Author, educator and union activist, Bill Fletcher, Jr., was the keynote speaker for a conference entitled Globalization, Union Renewal and the Fight for Social Justice at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Toronto last month. The event was sponsored by the Labour Education Centre. Fletcher, formerly the president of TransAfrica Forum, is co-author (with Fernando Gapasin) of the recently released book, Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice. The book is a candid appraisal of the U.S. trade union movement that draws deep lessons from history while constructively critiquing the present.

Robin Breon met up with Fletcher for this exclusive interview for rabble.ca readers.

Donâe(TM)t let the business suit in the authorâe(TM)s photo fool you: Saskatchewan-born Blaine Donaisâe(TM) roots are firmly planted in a lifetime of trade unionism and social activism. Not surprisingly, then, when Donais surveys the minefield of conflict in todayâe(TM)s workplaces, his eyes take in more than your average efficiency guru.

For starters, he doesnâe(TM)t assume we all work for private companies: some people work for NGOs, governments, co-ops and, yes, even unions.

DESPITE the occasional newspaper headline highlighting the slave-like conditions under which our clothes are made, the exploitation in garment factories persists under an intricate web of subcontracting chains and covert labour. Most companies in the garment industry bypass their own codes of conduct and reduce costs by outsourcing work to factories where workersâe(TM) rights are consistently violated. Threads of Labour not only reveals the conditions in these factories âe" sexual abuse and bribery, child labour, hazardous conditions and forced overtime âe" but also provides an in-depth analysis of what can be done to promote change.