The low labor costs that are attracting our bosses are possible because trade unions in these nations are either weak, government dominated, or nonexistent. Workers in these countries are denied the most basic labor rights.

Many in the American labor movement have come to recognize the need for solidarity with workers abroad. If "offshore" workers fail to organize effective unions, if they are unable to win decent wages and working conditions, then workers everywhere will be pitted against ourselves in a competitive race to the bottom.

Many students, environmentalists, and human rights advocates, have become allies of the labor movement in the battle against the process that has become known as "globalization." This alliance needs to be broadened and deepened on an international scale.

American workers also have to face the fact that our own labor rights at home aren’t much better than those in the developing countries. Since the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 we have faced repressive restrictions on our rights to organize, strike, and boycott.

These restrictions have led to a steady decline in union membership. Less than ten percent of the private sector workforce is organized—compared to 35 percent when Taft-Hartley was enacted.

Employers are exploiting undemocratic laws to keep unions out. Only one in four of workplaces where workers show an interest in unionizing ever make it to the stage of a National labor Relations Board election. Half of NLRB elections are lost. Half of those who succeed in jumping through all of the hoops to be certified as a bargaining agent never get a first contract.

When the labor movement was stronger it set standards and patterns that raised wages and benefits for everyone—not just union members. That was how such a big layer known as "Middle Class" emerged.

Now that unions are on the decline the opposite is happening. Wages are stagnating, benefits are being cut back all across the economy. Everyone who works has a stake in the health of organized labor.

Last December 10 the AFL-CIO made worker rights part of the observation of the UN-sponsored Human Rights Day. We believe it is high time to recognize that worker rights are indeed indispensable human rights that must be won for all by any means necessary.

The dates we have chosen for our conference are on the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The American labor movement may be divided over the question of the Iraq war but we think we should all unite against a new shameful attack on worker rights carried out by the U.S. Occupation Authority.

Iraqi workers have a long, proud tradition of trade unionism. Their unions were brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein. When workers started organizing once again after "liberation," they discovered the American viceroy was continuing to enforce Saddam Hussein’s labor codes—effectively outlawing legitimate unions. American GIs have been used to arrest trade union leaders, trash union halls, and disperse demonstrations.

The fact is that the military invasion of Iraq has been followed by a corporate invasion of American companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel. It is a disgrace that our men and women in uniform are being used to let American bosses trample on the human rights of the working people of Iraq.

After the conclusion of the conference many of us will march to a nearby rally—at the Fountain at 47^th & Main—commemorating the first anniversary of the war. There will be signs available to carry supporting worker rights at home and abroad—including Iraq.

These issues are not just union issues; they need to be concerns of all working people. We need to talk, we need to act. Please join us.

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