The mailing says until 1994 we had a union coalition that worked in solidarity with South African (SA) unions to oppose apartheid and educate unions here about unions there; The Illinois Labor Network was co-chaired by unions listed on this outdated stationery. The mailing says many union leaders and members joined hands to welcome Nelson Mandela to Chicago in 1993; labor representatives from Illinois observed the historic first one-person/one-vote election in 1994, when 95% of South Africans voted for a transitional government and to adopt a new constitution within 5 years. The mailing says after the election, we disbanded the Labor Network; however, some of us have kept in touch with SA...
The mailing says until 1994 we had a union coalition that worked in solidarity with South African (SA) unions to oppose apartheid and educate unions here about unions there; The Illinois Labor Network was co-chaired by unions listed on this outdated stationery. The mailing says many union leaders and members joined hands to welcome Nelson Mandela to Chicago in 1993; labor representatives from Illinois observed the historic first one-person/one-vote election in 1994, when 95% of South Africans voted for a transitional government and to adopt a new constitution within 5 years. The mailing says after the election, we disbanded the Labor Network; however, some of us have kept in touch with SA unions directly or through our internationals; we've met with SA trade unionists in South Africa and here; this week several of us hosted a leader of the South African Domestic Workers Union in Chicago. The mailing says U.S. unions have surely not always all been on the same page in international work. Yet with South Africa there is agreement; the 10-year-old COSATU and its affiliates have step by step won wide respect and support from the U. S. labor movement. The mailing says I'm concerned about a tour of the "Turning Wheel Worker's Union." The mailing says we were lied to more than once before about visitors; corporations and the SA regime funded groups to make false claims about unions, especially in the fight for sanctions. materials from the "TWWU" spews hate for COSATU, as well as Mandela, the ANC and the new government -- despite a photo on flyers which implies by its use that COSATU is connected to this tour! The mailing says the tour may put $$$ in someone's pocket; or aid a splinter union group; or maybe it is more sinister (multinationals are not above suspicion). The mailing says any way you look at it, to support such a tour is offensive to those who led the fight for freedom in South Africa, and it should be offensive to us too. The mailing says today, most U. S. unions have established links to SA union counterparts through internationals, union to union programs, trade secretariats and so forth; such channels can be used when overseas visitors ask for money or want to meet our members. The mailing says in South Africa, millions of people are creating a new nation and beginning to repair the damage of 300 years of tyranny; anything we can do to help overcome the horrible legacies of apartheid we should try to do. The mailing says while we try to stop the U.S. Congress from taking away our hard-earned rights, let's also keep building international solidarity to confront the growing tentacles of multinationals! The mailing discusses COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions), Nelson Mandela, the ANC (African National Congress), the Caterpillar strike, democracy, the cheap labor system, and international union solidarity.
