CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA -- Under the theory that a lot of little voices can make a lot of noise, the Town Council on Monday night took a stand against the World Trade Organization.
In a 6-1 vote, the council agreed to ask the federal government to refuse to participate in any World Trade Organization negotiations that include public health care, education, social services, government procurement and environmental regulations that "lead to the further oppression of people around the world."
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf and council member Bill Strom were absent.
Council member Pat Evans, who cast the only negative vote, said she thought the information they had been given from representatives of several community and university student groups was biased against the organization.
But council member Joyce Brown, who spearheaded the local campaign to depict the WTO as an organization that permitted big business to exploit millions of workers worldwide, urged her colleagues to take a stand much as they did last year when they called for a moratorium on the death penalty.
The council will forward its resolution to its state legislative delegation, the Orange County commissioners, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners.
The student and community representatives cheered the council action immediately after the vote.
"It's not like President Clinton's going to read this and quake in his boots," said Seth Landau, one of the students at the meeting. "But we hope this will be like the resolutions for the death penalty moratorium."
reprinted from < http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2000/06/14/news05.html >