18 June 2001

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Workers Rights in Multinational Companies

John Sweeney and Bill Connor meet in Nyon:
AFL-CIO and USDAW leaders discuss the Wal-Mart threat to global labour relations


Bill Connor, general secretary of USDAW, and John Sweeney, president of AFL-CIO, exchanged views about trade union work in retailing when they met with Uni in Nyon last Friday. World's largest trader Wal-Mart is a common organising concern, with AFL-CIO affiliated UFCW working hard to overcome an often brutal opposition by management. 

John Sweeney, president of the U.S. trade union confederation AFL-CIO and Bill Connor, general secretary of Britain's large commerce trade union USDAW, discussed the globalisation in commerce at a meeting in Nyon last Friday. Wal-Mart, with over a million workers world-wide, was singled out as a particular organising and labour relations challenge for commerce unions.

At the working lunch hosted by Uni, views were exchanged also about the post election situations in respective countries. General secretary Philip Jennings and Uni Commerce head Jan Furstenborg told about how the international is engaged in organising the workers of multinational retailers and wholesalers on a world-wide basis.

Also USDAW's Frank Murphy and John Youd, head of administration and treasurer, participated in the Nyon discussions.