Workers of the World Unite

(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