CWA: Workers' Rights Must Be Top Global Priority

At a meeting of global unions and world financial institutions, world union leaders, including CWA President Larry Cohen, discussed labor's efforts to secure workers' rights in today's global economy.

The Washington conference brought together leaders from the newly formed International Trade Union Confederation and labor federations worldwide, along with top World Bank and International Monetary Fund officials and analysts.

As part of a panel on the policy and actions of the new ITUC, Cohen stressed that the principal "promise and hope of this new global labor movement is that together we will be fierce in our determination to pursue the link between political rights and workers' rights, especially the right of workers to bargain and form unions."

"Given that there are 168 million of us (represented by ITUC) if we work together there isn't much we can't do. With this global economy, if we don't work together, we have no chance," he said. 

Cohen noted that real hope in the advancement of workplace democracy is coming from the newest democracies — Brazil, South Africa and others — and reminded participants that what mattered was not the size of unions, but workers' rights.

He noted that the United States is at its lowest point in 150 years in terms of workers rights. "We're back to less than 8 percent, and that's what it was before there were any labor laws at all."

He contrasted the record in the United States with the experience of Vodafone workers in South Africa. More than 1,000 have organized and are trying to get recognition, and they will, he said. "There is linkage between workers' rights and the political movement for democracy," and that's the work this global labor federation must pursue, he said.

Compare that success with the efforts by Verizon Wireless workers in the U.S. to get a union voice. Verizon Wireless workers have been harassed, intimidated and fired to keep the union out, Cohen said. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless.

Cohen serves as president of UNI Telecom, the telecom division of the worldwide Union Network International.