c,
7G
Local Greeks react to Cyprus crisis
By BILL HEENAN at fault." He later admits that he doesn't know military superiority, he retorts, "Look at Is-
for sure anything about what's occurring on the raet and the Arabs."
Fdy orsa aroocthembattled isle. "I can't understand why the Turks did it," says
Cyprus, a war-torn island the size of Massa- However, two ethnic Greeks offer their own Pete Poulos, co-owner of Delta Restaurant. "I
hunsets andi occupying a strategri corner of the explanation. Blaming Cyprus' difficulties on the have Turkish friends here that are as close to
fediterranean has experienced little peace in the Greek's unruly nature, vivacious Campus Grill me as family."
st /thossand 'sears after rep>eated Roman, Greek, waitress Joan Alexandropoulos shakes her head: Yeachdgrv dobsbuthees-
urkish, and British ins asions. Boasting a high "The Greeks! If they don't fight among them- fe, (anoncd grave doubts about the cough
fire, (announced yesterday morning) though
/andard of biing cs1opared to other Mideast na- selves, they fight with someone else. Greece isn't they differed on more permanent solutions.
ions, /he isdand's /opulaion-573,000-is pri- a quiet country at all," she observes. Gina Stamadianos, wife of the Olympic's owner
arily rnugaged in agris ullure. One fourth of the A Campus Grill cook who refuses to be iden- and a native-born Cypriot says, "It's never
atirsci are ethnic Turks who l e in sep>arate en- tified insists that "Big Power Politics" is respon- work. The Greek and Turkish Cypriots will al-
lares from /he soajori/y Greck jopulation. sible for the Turkish - Greek confrontation. ways fight between themselves. Now, because
Arch/hishop> Maharios II headed the goern- Sketching a map of Cyprus and the surrounding of the Turkish occupation, they will fight over
sent for 1 5 'ears until a military coat last Mediterranean nations on a napkin, he stresses property."
week. Assuning p>ower after the country's inde-
pendence in 1960, he has attempted to reconcile
the conflicting factions, though he has found
it nearly inshpossihle /o gain cnsensus from the
Greeh-Cypriots who hrought him to Power, and
who demand enosis, or union with Greece.
LOCAL GREEK-AMERICANS are enraged and
confused by the recent Cyprus crisis, attribut-
ing that nation's difficulties to outside interfer-
ence.
"It's all screwed up!" exclaims Tom Stama-
dianos, Olympic Restaurant's owner, to grim-
faced employees and patrons seated around him
in the restaurant. Concerned with a U.S.-Soviet
confrontation, he remarks: "Many nations are
laying claim to every piece of land there is in
the Mediterranean."
Steve Theovorou owner of Manikas Sirloin
House remarks: "It's hard to understand who is
that the U. S. and the Soviet Union are seeking
control of the Turkish Dardenelle Straits, the
Russian's, only outlet to the Mediterranean.
"GREECE AND TURKEY want the islands,
while the USSR wants 'out' of the Black Sea,"
and the U. S. wants them bottled in," he ex-
plains.
In addition he offers another explanation: "Both
Greek and Turkish governments are dictatorships,
so why shouldn't they set up another one," he
snarls, referring to rebel leader Nicos Sampson's
regime.
All are indignant over the Turkish military
presence on Cyprus. Criticizing the Turks not
consulting with the other powers before launch-
ing it, Barry Couchaftis, an Olympic chef strikes
the restaurant table with a bronze-colored fist:
"Greece should have invaded Turkey when she
invaded Cyprus," he stressed.
But when reminded of the Turk's three-to-one
"TO UNDERSTAND A solution, explains Pou-
los, picture two little brothers fighting. One is
four times bigger than the other. Big brother has
to step in - why hasn't the U. S. intervened?
"I'd like to see the island independent - the
Cypriots would get along better that way, Stama-
dianos says, adding that ousted President Maka-
rios is the most qualified to handle the govern-
ment.
Yet Couchaftis disagrees with his boss, term-
ing Makarios a "left-leaning dictator:" "He leans
too far left, trying to woo the Chinese and Rus-
sians," he claims.
