UNITED STATES: Anti-corporate activists go cross-country

UNITED STATES: Anti-corporate activists go cross-country

Fresh from protests against the Republican convention in Philadelphia, a coalition of pro-democracy groups set out cross-country on August 8 to share their message with unions and the rest of the US public.

Their plan is to support union strikes across the country before arriving in Los Angeles for the Democratic convention. The first stop is Mansfield, Ohio where steel workers are being locked out of an ARMCO factory.

The caravan's message is displayed prominently on their vehicle, "Global Democracy, Not Corporate Power".

"We believe that multinational corporations exert tremendous power over our political process and over our lives. People need to take notice, take action and take back control", says Jared Goyette, an activist from Philadelphia.

Jon Chance, an active member of the Green Party, started the idea of a trip across country to support the labour movement. "If this new activist movement is going to make a lasting impact, it has reach out to mainstream American and broaden its base. Unions are going to be a key factor in this process."

BY SEAN HEALY

From GLW issue 416