UE Convention Resolutions
International Solidarity
Decades of corporate globalization have made international labor solidarity a necessity. The "neoliberal" corporate agenda affects us all. Downsizing and outsourcing in the private sector, privatization, deregulation, and budget cuts in the public sector, along with "free trade" agreements, negatively impact working people globally.
The corporate agenda is financed by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and backed by armed forces and private militias. With no concern for labor, public services, or the environment, corporations are creating an unprecedented global polarization of wealth.
During the past year nearly $18 trillion has been raised or pledged by governments to prop up failing financial institutions and corporations. Far less has been allocated for poor or working people, and even less has been distributed. Even developed countries like Iceland and Latvia are being squeezed by the banks to the point of financial collapse. The impact on jobs has been devastating. A recent report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) projects that "[t]he number of people unemployed in 2009 could increase by between 29.4 million and 58.8 million people globally...compared to 2007."
The fate of our planet demands that we place the well being of the majority of the world's people ahead of profits for the few. Newly-elected governments in much of Latin America provide testimony that poor and working people are demanding change. Coalitions of unions, students, environmentalists, community organizations, amnesty groups, and many others have emerged to challenge military aggression and the power and agenda of global capital.
An increasing number of UE members work for transnational corporations which operate around the world. Building solidarity between unions and workers employed by the same corporation is central to the battle against corporate globalization. We have built networks of unions representing employees at General Electric, Stepan, Terex, and Freudenberg, amongst others. In April of 2009, Local 155 President Ron McCullough, a Stepan worker, met the president of a local union at a Stepan plant in the Philippines. In August of 2009 Eastern Region President Andrew Dinkelaker represented UE at the national convention of the Central Union of Workers (CUT) labor federation in Brazil, and met with the Union of General Workers (UGT), which represents Stepan workers. Western Region president Carl Rosen represented both UE and US Labor Against the War at the International Trade Union Conference for a World of Peace in Tokyo. He also addressed the 7,000 delegates who attended the 2008 World Conference Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs in Hiroshima.
UE's work with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT) remains a core feature of our international work. We rejoice in the tremendous victory that occurred this year when the Mexican supreme court ruled elections must be held by secret ballot rather than voice vote. We continue to seek organizing targets and support one another in battles against bosses on both sides of the border. We continue to distribute Mexican Labor News and Analysis (MLNA) on a monthly basis. We are building alliances between UE public sector locals and their sisters in Mexico, Quebec, Japan and India. A delegation to Chihuahua last year was hosted by the Federation of Municipal Workers Unions of Chihuahua, an affiliate of the FAT, and its locals. The delegates celebrated the completion of the union hall in Guerrero, supported by UE locals through the buck a brick campaign initiated by UE Local 222. While there, they also helped prevent the layoff of Mexican municipal workers.
The Public Employee Conference and Convergence in October 2008 was hosted by UE Local 170 in Charleston, West Virginia. The meeting included a sizable delegation from Japan, Mexico, Quebec, and for the first time India. UE members were able to interact with and learn from our international guests. Our guests provided support to the organizing in West Virginia and North Carolina.
UE provides solidarity in many ways. We participate in several international union federations, and are affiliated with Public Services International (PSI) and International Chemical Energy and Mineworkers (ICEM). We provide assistance to visiting delegations, such as Zenroren, which came to investigate our experience with the collective bargaining law and practice in the U.S. in order to prepare themselves to take on plans by the Japanese government to "reform" their public sector labor law, using the U.S. as a model.
Unions from around the world have demonstrated their solidarity with UE, as shown by the letters of international support for the occupation of Republic Windows & Doors by UE Local 1110 in December 2008.
Our international work is guided by a commitment to action. We are convinced that another world is possible and we are committed to building it.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 71st UE CONVENTION:
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Reaffirms support for the Strategic Organizing Alliance with the FAT;
- Reaffirms solidarity with Zenroren, the Confederation of National Unions (CSN), the Service Workers Confederation of Quebec (CSQ), and other Quebecois trade unions, the Brazilian Central Union of Workers (CUT), the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the Canadian Steel Workers, the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) of France, and the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI). We welcome the development and deepening of other relationships with organizations such as the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), and the Kilusang Mayo Uno and Partido ng Manggagawa of the Philippines;
- Supports the building of relations with unions abroad, especially those in our industries, through direct contact, progressive forums and networks, and other means;
- Commits to establishing and deepening relationships with workers in sister shops who globally share our employers, including workers in China;
- Commits to continuing support and participation in the World and U.S. Social Forums;
- Encourages the union at all levels to support the struggles of other unions both in the U.S. and abroad, including calls by ICEM, PSI, Jobs with Justice, and others;
- Supports continued participation in coalitions developing alternative trade policies and fighting for labor rights, including the World Social Forum, the Alliance for Responsible Trade, the International Commission For Labour Rights, the International Labor Rights Forum, and Grassroots Global Justice;
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Encourages locals and members to deepen their involvement in our international program, including contributions and voluntary payroll checkoff for the UE Research & Education fund;
- Supports the goal of our sister union Zenroren to close all U.S. military bases in Japan, and to halt all U.S. efforts to convert the Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) to offensive purposes;
- Condemns the murder of trade unionists in Colombia, the violence and extraordinary legal harassment undertaken to bust unions in the Philippines, and the use of U.S. taxpayer money for the further militarization of Mexico and Colombia;
- Continues to build international solidarity for the International Worker Justice Campaign;
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Work to repeal NAFTA and other trade agreements until they have real worker's rights protections.