United Steelworkers Make It Official As They Form Global Union With Unite - 07/03/08

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on July 2, 2008 - 4:17pm
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It is official. The world now has the first global union. Jesse Russell reports:

With companies stretching around the globe, it was only a matter of time for organized labor to realize it needed to also span the circumference of Earth. On Tuesday, the United Steelworkers and Great Britain’s largest labor union, Unite, signed an agreement to form a new union called Workers Uniting: The Global Union. The union includes 3 million workers in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Ireland.

In a press video, Unite’s General Secretary Derek Simpson explained why the global union is necessary:

[Simpson]: "At the end of the day that has got to be the objective. How do we fight back against global capital, multi-national, global companies?"

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said the union will strengthen the power of current members:

[Gerard]: "The significance for our current membership is going to be able to have an expanded voice to be heard all around the world."