CISPES Brings Labor Leader to Discuss Strategies for Cross-Border Collaboration
Contact: Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm – seattle@cispes.org, (509) 680-4212
See a video summary of the tour here!
From February 2nd-5th, Alex Gomez, Treasurer of the Federation of Public Service Workers of El Salvador (FESTRASPES), was in Seattle for a series of events involving Pacific Northwest labor groups, sponsored by the Seattle chapter of CISPES (the Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador).
Members of the public, union, labor, and trade justice organizations gathered and spoke out with Alex in solidarity with workers worldwide fighting corporate shortcuts like the Public-Private Partnership.
Salvadoran unions have put out a call for cross-border solidarity in their struggle against a US-backed Public-Private Partnership (P3) Law proposal that threatens to give corporations more power through the privatization of public sectors such as higher education, sea and air ports, water, and electricity in El Salvador. During his visit, Gómez spent time highlighting issues Salvadoran workers face as well as provide support to parallel struggles in the Pacific Northwest. On Saturday night, Gomez arrived at Sea Tac airport and held a speak-out at Baggage claim 16, making a statement of solidarity with airport workers organizing for their rights at Sea Tac. A Sea Tac worker and a crowd of supporters welcomed him with a statement of worker-to-worker solidarity, as airports would be the first on the chopping block if the PPP law was passed. On Sunday, he met with the Salvadoran Committee, and on Monday Feb 4th, he met with over 15 representatives of labor organizations ranging from the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO to SPEEA to the International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 19 (ILWU 19) at the Labor Temple and discussed how unions can pressure the United States and the Salvadoran Legislative assembly to not push the P3 law through. SPEEA and others committed to sending letters to key members of the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly, and hundreds of signatures were collected for a petition to the U.S. Ambassador urging her to stop threatening to withhold aid if El Salvador doesn’t pass the privatization measure.
Later that day, representatives of the labor organizations and a crowd gathered in front of the World Trade Center by the port and held a public speak-out condemning US support for the P3 Law. and Alex concluded his Seattle portion of the tour with a presentation to the public at Seattle University. This tour has shown that workers in the Pacific Northwest have seen the common thread of corporate greed cutting corners at the expense of the working and poor majority across the globe and have committed to supporting El Salvador. “We’re not against trade,” said Stan Sorscher, of SPEEA, “We can still have trade but it can be fair and just.”
Salvadorans have a history of successes of defeating privatization attempts – most recently in 2002 when a 9-month strike fended off privatization of healthcare. But when privatization laws have won, it has been devastating. In 2001, privatization at the Acajutla port saw nearly 1,000 workers laid off, the union dissolved, and longshoremen’s daily wages were cut by more than 90%. “We’re not going to let it happen behind closed doors. When workers unite, corporate shortcuts don’t fly,” said Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm, coordinator of Seattle CISPES.
“This law is being pushed by the United States government in El Salvador because it sees that in El Salvador there are natural resources that their corporations could make a profit off of, and that there are state services that are provided to people that could be a lucrative private business,” said Alex on Monday. “That’s why the solidarity of Seattle and US workers is so important, because we know that it’s the US government that is pressuring Central American governments, and particularly El Salvador, to pass this law that would turn the few state resources we have over to private hands.”
Alex finished his first leg of the tour with a lively 50-person discussion at Seattle University, and on February 5th he made his way to Los Angeles, stopping in Olympia, Portland, the Bay area, and other areas for the tour events.
Labor allies in El Salvador have also requested that U.S. union members visit El Salvador for a week this May to be in solidarity with and learn from their struggle, as well as to share lessons from the work of U.S. unions fighting against similar issues. To learn more information on the speaking tour or the May Day delegation, contact Kaeley at (509) 680-4212 or email seattle@cispes.org.
Sign the online petition to denounce the US strong-arm tactics to force the P3 or Public-Private Partnership Law in El Salvador. CISPES’ goal is to collect 500 signatures by Feb 11, when Salvadoran labor leader Jaime Rivera and CISPES will deliver the petition to the State Department at the close of the tour.
See a video from the speak-out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
See David Ayala, Salvadoran CISPES member, and Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm, Seattle CISPES coordinator speak on KEXP radio: