Labor & Employment Law

Workers Around the World March for Jobs

By James Parks

More than 100,000 people marched in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday to demand a priority on creating jobs.

With nearly 200 million people jobless across the globe, working men and women face a worldwide economic crisis and are speaking out on both sides of the Atlantic to change it.

In the United States, tens of thousands of working families will take part in the One Nation Working Together march and rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 2. The AFL-CIO is joining One Nation Working Together, a progressive grassroots coalition of dozens of unions and civil and human rights organizations in calling for jobs, justice and education for all.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who will speak at the One Nation rally, says:

During this economic downturn, creating good jobs and helping those who have lost their jobs are defining issues not only for Americans?but for all workers throughout the world. We need a global economic recovery that works for all working people.

In complimentary events around the country Saturday, union members will walk door to door in targeted states around the country, mobilizing union members for the fall elections.

In Brussels, more than 100,000 people from across Europe marched yesterday to protest the rising global unemployment rate and cuts in public services in Europe and around the world. There were joint actions in sevewral countries throughout Europe.

John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) says:

Trade unionism is on unstoppable march for progress, equality and justice, determined to build from the debris of the current crisis, a new, better society where those who are too big to fail cannot be allowed to continue to ignore those who they have regarded as too small to matter.

Workers will take to the streets again Oct.7  for the World Day for Decent Work. More than 100 events worldwide are planned in the days leading up to and on Oct. 7. A major international conference the following week in Geneva will focus on countering the threat to quality public services posed by the growing obsession of governments to implement austerity measures without regard to the consequences.

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Sharan Burrow adds:

Governments, especially the G-20  (the 20 top global economies), pledged to regulate the finance sector, to create jobs and put the world economy on a sustainable and productive pathway. Yet they are not showing the common will needed to meet these goals. We will continue and step up the pressure until they do.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on September 30, 2010 (boomark / email).