From: Paul Bullock (paulbullock@EBMS-LTD.CO.UK)
Date: Fri May 02 2003 - 17:24:14 EDT
Subject: Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) and APL - War Profiteers and collaborators with Oakland police Three leaflets 1. Mobilising for community picket Monday May 12th, evening 2. SSA - operates out of Oakland, got contract for operating the port of Umm Qasr, meets with police to plan repression of demonstrators. 3. APL - shipped equipment to Iraq. > A P L : STOP WAR PROFITEERING > > S S A : STOP THE CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ > OPD/BROWN: NO POLICE BRUTALITY AT THE DOCKS & IN OUR COMMUNITIES > On April 7, 75O community members held a community picket against war > profiteers APL and SSA. After closed meetings with these > corporations, Oakland Police opened fire on protesters with > potentially-lethal wooden bullets, metal-shot filled bags and > concussion grenades. 3 members of the media, 9 longshore workers and > 50 community members were injured. > > APL corporation profits from shipping ammunition, like that used > in Iraq by the US Government to invade, kill and injure thousands of > civilians and dozens of Iraqi anti-war/occupation protesters. > SSA will profit from the 2nd corporate invasion of Iraq. The US > Government, refusing to consider Iraqi's, has awarded SSA a 3 year > monopoly contract with guaranteed profit to run Umm Qasr, Iraq's > major port. > > Oakland Police and Jerry Brown must respect our right to protest > and end their war at home; long term brutality and injustice against > the people- particularly communities of color- of Oakland. > We support directly democratic, ecological, peaceful, socially just > alternatives to the war for empire and the system behind it. > > Direct Action to Stop the War > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Unplugging the War Machine: Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) > > Under the Guise of Providing Humanitarian Aid, Anti-Union Corporation > Profits off of War. > > > Spreading Bush's Vision of Corporatization and Privatization Around > the World. > > "This is a preview of how American corporations will be the > beneficiaries of this illegal war by securing contracts to rebuild > and operate businesses in a post-war Iraq. This is part of the > attempt to recolonize a sovereign nation." -- ILWU Anti-War Action > Committee > > "It's going to give us exposure in the Middle East. We'll make > additional contacts when we're over there that we don't know now." -- > Bob Watters, Vice President of SSA's organizing team for the Umm Qasr > port, in the Seattle Times. > > Last week, the U.S. government awarded a $4.8 million contract to > Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) to manage the Umm Qasr seaport > in Iraq. But the $4.8 million is just the tip of the iceberg. The > contract grants SSA rights to handle aid cargo for up the three > years. SSA will be paid for that work under a s separate formula that > GUARANTEES a PROFIT after costs are covered. In addition, while SSA > will handle relief supplies initially, the contract doesn't preclude > expanding to carry other goods for postwar Iraq. > > This arrangement has even angered the British military, members of > who told The Guardian that they "do not want to seem imperialist > invaders." Air Marshall Brian Burridge, Britain's chief military > officer in the Gulf, told The Guardian that the port should be run by > Iraqis as a model for the future reconstruction of the country, not > by American corporations. "SSA is positioning itself for the postwar > business," said David Olson of the University of Washington in the > Seattle Times, "If the U.S. is there for three to five years in a > major way, all that cargo ahs to go through one nodal point. That is > an enormous amount of business activity. And with the backing of the > U.S. government, you're not going to have any competition." > > Even the need for the U.S. humanitarian aid needs to be challenged, > given that much of the humanitarian crisis in Umm Qasr was created by > the invasion itself. For example, sufficient water was being > transported to the city by the Baath regime before the US invasion. > But since the invasion, no humanitarian agencies on the ground have > been allowed into Iraq. If the invasion would stop, the humanitarian > crisis would clearly be dramatically reduced. > > Seattle-based SSA, the largest marine terminal operator in the U.S., > has received dozens of contracts from the Pentagon for military cargo > handling at U.S. ports. For example, they were recently awarded a $28 > million contract from the DOD for Army ports in North Carolina. SSA > also has a direct connection to the Bush Administration: the > company's Texas lobbyist, Reginald G. "Reggie" Bashur, is a former > aid to then-Governor George W. Bush. > > It is not surprising that Bush chose SSA to