[mobglob-discuss] FW: Good news stories

[Tom_Childs at Douglas.BC.CA]

When the tyrany of greed, war and the nightmare of neo-liberal assaults on
the commons seem to overwhelm us to the point of dispair...It is good to
reflect on the struggles that are won.  Researcher Ellen Gould does us a
great service here in compiling a few of the victories that are only
victories because of the continuance in struggle and engaged activism.
Cheers,  Tom
                !Viva las victorias siempre!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----Original Message-----From: Ellen Gould
Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2002 14:58:49 -0700
Subject: Good news stories

A Better World Is Possible

As activists involved for economic justice, human rights, and
environmental protection we can often seem (especially in Gordon
Campbell's BC!) to be struggling under a weight of discouraging news.

The news can appear all bad - especially when good news stories are
downplayed or ignored by the corporate media in favour of sensational
crime stories and global catastrophes. But there is good news - people
winning large and small victories. We need to know about these victories
to remind ourselves that a better world is possible. Here's a sample:

Spring 2002 - Good News from All Over

Citizen Activism Saves Richmond from Dioxin Threat

For several months the specter of trucks hauling dioxin-laden soil from
the US to a dump site in Richmond haunted concerned citizens in the
lower mainland. A company named  Ecowaste Industries had received
permits from the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and from
Environment Canada  allowing 8600 tonnes of the material to be
"imported" into BC. This was over the objections of Richmond City
council.

On March 22, 2002 the President of Ecowaste, Stuart Sommerville,
announced that he had changed his mind after talking with David Cadman
of the Society promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC). Sommerville
was apparently moved to discuss the issue, and reverse his course, after
a  public meeting on March 12. At the meeting SPEC and the Richmond
branch of the Council of Canadians outlined plans for an extensive
publicity campaign informing people in Richmond how to stop the
importation plan. Following Ecowaste's decision,  the campaign was put
on hold.

The motivation for the importation of the waste is the difference in
environmental legislation between the US and Canada. Time Oil, whose
site the contaminated soil came from, hoped that by shipping the
materials to Richmond they could avoid complying with more stringent US
regulations regarding the treatment of dioxin-contaminated soil. Dioxins
are considered a human carcinogen in the US, while in BC they are only
classified as a contaminant and are subject to less rigorous controls.

Purdy's Workers Achieve Another Victory

After first winning a very bitter fight to have their union recognized,
workers at Purdy's Chocolates in Vancouver next had to get their
employer to agree to a "closed shop". Closed shop provisions mean that
in order to be employed at a unionized workplace, people have to join
the union.  This requirement is a key part of organizing, because if
companies can employ non-union members who nevertheless benefit from
union-negotiated contracts, the value of union membership is reduced.
Purdy's had vowed never to agree to a full closed shop, but as a
condition of signing the collective agreement they agreed to go to
binding arbitration to settle this issue. A hearing was held and on May
30, 2002  arbitrator Vince Ready issued his decision: a full closed shop
for Purdy's workers.

Saltspring Islanders Save Key Watershed

"It really was a minor miracle," said Andrea Collins of the Save
Saltspring Island Society said on April 5, 2002 about finding a buyer
for 121 hectares of precious Mount Maxwell watershed property. Collins
had an option to buy the land, owned by Texada Land Corporation, but the
option had just 10 days left. A former BC resident came up with the
million dollar asking price. The buyer will operate the site as a
sustainably managed forest and expects to seek a covenant to protect the
property through the Islands Trust.

Saltspring Islanders have been fighting for years to preserve the
watershed and just last year, the province, the Capital Regional
District and the local community co-operated to create 770 hectares of
parkland from Texada lands. The province footed the bill for the bulk of
the $16-million project.

Nature Trust Preserves Unique Savary Island Eco-system

In what was called a "first" for conservation in the province, the
Nature Trust of BC, along with senior levels of government, have saved
an endangered ecosystem from  a controversial residential development onn
Savary Island near Powell River. By April, 2002 the Nature Trust had put
together the $2.5 million need to purchase a 50-per-cent share in 147
hectares from one of two U.S. partners. The Pacific Marine Heritage
Legacy, a federal-provincial program to acquire parkland in the Strait
of Georgia, contributed $2 million; the federal Georgia Basin Ecosystem
Initiative   $100,000; and the Nature Trust several hundred thousand
dollars. That ends any further efforts to create four-hectare lots on of
the site's rare forested-dune landscape.

