AFL-CIO conference
'Breaking down barriers of discrimination'
By Martha Grevatt
Los Angeles
Over 900 union activists-the overwhelming
majority of them African American, Latino and Asian-took part
in the AFL-CIO's Full Participation Conference in Los Angeles
on March 27-28.
The conference is a gathering of all the AFL-CIO
constituency groups: A. Philip Randolph Institute, Coalition of
Black Trade Unionists, Labor Committee for Latin American
Advancement, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Asian Pacific
American Labor Alliance, and Pride At Work.
This was the first such conference in which Pride At
Work-the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender labor
organization-officially participated.
Addressing the conference, Executive Vice President Linda
Chavez-Thompson blasted "right-wing scapegoating of people of
color, women, immigrants, and lesbians and gays-who they say
have a lack of moral standards, when it is corporate America
who every day demonstrate their lack of morality."
Oppressed workers "are the first to need a union,"
Chavez-Thompson said, "and nothing is more important than
organizing." One-third of the AFL-CIO's budget is now set aside
for organizing.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told unionists,
"We are winning because we are breaking down the barriers of
discrimination."
All the constituency group speakers echoed the call to
organize. APALA President Guy Fujimora said, "Organizing is job
number one, job number two and job number three."
Pride At Work Co-Chair Nancy Wohl forth pointed out that "we
are reaching out to a vast group of unorganized workers."
'Investigate the corporations'
CBTU President Bill Lucy was loudly applauded when he said:
"Attacking our right to organize is a violation of our civil
rights. If the government can investigate the Teamsters, why
can't they investigate the corporations?"
Workshops covered such topics as "Welfare Repeal and a
Divided Work Force," "Organizing and Immigration" and
"Organizing Women of Color."
While the key focus was on organizing, there was a special
luncheon program on labor's role in the fight against AIDS.
A high point of the weekend was a march on the Los Angeles
International Airport to demand a living wage for airport
workers.
Airlines such as United hire non-union contractors. These
contractors pay only $5.75 an hour to employees who, among
various tasks, conduct security inspections. Unions charge that
this violates a city ordinance that requires large employers to
pay $7.75 an hour with benefits or $8.50 an hour without
benefits.
Many of these unrepresented, super-exploited workers joined
the demonstration, chanting, "United, escucha, estamos en la
lucha. United, listen, we are in the struggle."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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