The giant IG-Metall union in Germany is balloting its 100,000 work in the steel industry for all-out industrial action wer a pay claim. The ballol tarted last Sunday and the result will be known by next Friday.
The union has demanded a 10.5 per cent pay increase to compensate workers for higher taxes. The taxes were imposed to pay for German reunification. While it takes a 75 per cent majority to trigger a strike, union leaders are confident that this figure will be achieved.
The employers have offered a 6 per cent deal, and union leaders have let it be known that just one per cent over this would be enouge to aver d strike. But the employers are reluctant, given the current profits squeeze.
Further trouble on the German industrial front has been signalled the announcement that engineering workers in IG-Metall have submitted a 9.5 per cent claim. has come from the OT public A further big claim service workers union, representing 300,000 workers, who said they were willing to strike over their 10 per cent claim. And the white collar HBV and DAG unions have broken off negotiations after being •offeed lise to a 55 pent in fered less than 5 per cent offer.
The steelworkers' claim is one of the last to be settled trom last vear. All the orner are new claims. The wave of claims around 10 percent, much higher than the inflation rate, represents the impact on living standards of Germar reunification, the costs which have landed at the doorstep of ordinary tax No. 15 / Feb. 1, 1992
PLO leader: Arafat • Features tremely successtut on the diplomatic tront. but tney still have nothing concrete to show for all their concessions.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Democratic Popular Front have current policies of the PLO leaderselves with the Islamic sundamentanst tiamas organisation. Arafat are now made in the language of jihad, not the Pa lestinian national struggle, let alone the "Marxist ferminology the past.
Yet it is Hamas that has weakened the intifada by forcing women back into the home, by imposing Islamic morality in the areas where it is strong - particularly Gaza Women in Gaza are rehave been driven out of other ageof marriage for women has now been pushed down to 17 years If the big losers of the of Iraq and Yemen Kurds and the Palestinians who were the winners? Syrian President Hafez al'rehabilitated' recently be- rises. cause of his support for the Gulf war. - and the oil monarchies. The US has actually made a profit of $4-5 billion from 'bombing Iraq back into the Stone *Cut even this sum pales into insigy nificance when compared to the money made by the Us arms manufacturers who have established a virtual monopoly. Saudi Arabia alone has contracts worth $14 billion.
Thus the New World Order' has led to a massive new arms race, with vast profits for the US merchants of death.
Western firms have also made huge sums from the rebuilding of Kuwait. While the damage is nowhere near as severe as was claimed during the war -primarily vandalism and pilinge -there have still been rich pickings.
Political muscle
Where they have been undercut by firms from the Third World they have used their political - and potential military - muscle. Their experience in Kuwait will, no doubt, case their way into the even richer pickings to be had rebuilding Iraq, if Saddam is replaced by more acceptable government The 'New World Order has been paic for by the people of the Middle East and Third World countries. Over 40 Third World countries have seen a huge decline in their economies The initial rise in prices at the start of the wai Уси 0 000880 01370 05 6 GNP at a stroke.
Ata minimum the war caused a transfer of 568 billion from the Third World to the West. The poorest countries havelost $12 billion through transfer of investments, economic boycotts and oil price While Western governments have suppressed or understated the environmental effects of the war, Third World