In Vancouver, global labor rallies for jobs

June 24, 2010 2:40 PM CST By Scott Marshall

Vancouver, Canada – On day three of the International Trade Union Confederation’s Congress the delegates, from trade union federation’s around the world, including the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), took a break from their deliberations to rally for jobs and a just economy for workers.

In a spirited demonstration outside the Vancouver Convention Center, speakers called for more action and street heat for jobs, taxes on the banks and financial institutions, re-regulation of financial markets, restoring public services, and defending labor rights, including the right to organize and the right to strike.

They further demanded a reordering of global priorities, away from war and towards peaceful green development and meeting human needs instead of corporate greed.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Scott Marshall

Scott has been a life long trade unionist and was active in rank and file reform movements in the Teamsters, Machinists and Steelworkers unions in the 1970s and '80s. He was co-chair of the Save Our Jobs committee of USWA local 1834 at Pullman Standard in Chicago and active in nationwide organizing against plant shutdowns and layoffs. He was a founder of the unemployed organization Jobs or Income Now (Join), in Chicago, and the National Congress of Unemployed Organizations in the 1980s. Scott remains active in SOAR (Steelworkers Active Organized Retirees). He lives in Chicago.