Activists Counter IMF/World Bank With "People's Platform"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

As delegates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank met in Washington DC over the weekend, dozens of global justice activists, academics and students gathered at St Stephens church on Saturday afternoon for the People's Economic Forum. Though the sunny weather could not dispel the gloomy clouds of the economic crisis, DC Jobs with Justice members and supporters came together to develop a “people's platform for resistance and economic recovery.” Last month the G-8 voted to shore up the IMF with $1.1 trillion to solve the global financial crisis but critics like Ruth Castel-Branco of DC JWJ argue that the IMF "has a shameful track record of giving failed policy advice during economic crises. During the Argentinian economic crisis, the IMF forced the government to privatize state enterprises, eliminate due process laws for hiring and firing, slash government employee’s salaries and cut back pensions. Is this really the institution we want responsible for economic recovery?" The forum also aimed to connect local and global struggles for justice. Hotel conglomerate "HEI is using the economic crisis as an excuse to attack workers," said Ferdi Lazo, union leader for UNITE Local 25 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, which recently launched a campaign for card-check recognition. "We only have two electrical engineers to do all the plumbing and engineering work and last month they laid off three other union leaders in the kitchen. In this time of economic crisis we need to organize and fight for our rights." Among the demands included in the People's Platform were passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, investing in the real economy, strengthening government services, regulating the financial sector, fair trade that allows countries to protect their producers and a path to legalization of immigrants in the United States. - photo: Global Justice organizer Roxanne Lawson; photo by Mackenzie Baris