NEWS - Circus in Seattle

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Circus in Seattle 

Some unlikely bedfellows, including environmentalists and labor unions,
are coming together in Seattle to push their pet grievances about
unfettered world trade in what promises to be made-for-TV guerilla
theater. 

                  by Jeffrey Benner
                  Nov. 24, 1999 

                                             The thousands of
                                             officials gathering in
                                             Seattle for the World
                                             Trade Organization
                                             summit next week may
                                             be kicking off
                                             negotiations that will
                                             ultimately affect the lives
                                             of billions -- but the
                                             meeting itself promises to
                                             be about as exciting as,
                                             well, a meeting of trade
                  bureaucrats. While the suits yawn, however, the scene
outside the
                  Washington State Convention and Trade Center promises
to be a
                  major-league circus. 

                  As unlikely a candidate for animus as a trade
conference may seem,
                  the WTO has been singled out as the source of all
that's wrong with
                  the world by everyone from environmentalists to labor
activists to
                  indigenous-rights groups. Activists from around the
country and the
                  world are descending on Seattle to push their pet
grievances.
                  Representatives from roughly 700 non-governmental
organizations
                  from around the world have registered to attend the
conference as
                  observers. More than 1,000 organizations from 87
countries have
                  signed a statement opposing further expansion of free
trade. And tens
                  of thousands of sympathizers will be taking their
complaints straight to
                  the streets. 

                  The protests, which will begin this
                  weekend and continue through the end
                  of the WTO summit on December 3,
                  will run the gamut from city-approved
                  marches to made-for-TV guerrilla
                  theater. Steelworkers and tree huggers,
                  city council members and
                  monkeywrenchers will all be making
                  their presence felt, separately and in
                  ad-hoc alliances. "You are going to see
                  people who would never have a drink
                  together come together in the street to
                  stand in the way of the corporate
                  agenda," predicts David Taylor, a
                  full-time volunteer with the Direct Action
                  Network (DAN), which is coordinating
                  much of the protest action. 

                  Opposition to the WTO has already forged unprecedented
alliances
                  between environmentalists and labor unions. In
October, nearly 200
                  labor and environmental organizations, including the
United
                  Steelworkers of America, Friends of the Earth,
Rainforest Action
                  Network, and the Teamsters Union launched a formal
coalition called
                  the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment.
A similar
                  alliance of environmentalist and labor unions has
pitched in to buy
                  $40,000 worth of anti-WTO billboards and bus signs
around Seattle.

                  The more radical wing of the WTO protest movement is
centered
                  around the Direct Action Network. For the past three
months,
                  dozens of full-time DAN volunteers have been working
out of a small
                  Seattle office to help orchestrate a slew of actions
and events. DAN
                  is sponsored by a coalition of 20 activist
organizations, including
                  Earth First, the Ruckus Society, Global Exchange, the
National
                  Lawyers Guild, Project Underground, the International
Workers of
                  the World (IWW), and the Mexico Solidarity Network.
DAN
                  members are also working to form coalitions with a
broad range of
                  other groups. 

                  Some of DAN's more radical constituents, like People's
Global
                  Action (a coalition which emerged out of the Zapatista
movement),
                  want the WTO disbanded entirely. Says PGA organizer
Michael
                  Morrill, "Global capital is the enemy, of which the
WTO is just a
                  symptom." 

                  Others, notably Public Citizen and Global Exchange,
portray
                  themselves as reformers rather than revolutionaries.
They advocate
                  "fair trade" as opposed to "free trade." Their core
demands:
                  democratize the WTO to make it more representative of
                  environmental and labor interests, and impose a
moratorium on any
                  new agreements pending a review of the impact of all
current trade
                  agreements. 

                  "We believe in a global economy that has values and
institutions
                  guiding global commerce," says Global Exchange
activist Juliette
                  Beck, "but we need globalization to be safe for the
world, not the
                  reverse." 

                  For thousands of union members, protesters, delegates,
the Seattle
                  police, and nearly everybody else in town, Tuesday,
Nov. 30 is
                  D-day. 

                  DAN hopes to put 100 autonomous "affinity groups" of 5
to 20
                  people each out into the streets to execute their own
direct actions.
                  On one corner might be the "radical cheerleaders,"
complete with
                  pom poms, busting out a rant against corporate greed.
On another,
                  traffic may be snarled by affinity group members who
have chained
                  themselves to a stoplight. A modified stretch
limousine belonging to
                  the People's Global Action Caravan, which has been
touring the
                  States since Oct. 28, will be roaming the streets.
With a cruise missile
                  strapped to the top emblazoned with the words "for
hire," it should
                  be hard to miss. Unless of course you are distracted
by a banner
                  being unfurled from the side of a building by
activists trained in such
                  feats at a Ruckus Society camp in the Oregon mountains
last
                  October. 

                  "This isn't going to be another easily ignored lefty
civil protest," claims
                  Han Shan of the Berkeley-based Ruckus Society. "People
from all
                  parts of civil life are saying no to the corporate
agenda," he says.
                  "This is going to be an organic uprising of citizens
to form a
                  watershed moment of humanity." 

                  Organically uprisen watershed or not, the protests
will certainly be
                  hard to ignore, thanks in large part to the
contributions of labor
                  unions. DAN volunteer Taylor, a university student
taking time off to
                  fight the WTO, has been trying to coordinate protest
efforts with
                  Seattle longshoremen, who are among the most
vociferous of the
                  WTO's labor critics. On Nov. 30, they plan to shut
down every port
                  in the state of Washington and take to the streets. 

