UWUA leaders recently hosted a meeting with a delegation of 24 trade unionists from the Chubu region of Japan – all officers of Japanese electric power workers union Denryoku-Soren. Like UWUA, Denryoku-Soren is an affiliate of IndustriALL, a global union federation that unites unions representing 50 million workers in energy, mining, manufacturing, and related industries from 140 countries in every region of the world. The meeting, held on Nov. 21, 2016 in Washington, D.C., was the latest in a series of meetings in recent years between UWUA and Denryoku-Soren designed to exchange information about the electric utility industries in Japan and the U.S.
“We were pleased to have this opportunity to welcome our Japanese union colleagues,” stated Mike Coleman, UWUA National Secretary-Treasurer. “UWUA can better represent our members when we build strong bonds of international solidarity with other unions from around the globe.”
UWUA represents utility workers from at least 13 companies owned by overseas corporations, including companies headquartered in Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.