, “Japan’s Bluefin Tuna Fears“, accessed March 18, 2010

Wind turbine training tower opens

Published Date: 19 March 2010
The UK’s first wind turbine training tower has been opened in Northumberland.
Built at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Blyth, the 27 metre high facility is designed to allow education and training for technicians working in the wind industry and at height, both onshore and offshore.It is hoped the facility, which was the result of a training partnership, backed by regional development agency One North East, between Northumberland College, Mainstream Renewable Power and Narec, will lead to an increase in the number of technicians suitably qualified to install, operate and maintain new and existing farms.One North East director of business and industry Ian Williams said: “Firms across North East England have already won over £150m of offshore wind contracts with the biggest opportunities from the Round 3 development still to come. “The creation of the wind turbine training tower and the developing training partnership will ensure the North East has skills to capitalise on the £100bn investment that will be made over the next decade.”One North East established Narec to build on the region’s existing strengths in energy and engineering and our funding for the new tower, Narec’s 100m blade testing facility and drive train test rig, together with investment by firms like Clipper Windpower and JDR Cables have helped make North East England a leader in the development of offshore wind.”Rachel Ellis-Jones, chief executive of Northumberland College said: “The Training Tower will help to ensure that the students on the wind technician training programme at Northumberland College are trained to British and European industrial standards. “The specification of the tower and the equipment within it will also allow us to develop new training modules which will enable us to meet the skills needs of the wind energy industry.”

Damage to peat bogs driving climate change

Some of the most beautiful areas of England are releasing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year because of damage to peat bogs, environment watchdogs have warned.

By Louise GrayPublished: 7:00AM GMT 18 Mar 2010
Peatlands in beauty spots like Exmoor and the Peak District store carbon dioxide in ancient deposits of rotted vegetation.
However a report by Natural England found farming practices such as ploughing the earth and burning heather means three quarters of the deep peat area in England is now damaged.

This is causing three million tonnes of carbon dioxide stored in the soil to be released every year, the equivalent to the average emissions of 350,000 households.
Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said preserving peatlands could help the UK meet its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
She is calling for peatlands to be preserved by allowing the land to flood, blocking gullies to retain water in bogs and creating nature reserves.
“England’s peatlands are a crucial buffer against climate change but have been extensively damaged by centuries of inappropriate management. We have to stop the rot and ensure that peatlands are properly looked after as one of our most precious environment resources,” she said.
It is estimated that globally, peat stores twice as much carton as forest, and the UK contains about 15 per cent of the world’s peatlands.

Confessed Killer of Malcolm X Is Granted Parole

March 19, 2010

Killer of Malcolm X Is Granted Parole

By ANDY NEWMAN and JOHN ELIGON
New York Times

After being turned down for parole 16 times, Malcolm X’s only confessed assassin is about to gain his freedom.

Thomas Hagan has been held since moments after shots rang out in the Audubon Ballroom in 1965. He has been on work release for more than two decades, but he still spends two days a week locked up at the Lincoln Correctional Facility on West 110th Street in Manhattan.

On March 3, however, on his 17th try, Mr. Hagan was granted parole, the State Division of Parole said. His final release date is tentatively scheduled for April 28. The news was reported Thursday on The Village Voice’s Runnin’ Scared blog.

Mr. Hagan, who turned 69 in jail on Tuesday, was a militant member of the Nation of Islam on Feb. 21, 1965, when Malcolm X was shot while giving a speech at the Audubon, in Washington Heights. Mr. Hagan, then known as Talmadge X. Hayer, was captured by the crowd and shot at and beaten before being rescued by the police.

Two other men, Muhammad Abdul Aziz (then known as Norman 3X Butler) and Kahlil Islam (then Thomas 15X Johnson), were also charged with the murder. They maintained their innocence. Mr. Hagan did not, testifying at his trial in 1966 that he was responsible for the murder and that his co-defendants were innocent.

All three men were sentenced to 20 years to life.

Mr. Hagan said in a 1977 affidavit that he and several accomplices (not Mr. Aziz or Mr. Islam) decided to kill Malcolm X because he was a “hypocrite” who had “gone against the leader of the Nation of Islam,” Elijah Muhammad. Mr. Hagan said that after one man shot Malcolm X in the chest with a shotgun, he and another man fired several more rounds at him.

