Labor takes on World Trade group

By Scott Marshall

LOS ANGELES - Ron Judd, president of the King County Labor Council, which includes Seattle, declared labor's demonstration Nov. 30 against the World Trade Organization (WTO) the "Battle in Seattle." Speaking to the AFL-CIO convention, he said, "Workers in this country, and workers from around the world are coming to Seattle to draw a line in the sand against the WTO."

Judd's remarks reflected a militancy and momentum that runs throughout the AFL-CIO convention. The first day included discussion of a resolution entitled "New Rules for the Global Economy." Many delegates expressed their anger at the anti-worker power of the global corporations.

Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, gave a special report on the mobilization for Seattle. "This November 30, when the WTO Ministerial meets, tens of thousands of fired-up working families will assemble at Memorial Stadium and I want to ask every person in this hall to be there."

George Becker, president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), gave a fiery speech against globalization and its impact on American workers and workers all over the world.

"The WTO believed they were safe in holding their meeting in the U.S. This is the mecca of capitalism in the world," Becker said in a stirring call for unions to go all-out in mobilizing their members for Seattle.

"They are expecting a warm greeting. They are not coming to correct or change the flawed trade policies that collapsed a third of the world's economies in the last couple of years. In fact, they are coming with a sharpened stick to try and take away even more of the few rights we have."

Becker said labor cannot count on any global corporate institution such as the WTO, the International Monetary Fund, NAFTA, GATT or the World Bank. He made it clear that all these big-business trade and financial institutions exist to promote and extend the interests of capital, investments and the transnational corporations.

"There is only one institution, brothers and sisters, one institution that ever stands for workers and that's the trade union movement."

"We came together as never before and we stopped Fast Track authority for bad trade agreements dead in their tracks," Becker said, "With our strength and mobilization we can stop the WTO too."

The convention debate showed a rising level of anti-corporate anger in labor. David Mulhollan, secretary of the American Federation of School Administrators, said in the debate, "Transnational corporations hold in contempt the American people, its workers and its communities. These corporations, their CEOs and their boards are guilty of economic treason against all workers and their communities."

Clayola Brown, vice president of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), said, "We need to raise our voices to assure the WTO that there is no more business as usual for the global economy. We call for a powerful labor presence in Seattle."

Judd summed up the mood and militancy of the convention when he said, "We need to meet [the WTO] in the streets. We need to shut down Seattle."