Anti-WTO rally in Seattle is 'building like a tidal wave'

Speaking to several hundred Portlanders at an Oct. 23 teach-in, Teamsters Local 206 President Tom Leedham declared that "a race to the bottom is under way": In the name of free trade, the 134-nation World Trade Organization (WTO) is lowering global standards for food safety, job security, air quality, and numerous other quality of life protections.

To combat this race to the bottom, organized labor is mobilizing big-time to protest the Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 Seattle summit of the WTO, with most of the effort going to a massive march and rally on opening day, Nov. 30.

"It's building like a tidal wave," remarked Vinnie O'Brien, national AFL-CIO staffer responsible for coordinating the logistics of the Nov. 30 march and rally.

So far, 25 AFL-CIO state federations are sending delegations. Colorado's labor federation has booked 100 plane tickets, and the Montana federation is organizing a car caravan.

The Vancouver, British Columbia, Labour Council is mobilizing Canadians to participate and the AFL-CIO is working with the U.S. Border Patrol to expedite border crossings.

The Longshore and Warehouse Union will shut down ports throughout Washington on Nov. 30 with an eight-hour daytime stop-work meeting.

Every central labor council in Washington State announced a goal to fill three to 10 buses with ralliers, and a month before the rally every one of them had met or exceeded that goal.

In Oregon, 50 representatives from over a dozen unions and local labor councils met Oct. 15 at the Machinists Hall in southeast Portland to coordinate details of the state's labor mobilization.

At the meeting, the Oregon AFL-CIO began taking reservations for a "Union Train," a 350-capacity Amtrak train chartered for the day. Two weeks later, the train was full (though there is a waiting list in the event of cancellations). On top of that, 15 buses have been reserved by the Machinists, the Portland Association of Teachers, United Food and Commercial Workers, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Oregon Public Employees Union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, United Auto Workers, Sheet Metal Workers, Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers, and building trades and central labor councils in Salem, Eugene, Longview, and Clark County, Wash.

In addition, arrangements are being made for a special bus for retirees that would park close to the arena and possibly return early.

Tuesday, Nov. 30, is a workday for most union members, so some local unions are trying to soften the financial sacrifice and make it easier for rank-and-file members to go by offering incentives.

Machinists Local 1005 will pay for lost work time for its members. The Pacific Northwest District Council of Carpenters is offering $50 to each of its members who go. And Service Employees Local 49 is paying the transportation of 50 members to go by bus.

In Seattle, the rallying site is sure to be packed. Memorial Stadium has a capacity of 25,000: 11,500 in covered bleachers and 13,500 on the field. After a two-hour rally, the march will begin, led by The Hogs, a group of Harley-Davidson motorcycle-riding Machinists.

Union representatives from more than 100 countries will take part in the march, bearing the flags of their homelands. Local unionists will march together behind their union banners. The march will also be joined by a group of students who will take off from the University of Washington.

The AFL-CIO was able to negotiate a march route with enormous visibility. The march will make a 32-block loop, just under two miles, from Memorial Stadium down to Ninth Avenue, which passes one block from the Convention Center, where the WTO summit will be in progress.

At that distance, the WTO delegates should be able to hear the protesters. Currently the plan is for a delegation from the march to go into the WTO meeting to deliver a set of principles to WTO General Secretary Michael Moore and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky.

From there, the march continues down to Fifth Avenue by the Westin Hotel, where many of the WTO delegates will be lodged. The hotel will be cordoned off by a row of buses.

Because the march will block some major thoroughfares, all crossings and through traffic in the area will be shut down from at least 12:30 p.m. on.

Some community activists are planning acts of non-violent civil disobedience that morning, which will likely lead to arrests. Because of that, says AFL-CIO Oregon Representative Jean Eilers, there's been some anxiety on the part of labor activists. Eilers insists that no civil disobedience is planned for the AFL-CIO event. Event organizers have worked closely with the police, and 900 Boeing Machinists from Local 751 will be on hand as marshals to ensure that the march is peaceful and orderly. It's not that the AFL-CIO is condemning civil disobedience, it's just that for the mass rally and march, AFL-CIO organizers are keen to turn out the greatest number of participants, and they believe the best way to do that is to put on a safe and orderly event.

Several international unions are gearing up for a major presence in Seattle, including the Steelworkers, Machinists, Teamsters and AFSCME. The Service Employees International Union has stationed "Big MAC" (Mobilization Action Center), a purple semi-trailer equipped with phone lines, in Seattle to make calls to union members.

The Steelworkers Union has 500 hotel rooms reserved throughout the week of the WTO. It chose Seattle as the location of its annual "Rapid Response" conference, which will take place before the WTO meeting, and those delegates will stay on throughout the week for protest activities.

Over 10,000 union steelworker jobs have been lost due to dumping of steel by Japan, Korea, Brazil and Russia, so the union is taking trade issues very seriously.

The Teamsters Union is working with the AFL-CIO in Wenatchee, Olympia, Spokane and the Tri-Cities area to bring Teamsters to Seattle, and is coordinating buses to pick up members in the Seattle area. Teamsters from 19 locals around the state will assemble Nov. 30 at the Joint Council headquarters near Seattle Center before proceeding to the rally site. Mark Endresen, research director at Seattle Teamster Joint Council 28, said he expects to see a couple thousand Teamsters, who will be recognizable in yellow and dark blue ponchos.

AFL-CIO rep Eilers is still working hard to sign up Oregonians. Individuals interested in going to Seattle can either contact their unions or contact Eilers directly at (503) 232-3934 or by mail, 1125 SE Madison, Portland, OR 97214.

Few hotel rooms remain unbooked in downtown Seattle, though accommodations in other parts of the metropolitan area are still available. To help with accommodations, the King County Labor Council will be coordinating with local supporters willing to share their homes with out-of-towners.