Currently, Greek-Americans are concerned
about friends and relatives stranded on embattled
Cyprus. Gina Stamadianos' mother and brother
reside on the island.
"I hope they solve it immediately for I hope
to visit there soon," says Tom Stamadianos.
THE
Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Tuesday, July 23, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
Mistakes mar ceasefire
GREEK AND TURKISH Cypriots slit each other's
throats in no-man's land separating their partitioned
neighborhoods, while the island's Turkish and Greek-led
armies test each other's nerves by bombing mental hos-
pitals. Meanwhile, a hodge-podge collection of American
and British vessels evacuate their citizens as Soviet war-
ships steam in the distance . . . Unfortunately three mis-
takes made this weekend may doom a Cyprus peace set-
tlement,
Turkey blew it first. Besides bringing the Mediter-
ranean to the brink of all-out war by its invasion of Cy-
prus, she may have condemned the island to years of
Vietnam-style warfare. Turkish Premier Bulvent Ecevit's
claim that he "experimented with all political and diplo-
matic channels to find a peaceful solution" before at-
tacking is absurd. Such delicate negotiations require
more than five brief days.
Like Vietnam, the two- sides will dispute tiny ham-
lets gained by their respective armies in recent days.
There were no victors in Southeast Asia, and there are
not likely to be any in Cyprus.
THE U.S. AND the Soviets blew it too. The United States
thoroughly misread their NATO ally's intentions to
invade Cyorus. In addition, both Washington and Mos-
cow delayed U.N. intervention, for their own purposes.
The result was an unopposed Turkish invasion.
Despite Turkev's widelv publicized invasion threat
last Saturday, Pentagon officials dismissed it as a bluff.
As Turkey's resumption of poppy seed growth would indi-
cate, she is reluctant to play second fiddle to America in
the Mideast.
Insisting that the United Nations Security Council
delay action until Joseph Sisco completed his diplomatic
shuttle between Athens and Ankara, America committed
an unpardonable sin.
Meanwhile, the Soviets were stalling. Delegate Vasily
Safronchuk claimed that he "lacked instructions from
Moscow." Clearly, the Soviets-convinced that hostile
Athens engineered the Cypriot coup-wished Turkey to
reinstate ousted President Makarios without U.N. inter-
ference.
THE UNITED NATION'S ceasefire may be too late to
prevent further bloodshed as the warring nations
consolidate their island positions. Meanwhile their native
counterparts continue slaying each other. In the words of
W. Tapley Bennett, aide to American U.N. delegate John
Scali, the latter "would be the most difficult to stop."
--BILL HEENAN
AFSCME sees proximity,
Empathy edge over UAW
RECENTLY AN ARTICLE ap-
peared on these pages re-
presenting the views of three
employees of the University
who are part of the Concerned
Clericals for Action / United
Automobile Workers. The ar-
ticle dealt with the subject of
union representation for U-M
clericals, with the authors at-
tempting to draw comparisons
between the Americans Feder-
ation of State, County and Muni-
cipal Employees (AFSCME)
and the auto workers union.
They opted for the latter
The most striking thnig about
the article is that it complete-
ly ignored the two most critical
questions involved in a choice
between the two unions: (1)
Which union has more experi-
ence in dealing with the prob-
lems of university employees?
(2) Which union can provide
greater support on the U-M
campus for clericals in their
quest for higher pay, better
conditions, equity and dignity?
It was AFSCME, not the au-
tomobile workers union, that
lead the fight for the extension
of minimum wage, equal pay
and overtime legislation to nub-
lic employees. It is AFSCME,
not the automobile workers un-
ion, that has a powerful lobby
in Lansing and in Washington to
fight snecifically for the inter-
ests of university and o t h e r
nnblic emnloyees.
THE AUTO workers union ad-
mits in its literature that it is
new to the university scene.
AFSCME, on the other 'sand,
has members and collective
bargaining contracts at every
state college and state university
in Michigan. It has clerical
"'nits at Lake Snperior College,
Washtenaw Comm'nity College,
Macomb County College and
Oakland Comminity College.
