People’s Economic Summit

Gathering under a banner stating, “Another World is Urgently Needed—But We Must Fight for It!” more than 200 community, labor, youth, immigrant rights, housing, health care and social justice activists met on May 31 in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza for the People’s Economic Summit.

U.N. Ambassador Byron Blake, speaking for the president of the U.N. General Assembly. WW photo: LeiLani Dowell

Initiated by the Bail Out the People Movement, the gathering was to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly’s economic summit, originally scheduled for June 1-3, to address the concerns of the 192 member nations that are being marginalized by the G20 summit meetings.

This G192 U.N. meeting, planned to address the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on developing countries, was forced to postpone until later in June.

While disappointed that the U.N. gathering did not go ahead as scheduled, those attending the People’s Economic Summit enthusiastically took part in five workshops with the themes Defending Immigrant/Worker Rights; Building a Struggle of Youth and Students; Capitalist Crisis, Racism, Political Repression and the Prisons; Workers’ Struggles in the U.S.; and Struggles Against U.S. Corporate Power around the World.

A general panel following the workshops examined the roots of the economic meltdown and presented the case for alternatives to capitalism and imperialism. A second panel discussed building the mass movement and strategies for struggle.

The People’s Economic Summit endorsed the call for protests in Pittsburgh at the G20 summit this fall. See future issues of Workers World for more on this event.