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Hightower Lowdown
"Dug yourself into a hole? The very first thing to do is quit digging" --old Texas saying
January's Lowdown
Yes we can manage this country without the corporate priesthood--the cooperative movement shows us how
We're being told by today's High Priests of Conventional Wisdom that everyone and everything in our economic cosmos necessarily revolves around one dazzling star: the corporation. This heavenly institution, the HPCW explain, has such financial and political mass that it is the optimal force for organizing and directing our society's economic affairs, including the terms of employment and production.
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In This Issue
Corporate greed triumphs over patient need
How they took the care out of our health care system
Also in this issue:
- Victory in the sweatshops
- Congress reaches out to families
- Casualties of war
- Bogging down in colombia
- Put the "public" back in pbs
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Victory in the sweatshops
Good news is finally coming to the dismal sweatshops in the Northern Mariana Islands, where imported Asian workers slave away making designer clothes for U.S. manufacturers—with labels that boast "Made in the USA." (See the full story in the April 1999 Lowdown.) A class action lawsuit has forced four of the apparel-making corporate criminals to the bargaining table where they agreed to make changes, respect human rights, and have it all independently monitored.
The settlement with Nordstrom, Cutter & Buck, J. Crew, and Gymboree establishes a $1.25 million fund to finance independent monitoring of Marianas contractors to insure compliance with U.S. labor laws and international human rights treaties. The settlement also establishes strict employment standards for the contractors, including the payment of overtime, providing safe food and drinking water, and guaranteeing employees basic civil rights. The use of worker "recruitment fees"—a modern day form of indentured servitude—will also be prohibited.
But the fight isn't over. The Gap, which does the most business in the Northern Marianas, has not settled. Call 'em up at 1-800-333-7899 and tell them to settle the suit.