Lesson Ten

Section One: News in Brief

Tapescript
1. President Reagan said today he will veto a defense spending bill if
it is approved, as expected, by the House. Speaking to a private
group in Washington today, the President said he was concerned
about provisions in the bill that would ban nuclear testing and cut
funding for his Star Wars defense system. The President also charged
that the Soviet-backed ban on nuclear testing is 'a backdoor to
nuclear freeze." And he accused the Soviets of a major propagand
campaign on the testing issue.

2. Israeli warplanes bombed suspected Palestinian guerrilla bases in
Southeast Beirut today. Police said the bomb set at least four targets
on fire. There are reports that two people were wounded in the at-
tacks.

3. At a news conference in Pretoria today, South African Foreign
Minister Pic Botha called international sanctions against his country
.a mad perverse action' that will put many blacks out of work. But
Botha said the South African government 'accepts the challenge to
overcome the effect of sanctions.'

4. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said today President
Reagan will veto on Friday a sanctions bill passed by Congress, but
he admitted it will be tough to sustain the veto.

5. On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up
four and a half points, closing at 1797.81. Trading was moderate,
one hundred thirty-two million shares.

(up four and a half) points, (cl@n )

Section Two: News in Detail

Tapescript
Israeli wa lanes today bombed four suspected Palestinian
rp
guerrilla bases in Lebanon. Reports from Beirut say at least two
people were wounded and a number of fires started in the four vil-
lages. From Jerusalem, Jerry Cheslow filed this report which was
subject to censorship by Israeli authorities.
According to the Israeli army spokesman, the targets were bases
belonging to two pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla organizations.
Israeli military sources say one of the targets was a staging base for
raids against northern Israel. Lebanese radio stations reported that
at least two people were wounded in the attack south of Beirut and
that Beirut International Airport was closed for half an hour. Israeli
military sources stress that the air raid had nothing to do with this
week's tensions along Israel/s border with Lebanon. They were be-
tween the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah (Party of God) Militia and the
Israeli-backed South Lebanese Army Militia. Over the past two
weeks, large Hizbullah forces stormed dozens of South Lebanese
Army positions. Israeli military sources say that at least fifteen South
Lebanese Army men and some fifty members of Hizbullah were kil-
led. According to the sources the attacks also badly damaged the
-morale of the South Lebanese Army, and this led Israel to deploy a
large force along its border with Lebanon. The force included
troops, armor and artillery, and according to knowledgeable observ-
@ers it was equipped for offensive action against Hizbullah. Senior
@Israeli defense sources say that Hizbullah was trying to take over all
,of southern Lebanon. Hizbullah has also been attacking Unifil, the
,@UN force in Southern Lebanon. Over the past six weeks, four French
Unifil troops were killed by Hizbullah, and just this morning a
French UN base was rocketed in Southern Lebanon. There were no
casualty, but some of its soldiers were blown off their seats. And the
sources said that Hizbullah's domination of Southern Lebanon
would be a direct threat to Israel. Some of its men who were killed
were wearing kerchiefs with the words 'Onward to Jerusalem' print-
ed on them. But since the Israeli troops deployed along the border
three days ago, there have been no Hizbuilah attacks on the South
Lebanese Army. By nightfall here in the Middle East, the Israeli
troops had returned to their bases. For National Public Radio, I'm
Jerry Cheslow in Jerusalem.

Section Three: Special Report

Tapescript
This week, Californian wine workers vote on a contract propo-
sal from winery owners. The workers have now been on strike for six
weeks. The contract proposal calls for cuts in wages and cuts in ben-
efits. The prospects for rank and file approval seem slim. A central
issue of the strike is the economic well-being of the California Wine
industry. William Drummond reports.
A gondola containing tons of freshly picked Chardenay grapes
is dumped into a hopper as the process begins for bottling the 1986
vintage. The harvest has continued despite the fact that more than
two thousand winery workers have struck twelve of the biggest
wineries in Northern and Central California. Reiving on automated
plants and non-union labor, members of the Winery Owners' Asso-
ciation have succeeded in carrying on what looks like business is
usual. But out on the picket line, union worker Pat Scoley is any-
thing but pleased.
"I guess they're doing all right. If they aren't, they want us to
think they are. I hope to hell they aren't, between you and me.'
The union contract expired at the end of July, which is the be-
ginning of the harvest, the time when wine makers usually need all
the help they can get. But many plants are like the Charles Kruge
Winery, which has been completely automated. Owner Peter
Mondaby says the strike has no effect on producing the product.
'We feel that we can go on indefinitely, because there's a lot of
people who want to work. And it's only a question of training these
people and, of course, with the system that we have, very well
computerized, that they can fit in with a reasonable amount of train-
ing, that they can fit in. So, I mean, we're not concerned about it.'
Actually, the heavy rainfall several days ago in the Napa Valley
seemed to disturb the owners more than the strike. Mondaby pro-
duces around a million @cases a year, super premium brands under
the Charles Kruge label, mid-range premium wines and jug wines.
Mondaby says the industry took a beating during the last several
years because of cheap wine imports from Europe. Even though
Americans today are drinking more wine chiefly in the form of wine
coolers, wine makers say there's not that much profit in the coolers,
and they're still in a financial pinch.
'I feel that the industry has hit its low point and now is on the
uptrend. Of course, it's not an uptrend that you will see overnight,
but it is a healthy uptrend in a gradual growth manner now. But I
wouldn't necessarily say a greater profitability because the profit is
very, very marginal. The.volume is there, it's true, but the profit is
very, very marginal."
Mondaby's marginal profit argument does not win much sup-
port among striking workers, like Hannah Stockton, who works in
the bottling plant at Christian Brothers.
'I don't believe it, because I read the paper every day, and I lis-
ten to the news. I mean, there has been increase in sale. I mean, ... I
believe three or four years back, we had a slump in the industry. But
wine is coming back. Now they are coming out with wine coolers;
they are making money. We don't want a raise; we just want to keep
what we've got.'
Wages for workers in the winery industry range from around
eight dollars to fifteen dollars an hour. The union was willing to give
up a slight reduction in wages, but refused to accept cuts in the pen-
sion and health benefits. The employers reportedly want a twenty
percent reduction in the wages and benefits package. Winery owners
say the union has to recognize that overall costs have increased.
"Not only is your gross down; the competition has forced us to,
increase marketing and,advertising, which is further eroding whatev-
er margin was there.'
David Spaulding is general manager of a winery in Calistoga.
Spaulding Vineyards is tiny compared to Charles Kruge and Gallo,
and Spaulding Vineyards is not on strike, but David Spaulding says
he faces the same market forces as the big guys.
'I think the big problem is the same problem that faces agricul-
ture all over this country; and that is surplus. You know we are pro-
ducing more and producing it more efficiently, and we have a pro-
duction that exceeds the demand in the market.'
Spaulding says wine coolers have taken up some of the
over-production, but not all of it. As for the union leaders, they
don't think it's a good idea to give back wages and benefits when the
demand for the product is on the increase. Winery workers are vot-
ing all this week on the wages and benefits cuts proposed by man-
agement. Jerry Davis is an official of the union.
' From the people I talked to to 'day and what the negotiating
committee is stating, we ask a NO vote on this proposal.'
The results are expected to be known by Thursday. For Nation-
al Public Radio, I'm William Drummond reporting.

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