Mr. Aziz was paroled in 1985, and in 1998 was named by Louis Farrakhan to be chief of security for the Harlem mosque that Malcolm X once headed. Mr. Islam was paroled in 1987.

Mr. Hagan, who earned a master’s degree while in prison, according to a 2008 profile in The New York Post, was placed on work release in 1988. In 2008, he was spending his free days with his wife and children in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and working in a fast food restaurant.

“I’ve been incarcerated for 40 years, and I’ve had a good record all around,” he told The Post. “I don’t see any reason for holding me.”

Somalia Resistance Movements Join Forces in Cyberspace

Somali rebels join forces in cyberspace: U.N. report

By Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Armed rebel groups in Somalia are using the Internet for fundraising and recruitment, and they achieve better results through the Web than they do on the ground, a United Nations report said.

The report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia also highlighted how the rebels use the Internet to spread information about making bombs and religious rulings.

It cited a three-day, live fundraiser in May last year and another online forum in March 2009 attended by senior members of al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main rebel groups fighting the Western-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

“Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have regularly conducted joint forums, achieving a greater degree of cooperation in cyberspace than they do on the ground,” the report said.

Al Shabaab launched a two-week online fundraiser for its fighters in August 2009, which drew senior regional rebel leaders and hundreds of participants in the Somali diaspora, the report said.

Forum participants made pledges totaling more than $40,000 during the event at which the leaders told of the hardships facing fighters and their families.

“The Internet continues to play an important role in propaganda, recruiting and fund-raising by Somali armed groups,” the monitoring group said.

ONLINE FATWA

The most active al Shabaab online outlet is www.alqimmah.net, established in September 2007 and registered in Sweden.

The site is used to disseminate and produce the rebel group’s information material, “making it an integral part” of al Shabaab’s propaganda.

Last August it posted a 47-page religious ruling, or fatwa, against the Djibouti peace process, which is aimed at putting together an inclusive Somali government.

The fatwa has provided Somali rebel groups with religious justification for waging war against the government of Somalia.

Alqimmah.net has also posted a link to a book entitled “The Science of Explosions and Explosives”.

“The intention of the posting was apparently to make available to Shabaab supporters and sympathizers knowledge pertinent to bomb-making,” the report said.

Al Shabaab is also using Internet forums to highlight its cooperation with foreign fighters who have joined its cause.

In one example, the proceedings of a ceremony to thank foreign fighters, and reportedly, to celebrate the marriage of some 50 of them to Somali women as a way to integrate them into Somali society, were relayed to participants of an online forum.

“The message was unmistakably to assure potential foreign volunteers that they could expect a similarly warm welcome if they joined the cause,” the report said.

Other sites used to disseminate materials by al Shabaab cited in the report include somalimemo.com and ansarnet.info, while Hizbul Islam has links with jabiso.net, somalimirror.com and cadaalada.com and halgan.net.

FAST INTERNET

Despite its internal turmoil Somalia boasts some of the fastest Internet connections in Africa.

“By 2005, when most of Africa was still putting this infrastructure in place, Somalia, with the help of a huge diaspora population, developed the fastest and cheapest internet and telecommunications,” said Rashid Abdi, Somalia analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Abdi described al Shabaab’s use of the Internet as an increasingly common trend of “cyber-jihadism”, which is difficult to control.

He cautioned against restricting Internet use in Somalia. “I would not recommend cutting off Somalia’s Internet. It is just a catalyst not a root cause,” he said, adding that it could also become a vehicle to help solve the conflict.

WERC Appeal to Labor Leaders For a Solidarity Day III on Jobs, Peaceand Justice

WORKERS EMERGENCY RECOVERY CAMPAIGN
P.O. Box 40009
San Francisco, CA 94140
Tel. 415-641-8616
Email: wercampaign@gmail.com
Website: www.wercampaign.org
——————–
March 19, 2010

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Executive Council of the California Labor Federation, representing two million organized workers, over one-sixth of the membership of the AFL-CIO, passed a resolution on Feb. 23, 2010, calling on the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to organize a Solidarity Day III demonstration in Washington, D.C. for Jobs, Peace and Justice. Other unions and organizations that recently passed similar resolutions include the Labor for Single Payer Campaign — representing a broad array of local unions, labor councils and state federations — as well as the San Francisco Building Trades Council.

