Longshore union to send delegation to China
By Mary Owen
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union passed an
important resolution on the issue of China and human rights
at its 31st International Convention held May 1-5. In
resolution #R-39, the ILWU condemned the racist slanders made
against China in the course of the AFL-CIO effort to deny the
country normal trade relations. The ILWU also made a strong
call for the labor movement to keep its eye on the real
enemy--corporate-led exploitation of workers worldwide.
"The fight over fair trade with China should not
overshadow or sidetrack the momentum built by the Seattle
protest over globalization and the corporate-led exploitation
of workers worldwide," said the resolution. "Racially-tinged
pronouncements like 'you've sold your last pair of chopsticks
in any mall in America,' spoken at a labor rally, are
indefensible and cause distress among all people of Chinese
descent.
"Historically, the ILWU has always made its own
assessments of the human rights conditions around the world,
and worked with individual workers, labor organizations, and
human rights activists to make the world more just and
peaceful," the resolution continued. "In the case of China,
we need more independent knowledge to conclude that denying
normal trade relations with that country is the best way to
improve the conditions of workers in China and enhance
worker-to-worker relations between our two nations.
"The ILWU will continue its tradition of assisting workers
throughout the world and reserving our right to take
positions independent of the AFL-CIO on issues relating to
foreign policy and trade," said the document.
Finally, ILWU resolved to "prioritize and prepare for a
delegation of rank-and-file members to travel to China" to
meet with unionists there and "report to the ILWU on
recommendations for enhancing worker conditions and human
rights in our two nations."
With this resolution, the ILWU has added its voice to that
of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and other
progressive unionists who have called for direct
worker-to-worker meetings with unionists in China to
independently assess the so-called human rights problems. To
date there has been no response from the AFL-CIO
leadership.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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