New York Citys 2007 Better World Awards

NEW YORK — Communist Party Labor Chair Scott Marshall will be the keynote speaker for the annual Better World Awards, sponsored by the New York Friends of the People’s Weekly World. Honorees for the May 6 event include NYC Councilman Robert Jackson and long-time labor and political activist Adolfo Faña.

Marshall recently returned from a fact-finding visit to China and Vietnam to explore ways of building more international working class solidarity. Marshall sees the trip in the context of the changing economic landscape and the unfolding of capitalist globalization, which, he says, “requires Communist and left parties to explore joint practical solidarity initiatives.”

Marshall said, “Today’s transnational capitalism demands that the world’s workers and oppressed peoples organize and unite in new practical ways. ‘Workers of the World Unite’ has to be transformed from a slogan into a concrete strategy.”

Marshall’s keynote will reflect on his meetings with leaders of the All China Federation of Trade Unions, including union leaders of Wal-Mart workers. He will discuss socialist construction in China, and the role of unions there.

“For the U.S. working class and for our party, relations with China are of great strategic importance because solidarity between the working classes of China and the United States is critical to progress. To have any chance of success, any plan to fight for the future of U.S. autoworkers, for example, must also include autoworkers in China.”

Commenting on his trip to Vietnam, Marshall cited the economic progress that has been made there despite the devastation wrought by the U.S. war in the 1960s and 70s.

Marshall sees his trip as a prelude to broader “worker-to-worker exchanges which will be of tremendous benefit to U.S. workers.”

To hear Marshall and make a reservation for the Better World Awards, May 6, in New York, call (646) 437-5355 or e-mail nyfriends @ pww.org.