                  Meanwhile, the nation's largest labor organization,
the AFL-CIO, will
                  host a rally the same day in a 12,000 seat outdoor
stadium. Six
                  planes, 125 buses, and a "union train" from Portland
have been
                  chartered to help bring folks in to hear AFL-CIO
president John
                  Sweeney, musical group Sweet Honey and the Rock and
others. At
                  12:30 p.m., the workers will pour out of the stadium
and march 40
                  blocks up Fourth Avenue, which should already be
teeming with
                  roisterous affinity groups. Unlike the unruly
activists, the unions have
                  worked closely with city officials to plan the march,
and aim to train
                  1,000 of their own marshals to make sure everything
goes smoothly. 

                  Around 3 p.m., the union marchers will turn up Pike
Street -- the city
                  will rename it Union Way for the day -- and head
straight for the
                  perimeter of police who will be surrounding the
Convention and
                  Trade Center. There, union leaders intend to hand
deliver a copy of
                  their demands: They want the WTO to enforce six
essential principles
                  of fair labor practices, including freedom of
association for workers,
                  a minimum age for child labor, and workers' right to
collective
                  bargaining. The AFL-CIO is pushing for violation of
any of these
                  principles to be considered a "non-tariff trade
barrier," meaning that
                  countries which violate them could be subject to
punitive tariffs from
                  other WTO member states. 

                  While banner-hanging and street theater promise to be
grabbing
                  many of the headlines, plenty of educational- and
policy-oriented
                  forums are also planned for the week in Seattle. The
International
                  Forum on Globalization (IFG), a progressive think tank
dedicated to
                  finding alternatives to globalization in its current
form, is hosting a
                  "teach in" about the WTO. The teach-in, scheduled for
Nov. 26 and
                  27 in a 2,500-seat auditorium, will feature policy
experts assessing
                  the WTO's impact on agriculture, the environment,
human rights, and
                  other issues. On Nov. 30, in the Seattle Town Hall,
Ralph Nader of
                  Public Citizen and other WTO critics will square off
against officials
                  from Procter and Gamble, the federal Commerce
Department and
                  others for an IFG-sponsored debate on free trade. 

                  So far, the WTO's diverse detractors have done a
surprising job of
                  maintaining a more or less united front, joining
together for the goal of
                  making a big splash in Seattle. Whether this unity
will survive past
                  Nov. 30, however, remains to be seen. 

                  If nothing else, the movement has already demonstrated
its media
                  savvy. The Ruckus action camp made the front page of
the Wall
                  Street Journal, and the PGA Caravan has staged
media-grabbing
                  demonstrations in 20 cities across the country during
a month long
                  sojourn from New York City to Seattle. On Nov. 20, at
the
                  Caravan's San Francisco stop, protesters made a "human
banner"
                  reading "NO WTO" and chartered a plane to fly
journalists overhead
                  so they could capture the action on film. 

                  The Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund, along with
several other
                  groups, will be publishing 10,000 copies of a free
daily newspaper in
                  Seattle giving the activists' perspective during the
WTO week. The
                  first issue of the World Trade Observer is already
available online.
                  Meanwhile, culture jammers ®TMark have jumped on the
                  bandwagon with a WTO parody Web site. 

                  But will all this hubbub actually lead anywhere? Even
the radical
                  fringes of this improvised movement seem to understand
that a PGA
                  Caravan heading to Seattle is a far cry from Lenin on
a train to St.
                  Petersburg. Caravan participant Guido Espana, who
studies river
                  pollution in his native Bolivia, admits with a wan
smile that at many of
                  the demonstrations they have held, "there are more
police than
                  people." Nevertheless, he is optimistic about the
coalitions between
                  activists he sees forming. "If we have solidarity
between many people
                  from around the world," he said, "we can be strong." 

                  And, in fact, the protest movement has already had an
effect. Last
                  week, President Clinton announced that no future trade
agreements
                  would be implemented until their impact is assessed.
While this fell
                  short of the fair trade movement's demand that the
impact of all
                  existing agreements be assessed, Clinton has evidently
recognized the
                  need to at least sound conciliatory to the opposition.
The WTO has
                  responded similarly. The organization recently
published its own
                  assessment of the impacts of free trade, which
acknowledged for the
                  first time that there are legitimate concerns about
globalization's
                  impact on jobs and the environment. 

                  Overall, David Taylor is pleased with what has been
accomplished
                  already. "A year ago no one had heard of the WTO. Now
there are
                  critiques of it on the front page of major
newspapers," he said. "No
                  matter what happens on Nov. 30th, we've already
succeeded."  

                  Related Links 

                  Seattle Ministerial Sites 

                  http://www.seattlewto.org

                  http://www.seattle99.org 



                  Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) 

                  Citizen's Trade Campaign of Public Citizen 
                  http://www.tradewatch.org 

                  Global Exchange - Global Economy Resources 
                  http://www.globalexchange.org 

                  International Forum on Globalization 
                  http://www.ifg.org 

                  People's Global Action Caravan 
                  http://members.aol.com/pgacaravan 

                  The Direct Action Network 
                  http://www.agitprop.org/artandrevolution/wto/dan.html 

                  People's Global Action Caravan 
                  http://members.aol.com/pgacaravan 

                  The Ruckus Society 
                  http://www.ruckus.org/ 



                  Official/Industry 

                  World Trade Organization 
                  http://www.wto.org 

                  US International Trade Commission 
                  http://www.usitc.gov 

                  US Trade Representative 
                  http://www.ustr.gov 

                  US Alliance For Trade Expansion (Industry Lobby) 
                  http://www.us-trade.org