VWC heads to the first-ever US Social Forum

This week, a delegation from the Vermont Workers' Center will travel to Atlanta for the first-ever U.S. Social Forum (USSF), where trade unions and other social movements, ranging from environmentalists to women's organizations, from urban youth movements to indigenous peoples fighting for land rights, will come together to share experiences, build relationships, and return to our local struggles with renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize a world where the needs of working people are not subjected to the profit drive of massive corporations.

The first World Social Forum, held in January of 2001 in Brazil, popularized the slogan "Another world is possible," and was the first major space where movements fighting against corporate globalization could begin to define the alternatives that we are for, instead of just being "anti-globalization." Since then, seven successful World Social Forums have been held (three of which, in 2002, 2006 and 2007 were attended by Workers' Center members), and regional, national, and local social forums have been held throughout the world, including a highly successful Southeast Social Forum which brought 700 working people from throughout the Southeast U.S. together in June of 2006.

The Social Forums are designed to be both a "space" to promote the integration of different movements, rather than a decision-making body, and a "process" that allows different movements to work together and build trust and shared understanding of the challenges we face. They consist of a wide mix of speakers, conferences, seminars, workshops, and cultural performances, with no one event dominating, and with no pressure to come to exact agreement; there are no behind-the-scenes deals on the exact wording of resolutions. In practice, this makes them excellent spaces for informal networking, the kind of spaces where the "labor/community alliances" and the "movement vision" that labor activists regularly proclaim the need for are actually built and strengthened.

The VWC delegation includes union members, students, and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Delegation members are excited about the possibility of sharing experiences with and learning from a wide variety of social movements, and developing an understanding of how our various struggles are connected. Jessica Morley, chief steward of UE Local 203 at City Market in Burlington, is "looking forward to being able to compare my methods with those of others, allowing me to learn and grow from this experience and bring some more useful tools home. We are all in this together."

For more information on the U.S. Social Forum, visit www.ussf2007.org. And during the USSF, check out the Vermont Workers' Center blog for regular updates from the forum!