The Global Chain
Wednesday, January 26, 2005(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
“We’re all working in the same global production chain,” Daonoi
Srikajon told a rapt group of local organizers and activists at yesterday’s
“Workers of The World Unite!” Organizing Roundtable. Srikajon and five other
women organizers shared their riveting stories of organizing in the informal
economies of India, Thailand and South Africa. From India’s Self-Employed
Women’s Association to Thailand’s HomeNet Thailand and South Africa’s
StreetNet and the Sikhula Sonke Trade Union for women farmworkers, the women’s
stories were impressive in scope (SEWA has over 700,000 members, all
self-employed workers) and inspirational in their directness. Asked about
overcoming obstacles in organizing ignored, invisible and poor workers, Thandiwe
Xulu of StreetNet, a coalition of street vendors, shrugged and said simply,
“There is no problem organizing, because there is a need for the union.”
After hearing stories from local organizers about the challenges of organizing
workers in the United States, South African organizer Wendy Pekeur suggested
that perhaps workers abroad could help by demonstrating in front of U.S.
embassies. Cathy Feingold of the AFL-CIO organized and coordinated the
Roundtable.