The REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA
-PEOPLE'S ARMY (FARC-EP) emerged in May of 1964 in response 
to an act of aggression by the Colombian State against a group of peasants. 
The situation unfolded through a military operation planned and directed 
by the United States Pentagon called "LASO", or Latin-American Security
Operation, and also known as Operation Marquetalia.

    Forty-eight peasants, with a history of having experienced
earlier violence at the hands of the state, ordinary people
dedicated to working the land, formed unions with the objective of
the advancement of International Communism. This then became a
military objective.

    Since then we are undertaking what is necessary to find a
political solution to the grave social conflict that lives in our
people. The proposals for this struggle have been numerous, but we
still encounter a military response in searching for peace, a
search that is the dream of most Colombians.

    Over time, FARC-EP, consolidated and became a political
military organization, a "people in arms" with sixty fronts present
in all areas of Colombia, not including our urban structures in the
principal cities.

    Our struggle is a just struggle because we are the
interpreters in a country intimidated by state terrorism. The
system, the government and all other governmental structures have
not allowed any other option for a political struggle. Clear and
painful proof of this are the more than four thousand members of
the Patriotic Union and the Colombian Communist Party who, while
trying to develop their political positions, were murdered by
paramilitary groups in acts of state terrorism over the past 13
years.

    Attempts are regularly made to de-legitimize our struggle
through accusations of narcotics trafficking and terrorism. Both of
these activities are completely against our principles and our
morals. We have no relationship with narcotics trafficking or with
narcotics traffickers. The world has discovered and now knows of
the relationship between the leaderships of the traditional parties
and narcotics traffickers who finance their political campaigns and
in so doing buy impunity for their crimes. Narcotics trafficking is
a huge problem for Colombia and for humanity and as such should be
viewed in this broader perspective. Our proposals include this
phenomenon which nevertheless is not the principal problem that
assails our people.

    In response to the accusations of terrorism, historically, we
have maintained our position independently condemning it at its
origin. In Colombia terrorism is practised by the State. The
government and political structures that massacre their internal
population, legalize paramilitary groups acting under their
tutelage and protection and who cover a dirty war developing
beneath the blanket of impunity and corruption.

    The FARC-EP held its Eighth National Conference in 1993 in the
mountains of Colombia. Plenary delegates from 60 guerrilla fronts
and urban organizations weighed the outcome of eleven years of
struggle for genuine peace with better living conditions for all
Colombians. The balance demonstrated significant advances in the
inexhaustible and unwavering search for peace with social justice,
sovereignty and the defence of the rights of the poor workers in
Colombia. These were the tasks set forth in the Seventh Conference
held in May of 1982. Using the political, military and
organizational analysis of international and national reaction, the
guerrilla conference decided to continue their untiring battle
against the national oligarchy and imperialism alongside the people
with arms, with banners and with principles.

    As a result of the Eighth Conference, all Colombians who long
for a kinder, peaceful nation, were invited to strive for the
formation of a government that is pluralistic, patriotic,
democratic and committed to the following:

    * A political solution to the serious conflict weighing on the nation.

    * A national military and defence doctrine in the spirit of
Simon Bolivar. The liberator said that "the objective of the army
is to protect the border. God help us if it turns its arms against
the citizens." The armed forces will protect our national
sovereignty and respect human rights, with the size and budget
appropriate for the army of a nation that is not at war with its
neighbours.

    * National, regional and municipal participation in the
decisions that affect the future of the country. The strengthening
of mechanisms of popular judicial processes. The separation of the
Office of the Attorney General from public power and the election
of the Attorney General of the nation by popular vote.

    * Economic development and modernization in accordance with
social justice. In order to assure equal economic and social
development, the State must be the principal owner and
administrator of the strategic sector such as energy, communications,
public services, roads, ports and national resources.

    * A National budget with 50% allocated to social programs. A
budget that considers the Colombian, his/her salary, health, living
conditions, education and recreation.

    * Higher tax contributions for those who enjoy higher incomes,
in order to effectively redistribute income. An IVA (value added)
tax on property and luxury items.

