PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

DON'T LET THEM COLONIZE US!
by Stephen Donahue Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 at 6:19 AM
sdonahue412@hotmail.com

Stop the FTAA! Stop the Corporate Colonization of Pittsburgh! Come rally, march and have fun at Mellon Square (downtown Pgh) on November 15, 2003 at 1PM.

DON�T LET THEM COLONIZE US!




For those who have not noticed, the City of Pittsburgh is in deep trouble. The city has financial problems but that is not the half of it. Our real trouble is coming from the free marketers and their friends in the PA General Assembly. They want to use the city�s financial problems as a pretext for undermining the democratic process, privatizing public services, attacking collective bargaining agreements, initiating fees for public services and putting the city under the control of a strong financial review board.



This past summer, in response to the city�s budget deficit, layoffs and cuts in public services were implemented by Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy. City pools were closed. Recreation centers were closed. EMS techs, public works employees and city police were laid off. More service cuts and layoffs will likely be implemented soon.

Also late this summer the CEOs of the major corporations headquartered here began to meet behind closed doors with state law makers from Pittsburgh�s suburban districts. They were concerned with reports that the city was trying to increase its occupation tax from the measly $10 a year that it is now. These CEOs and their allies however were really concerned that the city was exploring the possibility of getting revenue by closing the loopholes in the business privilege tax. Presently no manufacture, bank, financial institution or utility pays this tax and they don�t want to start either.

These business leaders and their allies at the General Assembly have crafted legislation that allows Pittsburgh no new revenue streams, no new taxing ability and no option to file for bankruptcy or �distressed � status under PA Act 47. Their legislation does however place Pittsburgh under the control of a review board called the �Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority.� This board will be more powerful than the board that provided oversight over Philadelphia�s finances a few years ago.



The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority will have five appointed members. The General Assembly intends for them to write the Pittsburgh city budget. The mayor and city council are effectively removed from the process, except that they must sign on to the budget. This new authority will also rule on such things as collective bargaining agreements, implementing/increasing fees for public services, privatization of various public services, consolidation of services with Allegheny County and most importantly cuts in public spending. Pittsburgh business leaders want to see big cuts in public spending.

State Senator Jane Orie and State Representatives Mark Mustio, Mike Turzai, Tom Stevenson and Jeffrey Habay whose districts include no part of Pittsburgh have been leading the charge for establishing a strong authority to oversee the city�s finances. They have been working hand in hand with business leaders most of whom also live outside of the city.

Poor and low wage Pittsburgh residents have not been asked for any input at all about this Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority. This is normal. Do policy makers ever ask poor and low wage earners anything? Of course not, even though it is poor and low wage earners who will shoulder the burden of new and increased fees for public services. It is also poor and low wage earners who will shoulder the burden of public service cuts. You can also bet that the mandated lay offs and messed up collective bargaining agreements will certainly not bother the rich or their Harrisburg lackeys either.

Pittsburgh is about to be colonized by a collection of business executives and suburban state legislators. Our elected city council is on the verge of losing out to the rule of corporate elites and their hand picked review board. We can�t let this happen. We won�t stand for privatization! We won�t stand for new and/or increased fees for vital public services! We won�t stand for the undermining of union contracts and collective bargaining! We won�t stand cuts in public services! We won�t stand for a city council that answers to a review board instead of to us!

Neo-liberal structural adjustment is upon us. Pittsburgh�s fiscal crisis is just what the free marketers have been longing for. As the director of the Heinz Endowments put it, �One is more likely to get fundamental structural change at a point of crisis.� This �structural change� (adjustment) means �smaller government� which is code language for no more public services. Of course there will still be repressive big government. It�s job will be to protect of the rich and protect the interests of PPG, USS, PNC Bank, Mellon Finance, Duquesne Light and the other big corporations located here.

We have been told by one of our city council members that Pittsburgh has to be able to compete in, �an increasingly uncompromising global economy.� This means that the city will continue to bend over backwards to make things good for the corporations. Of course we know what that means for the rest of us. We got to fight back.

In late November many will be going to Miami to take a stand against the expansion of NAFTA called the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It is imperative that we link the destruction of public service here, the undermining of union contracts here, the imposition of fees for drinking water here (not to be confused with your water bill, this fee will be on top of that) and the cutting of vital public services here with our struggles with the poor all over this hemisphere. The struggle for liberation from capitalism in Argentina, Brasil, Colombia and Mexico is our struggle like never before. We are all in this together. Unite and fight for an economy that serves everybody not just the rich.

Mark your calendar. Come downtown to Mellon Square on Saturday, November 15 at 1:00PM for a fun rally and march to STOP THE FTAA.
STOP THE FTAA! STOP THE CORPORATE COLONIZATION OF PITTSBURGH!

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don't wait til november to have fun
by tiz Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003 at 6:17 AM

come to the bloomfield bridge tavern this firday the 24th around 7ish for a benefit show featuring TWO SEXY BEASTS, THE MOMENT and GRAND VISION CHANNEL.

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