The trust's Executive Director, Tom Lester, said he hopes that over time
the other 50-per-cent of the property can be acquired from the remaining
US-based partner and that the entire site,  can be protected as a
provincial park. The island contains the last forested-dune ecosystem in
B.C., and the only one in Canada west of the north shore of Lake Erie in
Ontario. The landscape features old-growth Douglas fir, arbutus and
western red cedar.

Calgary Citizens Win Successful Campaign to Keep Their Power Company

Calgary has bucked the North American  trend  -- and the stereotypes
about its right-wing politics - by refusing to sell its very successful
power company, Enmax. Following 10 months of debate and $3 million worth
of expert advice and citizen surveys, in May 2002 Calgary City Council
voted 13-2 to keep the company. "I think we heard loud and clear from
Calgarians,  to keep this corporation -- a growing corporation owned by
the citizens of Calgary," Mayor Dave Bronconnier said following the
decision.

Calgary receives an annual $35-million dividend from the company, a fact
that helped persuade a large majority of Calgarians to oppose the sale.
Here was a government, though, that actually listened to its
citizens:"For every person who said sell, two people said keep," said
Ald. Bob Hawkesworth.

Mayor Bronconnier, elected last year with a commitment to reconsider
plans to sell Enmax, was obviously not taken in by the globalization
hype about growth: "I think council is poised to recognize the growth of
this company, but growth . . . that isn't the huge global empire that
has been touted with these enormous numbers that have been batted back
and forth."

Shareholder Activism on Child Labour Gives Hudson's Bay a Wake Up Call

The result of the sweatshop labour resolution put to the Hudson's Bay
Company AGM on May 23rd 2002 was encouraging. It  received a 37% vote in
favour of greater transparency around the conditions of apparel  workers
around the world. Not enough to pass, but a real wake up call for HBC,
whose CEO was quoted as suggesting these 37% of shareholders "don't
fully comprehend the issue".

Both Sears and Hudson's Bay have faced allegations that they purchase
apparel from sweatshop factories in Lesotho. Classic sweatshop condition
- child labour, unsafe conditions, sexual harassment - were reported by
NGOs and government investigators.  A shareholder initiative, led by
Shareholder Association for Research and education challenged the
companies to change their practices.

Unions, New Zealand Government Cooperate to Improve Public Services

At their May 2002 convention, New Zealand public service workers
celebrated the success of the Partnership for Quality agreement they
signed with the government two years ago. According to PSA President Ian
Bamber: "Central to the agreement was the notion that the union and
government have a shared interest in the capacity and capability of the
public sector. It recognised the legitimate role of the union as a key
stakeholder with a central role to play in the further development of
the sector. Coupled with the collective approach encouraged by the
Employment Relations Act, our partnership strategy has seen improved
employer/union relations developing and a shift in attitudes among many
employers in the core public service."

The recognition of the positive role to be played by public service 
unions is a significant departure from the New Zealand of the 1990's.
In the early nineties, the New Zealand government threw out all the old
labour legislation - and with it any reference to unions at all. They no
longer had legal status and employer recognition was purely voluntary.

Wales Rejects Privatization of Education

The Welsh government has embarked on an education policy dramatically at
odds with privatization trends elsewhere. The government's 2001 White
Paper opposed private sector involvement, abolished testing for 7 years
olds and the up-front fees advocated by the Blair government.  Jane
Davidson, Welsh Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, made clear
the government's support for community control of education meant
rejecting the one-size-fits-all privatization model:"It is right that we
put local authorities, local communities and locally determined  needs
and priorities at the centre of the agenda for schools."

International, Individual Persistence Wins Out with Release of Burmese
Leader

Burma's celebrated pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was recently
released in May 2002  from house arrest by the military dictatorship
which kept her under house arrest for 19 months. The release permits the
charismatic Nobel peace laureate to campaign once again for political
change in this Southeast Asian nation. "As of today, she is at liberty
to carry out all activities, including her party's," a government
spokesperson said.

Activists around the world have made the release of  Suu Kyi a symbol of
the global fight for freedom and democracy. Her release is a significant
accomplishment coming as it does with no apparent restrictions.  This
was Suu Kyi's demand all along: that she be allowed to move around the
country and to hold political meetings to enable her to rebuild her
party which won an overwhelming majority in 1990, a result nullified by
the country's military.