International

ORLANDO, FLORIDA
There is growing disquiet in different NATO member states regarding the treatment by the American authorities of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. So much became clear during the annual meeting of the NATO parliamentary assembly in Orlando, when a proposal was accepted from SP senator Tiny Kox, a member of the Netherlands’ delegation, to send representatives to the American enclave on the island of Cuba to investigate whether or not international treaties are being respected and implemented.

SP CALLS ON TRADE UNIONISTS TO REJECT ACCORD

SP parliamentary group leader Jan Marijnissen has expressed his disappointment over the results of the annual ‘autumn meeting’ between government, trade unions and employers. Marijnissen sees the outcome as falling well short of the mark as far as social considerations are concerned. “Organised social solidarity is undermined on all sides: in public health insurance, social security and in the public sector as a whole. In exchange for very limited promises the trade unions have accepted what is a shoddy deal for all Dutch people, working or not, despite their earlier talk of the ‘antisocial policies’ of Balkenende II.*