In Atlanta, Cameron Harrison at People’s World reports hundreds of mostly Black Trade Unionists from across the country packed the Hyatt Regency Downtown last week as the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) opened its 55th International Convention with a sober assessment: The Labor Movement is under its most severe attack in a generation and no one is coming to save them but themselves. At this year’s convention, the CBTU is dedicating itself to building its own political roadmap that is rooted in the understanding Labor Rights and Civil Rights are one fight. And, according to the Workers here, they are not waiting for permission. “Workers today are facing some of the worst conditions imaginable,” CBTU President, the Reverend Terrence Melvin (who also serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO), declared from the main stage. “The rising cost of living has priced many out of obtaining basic necessities. Health care has become unavailable for millions. The price of gas has bled many of our bank accounts. Yet somehow there is always enough money to enrich the richest few.” Melvin said the Trump Administration is “demolishing Unions with the stroke of a pen and a deaf ear to the Workers” - a reference to Executive Orders that have shredded Union contracts and canceled bargaining rights for more than a million Public Service Workers. “Now is not the time to bend,” he said. “Now is not the time to forget the obstacles we have hurdled and the victories we have achieved. Instead, we need to lean on those victories to help pave the way for new accomplishments.”

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