Northwest & Beyond

compiled by Sharlynn Cobaugh

Olympia Resistance Rises A new group, the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance has formed to support the continuing struggle to de-militarize the Port of Olympia. The militarization of the port happened in 2005 and has been strongly protested throughout the community, but letters and protests have had little impact, as the war and corporate war profiteering continue, as do the military shipments through Olympia.

The Resistance members have committed themselves to stopping the war machine by standing in front of the machines of war as they attempt to enter the port. Between May 22 and May 30, 38 anti-war protesters were arrested for blocking military shipments. The Resistance stands for a people's democracy and against empire. They support the troops as human beings with families to feed, they do not support their actions in support of the empire. They hope to be an inspiration to other communities and ask for solidarity to reject the militarization of American society. (Works In Progress, June 2006)

Mayor Outs FBI plan to spy on Portland City Council
A city employee of Portland was recently contacted by an FBI agent and asked to provide information about the City Council Members. This is publicly known, because rather than begin work as an informant, the employee contacted the Mayor, Tom Potter, who then wrote an open letter to the city on May 24, 13 days after the contact was made.

Last year Portland was the first major American city to withdraw from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The JTTF is a domestic surveilance program in which the FBI coordinates spying efforts with the local police departments, contracting a couple "special agents" who work with and report directly, and only, to the FBI. Mayor Potter, who is also the Portland Police Commissioner, worked with the City Council to stop the JTTF program in Portland because the actions of the Force were kept secret or "classified" and not subject to review or oversight as all other police activities routinely are to a Police Commissioner.

Of the FBI contact of a city employee to spy on City Council Members, Mayor Potter said that there were no grounds for the action and that the actions "come at an uneasy time for many Americans. In the last few weeks we've learned our phone records are not private, and conversations are monitored without warrants. Journalists exposing these actions have been threatened with prosecution." The mayor went on to say that this action smacked of "Big Brother" and demonstrated "an unacceptable mindset within the agency."

In its written response to the mayor's letter, the FBI insisted it was simply doing its job as a member of the community, providing citizens with an avenue to provide information. (The Portland Alliance, June 2006)

Union Busting at Providence Healthcare
Oregon's Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, recently got involved in an investigation into union election rights of workers at Providence Healthcare Systems. Bradbury agreed to chair a May 25 fair election oversight committee meeting and immediately incurred the wrath of the Providence bosses.

Russ Danielson, Providence CEO, wrote an openly hostile letter to Bradbury in which he says "There simply is no merit, precedent, or legal foundation for your attempts to use your office as a vehicle for attempting to legislate union and labor issues of a private company. Danielson went on to question the legality of the commission and its meetings and to request that it be disbanded immediately. The president of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems wrote a similar letter to Bradbury on the same day.

To this Bradbury asked, "If this is their reaction to me, an elected state leader, what is it going to be like for the worker who wants to form a union?" Bradbury was undeterred by the letters and participated as chairperson in the meeting.

The room in which the meeting was held was packed. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) brought Providence workers from Yakima in Washington, as well as from New York, and California to testify along with workers from the Portland area. The workers told the committee of much intervention on the part of Providence management in preventing union elections, including the firing of pro-union workers, personal loans made during union elections, anti-union literature and propaganda including a mandatory employee screening of an anti-union film, restrictions to workers rights to post union election information or speak of union matters during breaks.

University of Oregon professor Gordon Lafer said "NLRB (National Labor Relations Board union certification) elections look more like the discredited practices of rogue regimes abroad than like anything we would call American." (NW Labor Press, June 2006)

No Divine Drake
The Winnemucca Indian Colony, Nevada Citizen Alert, and down-winders in Nevada and Utah joined together in active protest of the detonation of a 700 ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb, code-named Divine Drake, at a test site on native lands. Their protests were made at a week-long festive and peaceful event at the entrance to the Nevada test site. Meanwhile on the legal front, the groups filed a lawsuit for a restraining order against the test in US District Court in Reno.

The District Court order was never issued however as the National Nuclear Security Administration announced the delay of the test. The lawyer for the plaintiffs believes he has put it to the government to prove the safety of such experiments, asking questions they are unprepared to answer, and so is assuming that the postponment is indefinite. The second hearing scheduled in court was cancelled at the request of the US government.

The detonation that was to be tested would be 70 times greater than the US's largest conventional bomb and similar to its smallest nuclear bomb. Congress banned the development of such weapons in 1993, but ammended the law in 2003 to allow early- stage research and development without explicit Congressional approval.

This test specifically violates a UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decision urging the U.S. to stop this testing on tribal lands.

(Yes magazine, Summer 2006 and The Las Vegas Review Journal, May 27, 2006)

Bovine Growth Hormone on the Run
The largest retailers and distributors of milk and dairy products in the US are considering eliminating rBGH from their products. According to the trade journal Dairy Food and Market Analyst, Wal-Mart and Dean Foods have begun pressing suppliers for a larger supply of milk produced without rBGH, in response to increasing consumer demand.

The synthetic hormone rBGH is a genetically engineered drug designed to make dairy cows produce more milk. The controversial hormone has been banned in Europe and Canada due to its links to increased risks for cancer and antibiotic resistance. Despite these bans, 18% of US dairy cows, especially those on factory-style farms, continue to be injected with the drug.

Over the past few years, millions of consumers have switched to milk and dairy products from organic farms, which ban the use of rBGH and antibiotics. Starbucks, by the way, is still serving up coffee drinks across the country that are laced with rBGH-another good reason to patronize local independently owned coffee shops that offer organic and Fair Trade alternatives.

Major US dairies recently eliminating rBGH:
April 2005 - Tillamook's cheeses: The 2nd largest producer of block cheese in the US.
June 2005 - Eberhard Dairy: Central Oregon's largest dairy processing plant.
Nov. 2005 - Alpenrose Dairy in Portland
Feb. 2006 - Darigold's yogurts: A large western US dairy.
June 2006 - Garelick: A large East Coast dairy processor, producing 45 million pounds of milk per month.
June 2006 - Meadow Gold and Darigold Farms: Montana's largest milk producers.
(Organic Bytes-Organic Consumers Association, June 2006)