    * An agrarian policy democratizing the means of obtaining
credit, technical assistance and market access. Full stimulation of
industry and agriculture.

    * Exploitation of national resources such as oil, gas, coal,
gold, nickel, emeralds, etc. in the best interest of the country
and its regions. A renegotiation of contracts of multinational
companies that may be harmful for Colombia.

    * International relations with all countries in the world
based on the principle of respect and self determination as well as
mutual benefit. Prioritizing endeavours for regional and Latin
American integration.

    * A solution to the problem of the production,
commercialization and consumption of narcotics and hallucinogens.
This is above all a serious social problem that cannot be solved by
military intervention.

    In spite of the fact that this proposal for a government of
reconstruction and national reconciliation was expressed to each
and every Colombian and in particular to the governments of the
immediate past, none (of the governments) have expressed the desire for dialogue.
In the current juncture (President) Andres Pastrana,
without abandoning his representation of the national oligarchy and the
interests of the US State Department, has expressed his interest in
a national dialogue.

     The response of the FARC-EP is that before beginning to
develop any peace initiative, five conditions must be met. On these
conditions, the FARC-EP will not capitulate. They must be strictly
adhered to by the government in order to begin construction of the
new Columbia. They are:

    *Demobilization of five municipalities with a total area of
42,000 sq km: La Uribe, La Macarena, Vistahermosa, Mesetas (in La
Meta) and San Vicente del Caguan (in El Caqueta);

    *dismantling of the paramilitary groups;

    *de-criminalization and reversal of incarceration for social protest;

    *termination of all bounty hunting activities against members of the guerilla;

    *tempered language on the part of the government to reflect reality - epithets
and negative adjectives do not aid the process.

    International solidarity is the fundamental expression for
reaching peace: the peace that all Colombians wish for and too
frequently die for. It is hoped that the international audience
will guarantee that the errors of the past are not repeated and do
not cause further harm to the civilian population who hope for the
future in a new Colombia. 

   From its longtime base in the forest industry,the
Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada is reaching out to
organize in new sectors of the economy, a reality seen among
delegates to the union's 12th Constitutional Convention, held in
Vancouver Sept. 14-18. Formerly known as the International
Woodworkers of America, the IWA's name change reflects the fact
that about 40% of its 50,000 members now are from outside the
forest industry.

    The union has offset huge job losses in forestry by signing up
13,000 new members since 1990, many in the service sector. The IWA
now spends over 30% of its national budget on organizing,and has
trained 130 organizers since January 1998. Some 3,000 new members
have been won so far in 1998, the peak organizing year this decade.

    Among the recent gains for the union are the 506 silviculture
workers employed by New Forest Opportunities (part of Forest
Renewal BC), although just over half of these workers had been IWA
members previously. Other west coast organizing drives included
nearly 100 new members at three International House of Pancake
restaurants, 70 at the Naya water company in Revelstoke,and 130 at
Kalesnikoff Lumber, a long-time non-union sawmill.

    The IWA has also been active in other provinces. A campaign to
organize Millar Western's mill in Boyle, Alberta was stalled when
the company reacted with substantial wage increases,but the union
intends to try again. In Saskatoon, a hearing is expected this
month on a drive to sign up 200 workers at the Sheraton Cavalier
Hotel. Despite the anti-union attacks in Ontario, the IWA's gains
there include 110 new members at the J.E. Martel sawmill in
Chapleau and 156 more at Industrial Hardwood Products.

    BC Premier Glen Clark spoke to the convention, getting a warm
response for his pledge to help develop stronger economic
strategies and new markets for the industry. Many observers here
predict that such strategies will include bigger breaks on stumpage
fees and taxes for forestry and other resource corporations, as the
NDP government struggles with the recession-hit BC economy.

    Just before Clark spoke, the convention unanimously adopted a
resolution endorsing the Nisga'a Final Agreement reached earlier
this year by the Nisga'a Tribal Council and the provincial and
federal governments. 

     When federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough spoke on Sept. 14 to the
national convention of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers
Union in Vancouver, the reception from delegates was less than
overwhelming. McDonough's promise that an NDP government would
reduce the GST "by a full percentage point!" failed to rouse much
enthusiasm, for example.

