Over a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Each year, millions of children die of diseases caused by unsafe water. The numbers are increasing. Global corporations are rapidly becoming involved with local water supplies, trying to combine private profits with what many feel should be a fundamental right to water access.

As part of the 2006-2007 Labor and Community Film Series, Thirst will screen Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters, 700 Olive St., St. Paul. Admission is free and a discussion follows the film.

The screening is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service and co-sponsored by AFSCME Council 5.

Filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman ask: is water part of a shared "commons," a human right for all people? Or, is water a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace?

Thirst tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions.

For more information and for a complete series schedule, visit www.laboreducation.org.