The history of international labor solidarity

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  The world economic struggle of the working class

Dutch and Belgian unions call boycott of Nigerian oil. US oil workers put on alert

ICEM Update, 26 November 1997. The calls are part of a worldwide campaign by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) to secure the release of Nigerian oil workers' leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori, held without charge or trial by the Nigerian military regime.

Australia union warns of international UAE boycott

Reuters, 11 December 1997. International unions could boycott the United Arab Emirates (UAE) port of Dubai over the training of Australian soldiers to work as scabs on Australian docks, Australia's maritime trade union (MUA) said on Thursday.

Unions push for transnational alliances

By Farhan Haq, IPS, 23 March 1998. Unionists gathered for a Socialist Scholars Conference at the Borough of Manhattan Community College agreed that alliances such as that among the world's pilots are likely to become more common as workers face an increasingly globalised business world.

International unionism challenges the global economy on the docks

Radio commentary by David Bacon, 31 December 1998. In 1998, workers made some new efforts to respond to the growing cooperation among transnational corporations. In 1998, the front line in this global battle was on the docks.

It's time to end the cold war in world labor

By Scott Marshall, 19 April 2000. The 17th Congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is a good time for the left in labor to consider where world labor is headed in the era of globalization. World labor has to shake off the remnants of cold war thinking and alignments. The ICFTU has emerged as the largest post cold war labor center, but still excludes, on ideological grounds, any real work with the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

May Day: Making Internationalism A Reality

By Bill Fletcher, Jr., 1 May 2000. A recent congress of the ICFTU in Durban, South Africa shows there is something very different emerging on the world stage. The ICFTU was created at the beginning of the Cold War to fight the influence of communists and radicals. But things have changed. Due to globalization the ICFTU has been pushed into a new role. Union members in most countries find themselves facing the same or similar opponents and certainly facing the same ideological arguments.

The Second Coming of Proletarian Internationalism? A Review of Recent Resources

By Peter Waterman, 2000. A review of seven documents suggests a revival of labor internationalism and of left reflection on such. Some of the items have their feet (sometimes their heads also) in a past world of nation states and of a nationally-based industrial and imperial capitalism. Others attempt to confront the brave new globalised world of informatised and networked capitalism. Author argues the revival today can only be as part of a more general global solidarity movement. (109Kb)

Seychelles, Cuban Unions Forge Links

Panafrican News Agency (Dakar), 2 March 2001. The Seychelles Federation of Workers' Union (SFWU) plans to establish relations with Cuba Federation of Workers' Union (CFWU). SFWU would benefit in areas of exchange of visits and collaboration and sharing of experience in common workers' issues, such as occupational safety and health in working places and the issue of globalisation.