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IBEW members were out in force for a massive November demonstration protesting the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) November 19-21. Locals from across Florida and from as far away as Michigan and Minnesota joined thousands of others in Miami in opposition to the establishment of one of the largest free trade zones of the world.

While the bold NAFTA-style plan with ambitious intentions temporarily fizzled under the weight of diverging national trade interests, the gathering is likely to become a classic example of police overreaction and overzealousness in the face of a peaceful mobilization.

President Hill and Secretary-Treasurer O'Connor joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other labor leaders at the front of the march on November 20, 2003.

The Bush administration and its business allies intend to press forward with FTAA this year. Labor advocates call the proposed agreement "NAFTA on steroids" for its incorporation of most of the Western Hemisphere into a new trade zone that includes the United States, Mexico and Canada as well as 31 additional countries in Central and South America. The FTAA would eliminate tariffs from the included countries and would accelerate the job loss and environmental damage North America faced under NAFTA.

Like NAFTA 10 years ago, the FTAA would be no friend to American workers, who have lost 2.5 million family-wage jobs during President Bush's tenure alone. The United States is running a potentially crippling $500 billion trade deficit, which reflects the flood of imports that are wiping out U.S. jobs.

Miami Local 349 President Bill Riley said 150 active members and retirees joined the November 20 march.

"FTAA is not going to help workers in the United States or the workers down in South America either-they'll just take advantage of those workers," Riley said. "It's a bad deal all the way around unless you happen to be one of the fat cats who just care about making money."

Jacksonville, Florida Local 177, and Daytona Beach Local 756 sent approximately 50 workers to the march in a bus ride that started at 3:30 a.m. the day of the event and returned 24 hours later. Because all of the main exits from the interstate highway were blocked off around Miami, their bus driver had to employ some creative driving to even make it to the rally and march, said Local 177 Business Manager Eddie Dedmon.

Dedmon did not report any problems with police, although he said the officers maintained an intimidating presence. "We didn't see any of the tear gas and brutality," Dedmon said. "I carried on a conversation with a police officer who was as congenial as a person standing there in riot gear could be."

But other peaceful protesters did tangle with police. The AFL-CIO has compiled a list of obstruction, intimidation, harassment and violence against union members, retirees and others during the permitted march on November 20. These abuses include unlawful arrests and trumped-up charges against innocent protesters, unjustifiably long hours in handcuffs, denial of medical treatment, illegal searches and seizures and destruction of personal property.

Altogether, more than 20,000 union members, environmentalists and religious and human rights activists from across the Western Hemisphere marched on Miami. Other activities included a forum on unfair trade's impact on workers.

"Workers concerned about losing jobs to countries with cheap labor and few environmental standards have no voice at the table with the FTAA," President Hill said. "Their only recourse is to stand outside the security perimeter and chant. But I have a feeling they heard our message."

The labor movement pressed the need for fair rules for the international economy that protect business interests as well as internationally-recognized core workers' rights, human rights, democracy and the environment.

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