The world needs the solidarity of AFL leaders like it needs Bush bringing democracy to Iraq. The best thing the AFL leaders could do for world labor solidarity is to stay the hell away with anything to do with labor outside the borders of the US. Sweeney dismantled that rats nest known as the AIFLD (whose members went fleeing to organizations like WRAP, a clothing industry financed group which had Otto Reich as a vice-chairman before Bush appointed Reich to overseeing US diplomatic relations with Latin America), and renamed it the ACILS. The ACILS gets its money from the NED, and gives it to corrupt business unions like CTV whose leaders have close ties to the Venezuelan wealthy elite. In fact, it was a CTV rally (most of the attendees of which I'm sure were not in the CTV), that changed course to march to the seat of government to provoke the short-lived coup. The ACILS's attempts to destroy Iraq's unions is also detestable.
It's an old tactic - just like the transportation strikes that helped Whitlam get thrown out as prime minister or transportation strikes that hit Chile under Allende. Transportation unions, especially trucking, is too important to leave to the rank-and-file. Just look at the US government oversight of the Teamsters. Probably the only thing that could set off a general strike in the US would be the Teamsters going on general strike. That would not be allowed to happen.
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