These resolutions are in response to a deteriorating situation for working people. Unemployment continues unabated, home foreclosures are still rising, and because of the recession, many states are suffering huge budget deficits, meaning that they are slashing social services and funding for education so that even more people are losing their jobs. Instead of mounting a massive jobs-creation program, the federal government is contemplating reducing the federal deficit by attacking entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has recently condemned these trends and offered a different approach: “The best way to fix the deficit is to create 10 million jobs now — the number of jobs needed to close our jobs deficit. This will require large amounts of public investment in the short term, which should be paid for in future years by taxing Wall Street.”

In response to the Massachusetts Senate elections where Republican Scott Brown won, President Trumka also stated: “It’s not time to leave it to any political party to take care of us once we put them in office. It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we need. … I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver.”

We agree with these statements by President Trumka. Now is the time to rely on ourselves, not on the politicians, and to mobilize a massive demonstration in Washington, D.C. for Jobs, Peace and Justice.

Although small demonstrations are helpful, massive demonstrations, because they cannot be ignored by the media, place much more pressure on the politicians to do the right thing. Huge demonstrations give the participants the conviction that they are not alone, that they truly represent the interests of the majority of the people in this country, that our cause is just, and that we have the power to win. In this way these demonstrations enthuse and energize the participants who then want to continue the struggle.

The AFL-CIO has recently launched a two-week campaign (see http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr03112010.cfm) across the country, calling for rallies and demonstrations at the Big Six Wall Street banks (Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo/Wachovia) in order to broadcast the following message: “It’s time to create good jobs now, and the big Wall Street banks that destroyed jobs should pay to restore them.” There are three demands: “Stop refusing to pay your fair share to restore the jobs you destroyed, stop fighting financial reform, and start lending to your communities, small businesses and others starved for credit.”

We encourage you to attend one of these demonstrations and raise the idea of calling on the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to organize a massive demonstration of working people to demand that the government resolve the economic crisis in favor of working people by creating jobs and taxing Wall Street, rather than resolving the crisis at our expense so that the bankers can continue their outrageous bonuses.

We have included a Model Resolution for such a Solidarity Day III demonstration below, along with an endorsement coupon. You will also find below an updated list of endorsers of this important campaign.

We hope to hear back from you.

In solidarity,

Bill Leumer and Alan Benjamin
Co-Conveners,
Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign
********************
MODEL RESOLUTION
in Support of a Labor-Sponsored March on Washington
For JOBS, PEACE & JUSTICE

WHEREAS in the aftermath of the Massachusetts special senatorial election, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka issued a statement declaring “It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we needs. I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver;” and

WHEREAS despite the so-called economic recovery, the economic crisis for working people has continued unabated with growing unemployment and underemployment, rising home foreclosures and evictions, and the underfunding of public education and vitally needed social services; and

WHEREAS the government has bestowed billions of bailout dollars on the financial institutions whose recklessness and greed created this economic crisis and who are rewarding those responsible with obscene gigantic bonuses; and

WHEREAS the labor movement’s legislative priorities — a massive program for jobs, true universal health care, and enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act — are all in great peril; and

WHEREAS while the government has no problem allocating a trillion dollars for two wars thousands of miles away, it has not committed funds critically needed to put America back to work, with health care and quality education for all; and

WHEREAS right wing, anti-labor forces, such as the Tea Party movement, have brought hundreds of thousand of people into the streets to advance their reactionary demands; and

WHEREAS there is a growing movement within the House of Labor to counter the right wing offensive against workers’ living standards with our own massive mobilization; and

WHEREAS various union bodies, including the California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), the South Carolina Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), the Labor for Single-Payer Campaign, the San Francisco Building Trades Council, the South Bay Labor Council (CA), Plumbers and Fitters Local 393, Troy Area Labor Council (NY), San Mateo Labor Council (CA) and the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the Council of New Jersey State College Locals (CNJSCL, AFT-AFL-CIO), among others, have adopted resolutions calling upon the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to organize a Solidarity Day III March on Washington D.C.. in the spring or summer of 2010 to demand jobs, health care, housing, full funding for public education and social services, and peace; now therefore be it

