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German union ver.di stood in solidarity with US colleagues and called for the passage of the US Employee Free Choice Act at a recent presentation and discussion at the American Embassy in Berlin.



On May 20 William B. Gould IV, Stanford University's Charles A. Beardsley Professor of Law, Emeritus, gave a lecture on the Employee Free Choice Act and the future of German-US relations. Gould served as chairman of the US National Labour Relations Board under President Clinton.



Detlev Bruse, head of ver.di's European and International Policy Division, attended the meeting and told Gould and the US Embassy's Economic Officer Ingrid Kollist that ver.di and its members support the Employee Free Choice Act and are part of UNI's international solidarity campaign to pass the vital legislation.



Along with the call for passage of the bill, Bruse urged the US to ratify all of the International Labour Organisations (ILO) core labour standards, including the right to organise and the right to strike, which are not guaranteed in the US.



The meeting was organised by the US Embassy and the local ILO office in Berlin.



"We brought in our position of being fully in support of the Employee Free Choice Act," Bruse said. "I said that ver.di expects the US to move into line with international labour standards."