         This episode reflects the widespread surprise, dismay and
sadness felt by NDP members and supporters in the wake of recent
policy shifts. Following the party's federal caucus cross-Canada
train ride to Halifax in August, McDonough announced that the NDP
will now "reach out to the business community," part of a new
"balanced approach." The caucus has appointed MP Nelson Riis as
business critic, and meetings with chambers of commerce are being
lined up.

    "Business plays a crucial role in economic growth and job
creation," said McDonough, calling for a "partnership" of business,
workers, the non-profit sector, and governments.

    She called for a "balance between new spending, tax fairness
and debt repayment, in the order of 1/3, 1/3, 1/3."

    The announcements also included demands for stronger federal
environmental standards, improved health care, and proportional
representation. But on the whole, the federal NDP has veered
sharply away from the relatively progressive platform on which it
won 21 seats in Parliament last year.

    McDonough's statements are also revealing for what they leave
out. While Canadians are mobilizing to block the MAI and to get
Canada out of the straightjacket of globalization and "free trade,"
the federal NDP caucus instead talks about maintaining "unique
Canadian values... within the fiscal realities of today's world."

     Similarly, the only specific proposal to achieve "tax
fairness" is McDonough's call for a 1% reduction in the GST. Rather
than increase taxes on the wealthy and the big corporations, the
NDP is now considering support for the "flat tax" concept, the pet
scheme in recent years of various far-right millionaire
politicians.

    While stating that "governments must play an active role in
economic growth and job creation," McDonough rejects spending on
new programs to create jobs. The labour movement in Europe is
carrying out a spirited and partially successful struggle for the
shorter work week, but she ignores this crucial immediate step to
help reduce unemployment.

    Does business really create jobs? The record proves otherwise.
In fact, "successful" businesses are usually those which invest
their profits in the latest labour-saving technology, to reduce
costs and compete more effectively in the capitalist marketplace.

    The "fiscal realities" now accepted by the federalNDP are
nothing more than neo-conservative mantras. "Labour" governments in
countries like New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain have also
bowed to these "realities," bringing in a wide array of anti-
working class legislation. In fact, McDonough has been deeply
influenced by Tony Blair's New Labour policies.

    These positions are a logical outcome of the social
democracy's concept of "gradual" reforms. This view gained momentum
after their leaders formally abandoned socialism as a goal, in
favour of becoming the best managers of modern capitalism. But
their corporatist, "tri-partite" approach offers no solutions to
the deepening crisis of capitalism, including the cyclical crisis
now gripping Canada and many other countries.

    By surrendering to the demands of global capitalism,
opportunist social-democratic leaders abandon the very people who
elect them. In Canada today, about 80% of the population is working
class: those who must work for an employer to earn a living. Barely
one in eight of these working people now support the federal NDP.
Even among trade union members, the figure is less than one in
three.

    But instead of adopting a fighting program to win back these
voters with a set of political, economic and social demands based
on the needs of Canadian working people, McDonough and her caucus
are chasing the will-o'-the-wisp of support from the business
community. This tactic will only further distance the NDP from its
working class base.

    Some argue that the NDP's turn to the right leaves the way
clear for more radical left forces to grow. There's some truth in
this analysis. Already Communist Party members are hearing from
many disgruntled New Democrats, for example. A decision by many
socialist-minded rank and file NDPers to join the Communist Party
would strengthen the revolutionary left in Canada, a change which
would in turn provide a stronger centre of gravity to help pull the
NDP and the labour movement back away from the black hole of neo-
conservative ideology.

    But in the short term, the new NDP caucus positions should
bring no joy to the left. By caving in to neo-con pressures,
McDonough and her colleagues only divide and demoralize working
people. CAW leader Buzz Hargrove has been sharply critical of the
caucus' turn to the right, and Svend Robinson, the socialist NDP MP
from Burnaby who ensured McDonough's victory in the party's last
leadership race, warns that a crucial struggle for the soul of the
NDP has begun. In the months ahead, left-thinking Canadians from
St. John's to Vancouver Island will be watching this struggle
closely. 