AFSCME has university exper-
ience!
What about the existing
AFS"ME local on the U-M cam-
nus? How has it fared? - Let's
look at the facts:
In 1967, before AFSCME's lo-
cal of service and maintenance
employees was established at
the U-M campus, a food service
employee was making $1.82 an
hour. As of August 25 of this
year, this same employed, now
an AFSCME member, will make
$3.17 an hour.
Before AFSCME, a second
level messenger at U-M made
$1.90 an hour. The AFSCME
contract now lists this job at
$3.37 an hour.
A third level cook or baker
who made $2.72 an hour before
AFSCME, will make $4.67 an
hour in August.
All these employees will get
an additional $.15 an hour raise
plus $.13 cost-of-living increase
in December.
AS NOTED above, the U-M
service and maintenance em-
ployees - 2400 strong - are
AFSCME members. They can
be a powerful source of strength
for clericals who will need all
the help they can get In addi-
- tion, AFSCME is organizing
U-M technicians (w h i c h the
auto workers union has given
up trying to organize). Hun-
dreds of professional employees
have signed AFSCME cards. It
would be foolhardy for the cler-
ical employees to separate
themselves from the rest of the
U-M work force and "go it
alone." With AFSCME, t h e
clericals and secretaries w i l l
have their own independent lo-
cal union. But we will be part
of the same national organiza-
tion as the other U-M em-
nlovees and we will be vastly
stronger as a result!
As for the auestion of dies,
there is no bin difference be-
tween AFSCME and the ato-
mobile workers. The existine
AFSCME local at U-M has set
its dues at two hours ny over
month. This is the same for'n'la
nsqed by the auto workers.
AFSCME local imions decide
their own dues strusctsre by (il-
mocratic vote and AFSCME
d'ses are among the lowest in
the country.
THE EARLIER oro-ato
workers article lavs heavy em-
phasis on the owesti'n of "strik-
es" and "strike finds." Tn most
cases, a strone. well-orennized
1vle will not base to strike. It
will be able to win a good coo-
trnet at the bareainins t a b 1 e
rather than on the streets.
If management actions firoe
a work stonpase, all of AFSCME
- the International Union, tther
AFSCME locals. the AFSCME
Coucils - render support. An
example of this is the $50,000 the
AFSCME International Union.
recently presented to - striking
municipal employees in Balti-
more.
There are two major differ-
ences between AFSCME a n d
the auto workers on the ques-
tion of strikes:
(1) In AFSCME, the decision
to strike or not to strike is
made democratically at the lo-
cal union level; in the auto
workers union, the local union
may request but does not have
the final say as to striking It
is the top officials who decide
when strikes shall occur.
(2) AFSCME does not assess
its members to pay for strikes.
The auto workers union d o e s
assess its members and the as-
sessment can be substantial.
This is in addition to dues!
The prior article also suggests
that opportunities for women to
advance to decision-making posi-
tions in the auto workers union
are greater than in most unions.
Greater than in most unions
maybe - but not greater than
in AFSCME!
APPROXIMATELY 40% of
AFSCME's total membership is
women, and more than 40 per
cent of the 1800 delegates to
AFSCME's recent International
Convention were women. Fifty
per cent of AFSCME's profes-
sional staff in the national head-
quarters in Washington a r e
women AFSCME also has a
woman International Vice-Presi-
dent.
It is interesting to note that
AFSCME and the auto workers
have worked together on almost
every significant political and
social problem of the day -
from support of the United
Farm Workers Union to the
fight for national health insur-
ance and improved health care.
No one disputes the great his-
tory of the auto workers union
- for automobile workers. But
AFSCME's history is that of a
public employee - university em-
ployee union with more white-
collar and professional em-
ployees than any other union in
the nation.
-Sally Brenner
Pat Curtis
Jim Evans
Gretchen Gehr
Sylvia Halloran
Barbara Lowenthal
Marilyn Mravlja
Michelle Shepherd
Ginny Trubey
Leslie Van Ranst
(All are members of the
AFSCME UM Organiz-
ing Committee)