Labor movement radical author to speak in Lynn

LYNN – Labor movement activist Bill Fletcher Jr., co-author of a new book entitled “Solidarity Divided” and known for his radical views, will speak at a meeting of the North Shore Labor Council, 112 Exchange St., on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 6-8 p.m.Fletcher, a former instructor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, wrote the book with Fernando Gapasin, another longtime labor and human rights activist now serving as president of a central labor council in Oregon.”Bill and Fernando try to fan the flames of debate over what our labor movement actually needs,” said Jeffrey Crosby, president of CWA-IUE Local 201 in Lynn.According to Crosby, the authors start from the assertion that the split between the AFL-CIO union and the Change to Win organization solved nothing. In 2005, seven unions and six million workers united under the banner Change to Win, hoping to build a new labor movement for those equipped to meet the challenges of the global economy. The primary goals were to restore the American Dream in the 21st century where a single paycheck supports a family, and workers receive affordable health care, a secure retirement and dignity on the job.Harvard-educated and embracing politics that have categorized him as a Black radical, Fletcher brings sound experience to the discussion, ranging from work in a shipyard to serving as an assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.In 2002 he became president of the TransAfrica Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit center that educates and organizes around issues confronting Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Fletcher also has been director of the Monthly Review Foundation, an organizer of the Black Radical Congress, and co-chairman of United for Peace and Justice.Among the topics Fletcher is expected to address at the Lynn labor forum are: How do we build a labor movement greater than the sum of its parts? How do we speak for the majority of workers in the U.S? How do we heal racial divisions and privileges in the U.S.?