An opinion piece on the state of the fightback in the labour
movement has cost People's Voice contributor John Roberts his
delegate status at the St. Catharine's and District Labour
Council.

    On August 12, the Executive of UFCW's composite Local 1977
removed Roberts as its delegate to the Labour Council, citing the
June 1998 article in People's Voice as the reason.

    The Commentary piece, titled "Time to Challenge Business-
Union Philosophy," was critical of right wing leadership in the
labour movement and in his own union, the United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW).

    Citing a high level of frustration and a widespread feeling
of powerlessness evident at the shop floor level, Roberts wrote:

    "The (UFCW) workers see a company-friendly union that is only
interested in carrying on in a business-union manner." He blamed
a philosophy of class collaboration for poor settlements in the
food industry, and intolerance of other points of view for the
lack of democracy and unity.

    "It is difficult to extol ... the virtues of belonging to a
union when they enter that workforce at 5 cents above the minimum
wage and take five years to reach top rate, such as $14.69/ hour
part-time," he wrote. "A union that continually ridicules and
mocks other unions, especially CAW for its commitment to social
unionism or militant actions in and beyond the workplace, is not
acting in the best interests of a unified labour movement nor its
class."

    The commentary said such an approach hinderedthe success of
the fightback, and the unity of the labour movement at a time
when a united and escalating fightback was most important.

    Responding to the decision to remove Roberts, Labour Council
President Ed Gould wrote to UFCW 1977's President & CEO Brian
Williamson stating, "The Labour Council will miss Johnny Roberts
as a delegate; he was a good activist at the council and did a
lot of good work concerning human rights issues."

    Delegates to the Labour Council as well as labour and
community activists in the St. Catharines area were shocked by
UFCW's decision and by the lack of democracy within the union.
Other UFCW members are less shocked, but equally appalled by the
decision "which is par for the course in this union" according to
one activist. 

 TORONTO - As we go to press on Sept. 28, the Ontario Tories were
set to introduce the Back to School Act, affecting striking
teachers in eight of the province's 72 Boards of Education. The
legislation threatens to fine individual teachers and school
boards which refuse to comply, as much as $2,000 per teacher per
day, and $25,000 per School Board per day.

    The Opposition parties have said they will vote against the
legislation, but only the NDP caucus will filibuster. Working
together, the Opposition parties could have delayed passage until
October 6.

    Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty flip-flopped, initially
announcing his caucus would cooperate with the NDP, then calling
on the government to move up introduction of the legislation so
that it could be implemented even earlier than intended.
 "We will be voting against the bill," McGuinty added hastily.

    NDP MPP Frances Lankin angrily attacked the Liberal
position, calling it "a perfect example of the Liberals trying to
have it both ways."

    (In 1995, cooperation between the Liberals and NDP
filibustered passage of the draconian Omnibus Bill 26 into the
New Year, drawing massive attention to the government's plan to
introduce executive powers that could over-ride the elected
Legislature.)

    Striking teachers, mostly members of the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers' Association, were furious, pointing out that
the OECTA had proposed to the Toronto Catholic Board that it end
its lockout, to allow teachers to return to the classroom and
continue bargaining while school resumed. The Board, responsible
for 133,000 students, refused the offer, preferring to wait for
Tory legislation to force the teachers back.

    OECTA President Marshall Jarvis called last minute talks
with the Catholic Board a sham. "I don't hold out much hope for
settlements with any of the boards," he added.

    But Earl Manners, President of the Ontario SecondarySchool
Teachers' Federation, said the OSSTF has reached agreements with
11 of 31 Boards, and expects collective agreements to be reached
with other Boards as well.

    "The (11) contracts have shown a framework for the sort of
deals that can be reached under Bill 160," he said. Most of the
agreements are in northern and eastern Ontario where some
assessment-poor Boards received additional funds under Bill 160.
Most of these funds were redistributed out of assessment-rich
Boards in Toronto and Ottawa. Now seriously underfunded, these
Boards have yet to conclude bargaining. 

