AFL-CIO to Set Strategy at L.A. Conference

Representatives of the AFL-CIO executive council will gather in Los Angeles starting today for a four-day conference to chart the labor alliance’s course under the Bush administration and to hone its strategy to protect American wage and labor standards against the often-leveling forces of globalization. Among the speakers addressing the council are U.S. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Elaine Chao, President Bush’s secretary of Labor. Los Angeles was chosen as the site for the labor federation’s winter meeting to acknowledge the considerable power local unions have been able to wield within the last few years in the public and private sectors. Hundreds of local union members are expected to turn out tonight for a town hall-style forum to discuss issues such as the rights of immigrant workers and the right to form unions. The AFL-CIO executive council will meet at the Regal Biltmore Hotel through Thursday.