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Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference 

November 14-16, 1997

Closing session of the WHC, Nov. 17, 1997 in San Francisco

Conference Report

On the weekend of November 14-16, 1997 in San Francisco, 412 registered labor and community leaders and activists from 20 countries joined together to exchange information about the devastating effects of "free trade" and privatizations on workers and their communities and to determine how to use our collective energy and resources to defend our common interests and gains.

Section 1 contains: 

  • Cover letter from Conference Planning Committee

  • Final Declaration adopted unanimously by the conference

  • List of all 412 registered conference participants

  • Reprint from article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian on the conference

Section 2 contains: 

  • Excerpts from some of the keynote speeches, 
  • The list of greetings sent to the conference
  • An article by UAW member Caroline Lund that appeared in the Dec. 3 issue of Green Left Weekly of Australia.

Section 3 contains: 

  • Action and solidarity resolutions adopted by the workshops and accepted by the Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference 
  • The full list of conference endorsers.

Section 4 contains:

  • The article on the conference that appeared in the November 29, 1997, issue of the People's Weekly World;
  • The full, two-page conference report that appeared in the November 1997 issue of The Dispatcher, the newspaper of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). This report includes four sections: an overview article, a piece on the U.S. State Department's blocking of worker access to the conference, an interview with a docker from Santos, Brazil, and excerpts from some of the conference speakers (voices from the hemisphere);
  • Excerpts from the December 1997 issue of San Francisco Frontlines newspaper.

Section 5 contains:

  • An interview with Daniel Gluckstein, international coordinator of the Workers' International Liaison Committee (ILC)

  • Excerpts from the conference presentation by Patrick Hebert, leader of the French trade union CGT-Force Ouvriere

  • Excerpts from Conference Presentation by Barbara Prear, Chairperson, North Carolina Public Service Workers Union-UE Local 150

  •  Excerpts from Conference Presentation by David Orchard, Director, Citizens Concerned About Free Trade (Saskatchewan, Canada)

  • Excerpts from Conference Presentation by Mike Griffin, Director, War Zone Educational Foundation (Decatur, Illinois)

  • Excerpts from Conference Presentation by Luis Mesina, President, National Bankworkers Union of Chile

  • Excerpts from Conference Presentation by Brian Henderson, general secretary of the Edmonton of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

Section 6 contains:

  • A Report on the International Tribunal To Judge Those Responsible for the Murderous Course Imposed on the Workers and Peoples of Africa

  • Excerpts from the presentation by Art Pulaski, secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation

  • Full presentation to the conference by John Riojas, International vice president of the International 

  • Brotherhood of Teamsters and director of the International Affairs Department of the Teamsters' union

  • Excerpts from presentation by Tony Mazzocchi, national organizer of the Labor Party.

Section 7 contains:

  • A Letter from the Haitian delegation (sent prior to the conference, protesting the U.S. Consulate's denial of visas)

  • The text of some of the greetings sent to the conference

  • A report from the Liverpool Dockers Victory Defense Committee

  • Excerpts from the report from the Conference Declaration Committee by Alan Benjamin

  • A report on the final victory at the Han Young plant in Tijuana, Mexico.

Section 8 contains:

  • A Call to Action in Support of the embattled Han Young workers in Tijuana, Mexico

  • The "Principles of Unity" declaration adopted by the Haitian Support Committee for the Western Hemisphere Workers' Conference

  • The presentation to the conference by Tafazzul Hussain, general secretary of the National Workers Federation of Bangladesh, and

  • A letter from a participant at the conference.

Section 9 contains:

  • The presentation by Robin Alexander, director of international affairs of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) to the Saturday, November 15, plenary session of the conference.

  • The presentation by Mike Dolan, field director for Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, to the Saturday, November 15, plenary session of the conference, and

  • Five letters of greetings to the conference from:

  1. The World Federation of Trade Unions

  2. The Human Rights Commission of the National Congress of Mexico

  3. The Canadian Labor Congress

  4. The Central Workers' Union of Cuba (CTC), and

  5. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation