WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD
By Andy
McInerney
NETHERLANDS
Gay marriages legalized
The struggle for democratic rights of lesbians and gays
gained an important victory on Sept. 12. The parliament in
the Netherlands overwhelmingly approved a bill granting
"same-sex partnerships" as marriages. The new law sharply
narrows the differences between same-sex and straight
couples' legal marriage rights.
The bill passed 107-33.
Dutch lesbians and gays already had the right to legally
register as same-sex couples, allowing partners to claim
pensions and other social benefits allowed to partners in
straight marriages. But the new legislation extends those
rights, allowing divorces and adoptions.
The vote is an "absolute first in the world," gay activist
Henk Krol told the Associated Press.
Several countries grant legal protections to gay couples.
South Africa's post-apartheid constitution prohibits
discrimination against citizens on the basis of sexual
orientation. But the vast majority of lesbians and gays in
the world--including in the United States--face oppression
rooted in centuries of patriarchal capitalism.
ECUADOR
Groups protest U.S. at Manta
Base
Members of several Ecuadoran people's organizations
marched on the Constitutional Court in Quito Sept. 13 to
protest the government's involvement in the U.S. war against
Colombia. "We don't want to be a U.S. colony," they
chanted.
Elsie Monge, president of the Ecumenical Commission on
Human Rights, presented a document charging that the
agreement to grant the United States military takeoff and
landing rights at the Manta Airbase was illegal. Former
President Jamil Mahuad signed the agreement in 1999. Mahuad
was deposed in January after a mass uprising.
"We believe that the agreement violates 30 legal norms,"
Monge told the Pulsar news agency. Allowing the Pentagon to
use the Manta base "involves us in a conflict that could
possibly expand to a regional level, affecting the
sovereignty of our country."
Washington has made a tremendous effort over the last year
to get countries neighboring Colombia to open their territory
for U.S. military use. While the Fujimori dictatorship in
Peru has also offered assistance to its backers in
Washington, the Manta Airbase is the Pentagon's biggest plum
so far.
Antonio Vargas, head of the Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities of Ecuador, and leaders of the Coordinating
Committee of Social Movements also attended the protest.
ISRAEL
Arab workers fight firings,
discrimination
Hundreds of Arab workers living in Israel battled with
cops for two days beginning Sept. 11. The unemployed workers
charged that the Nazareth City Council shut down the quarry
where they worked, leaving them jobless.
Cops attacked the workers on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. On
Sept. 11, Arab parliament member Abdel Malik Dahamshe was
wounded in the police attack.
The workers blocked roads into Naza reth, complaining of
discrimination against Arabs. At least six were arrested as
they set up flaming barricades in the streets.
NIGERIA
Hospital workers win strike
Following a two-week strike that crippled the largest
state-run hospital in Nigeria's capital, Lagos, junior
doctors and nurses declared victory on Sept. 16. They struck
after not receiving paychecks for two months.
The strike at Lagos University Teaching Hospital paralyzed
most basic services. While senior doctors and management
tried to keep the hospital running, patients were evacuated
to other facilities for treatment.
"The strike cuts across all departments," one senior
doctor told the French News Service AFP on Sept. 7.
When it became clear that the hospital workers would not
relent, the government coughed up funds to give the workers
all their back pay.
This article is copyright under a Creative
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