by Transmontanus, 9 September 2008
Meeting here in my home town for their 7th Biennial Convention, Canada’s Carpenters’ Union has adopted a resolution that they hope will have “a profound effect on organized labour around the world.” The union has unanimously denounced the characterization of Israel as an “apartheid state” and calls for greater understanding of the plight of Israeli citizens.
“Unlike many neighbouring countries, Israel has an active trade union movement that participates freely in Israeli society,” explained Ucal Powell, President of the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario. “Supporting a boycott or sanctions against Israel risks reinforcing terrorist groups and does little to encourage the wellbeing of workers in the region.”
This is a cheerier story than this one.
Powell is the big bloke in the photograph below, on the left. It was taken back in 2005, when Powell joined other Canadian carpenters on a volunteer mission to build “Canadaville” down in Louisiana for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. At the time, Powell, originally from Jamaica, said he was happy to work for free, around the clock, because he remembered only too well the hurricane that ravaged his home island when he was a little kid. http://drinksoakedtrotsforwar.com/2008/09/09/3925/
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