‘Family’ of International Guests Pledges Unity 

Convention delegates on Tuesday committed the USW to strengthening solidarity across borders, recognizing that an economy driven by multinational corporations requires a coordinated response. 

“In a global economy, we ought to have a global workers’ voice,” International President David McCall said. “International solidarity is deeply rooted in our union’s identity.” 

McCall welcomed international guests from 18 countries, including a half-dozen who spoke, in person and on video, about the need for cooperation.

“This really inspires us back home,” said Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. “Every time we need you, we are happy that you have our back.” 

Akter, who went to work in a garment factory at the age of 12, spoke of the ongoing fight for democracy and workers’ rights, which she said Bangladeshi workers are winning thanks to support from groups like the USW. 

“I never stopped believing in workers’ power,” she said. 

Common Ground 

Maicon Michel Vasconcelos da Silva, of the CNM/CUT metalworkers’ union of Brazil, detailed his nation’s struggle with totalitarian leadership. He noted that dictators always promise workers will share in a bigger economic pie. “But we, the working class, never got our slice,” he said. 

That began to change, he noted, when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) regained the presidency in 2023. Lula, a champion of labor, was wrongly imprisoned before his conviction was overturned in 2021. 

Similarly, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, president of the Mexican mine and metalworkers’ union Los Mineros, was forced into exile while fighting bogus corruption charges. 

Gómez delivered a written address, read by USW Director of International Affairs Ben Davis. Gómez was represented at the podium by Los Mineros leaders José Angel Hernández Puente and Imelda Jimenez. 

“We share more than causes,” Gomez declared. “We are a family.” 

Yasmin Hilpert, counselor for labor and social affairs at the German embassy in Washington, D.C., said the current trade war hurts workers in the United States, Canada and abroad.  

“The way forward must be cooperation, not confrontation,” Hilpert said. 

Simon Dubbins, of UNITE the Union in Great Britain and Ireland, urged workers not to let wealthy elites divide them. 

“Workers in different countries always have more in common with each other than they do with the bosses,” he said. 

Dubbins reminded delegates of the efforts to exonerate Lula and Gómez, which often seemed impossible. 

“When were the battles we’ve had to fight ever easy?” Dubbins asked. “We must never lose hope.” 

Delegates Resolve to Foster Unity 

Following the speakers, members passed a resolution calling for stronger ties among labor groups across the globe.  

Entitled “Global Unity and Activism,” it acknowledged the power workers gain when they support each other in labor disputes and fight together for worker-friendly trade policies. 

Kent Holsing of Local 12075 in Midland, Mich., listed several recent disputes in which workers relied on cross-border solidarity to fight back against greedy employers. 

“If these corporations can stick it to you,” Holsing said, “they are going to stick it to you.” 

More than a dozen delegates also engaged in a spirited debate, focused largely on a section of the motion calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Gaza, with several members expressing the desire to condemn the violence in even stronger terms.