The morning session today at the convention focused on the global economy, with a particular emphasis on my favorite bad-boys, the Beast of Bentonville…Wal-Mart. I decided to pick out two people in particular to give you a feel for the words circulating around the hall.

The most impressive speaker was Jenny Chan, from Students Against Corporate Misbehavior which is based in Hong Kong. It was a bit hard to hear in the hall so the tape may not be precise but…it’s real close. “More than 70 percent of the Wal-Mart factory workers are young girls from the countryside, most of them are between 15 and 20 years old.”

Chan said they are there for their aging parent or other family members. “Industrial accidents happen almost every day. Dangerous and outdated machines are used, thousands of production workers fingers are completey crushed. How many more injuries can we afford?”

And she summed up: “This younger generation is exceptionally brave and courageous. They have hopes, dreams and aspirations. This young generation of Chinese workers is not submissive and they are not politically weak. Millions of Chinese workers are fighting for dignity, autonomy and justice. Despite Chinese workers being fired and put into jail, they will not easily give up. We are encouraged to cooperate with American workers here…to change what the Chinese workers are suffering. Let us go together and build a better future.”

Sharan Burrow, the first women to head the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), talked about the worldwide war against workers. “We are currently in the fight of our lives…and the challenge of this century is to establish global rules of law” that protect workers.” Burrow is an Aussie and mentioned the fight Australian trade unions are waging against an attack on union rights in Australia, which I reported on recently.