help rebuild Iraq in his > own corporate image given that SSA is a notoriously anti-union > company that has led efforts to break longshore unions here in > Oakland and around the world. Last year's lockout of West Coast > longshore workers was driven in large part by SSA. ILWU President > James Spinosa termed SSA "the primary roadblock to an effective West > Coast longshore contract settlement," and accused them of > "undermining negotiations, because their primary interests are in > breaking the union." > As the ILWU Anti-War Action Committee wrote in a newsletter to its > members: > > > "SSA is an American corporation that is benefiting from America's > `privatizing the spoils of war' in Iraq. SSA and other companies > represent the next wave of invaders in Iraq. The Iraqi people have > not had a say in SSA or any other company coming in and taking over > its ports. This war is not about democracy, ending terrorism, > chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction. This war is about > controlling the oil resources in Iraq, controlling the Mid-East, and > providing billions of dollars for American Corporations to rebuild > what the American and British governments have destroyed." > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > > APL: War Profiteer - Arm of the U.S. Military - Corporate Globalizer > > Neptune Orient Lines (APL's parent company) is "seen among the few to > benefit from the war in Iraq, with unit APL carrying US military > cargo to Baghdad." -- AFX-Asia "Stock Alert." > > APL is not only a carrier of military cargo; they also operate as a > direct arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. In their own words, APL > has a "close, decades-long working relationship with the U.S. > Department of Defense (APL website)." > > APL, headquartered in Oakland, receives millions of taxpayer dollars > every year for shipping military cargo through the Department of > Defense (DOD) Maritime Security Program (MSP). APL makes nine of its > vessels available to the DOD in order to move "ammunition and > sustainment cargo." Several of these vessels have already been called > up to service the military this year. The MSP is authorized to make > payments of $2.1 million per vessel per year through the program. > Therefore, APL is potentially receiving $18 million dollars of > taxpayer money per year from the U.S. military to be a gunrunner. > > But it gets worse, APL's parent company, Neptune Orient Lines Ltd, > (NOL), is receiving $100 million in U.S. tax-payer money annually > from the DOD for its 47 ships (including APL's nine) that participate > in the MSP. > > APL is not only profiting off of this war, they made millions off of > the last Persian Gulf War. In 1991, APL's net income rose to $94 > million due in part to the money it received from the DOD for APL's > "Ready Reserve" ships which were activated to carry military cargo. > > At Concord Naval Weapons station, APL's stevedoring company, Eagle > Marine Services, provides the stevedoring (a stevedore is another > name for longshoreman, loads and unloads cargo) for the military > cargo that goes out of Concord. > > APL was the second-largest container shipping company in the U.S. > until it merged with Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) to > become one of the top five cargo carriers in the world with total > sales in 2001 of nearly $4.7 billion. On the U.S. West Coast, it > operates ocean terminals at Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles. > > Corporate Globalizers Without Shame > When APL isn't making money from military imperialism, they are > making it from economic imperialism - leading the drive to force > countries, including the U.S., to eliminate protections for workers, > the environment, consumer heath and safety and democracy so that they > can increase their profits. APL boasts about the company's > involvement in "many, diverse efforts to promote the understanding of > international trade." Included among these is a program "designed to > promote the understanding of world trade among young people ranging > from kindergartners to high school students." > > APL is a member of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT). > This group of U.S. multinationals is the leading corporate voice for > free trade in the U.S. It has poured millions of dollars into > lobbying campaigns for the passage of Fast Track, the proposed Free > Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and expansion of the World Trade > Organization (WTO), among other agreements. > > Fast Track, the FTAA and the WTO push a corporate privatization > agenda that is remarkably similar to that being brutally forced upon > Iraq by the Bush Administration in this war. > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. > http://search.yahoo.com >
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