(en) Arena en las Ruedas -- SAND IN THE WHEELS (n°02)

Este es periódico de Attac en lengua inglesa.  Notar que su contenido 
difiere del periódico en francés.


SAND IN THE WHEELS (n°02)
Weekly newsletter - Wednesday 09/08/99

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Content

1- French Farmers Fight Globalization
2- The Toronto Dollar Project
3- Resolution on Trade and Liberalization and its Impact on Human
Rights
4- News from a liberal business model
5- Rendezvous with ATTAC

__________ French Farmers Fight Globalization


What's the difference between Roquefort cheese and Coca-Cola ?  Well,
er ...

However, there's one difference which has far-reaching implications,
and - as recent events in France have shown - explosive potential.  It
is expressed by Philippe Folliot, mayor of the tiny village of St
Pierre-de-Trivisy, centre of production of the ewe's milk from which
the famous cheese is made: "Roquefort is made from the milk of only
one breed of sheep, it is made in only one place in France, and it is
made in only one special way", explains Mr Folliot.  "It is the
opposite of globalization. Coca-Cola you can buy anywhere in the world
and it is exactly the same".

He could have said much the same of McDonald's restaurants.
McDonald's has been the target of a wave of protests by French farmers
against sanctions imposed on a slew of luxury French food products,
ranging from Roquefort cheese to foie gras.  The sanctions were
imposed by the World Trade Organisation (dutifully relaying
Washington), in retaliation for the European Union's decision to ban
imports of US hormone-treated beef.

If the tiny village of St Pierre-de-Trivisy reacted to the sanctions
by a 100% "tax" on Coca-Cola sold at local functions, as a symbolic
protest against the US-dominated process of globalization, the radical
farmers'union, the Confédération Paysanne led a protest on a different
scale, when hundreds of its militants in the Aveyron region of
South-West France demonstrated in front of the new McDonald's
restaurant building site in Millau. The trade-union protest gave an
early French send-off to the international campaign, due to take place
from October 12th to 17th, against the Millennium Round  (an MAI
"clone" whose well-aired objective is to bring all human activities
under the control of the transnational corporations).

A disturbing aspect of the union protest in Millau was the reaction of
the French authorities, who have in the past tolerated far more
disruptive and even violent assaults on French institutions without
any legal action being taken. In contrast, the demonstration targeting
McDonald's, as a symbol of US-dominated globalization, gave rise to
the imprisonment of five leading unionists, in three different
prisons, with family visits forbidden them. As the Confédération
Paysanne is a founding member of ATTAC, this organization has been
very active in getting support for the five unionists.  The latest
news is that McDonald's, no doubt alarmed by the ruckus among French
farmers and their supporters, has dropped charges against the
protesters, and the Court of Appeal in Montpellier is expected to
decide to release them.

09/07: Jose Bove has accepted to be released on bail paid for by
French and American farmers, various organizations, ATTAC being one,
and agricultural companies from Aveyron.  The golden arches of
McDonalds are indeed spanning the globe but they are also spawning a
solidarity of mounting resentment to globalization.


__________ The Toronto Dollar Project

"The idea of the Toronto Dollar is old and new. It is a way that
allows all to share in the community in a spirit of reciprocity that
makes no distinction between giving and receiving."

"All can be respected for what they bring, and nourished by what
others bring. It is the genius of the Toronto Dollar to challenge the
forces that separate people in buyers and sellers and have and
have-nots."

Toronto Dollar Community Projects Inc., a non-profit group, introduced
the community paper money, the Toronto Dollar, on December 5, 1998.
The main purpose of the Toronto Dollar was to create work - through
community initiatives and groups - for those who are on low incomes,
unemployed or homeless.   The concept is simple:  every time federal
dollars are exchanged at par with Toronto Dollars, merchants
contribute 10 cents from every dollar purchased to a fund that
finances job creation as well as community projects via the Toronto
Dollar Community Trust Fund.   At last look, more than 104
participating businesses, including 21 restaurants and 25
participating non-profit and charitable organizations had joined and
more are joining every week.  So far about 65,000 Toronto Dollars have
exchanged and have been able to generate 10 percent of that - $6,500 -
for charitable community initiatives.

The first beneficiary of the Fund was "Out of the Cold," a program
where a network of churches co-operate to offer food and shelter to
the homeless each winter.

"It's trying to help the people and local businesses in the community
that are under threat from government cutbacks," said Joy Kogawa,
project president of Toronto Dollar Community Projects Inc. and
Toronto author.  After finishing her most recent novel, The Rain
Ascends, Ms. Kogawa says she started thinking about the growing gap
between the rich and poor.  She saw money being channeled away from
local needs, such as schools, hospitals and homeless shelters, to pay
down the national debt.  Was there a way to give communities a voice
and some measure of control? she wondered.

She began reading about alternative currencies, which have taken hold
in many cities around the world. There's a rich literature on this
topic, catalogued on the Internet by the Institute for Economic
Democracy at http://www.slonet.org/~ied/.   Some 65 other North
American cities have used the concept and by year's end, Toronto
Dollar Inc. hopes to have $200,000 Toronto dollars in circulation.

