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Protests Force Collapse of Seattle WTO Talks
CWA members were among the tens of thousands of working people who made a stand in Seattle and sent a strong message to the international trade ministers attending the World Trade Organization meeting.
Labor's message, that workers' rights and environmental protections must be incorporated into the WTO's trade negotiations and rules, was heard loud and clear and as a result, trade talks broke down as negotiators failed to reach agreement in new areas important to working families.
Protestors highlighted their key issues: workers' and human rights, environmental safeguards, democratic procedures and an end to secrecy and closed-door sessions that have resulted in trade policies that accommodate corporate wish lists while ignoring workers' concerns.
President Bill Clinton also carried that message in his challenge to the ministerial group to open its secret proceedings and to enact laws banning trade with countries that use child labor and ignore worker and human rights.
Altogether, nearly 40,000 labor, environmental and other supporters rallied at Memorial Stadium and marched through city streets to speak out for human rights and worker rights in trade. CWA locals from Oregon, Washington, California and Minnesota joined Oregon Jobs with Justice members and CWA staff behind local banners and signs during the march. They were also joined by workers from 144 different countries, who came together with a call to make the WTO fair for working families.
The new international coalition that has grown out of the Seattle protest "will redouble its efforts to create new rules that incorporate enforceable workers' and human rights and environmental protections, generate broadly shared prosperity and foster democratic and equitable development around the world," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
The protest also made "a real breakthrough in public understanding of the challenges of making the global trading system work for working families," he said. "It signals the beginning of a new era that recognizes the urgent need to construct a trading system that can face the challenges of the 21st century," he added.
While some media focused on the relatively small number of protesters who engaged in violence, union members took pride in their stand. "We came from different unions, different countries and different races, but yesterday we spoke with one voice. I felt proud to be part of the labor movement," said Liz Brown, TNG-CWA Local 37082.
"This protest in Seattle was a historic event for all people. Our local has been encouraging members to be a part of this demonstration and to fight for labor and human rights around the world. It's important to educate people about the WTO and how it affects us, and to educate people about the effects of child labor or human rights abuses in Asia and elsewhere," said Louis Rocha, CWA Local 9423, who attended the protest with his 12-year-old son.
At the rally, Sweeney stressed that "we will continue to organize in Congress and elsewhere against any trade accords that do not include workers' rights and human rights and environmental and public health protections. And we will stop them."
At a minimum, labor is calling for a working group on workers' rights and environmental protections, along with strong enforcement procedures, to be included as part of the WTO process. The current international trading system "rewards corporations and governments that abuse workers' rights," the AFL-CIO pointed out. The WTO can act quickly to stop goods that are suspected of being produced in violation of a copyright or trademark, for example, but refuses to block goods that were produced by child labor, prison labor, or under other abusive circumstances.
Labor's message, that workers' rights and environmental protections must be incorporated into the WTO's trade negotiations and rules, was heard loud and clear and as a result, trade talks broke down as negotiators failed to reach agreement in new areas important to working families.
Protestors highlighted their key issues: workers' and human rights, environmental safeguards, democratic procedures and an end to secrecy and closed-door sessions that have resulted in trade policies that accommodate corporate wish lists while ignoring workers' concerns.
President Bill Clinton also carried that message in his challenge to the ministerial group to open its secret proceedings and to enact laws banning trade with countries that use child labor and ignore worker and human rights.
Altogether, nearly 40,000 labor, environmental and other supporters rallied at Memorial Stadium and marched through city streets to speak out for human rights and worker rights in trade. CWA locals from Oregon, Washington, California and Minnesota joined Oregon Jobs with Justice members and CWA staff behind local banners and signs during the march. They were also joined by workers from 144 different countries, who came together with a call to make the WTO fair for working families.
The new international coalition that has grown out of the Seattle protest "will redouble its efforts to create new rules that incorporate enforceable workers' and human rights and environmental protections, generate broadly shared prosperity and foster democratic and equitable development around the world," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
The protest also made "a real breakthrough in public understanding of the challenges of making the global trading system work for working families," he said. "It signals the beginning of a new era that recognizes the urgent need to construct a trading system that can face the challenges of the 21st century," he added.
While some media focused on the relatively small number of protesters who engaged in violence, union members took pride in their stand. "We came from different unions, different countries and different races, but yesterday we spoke with one voice. I felt proud to be part of the labor movement," said Liz Brown, TNG-CWA Local 37082.
"This protest in Seattle was a historic event for all people. Our local has been encouraging members to be a part of this demonstration and to fight for labor and human rights around the world. It's important to educate people about the WTO and how it affects us, and to educate people about the effects of child labor or human rights abuses in Asia and elsewhere," said Louis Rocha, CWA Local 9423, who attended the protest with his 12-year-old son.
At the rally, Sweeney stressed that "we will continue to organize in Congress and elsewhere against any trade accords that do not include workers' rights and human rights and environmental and public health protections. And we will stop them."
At a minimum, labor is calling for a working group on workers' rights and environmental protections, along with strong enforcement procedures, to be included as part of the WTO process. The current international trading system "rewards corporations and governments that abuse workers' rights," the AFL-CIO pointed out. The WTO can act quickly to stop goods that are suspected of being produced in violation of a copyright or trademark, for example, but refuses to block goods that were produced by child labor, prison labor, or under other abusive circumstances.