Workers of the World Unite
Friday, May 2, 2008
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
"The response to globalization is global unionism." That's how Fred Redmond
of the United Steelworkers summed up his union's reasons for joining forces with
trade unionists in countries such as Liberia and Mexico at Thursday night's
panel discussion at the National Labor College. The 2-hour discussion on
“Global Capital--Global Unions" commemorated International Workers Day and
featured panelists Redmond, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, and
President Harold Alegria Gamboa of the Colombian port workers' union
SINTRAMARITIMO. The discussion, moderated by AFL-CIO International Department
Director Barbara Shailor, centered on organized labor's response to efforts by
governments and corporations to drive down wages by moving corporate operations
to poorer countries. The audience -- a mixture of union members and students
from both the MD State and DC AFL-CIO and the Metro Washington Council --
responded with animated questions and, in the case of President Gamboa, a
standing ovation as he took the stage to describe the plight of workers trying
to organize unions in Colombia. Organizers of the event included Fred Mason, Jr.
, MD State and DC AFL-CIO President, Jos Williams, Metro DC Council President,
TransAfrica Forum Executive Director Nicole Lee, Esq. and Dr. Yvonne
Scruggs-Leftwich, National Labor College professor.
- Mariya
Strauss/International Labor Communications Association