A delegation of leaders from a major US trade union federation
arrived in Shanghai on Friday at the invitation of the All-China
Federation of Trade Unions.
The delegation from Change to Win, which represents more than 6
million workers, will also visit Beijing and Kunming, capital of
southwest China's Yunnan Province on an eight-day friendly
visit.
The delegation will meet with workers in factories and other
work sites to learn about their conditions.
It will also meet academics, activists, and leaders from labor
networks, NGOs, large multinationals and government
organizations.
A symposium to discuss collective negotiations organized by
trade unions in the two countries will be held during the
delegation's visit to Beijing.
"We warmly welcome our American counterparts and will actively
communicate with them to find common ground," said Li Jingfang, an
official with the federation.
"The visit will improve and develop relationships between China
and US trade union organizations as well as the Sino-US
relationship."
Li said it is the first time a US national trade union
federation has visited China.
She said the two sides are expected to set up an exchange
mechanism after the visit.
Change to Win is one of two major national trade union
organizations in the US. The other, AFL-CIO had so far avoided
contact with the federation, Li said.
Xu Zhenhuan, vice chairman of the federation, will head a
delegation to pay a return visit to the US later in the year, she
said.
James Hoffa, a delegate and Chair of the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, said dialogue between China and US trade
unions are of great importance.
"You can never ignore a nation of 1.3 billion people," he
said.
"We expect to have a frank interchange and talk with our Chinese
counterparts on issues such as how we can respectively improve the
living standards of our member workers."
Hoffa said Change to Win unions share common employers with
millions of Chinese workers throughout the service, transportation
and industrial sectors, like the United Parcel Service Inc
(UPS).
Change to Win, founded in July 2005, is made up of seven partner
unions separate from the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
They are: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers'
International Union of North America, Service Employees
International Union, UNITE HERE, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America, United Farm Workers of America, and United
Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
(China Daily May 19, 2007)