Challenge the Underpinnings of the Global Sweatshop

1) 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice is pleased to announce its next conference:

"NO SWEAT, NO DEBT: ORGANIZING FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE"
September 23 - 26, 1999 (Thursday - Sunday) Washington, DC

Make plans now to attend the 50 Years Is Enough Network's fourth national conference, held, as always, just before Finance Ministers from around the world gather in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF.

Organizers will once again be planning a conference for both seasoned and beginning activists in the struggle for economic justice. The Opening Plenary will lay out the issues - in particular, debt, sweatshops and the international financial institutions. After establishing a critique of the global economy, we will spend the next two days and highlighting real-world alternatives in our communities and around the world.

Colleagues and partners of the 50 Years Is Enough Network in the U.S. and from all parts of the world, especially the Global South, will join us for plenary and workshop sessions focused on positive models for economic justice and organizing.

On Sunday, September 26, the conference will culminate in a public mobilization at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund. That day, the most powerful decision-makers of the global economy will be there for the IMF Interim Committee Meeting. We will share with them - loudly! - the knowledge, plans and determination gained over the course of "No Sweat, No Debt: Organizing for Global Justice."

Although the venue for the conference has not yet been selected, you can register early and guarantee yourself the lowest fee - last year's rate - of $35. To register or for information, contact: 50 Years Is Enough, 1247 E Street SE, Washington, DC 20003; phone: (202) 463-2265; fax: (202) 544-9359; <wb50years@igc.org>.

2) Global Peoples' Protest of the World Trade Organization
November 29 - December 3 Seattle

The World Trade Organization will be holding a Ministerial Summit in Seattle from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, 1999, on the eve of WTO's fifth anniversary. This summit meeting will determine the WTO's agenda for negotiations for the coming decade. Trade Ministers from 100-plus nations will be welcomed by President Clinton, who supports initiating a new round of "free trade" negotiations. Citizen activists need to gear up now to make sure that in November there will be "No new round!"

Recently, 80 Seattle-area activists formed an ad hoc steering committee to organize logistics and secure venues. Hundreds of hospitable activists are preparing to welcome you and tens of thousands of your closest friends to Seattle. The Coordinator of the Washington Fair Trade Campaign has set up a toll-free number: 1-877-STOP-WTO. Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, the Citizens Trade Campaign formed a WTO working group to coordinate action leading up to the Seattle events.

The International Forum on Globalization <http://www.ifg.org> is planning an ambitious Seattle globalization teach-in the weekend prior to the Ministerial. Our allies to the North, the Council of Canadians <http://www.canadians.org> (604) 688-8846, are planning to mobilize in
Vancouver for a conference immediately prior to the Ministerial and then proceed to Seattle. Peoples Global Action <http://www.agp.org/agp/index.html> will dispatch delegations - including a caravan <http://www.dsl.nl/icc/ICC-en/ICCframe-en.htm> across North America.