Orlando, Mar. 2 – The AFL-CIO Executive Council, at its meeting today in Orlando, unanimously adopted a statement on the subject of the theft of intellectual property.  Submitted to the Council by the Department of Professional Employees on behalf of the entertainment unions and guilds affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the statement offers a detailed analysis of the harm done to U.S. workers by piracy.
 
The statement said, in part, “Motion pictures, television, sound recordings and other entertainment are a vibrant part of the U.S. economy.  They yield one of its few remaining trade surpluses. The online theft of copyrighted works and the sale of illegal CDs and DVDs threaten the vitality of U.S. entertainment and thus its working people.”
 
IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb, a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, said “This is a strong statement of support from the AFL-CIO in our fight against the theft of product upon which the members of the entertainment industry unions and guilds depend. We  will continue to pursue every avenue we can to stop digital theft.”