People power is on a roll, in spite of the size and power of the transnationals and international institutions that are trying to reorganize the world to suit the corporations.
The corporate elites best-laid plans have been stalled by huge and widely covered demonstrations against free trade negotiations. The protesters trying to break down the walls of secret trade talks reflect a broad spectrum of the population: young people, students, workers, the unemployed, environmentalists, anti-racist activists, faith communities, pensioners and union members.
And thats not all. The Multilateral Agreement on Investment was scuttled by a well-organized global network of activists. The drug companies were forced to drop their lawsuit against South Africas efforts to provide affordable treatment for HIV-AIDS, thanks to an international campaign, actively supported by CUPE. And its no accident that the Canadian Council on Public Private Partnerships (an organization dedicated to paving the way for the private takeover of public services by global corporations) has identified CUPE as the major thorn in its side. After all, CUPE members across Canada have relentlessly and effectively defended our public wealth from being turned into private property.
But we cant rest on our laurels. Our very way of life, the welfare of billions of other people in the world, and the health of our planet are at stake. We can never under-estimate the underhanded tactics multinational corporations, international financial institutions and right-wing governments will use, and their determination to win the day.
Its not going to be easy to win. It never is. But as the largest union in Canada and one of the largest public sector unions in the world we must pledge to escalate the fight against globalization by fighting every day, in every way, so that we can make a better, fairer, more peaceful world for ourselves and our families, for other people around the world, and for future generations.