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No New War Against Iraq

Two West Coast labor councils are resolved

1. The Washington State Labor Council takes a swipe at the AFL-CIO's response to Iraq. Here are excerpts from its recent resolution.

"President Bush's ever-expanding 'war on terrorism' has been cynically used to justify a $48 billion hike in next year's military budget, bringing it to $383 billion, in addition to the $15 billion bailout of the airline industry and $25 billion in tax refunds for corporate America. Congress is forcing union members and other working and poor people to pay for this war drive and subsidize corporate profits by raiding the Social Security Trust Fund and cutting funding for economically distressed states and vital government programs such as subsidies for low income housing and services to the homeless. The billions spent on armaments, domestic repression and bailouts could be better used to provide re-training programs and jobs to the 800,000 workers across the nation who lost their jobs after September 11th.

In the aftermath of September 11th over 1,000 immigrants were imprisoned in detention centers, thousands of airport workers (many of them immigrants of color) were fired simply because they were not citizens, and Muslims, people of Middle Eastern descent and other immigrants suffered increased violence sparked by racial profiling by the INS and FBI. The federal 'USA PATRIOT' anti-terrorism act and similar state measures undermine labor's right to organize and fight anti-immigrant attacks and other union-busting tactics by expanding the government's ability to detain non-citizens based on mere suspicion, to conduct telephone and internet surveillance and secret searches, and to define people engaged in political protest as 'domestic terrorists.' The national AFL-CIO's uncritical support for this profit-driven war has derailed labor opposition to increased military expenditures, corporate subsidies and government spying and provided political cover for Democrats to jump on the anti-terrorism bandwagon.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Washington State Labor Council expand its efforts to defend civil liberties by taking the following actions and urging the AFL-CIO to do the same:

Campaign for the repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act and defeat of similar "anti-terrorism" measures in state legislatures;
Pressure local and state law enforcement to refuse to cooperate with FBI spying on political, union, and anti-globalism activists or comply with INS harassment of Arabs and other immigrants and people of color in the US;
Demand the immediate release of the hundreds of Middle Eastern, Arab and other immigrants who are still being detained without due process and/or legal justification.

Be it finally resolved that the Washington State Labor Council urges the AFL-CIO and its affiliates to oppose the US government's open-ended 'war on terrorism' and participate in rallies, marches and other activities to pressure President Bush and Congress to stop the war and redirect money from corporate handouts and the military budget to assist laid-off workers."

2. The SF Labor Council opposes Iraq war and calls for the government to keep off the docks. Excerpts from its resolution here.

"The San Francisco Labor Council has for many years opposed the US bombing and sanctions against Iraq, which have resulted in dire shortages of food and medicine and contributed to the deaths of over 1,000,000 Iraqis including over 500,000 children. Now the Bush Administration is beating the drums for a new war against Iraq, despite mounting opposition to this war at home and abroad. In early 1998 the US government's drive to launch a new war against Iraq was abruptly halted by a rising opposition movement that included the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the San Francisco Labor Council and other groups... which showed that the labor movement and people's movement do have the potential to force a reversal of unjust government policies. Wasting billions of dollars on the Iraq war buildup translates into cutbacks of essential and job-producing social programs at home such as education, health care, social security and housing and threatening the rights of labor to strike and organize.

The Bush Administration's war drive has a domestic component: threatening to turn his 'endless war' against the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and as an opening wedge against the entire labor movement by threatening government intervention on the West Coast docks under the guise of 'Homeland Security,' on the side of the Pacific Maritime Association bosses and a coalition of anti-union corporate interests including WalMart and The Gap.

Therefore be it resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, reaffirms and joins the growing movement in opposition to any US war against Iraq and calls on the unions and AFL-CIO at all levels and Congressional representatives to publicly oppose this war. The SF Labor Council strongly condemns any attempt by the government, at any level, to introduce troops or otherwise intervene in the contract dispute between the ILWU and the employers, and calls on Congressional representatives to publicly oppose this interference.

Be it further resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council endorse the 'Stop-the-War' marches and rallies taking place."