The closing of the country's second biggest airline, reported to have lost $140,000 in March on top of debts in excess of $20 million, means the loss of 1,180 jobs. At a union meeting they learned they will have to wait months for their final wages and holiday pay and that nobody will get redundancy money they are entitled to.

One worker at the meeting who blamed management "incompetence" for the collapse got the loudest applause. Some workers are angry that a leading investor, Alan Gibbs, reported in the New Zealand Herald to be worth $200 million, could causing such havoc and misery. "He won't be suffering," said one of my old work-mates, Chris Ivey, adding that he saw the collapse as "capitalism in the raw."

Malcolm McAllister
Auckland, New Zealand
 
 
Opposition to power plant
New York City residents, especially small children, are likely to be injured and killed by the startup of a large pre-regulation oil-fired power generator in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The plant was shut down years ago because it was found to be 'too dirty'. Now the hysteria about New York's 'energy crisis' has caused the possible resurrection of this generator.

Two new power plants have been proposed for Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Situated within 10 blocks of each other on the East River--and as close as 100 feet to schools, homes, and parks--these power plants would emit hundreds of tons of airborne pollutants per year. Sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, benzopyrenes, and formaldehyde are just some of the chemical emissions.

Join us for a benefit on May 10 at Parkers' Box, 193 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Tom Fitzgibbon
Brooklyn, New York
 
 
Evolution of German CP
Recently the Militant has reported on the rightward direction of the German Green Party, the model of such organizations worldwide. The former ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), is undergoing a similar drift toward openly reactionary and pro-capitalist politics. On April 27 the PDS presented a new "political program," replacing one they had adopted in 1993.

The new program explicitly disavows "Marxism-Leninism," which of course the PDS had already done many years earlier, and states their hope to gain a share of governmental power along with the other major reformist parties, the SPD and the Greens. The new program also declares, in terms reminiscent of reformist leaders of the SPD who Rosa Luxemburg struggled against a century ago, that capitalism can be progressively altered "piece by piece."

Enriqe Lister
Berlin, Germany
 
 
May Day in Taiwan
I was having lunch with a Taiwanese friend of mine and the Chinese language TV news was on. The station was covering a big protest march. My friend explained it was in Taiwan and that the station was reporting that there were 10,000 people in the march. My friend explained it was a Labor Day march and that 10,000 was bigger than Labor Day marches in recent years. He said that the Taiwanese economy is slowing down and that the marchers were protesting layoffs.

Walter Blades
Oakland, California
 
 
Enjoys web site
Today I discovered your web site and a very good day to find you--May 1. I work as a seafarer, and have done so for 30 years. During that time I have always been a member of a union, firstly the Seamens Union of Australia then the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

I just wanted to let you all know how much I enjoy your site. Please keep up the good work. You are playing an important role in helping to inform workers worldwide of the struggles fellow comrades are waging.

Alan
Australia
 
 
Pueblo crew 'held hostage?'
The April 23 Militant article "Spy plane conflict highlights U.S. rulers' military threat to Chinese workers state" notes Washington's decades-long use of spy planes and ships, along with sophisticated electronic equipment in provocative actions against the Chinese and north Korean workers states. One question, however, comes to mind. The article describes the crew of the U.S. spy ship Pueblo as having been held hostage by north Korea for 11 months. They may have been prisoners of war, or charged as spies by north Korea in the manner that any country faced with a similarly staged attack might do. To refer to the crew as hostages places the burden upon north Korea for defending itself in the face of Washington's provocations.

Jim Altenberg
Oakland, California
 
 
Armenian Genocide
After President Bush's successful presidential campaign, more than a million and a half Armenian Americans join with all people of good conscience in looking to him to honor his pledge to recognize the genocide against the Armenian people by the Ottoman empire.

They expect him to resist pressure and threats from the Turkish government, which is seeking to have the United States join with them in their shameful campaign to deny this crime against all humanity. We urge the president to characterize in clear, unambiguous terms Ottoman Turkey's systematic and deliberate campaign to destroy its Armenian population as genocide.

Krikor Haladjian
Sandy Hook, Connecticut

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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