    In the late sixties and early seventies, the fight for pay
equity in Canada was at one of its most intense moments. This,
combined with pressure from socialist countries where women's
rights and status in society had progressed further, forced the
Canadian government to enact pay equity legislation in 1977. Yet
today, on the average, women still earn 27% less than men for work
of equal value. The current fight of the predominantly female
members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), has put
pay equity back on the front burner in the women's movement as well
as within the progressive and the trade union movements.

    Close to 200,000 current and former members in six female
dominated classification groups working for the federal government
are owed over $2 billion in retroactive payments, plus interestand
damages in this 14-year old fight. PSAC took its case to the
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal which ruled in favour of the
Alliance on July 29 of this year, only to be snubbed by their
employer, the federal government, which announced it would appeal
the decision.

    On September 21, over 8,000 PSAC members, mostly women, took
part in a noon-time protest on Parliament Hill  -  the biggest rally
of federal workers since the massive march on Parliament Hill
during the general strike of 1991. In Vancouver, members occupied
the lobby of the Federal Government Tower at Library Square. In
Moncton, Winnipeg, Regina, Windsor, Victoria, and in cities in
Quebec and across Canada, the members were out in angry protest,
mobilized and putting the pressure on the government to uphold what
essentially comes down to a question of human rights - the right to
equal pay for work of equal value.

    Currently, PSAC and the government are meeting again in an
attempt to resolve this issue, although clearly Ottawa has not
shown good faith during the negotiations so far. The government's
offer of less than half of what the workers are entitled to is
still the only thing the Liberals have put on the table, and the
current direction of the union is to refuse anything less than what
the workers deserve. PSAC says that if the government refuses to
negotiate the implementation of the Tribunal's decision to award
the workers between $4-5 billion, it will seek an order from the
Federal Court forcing it to do so.

    This is a fight not only for the PSAC women who have waited
long enough to get their fair share, but for the millions of women
workers whose lives will be affected by this precedent-setting
case, which will surely impact on women in both the public and
private sectors.

    The government's appeal of the Tribunal's ruling is not a real
surprise. It is certainly not in the interest of capital to
increase women's wages, especially at a time when global capitalism
is looking for the lowest common denominator, not the highest. The
capitalist system constantly seeks to drive down wages and working
conditions, break unions, to ensure that full employment is never
achieved and increase that pool of cheap, reserve labour, ready and
desperate to work for close to nothing. Women, who make up over 50%
of the global working class, are prime targets.

     The realization of pay equity alone will obviously not
emancipate working class women in Canada. But it is a crucial
element on the road to full emancipation, when attached to a
"Women's Program" which deals with exploitation, the division of
labour, sexism, racism, work (waged & un-waged), childcare, choice,
justice and education. 

    What an amazing month! Let's recall some of the events of September:

    . . . The federal Liberals opt to screw women in the public
sector by appealing a decision of the Pay Equity Tribunal, after
having promised (in writing) to implement the ruling "if elected".

    . . . The Ontario Tories go after teachers and students with
"back to school" legislation that threatens to fine unions
and school boards, when the largest proportion of teachers are
already in classrooms teaching.

    . . . Nelson Mandela tells 40,000 cheering Canadian children they
should approach the French-English issues on the basis of
brotherhood, and should let women play their full role in Canada.

    . . . Alexa McDonough announces the NDP is now "business-
friendly," and appoints Nelson Riis critic for Business (that's
right: for not of).

    . . . And the IWA invites former BC Communist Party Leader
Maurice Rush to be a keynote speaker at its historic 1998
convention, which restores to full membership hundreds of
Communist and others who were expelled from the union in 1948
during the Cold War hysteria in the Canadian labour movement.
If your head is spinning, you aren't alone. The times they
are a'changing, and quickly.

    The urgency of dumping the Harris Tories in Ontario is
getting up close and personal. Even the kids hate Harris, based
on the booing he got when he tried to speak at the Nelson Mandela
affair at the Sky Dome. The Tories have to go, and soon, no
question. At the same time, ugly things are finally starting to
stick to the teflon Liberals. Things like the theft of the pay
equity award, and the ripoff of EI billions, not to mention the
APEC affair.

    Then there's the right-wing leadership of the NDP, pulling
out the wrong answers one after another, in what one CEP leader
called "a major suicide attempt." To his credit, MP Svend
Robinson publicly objected to his party's business overtures.

