One of the world's largest engineering firms, Siemens, could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) because it sold Iran equipment used to spy on its people and used in the brutal suppression of dissidents. Let’s make sure that happens. At the board meeting this week on Thursday 7/23/2009, the Los Angeles MTA board will vote on a contract to make 100 rail cars for the Los Angeles subway worth about $300 million. Siemens is a strong contender for this contract. According to one of the directors, Los Angeles County plans to expand its rail grid in the next few years and to buy $700 million in rail cars, part of a proposed 30-year, $4 billion project to expand the county's public transit system.
Preventing Siemens from getting this contract would accomplish two objectives. First it would punish them for their collaboration with the brutal regime in Iran. Secondly, it would send a strong and impactful message to large corporations that there is a cost to helping shady governments oppress their people.
Please contact the MTA Board of Directors (contact info below) before their meeting this Thursday July 23, 2009 and respectfully ask them not to do business with Siemens.
Talking points for emails, phone calls or letters:
• Siemens did a total of $619 million in business with Iran last year (according to the German advocacy group "Stop the Bomb”)
• The technology to monitor voice calls on fixed and mobile telephone networks is known to be used by the government to track and persecute dissidents. Given Iran’s abysmal human rights record, any reasonable person would know that these technologies would be used against the people. Many of whom risk their lives daily for freedom and democracy.
• Iran is one of the worst violators of human rights in the world, only second to China in executions.
• Iran has the status of being the world's last official executioner of child offenders according to Amnesty International.
• We ask that you stand behind those brave souls in Iran fighting for their freedom in the face of great adversity and demand that the companies we do business with have moral and ethical standards.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Board of Directors
Chair
Ara Najarian - City of Glendale
500 N Central Ave #940, Glendale, CA 91203
Phone Number (818) 549-0808
Fax Number (818) 549-0888
anajarian@ci.glendale.ca.us
First Vice Chair
Don Knabe - Los Angeles County Supervisor
Fourth Supervisorial District
822 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: 213-974-4444
Fax: 213-626-6941
don@lacbos.org
Second Vice Chair
Antonio R. Villaraigosa - LACMTA Mayor
City of Los Angeles
200 N Spring St # 303
Los Angeles, CA
Phone (213) 978-0600
Mayor@lacity.org
Twitter: villaraigosa
Michael D. Antonovich - Los Angeles County Supervisor
Fifth Supervisorial District
500 West Temple Street, Room 869
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone (213) 974-5555
Fax (213) 974-1010
fifth@lacbos.org
Diane DuBois - City Council Member, Lakewood
5050 Clark Ave
Lakewood, CA 90712-2697
Phone (562) 866-9771 ext. 2140
service1@lakewoodcity.org
John Fasana - City Council Member, Duarte
1600 Huntington Dr.
Duarte, CA 91010
Phone (626) 357-7931
Fax (626) 358-0018
fasanaj@accessduarte.com
José Huizar - City Council Member, Los Angeles
200 N. Spring Street, Room 465
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone (213) 473-7014
Fax (213) 847-0680
Councilmember.Huizar@lacity.org
Richard Katz - City of Los Angeles, Mayor Appointee
Phone (213) 922-4605 (leave message with board secretary)
Boardoffice@metro.net
Gloria Molina - Los Angeles County Supervisor
First Supervisorial District
856 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone (213) 974-4111
Fax (213) 613-1739
molina@bos.lacounty.gov
Pam O’Connor - City Council Member, Santa Monica
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone (310)458-8201
Fax (310)458-1621
pam.oconnor@smgov.net
Mark Ridley-Thomas - Los Angeles County Supervisor
Second Supervisorial District
866 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone (213) 974-2222
Fax (213) 680-3283
markridley-thomas@bos.lacounty.gov
Rita Robinson - City of Los Angeles, Mayor Appointee
Department of Transportation
100 S. Main St., 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 972-8470
Fax (213) 972-8410
ladot@lacity.org
Zev Yaroslavsky - Los Angeles County Supervisor
Third Supervisorial District
821 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone (213) 974-3333
Fax (213) 625-7360 fax
zev@bos.lacounty.gov
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
AddThis
Dear Iran-Azad,
ReplyDeleteI am spreading your word.
Please read about the action to disrupt the Nokia Siemens monitoring system used by Iran:
www.shariatmadari.wwebb.info
best regards,
@shariatmadari
twitter.com/shariatmadari
shrtmdr [at] gmail.com
What about Breda which the MTA now has a cntract which should be broken and rebid.
ReplyDeleteThe issue at hand on Thursday will NOT be the awarding of any contracts to Siemens!
ReplyDeleteWhat will be decided is if a contract with AnsaldoBreda (owned by Finmeccanica, a company which has also sold goods to Iran in the recent past) shall be extended for 100 more Light Rail cars *OR* if the bidding process is to be reopened to all interested companies.
Of those potential bidders on the new contract, should LA Metro decided to open the contract to new bidders, Siemens is but one potential bidder, but that would be decided at a later date AFTER ALL THE NEW BIDS ARE SUBMITTED and not on this coming Thursday, July 23rd.
Amongst the other companies that might bid are Alstom, Kinki-Sharyo, Bombardier, Kawasaki, Nippon-Sharyo, Skoda, etc.
But thanks for the work on rounding up the LA Metro Board's contact info. It is seemingly a hard task to obtain it!