TRADE unionists of African descent from the continent and across the diaspora came together on Monday to plan the fightback against US President Donald Trump.

The online meeting, organised by the Global African Workers Institute, saw around 50 leading trade unionists calling for working-class unity to counter the attack on civil and workers’ rights unleashed by Mr Trump since his return to power in January.

Chairing the meeting, international president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Rev Terry Melvin said the actions of the Trump administration must be seen as “part of the rise of authoritarianism in the US and across the globe.”

Keynote speaker Maya Wiley, president of the US-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said: “What’s under attack is our whole history of struggle against racism.

“The US is right now already an authoritarian regime.”

Ms Wiley talked of how education and health services were being decimated at the same time as the regime was “ensuring massive tax cuts for the wealthy.”

“We need to have a different story to tell and expose the racism of the White House,” she said.

Joel Akhatar Odigie, general secretary of the Africa section of the International Trade Union Confederation, talked of how oligarchs are operating at large and “having a global impact.”

Mr Odigie slammed the attack on the US trade union Solidarity Centre, decimated with 200 staff sacked overnight.

“The loss of the Solidarity Centre has a direct impact on the ability of unions on the African continent to organise against the rise of authoritarianism.”

Other participants in the meeting identified the actions of the Trump administration as an attack on the working class as a whole. The regime could only succeed if it used racism to divide workers.

They said unity was essential in organising the fightback.