    So it's puzzling why some union leaders (Sid Ryan of CUPE
and Buzz Hargrove of CAW) are talking about strategic voting in
the next Ontario election. Strategic voting - support for
whichever candidate has the best chance to beat a Tory
incumbent - will almost surely elect a Liberal government, given
the NDP is at 14% and falling in the polls, hoping just to hold
on to its party status (12 seats) in the Legislature.

    Why would any worker (employed or unemployed) vote for the
Liberals? Why would any woman? Why would any young person vote
Liberal given Ottawa's attack on post-secondary education? The
list goes on.

    Well, at the end of the day, workers have to vote for
someone, no doubt. Staying away from the polls is the same as
voting for the winner which the Tories may want. But I submit
that the real issue here isn't the election; it's how to win the
war against neo-conservatism and reaction in Canada. From that
standpoint, the Ontario election will give us a measure of how
we're doing in that battle. Looking at the choices, it's clear
that on this side of the fence, we need more time.

    That takes us back to Nelson Mandela, the IWA, and the St.
Catherines Labour Council. Mandela appealed to the children and
the people of Canada to take hold of three central struggles, for
racial equality, national equality and women's equality. You
can and you must change the world, he said and
40,000 roared their approval. (Young people DO know, and they
show it every chance they get!) Note: he didn't say the
government; he said the people must take charge.

     The IWA national convention chose this year, 50 years after
McCarthyism took root in the Canadian labour movement, to finally
divest itself of the anti-communism imported from the US through
the AFL-CIO, with the help of the employers (anxious to break the
union's militancy) and the right wing social democracy (anxious
to establish the CCF's hegemony in the labour movement at any
cost). However, the IWA decision is more than the correction of a
historical injustice.

    It also reflects a growing appreciation of the kind of trade
unionism needed today in Canada: a militant trade unionism that
unites workers and communities in struggle at the workplace and
in the streets, during elections and in the decisive struggles
between elections. A militant trade unionism that gives workers
and their families a political stake and a voice in the direction
of the country. A trade unionism that can shape broad labour
community alliances (as in the Ford strike in 1945, the Stelco
strike in 1946, and the Ontario Days of Action in 1996-98), wrest
demands from corporations and their reactionary government, even
defeat these governments, and fuel the drive for progressive
social and political advance.

    (Redbaiting) . . . cost left-wingers in the IWA their
credentials and their livelihoods in the wood industry in BC,
like countless others in unions and industries across Canada.
It's a view that's been a long time coming in the trade union
movement, delaying the development of a united fighting strategy
in the intervening decades. To their credit, the IWA have done a
great service for unity and militancy, as new struggles unfold
across the country and around the world.

    Which brings us to Eric Blair, who for the Labour Council in
St. Catharines signifies what community activism should be about:
that labour's responsibility goes well beyond the bargaining
table, to defend the political, economic and social rights of the
whole community.

    For years, Ottawa has been counting surpluses in the
Unemployment Insurance fund as part of general revenue. The aim
of the game is to fudge the books, reducing the size of federal
deficits. Now Finance Minister Paul Martin wants to make it
official. He is calling for legislation to remove the legal
requirement to cut UI premiums during times when the fund is in a
surplus position.

    The fund is expected to reach $20 billion by the end of the
year, up $5 billion over 1997. Most of the surplus is generated
in Ontario, where employers and employees paid out $7.9 billion
in premiums last year, while jobless workers received only $3.4
billion in benefits, a massive gap of $4.5 billion. Mike Harris
and various business leaders are howling for a reduction in
premiums, arguing that current premium levels are a heavy burden
on employers.