RESOLVED that the ________ [NAME OF YOUR UNION/ORGANIZATION] joins with our brothers and sisters in calling for a labor-sponsored march on Washington for jobs, peace and justice, which would have the capability of mobilizing the kind of massive army Brother Trumka spoke of; and be it finally

RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the AFL-CIO and to Change to Win.
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WERC ENDORSEMENT / FINANCIAL SUPPORT COUPON

[ ] I endorse the Model Resolution [see above] Urging Support for a Solidarity Day III March in DC for Jobs, Peace and Justice.

[ ] My union / organization endorses the Model Resolution Urging Support for a Solidarity Day III March in DC.

[ ] I pledge a contribution of $ _____ toward your WERC financial campaign. My check will be made payable to “WERC” and mailed to WERC, P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.

NAME

UNION/ORG (for info purposes only)

CITY

STATE

ZIP

TEL

EMAIL

(please fill out and return to wercampaign@gmail.com)
********************
Updated list of initial endorsers of Call for a Labor-Sponsored
Demonstration in Washington for Jobs, Peace and Justice

(as of March 19, 2010)

- California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
- South Carolina State, AFL-CIO
- San Francisco Labor Council
- South Bay Labor Council (San Jose, Calif.)
- San Mateo Central Labor Council
- Hartford (CT) Central Labor Council
- Troy (NY) Central Labor Council
- Labor For Single Payer Campaign
- AFT Local 1021 (Los Angeles)
- Council of New Jersey State College Locals (CNJSCL), AFT-AFL-CIO
- Executive Council, AFT Missouri
- National Jobs for All Coalition
- California Peace and Freedom Party
- Harlem Tenants Council
- Harlem Antiwar Coalition
- Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice
- Ohio State Labor Party
- Railroad Workers United
- Painters and Dry Wall workers Local 93 (Bay Area)
- Prosperity Agenda

- Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report)
- Donna Smith, American SiCKO, American Patients United
- Harry Kelber (Labor Educator)
- Sharon Black (Organizer, Bail Out the People Movement)
- Monadel Herzallah (Arab American Union Members Council)
- Andy Griggs (UTLA member)
- Don Bechler (chair, Single Payer Now!)
- Larry Duncan* (Labor Beat-Chicago)
- Allan Fisher (AFT 2121)
- Fred Hirsch (South Bay Labor Council)
- Jerry Gordon (Ohio State Labor Party)
- Bill Balderston (Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice)
- Chris Silvera, Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Union Local 808
- Kevin Zeese, Executive Director, Prosperity Agenda
- Chris Driscoll,* Recording Secretary, Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics
- Alan L. Maki,* Director of Organizing Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
- Joe Tonan,* Claremont Faculty Association, a Chapter of the California Teachers Association
- Gregory W. Paquin,* Business Manager, Native American Indian Labor Union #12

WERC Interim National Committee Members:

- Kali Akuno, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Gulf Coast Reconstruction activist
- Alan Benjamin,* Executive Committee member, San Francisco Labor Council
- Mike Carano, Progressive Democrats of America
- Colia Clark, Veteran, Civil Rights Movement
- Donna Dewitt*, President, South Carolina AFL-CIO
- Pat Gowens, National organizer, Welfare Warriors
- Bill Leumer,* International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 853 (ret.)
- Luis Magaña, Coordinator, Organization of Farmworkers of California (OTAC)
- Cynthia McKinney, Former Member of Congress, 2009 Green Party presidential candidate
- Jack Rasmus, Economist, Professor at St. Mary’s College
- Al Rojas, Coordinator, Frente de Mexicanos en el Exterior
- Marc Rich, United Teachers of Los Angeles
- Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star mother, antiwar activist
- Clarence Thomas, Member, ILWU Local 10
- Mark Vorpahl*, SEIU Local 49, Portland, OR
- Nancy Wohlforth*, Co-Pres., Pride at Work/AFL-CIO, Vice Pres.,California Federation of Labor

(* titles & org. for id. only)