Foreign labor leaders visit headquarters

SIX LABOR LEADERS taking part in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program met with Boilermaker leaders in Kansas City, Kan., Sept. 13. Foreign participants came from Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Mexico, Jordan, and Burkina Faso. The trip is being sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s American Center for International Labor Solidarity, a non-profit organization that assists workers around the world in building democratic, independent trade unions.

The visitors asked about the operations of the Boilermakers’ organization, including the dues structure and union election processes. Carey Allen, Director of the CLGAW Division, told the group about some of the differences in the labor laws of the United States and Canada.

The group toured the U.S. for about a month, learning about labor issues here, sharing their own experiences, and building relationships.

Pictured from left to right: Howard Cole, IR; Carlos Gabriel Chavez Becker, External Consultant Center of International Solidarity Union of the American Federation of Labor, (Mexico); Carey Allen, Director of CLGAW Division Services; Colette Yelkouni Lefebvre, Director of Labor Employment and Youth (Burkina Faso); Vijaya Ravindrakumar, Assistant Administrative Officer, Friendship House (Sri Lanka); Martin Walter, Attorney-at-Law, Blake & Uhlig; Nezam Musa Yacoub Qahoush, Regional Coordinator, International Federation of Free Trade Unions (Jordan); James Pressley, Director of ISS/CBS; James Albert Lahai, Assistant Secretary, Sierra Leone Teachers Union (Sierra Leone); and James Schilling, Department of State language officer.

Foreign labor leaders meet Boilermaker leadership Sept. 13 at the Brotherhood building in Kansas City, Kan.