MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2009
WTO: Ten years later

Ten years ago today, the AFL-CIO held a massive rally and march in Seattle to protest the policies of the World Trade Organization as the group met downtown. Tens of thousands of people peacefully rallied and marched that day, but that week's news coverage focused primarily on a few dozen self-proclaimed anarchists who vandalized downtown businesses and police efforts to control crowds of protesters who demonstrated all week outside the WTO meetings. 

Here is the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial published Friday, Dec. 3 as WTO delegates departed the city.

Today a trashed Seattle expects to bid adieu to delegates from 135 nations who came here to decide what the World Trade Organization should argue about next.

We feel compelled to apologize to the WTO delegates for the unfriendly treatment they endured as the result of a few mindless demonstrators and our city's lamentable failure to anticipate their irresponsible antics. It's embarrassing because this awful reception is unrepresentative of Seattle citizens.

That said, we also want to offer a few words of counsel to the members of the WTO as they flee our disheveled city:

Until you open your business to the world's citizens, your organization will look like trouble to any city that would consider offering you an invitation. Without change, you can be assured that the same public unhappiness that you experienced here will dog your footsteps around the globe.

The Seattle Round, alas, is most likely to be remembered as the opening salvo in what promises to be a contentious 21st-century global protest about the WTO.

When you arrived here Monday, we pointed out that those who wish to lobby the WTO, whether their complaints are legitimate or looney, have only one lobbying avenue open to them: the streets. After your experience here, we trust you take our point.

Lost in the haze of tear gas is this: Tens of thousands of responsible, law-abiding people came to Seattle to tell you they expect better of your organization than you've so far delivered.

They want a fair deal for the workers whose labors underpin the global economy. That means humane working conditions, fair wages, the right to organize and an end to exploitation of children.

No country is too poor to treat its workers humanely.

• They don't want their environment sacrificed for the sake of corporate profits.
    

• Sound environmental principles must underpin global trade; long-term human survival on this planet depends on it.
   

• They want representation at the table where trade policies are negotiated and they want a seat in the courtroom where WTO trade disputes are adjudicated. Transparency and inclusion must become the hallmarks of any organization that seeks to decide the controversial issues that come before the WTO.

We believe the WTO is an essential tool to regulating peaceful trade among nations. But if its member governments continue to refuse to come to grips with these essential matters, the legitimacy and effectiveness of WTO remain in grave doubt.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2009
Flat Stanley does WTO-Seattle

The following correspondences were exchanged 10 years ago between the staff of WSLC Reports Today and our nephew, P.J. Scott of Pennsylvania: 

Dear Uncle David,

How are you? I need your help with a class project. We read a book called Flat Stanley. In the story, Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board and had many adventures while he was flat. He even mailed himself to a friend’s house! And I’m mailing one to you! Go on a day-long adventure with Stanley and take pictures. Then mail the pictures and Stanley back to me and tell what you and Stanley did together! Have fun!

Love,
P.J.

Dear P.J.,

Thanks for the opportunity to hang out with Flat Stanley for a day. Sorry it took me so long to do it, but there was a special day I had in mind, and it was Tuesday, November 30, 1999.

Flat Stanley and I joined about 40,000 other people in Seattle who peacefully protested a group called the World Trade Organization, which was meeting in town that day.  The WTO establishes the rules that countries must follow when they trade products, materials and services. Many people, like myself, are mad that the WTO refuses to consider the impact that international trade policies have on our environment and the people who actually make the products.

So on Nov. 30, the first day of the WTO meetings, Stanley and I went to a giant rally and march organized by the AFL-CIO, which is the largest union organization in the United States. (Unions are working people who form groups so they have a better chance of negotiating for more pay and improved working conditions than they would as individuals.) I work at the Washington state offices of the AFL-CIO, so I was involved in organizing the big rally and march on Nov. 30.

The rally was lots of fun and Flat Stanley met a lot of people. Here’s a description of each picture: (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

1. Flat Stanley and I started the day at this rally at the Seattle Center Memorial Stadium. 

2. Stanley and James P. Hoffa, the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union that represents hundreds of thousands of workers, including lots of truck drivers like the ones at UPS. He’s pretty famous. There’s even a movie called “Hoffa” about his father who used to be a Teamsters President, too.

3. Flat Stanley is held by John Sweeney, the President of the AFL-CIO, the biggest union organization in the country, representing more than 13.2 million people! Also pictured is my boss, Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council. 

4. Flat Stanley meets Dave Ross, a talk show host on KIRO Radio in Seattle. His show is the highest rated one in Seattle from 9 a.m. to noon. He was broadcasting live from the rally.
 

5. Flat Stanley with a TV reporter from channel 7. I’m not sure what her name is, but she was flirting with your Uncle David so I let her hold Stanley. I guess she didn’t see my wedding ring.

6. Flat Stanley and I downtown, where all of the people from the rally marched after it was all over. (Nice hat on Uncle David, huh?)

In picture #6, you’ll notice the spray paint on the wall behind me. Unfortunately, there was a small number of people who were at the march who did a very bad thing. About 30 or 40 people wearing masks broke some store windows, wrote with spray paint on buildings, and generally made a big mess of what was a peaceful demonstration.

In the days that followed, the police were much more strict about letting people protest because they didn’t want any more damage downtown. I’ve also enclosed some newspapers so you can read all about what happened if you want to.

Thanks again for letting me hang out with Flat Stanley. We had a great time!

Love,
David

^{Copyright © 2009 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}