‘one hundred unions. thirty countries. one class’

Omid Rezai of the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran reports on the Labourstart conference in Istanbul 

‘One hundred unions. Thirty countries. One class.’ – Derrick Blackadder, of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, advanced this as the slogan for trade unionists to take home.  It was an accurate summation of the discussions and workshops of the last two days.  It was an exciting conference to be part of.  The Internationale was sung in more languages than I had ever heard spoken before, by avowedly class-conscious trade unionists, who were calling for international solidarity against capitalist exploitation.

workers in Iran need class solidarity, not US interference

The conference began with participants taking part in a picket line with 62 locked-out members of Birlesik Metal-Is, outside GEA Klima Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (ATR) in Gebze.  Members of the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran took part and reported a lot of good feeling on the picket line as links were made between Metal-Is workers and German comrades who work at related factories.  Full details of the dispute can be found here.