     But the real scandal is the way the surplus has been created
in the first place. For over a decade, Tory and Liberal federal
governments have made it increasingly difficult for jobless
Canadians to become eligible for unemployment insurance. During
that time, the percentage of eligible unemployed has fallen from
the 80% range to today's 37%. Does your boss harass you at work?
Can't live on the pitiful wages you take home from McBurgers?
Forget about quitting - you can't collect UI while you look for
something better! This attack on eligibility means that right
now, about one million jobless workers can't collect from the
fund they have paid into! This is a gold mine for the bosses,
helping to create a more docile workforce. Even for those who are
eligible, the benefits have been slashed by more than 20%

    Bloody right it's time to change this picture! Hundreds of
building trades workers recently protested against this outrage
in Vancouver, an example that should be taken up right across
Canada. The labour movement and its allies should do everything
possible this fall to turn up the heat on the Liberals, demanding
the restoration of previous benefit levels and far easier
eligibility rules. 

    Life is pretty tough some days for profiteers like Bill Gates and
Warren Buffett. Some of the world's richest white guys in suits
have taken a beating in the markets since the summer, losing
billions of dollars when the Dow Jones slides. Lucky for them,
they still have billions more than the rest of us combined!

    Capitalism's latest economic crisis has finally pushed down
the overall level of profits, after several record-breaking
years. The usual round of bankruptcies, mass layoffs and
takeovers will follow, what Marx called the "concentration of
capital."

    But amidst the losses, there are still plenty of big time
profiteers this month. Auto parts maker Magna International
Inc. reported total pre-tax profits of $454 million in its
latest fiscal year, up 7% from last year. Magna says new
technologies are paying off, and the company is now investing in
a luxury airline, theme parks, and condo and real estate
developments. No word in the business papers about the Magna shop
floor workers who create this wealth, of course.

    It won't be a happy Christmas for 3,000 employees of Toys
"R" Us, faced with a decision by the world's biggest retailer
to close 90 stores after the holiday season. Five of those stores
are in Canada (three in Quebec, one each in Newfoundland and
Ontario). Despite losing market share to WalMart, Toys "R" Us
took in total profits from operations of $465 million last year.

    Schneider Corp., the Kitchener-based meat producer
which has been on a drive to push down its employees" wages,
reported a big jump in third-quarter profits, up to $1.9 million.
The company says it's heading for a record year in sales,
profits, and return on investment.  

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    Over 600 women's organizations from 86 countries are
preparing for a global march for women's rights in the year 2000.
The march, initiated by the Federation des femmes du Quebec,
will make two major demands related to poverty and violence
against women.

    Organizers say that both these two themes are receiving
strong support among groups from many countries. The areas of
Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and North America each have over
100 participating groups. An international preparatory meeting
October 16-18 in Montreal will develop the demands and actions.
The idea to hold the march came from the experience of the
Women's March Against Poverty in Quebec in 1995. The FFQ has
125 member groups and 600 individual members. 

    Over 3,500 people have signed a petition to allow the
Communist Party on the ballot in Manitoba. Many people are
surprised to hear about the provincial law that bans smaller
parties from the ballot unless they collect 2,500 valid
signatures. The response to petition gatherers has been positive.
Many people who had time to talk were interested to hear what we
had to say.

    Ruling on Sept. 1 that two Detroit newspapers had not bargained
in good faith, the US National Labor Relations Board ordered them
to rehire hundreds of reporters, drivers, pressmen and other
workers who went on strike three years ago and to give them
millions of dollars in back wages.

    The board said that The Detroit News and The
Detroit Free Press might also have to lay off hundreds of
employees hired as permanent scabs during the strike, which began
in July 1995.

    Union leaders called the decision a major victory. The six
unions, including the teamsters, the typographers and the
Newspaper Guild, estimated that 1,200 workers who went on strike
were awaiting reinstatement, but the newspapers put the number at
642.

    The board found that the unfair labour practices were a
cause of the strike. Under federal law, employers may not use
permanent so-called "replacement workers" to displace employees
participating in such a strike, and are required to pay back pay.

    Union officials estimated that the company owed about $80
million in back pay, a sum the newspapers are expected to
challenge as too high. Workers who found jobs elsewhere are
eligible to return and are entitled to back pay amounting to
their lost salary minus whatever pay they received in other jobs.
Mark Silverman, publisher of The Detroit News, said the
newspapers would appeal the decision.

    The two papers continued operating during the strike by
nearly 2,500 workers, but incurred losses of more than $100
million, and saw their combined circulation plunge to 600,000
from 900,000.