[NYTr] Workers to meet in Mexico in December

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Workers World - Nov 15, 2007 issue
http://www.workers.org/2007/world/mexico-1115


Banned in the U.S.

Workers to meet in Mexico

By Cheryl LaBash

Feeling battered by pay cuts, layoffs, foreclosures, medical, utility
and fuel costs? You’re not alone. But you have a chance to learn how
workers are struggling for a better life right now—and making gains—in
other countries.

On Dec. 7, 8 and 9 the fourth Cuba/Venezuela/North America Labor
Conference will bring together workers on the front line of social
change from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Haiti, Mexico,
Colombia and the United States. Immigrant rights organizers and Katrina
survivors are invited.

A special evening of solidarity with the Cuban Five on Friday, Dec. 7,
begins the conference. The Cuban Five have begun their tenth year of
unjust imprisonment in the U.S. Irma Sehwerert will represent the
families of the Cuban Five. Her son, René González, is serving a
15-year sentence in the federal prison in Marianna, Fla., where he is
denied visits from his spouse, Olga Salanueva. The International
Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five is collaborating on this
event.

Saturday topics will include U.S./Cuba relations and ALBA, the
alternative to NAFTA and other “free trade” agreements. U.S./Latin
America immigration issues will be discussed on Sunday.

The conference will be held in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border
from San Diego, Calif., because the U.S. State Department refuses to
approve visas for representatives from the Confederation of Cuban
Workers (CTC).

The U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange initiated the conference. It is supported
by Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME); World Organization for
the Right of the People to Healthcare, SEIU 1199 NY; National Network
on Cuba (NNOC); Venezuela Solidarity Network (VSN); International
Action Center (IAC); Cuba Solidarity New York (CSNY); Southwest Workers
Union, San Antonio, Texas; Converjencia de los Movimientos de los
Pueblos de las Américas (COMPA); Peace and Freedom Party; Movimiento
Latino USA; Cuba-U.S. Sustainability Project; March 25 Coalition; and
the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five.

Registration and hotel information can be found at
http://laborexchange.blogspot.com; or send e-mail to
laborexchange at aol.com.

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