Members from the GCIU helped make history during the demonstrations that forced cancellation of the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, Wash.

GCIU members joined 40,000 other protesters – from 100 countries – in an effort to reverse the WTO's worker-hostile decision-making process and environmentally harmful policies.

The protest brought American workers, environmentalists, and consumer groups to Seattle to urge policymakers to reform the WTO. It was the first major alliance between labor unions and consumer and environmental groups.

The protesters effectively shut the WTO conference down during the four-day meeting and forced the international free-trade organization to end its meeting without completing its agenda.

The demonstration, led by AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney, GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau, International Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, and other labor leaders, brought concerns for worker rights and environmental responsibility to the world stage. Authorities, including the White House, were astounded by the number and diversity of the marchers.

The protesters met with WTO officials and tried to explain the dangers inherent in free trade without solid protections for workers and the environment written into the treaties brokered by the WTO. The give-and-take session also allowed WTO officials to try to explain the need for free trade treaties in an increasingly international business climate.

The unexpectedly large demonstration surprised even President Clinton, who headed the U.S. delegation to the conference. He reacted by adopting a much stronger position for international worker rights and environmental concerns than he had previously announced.

Commenting on the results of the protest after the four-day WTO meeting ended, Sweeney said: "It signals the beginning of a new era that recognizes the urgent need to construct a trading system that can face the challenges of the 21st century."

The massive rally "punctured the veil of secrecy and insensitivity in which the WTO has shrouded itself," Sweeney noted. He added that the "new international coalition will redouble its efforts to create new rules that incorporate enforceable workers' and human rights and environmental protections, generate broadly shared prosperity, and foster democratic and equitable development around the world,"

GCIU Pres. James J. Norton noted that the huge Seattle rally was an eye-opener for many politicians and bureaucrats: "The WTO protest showed what we have been saying for years, that international trade agreements like NAFTA – without solid worker rights and environmental protections – benefit only big business.

"That message has finally gotten across to millions of working Americans who have suffered because of so-called free trade. They were telling governments and international corporations: 'Enough is enough!' The large turnout in Seattle finally shows the U.S. government that Americans are fed up with trade treaties that hurt working families," Norton said.

Deneau, who led the big GCIU contingent from across the U.S. and Canada during the four-day protest rally, was impressed both with the numbers and the diversity of the marchers.

The workers' rally forced American politicians, including President Clinton, to recognize that worker rights and environmental safeguards can no longer be ignored. Unexpectedly, for the first time the president came out with a statement advocating sanctions for nations that do not protect workers rights and the environment.