"We're trying to build bridges in the community between small
businesses and institutions in the community," says David Walsh,
Treasurer of Toronto Dollar Inc.  "The idea is to get it working well
here first, and then let it spread."

As of June 21, Toronto Dollars may be purchased at two Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) branches in Toronto.  CIBC is the
first major bank to participate in the Toronto Dollar project.  As
James Page, community manager for CIBC explained: "Our participation
with the Toronto Dollar program is simply an extension of CIBC's
commitment to enhancing the communities in which we live and work."
Says Joy Kogawa, "There are people within banks who care about people.
Wherever there are people who care, there is hope."
Website:  http://www.torontodollar.net/


__________ Resolution on Trade and Liberalization and its Impact on
Human Rights

Following their success in 1998 in urging the UN Commission on Human
Rights to intervene in matters of international economic policy
(specifically the OECD negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on
Investment), members of the International NGO Committee on Human
Rights in Trade and Investment lobbied strongly for the resolution
below with a view to influencing deliberations at the 3rd Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade Organisation (November 1999). The
resolution was championed by Joseph Oloka-Onyango of Uganda, the
principal sponsor, and spoken in favour of by other member states
including: Françoise Hampson of the UK, Soli Sorabjee of India and
Miguel Alfonso Martinez of Cuba. The resolution was passed on August
26, 1999, with a resounding majority of 18 votes in favour, none
against, and 4 abstentions.

Trade liberalization and its impact on human rights (resolution
1999/30)

The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,

Reaffirming that, as declared in article 28 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, everyone is entitled to a social and
economic order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the
Universal Declaration can be fully realized,

Stressing that the progressive realization of the rights enshrined in
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is
a binding obligation upon States Parties,

Recalling the Declaration on the Right to Development, which
recognizes that States have the primary responsibility for the
creation of national and international conditions favourable to the
realization of the right to development, and a duty to co?operate with
each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to
development,

Considering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other major
human rights instruments contain obligations and goals which are
fundamental to the development process and to economic policy,

Recalling that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
confirmed that the protection and promotion of human rights and
fundamental freedoms is the first responsibility of Governments and
that the human person is the central subject of development, and that
the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action confirmed that
social development and social justice cannot be attained in the
absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Recalling also its resolutions 1998/18 and 1998/12, and noting
Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/59,

Noting that the negotiations on the draft Multilateral Agreement on
Investment have ceased at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development but aware of proposals for provisions similar to those
of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment to be incorporated in
future agreements of the World Trade Organization and in the review of
the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund,

Convinced of the necessity of fully integrating human rights
principles in the processes of economic policy formulation,

Conscious of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference
scheduled to take place in Seattle, United States of America, in
November/December 1999,

1.Requests all Governments and economic policy forums to take
international human rights obligations and principles fully into
account in international economic policy formulation;

2.Declares that sanctions and negative conditionalities which directly
or indirectly affect trade are not appropriate ways of promoting the
integration of human rights in international economic policy and
practice;

3.Calls upon Governments and international economic policy forums
(including the World Trade Organization) to undertake comprehensive
and systematic studies, in consultation with United Nations and
regional human rights mechanisms and relevant civil society
organizations, of the human rights and social impacts of economic
liberalization programmes, policies and laws;

4.Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to
intensify efforts at dialogue with the World Trade Organization and
its member States on the human rights dimensions of trade and
investment liberalization, and to take steps to ensure that human
rights principles and obligations are fully integrated in future
negotiations in the World Trade Organization;

5.Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to
include in its programme of work, especially in the preparation for
the Tenth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development on "Development strategies in an increasingly
interdependent world: applying the lessons of the past to make
globalization an effective instrument for the development of all
countries and all people", a specific focus on ways and means to
incorporate human rights principles in the process of international
trade policy formulation;

6.Encourages the concerned civil society organizations to promote with
their respective Governments the need for economic policy processes to
fully incorporate and respect existing human rights obligations, and
to continue to monitor and publicize the effects of economic policy
that fail to take such obligations into account.


__________ News from a liberal business model

>From the Bureau of International Labour and the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities

Americans worked 2000 hours  in 1997 (a 4% increase per year since
1983) or, in other words, two weeks more per year than, for example,
the Japanese.  Every other nation is seeing a decrease in the amount
of time spent working.Salaries between 1977 and 1999

- 10% of Americans (the poorest) have seen their salary decrease.
- 60% of Americans have seen their salary increase by 8% (less than
0.5% per year)
- 20% of Americans have seen their salary increase by 43%
- 10% of Americans have seen their salary increase by 115% (more than
double)

Figures based on after-tax and taking into consideration inflation.

In 2000, 2.7 million Americans with the highest salaries, will earn as
much income (after taxes) as 100 million poorest Americans.The average
annual salary in 1977 was $10,000; in 1999, it is $8,800 after taxes
and taking inflation into consideration.

And in Europe, it's the English who are spending more time at work
with also the greatest salary disparity...


__________ Rendezvous with ATTAC  (omitido por razones de espacio)