Notices and News
CHEQUES Please Make Them Out Correctly Please ensure that your cheques, for membership, donations, purchases, etc, are made out to CAFCA, and nobody else. If you wish to make a donation towards Murray Horton’s pay, then make your cheque out to the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account (which is a separate account).
TAKING CONTROL LIST SERVER New Members Welcome The Taking Control list server (electronic discussion group) serves as a useful (and private) electronic network for circulating and discussing material relevant to the fightback against transnational corporate power. For instance, CAFCA regularly sends out press releases and other material through Taking Control. If you’re interested, then e-mail us at: cafca@chch.planet.org.nz Membership is free but conditions apply. And, on the subject of new members, we believe the most effective means of getting our message around is by word of mouth. If you’ve got relatives, friends or workmates whom you think are likely to join CAFCA or be interested in what we have to offer, then put them in touch with us. We’re always ready to welcome new members. You, our existing members, are our most effective recruiters. CAFCA/ABC ORGANISER ACCOUNT NEEDS MOREPLEDGERS & DONORS Murray Horton has been the fulltime organiser for the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC) since 1991. Throughout that whole time his income has been supplied by the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account, which is sustained by regular pledgers and donations from members and supporters of both groups. None of his income comes from either CAFCA or the ABC. The Organiser Account is separate from, and independent of, both groups, existing solely to supply the income of the organiser. This quite remarkable achievement has enabled both groups to have the services of a paid organiser, albeit one on the minimum wage. Neither CAFCA nor ABC can afford to directly pay Murray, as they don’t generate anywhere near enough income to pay a worker, as well as finance our activities and publications. The Account just manages to keep its head above water. We ask you to consider becoming a pledger to the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account. And, of course, we welcome donations (details below). We want to retain Murray as our organiser and, knowing that you value the work that we and he have been doing for the past decade, ask for your help. Donations can be sent to Box 2258, Christchurch, cheques payable to the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account (we are not registered for GST). Pledges can be automatically paid to that Account at: WestpacTrust, Sydenham Branch, Christchurch. Account number: 030866-0300063-00.
BRIDGESTONE-FIRESTONE PLEADS GUILTY Fined Petty Cash Watchdog 97 (August 2001) reported the grisly death of Adam Hopkins, a 30 year old worker at Bridgestone-Firestone’s Christchurch tyre manufacturing factory. He was crushed to death in a machine, in February 2001, and the subsequent behaviour of management was abominable – when workers walked off to attend his funeral, the company served them with papers threatening legal action against them personally if they didn’t get back to work immediately. This meant that those at his funeral, including two pallbearers, were forced to return to work before the poor bugger could even be buried. This tragedy has now had its legal sequence – Occupational Safety and Health charged the Japanese-owned TNC with failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of employees and failing to ensure that staff were given sufficient information about emergencies. In November 2001, Bridgestone-Firestone pleaded guilty to both charges. It faced fines of up to $75,000. In December 2001 it was fined a total of $37,000, of which $25,000 was ordered to be paid to Adam Hopkins’ parents, Lyn and Michael (he was not married). They were far from happy with this outcome, saying: "The penalty imposed is very disappointing, bearing in mind a young man’s life, full of potential and promise, has been lost. We understand the judge is working within certain parameters but for a multinational company, $37,000 is petty cash…We have lost one of the most precious gifts that God can give a family - a son and a brother. No amount of apology or money will bring Adam back and we have to live with that. Our lives will never be the same. Adam was a very loving son and very close to his brother and since February (2001) we have experienced great turmoil and sadness. We have been totally shattered and our lives have been changed for ever by Adam’s death and the sequence of events that have transpired since then" (Press, 22/12/01). The Firestone Employees Society (aka the union) also expressed extreme disappointment at the small size of the fine. In February 2002, it had cause to express that disappointment again, when another worker suffered a serious arm injury when he was caught by a different part of the same machine that had killed Adam Hopkins a year earlier. Society secretary, Mike Freeman, said: "We are shocked that it could happen again and the timing of it is just unbelievable" (Press, 27/2/02). Obviously, if you’re a TNC, economies of scale dictate that it’s cheaper to pay fines arising from the preventable deaths of your workers rather than paying to make your factory safe. Non-Members:
|
 Return
to Watchdog 99 Index |
 |