In 2005, Tim Costello asked Brendan Smith and me to collaborate in creating an organization called Global Labor Strategies “to contribute to building global labor solidarity through research, analysis, strategic thinking, and network building around labor and employment issues.” In 2006 GLS discovered a debate unfolding in China about a Labor Contract Law whose key provisions were being opposed by the American and European Chambers of Commerce. Global Labor Strategies organized an international protest against this corporate opposition in the aftermath of which international union federations pressured their employers to reverse course; human rights organizations mobilized support for Chinese workers’ rights; US members of Congress introduced legislation decrying the corporate intervention and apparent administration complicity; and China’s official labor organization, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), took a strong stand against corporate pressure.[1] This innovative work was cut off by Tim Costello’s death in 2009.
[1] Brendan Smith, Tim Costello and Jeremy Brecher, “Tug of War Over China’s New Labor Law,” Truthout, April 4, 2007. http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/69779:brendan-smith-tim-costello-and-jeremy-brecher–tug-of-war-over-chinas-new-labor-law