New Int'l Trade Union to Defend Workers' Rights

Delegates from unions and labor federations from around the world came to Vienna, Austria, this week to create an International Trade Union Confederation representing 190 million workers on five continents, dedicated to strengthening workers' rights and fighting "race-to-the-bottom globalization."

CWA President Larry Cohen joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney as part of the U.S. delegation, and Cohen addressed the gathering on the topic of Global Organizing.

The ITUC's charter declares: "More than ever in its history, confronted by unbridled capitalist globalization, effective internationalism is essential to the future strength of trade unionism." The ITUC will fight "for the emancipation of working people and a world in which the dignity and rights of all human beings is assured."

Sweeney declared: "We are uniting the global labor movement despite all the forces that try to tear us apart — hostile governments, corporate abuses, massive poverty, ethnic conflict and unjustified wars.  We come together united in our belief that a stronger global labor movement will 'bend the arc of history towards justice.' "

The ITUC combines and replaces 10 existing world labor federations, creating the largest-ever global labor organization.