More than 500 Pennsylvania union members, students and community activists joined together in a march and rally in Philadelphia March 16 to demand rejection of permanent Normal Trade Relations for China and to urge people from around the nation to head to Washington, D.C., in April for two days of mobilization for global fairness.

Slamming China's record of forced, prison and child labor and its long history of worker and human rights abuses, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William George said, "If a trade agreement can address the rights of a corporation, then it can surely address the needs of ordinary workers."

The move toward permanent free trade relations with no annual congressional review of China's trade and human rights practices must be stopped, he said, and the best way to stop it is to lobby congressional representatives and to join April's actions.

The rally was staged in conjunction with the state AFL-CIO's convention. Prior to the rally, Susan Casey of Penn Students Against Sweatshops told convention delegates about their recent nine-day sit-in outside of the University of Pennsylvania's president's office. The university agreed to stringent new rules for school logo-bearing apparel.

While the students originally focused on the Central American and Carribean sweatshops that make much college gear, Casey said, "We can't wear clothes made by workers who are not treated with dignity. We're not stopping here, the global economy must be fair to all."