Reporting from Orlando, Florida - Cameron Harrison and Emma Glazer of People’s World: “If they can bust our Unions, how long before they come for the rest of us?,” asked American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelley during the second session of the 54th International Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Convention. Both Kelley and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders were keynote speakers who made the case for Labor to rally its entire force behind the defense of the Civil Service Workers currently under direct assault by the billionaire-backed Trump Administration. Kelley Detailed How, Historically, billionaires and the corporate consolidation of power starts with attacking and dismantling Trade Unions. “Now, they know Unions are one of the last obstacles to complete corporate domination of our economy. They know that a Union contract is often the only thing that stands between Workers and complete exploitation,” he said. The immediate task of Trade Unions, Kelley said to the delegates, who represented 60 different Unions, is to rally in defense of the Civil Service Workers to build enough solidarity so that the ultra-right extremists and their billionaire backers will be unable to destroy the whole Labor Movement. “And they know that Public Sector Unions are defenders of a true, Public Government that works for the people, not for the rich. And make no mistake - these attacks on Government Workers are part of a larger strategy that will affect the entire Labor Movement and undermine the very foundation of Democracy,” Kelley warned. While the Republican Party and the Trump Administration try to sell the U.S. Working Class that they are a Pro-Labor Party, Kelley rejected that claim on its face: “We know smoke and mirrors when we see it. These fools are not about making government better. They’re about breaking the power of Working People and concentrating it into the hands of the few.”

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Photo Courtesy Of DeLane Adams Via People's World.