The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO's 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO's favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns.

Here, protesters converge at the intersection of Pine Street, temporarliy renamed "Union Way," and 7th Avenue. Originally, labor unions had wanted to march on Union Street in downtown Seattle, a plan the police rejected because of the security concerns at the Conference Center. Eventually, the city and unions agreed to rename Pine Street "Union Way," with a temporary blue street sign, for the large labor march on November 30, 1999.

This photo was taken by Ervin Schleufer, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and retired member of the United Steelworkers of America Local 338. Schleufer was among the striking steelworkers locked out by the Kaiser Corporation in Spokane from 1998 to 2000. In 1999 he traveled the West Coast, with a group calling themselves “road warriors,” to connect with activists, get support for their strike, and raise interest in protesting the WTO conference in Seattle. Schleufer joined thousands of union members from across the country protesting at the WTO conference, and took photos documenting his participation in the street protests.