On December 9,
2002, the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) unanimously adopted the
following resolution:
"Labor Needs to Take a Clear Stand Against the War." The
resolution also includes an endorsement of the January 18
National March in Washington DC and joint action in San Francisco, and of the
People's Anti-War Referendum.
------------------------------------------
RESOLUTION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO LABOR COUNCIL
Labor Needs to Take a Clear Stand
Against the War
Whereas, since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we have seen the
beginning of a relentless new assault on
labor -- from the employers, and from the government acting on their behalf; and
Whereas, using the so-called "war on terrorism" and "national
security" as a pretext, the Bush Administration has spearheaded a renewed
assault on organized labor, starting with the use of Taft-Hartley (and threats
to militarize the ports) against West Coast dockworkers...wholesale threats to
the job security and union rights of 170,000 federal workers...the racist
firings of experienced airport screeners...threats to curtail the right to
strike and organize;and the impending contracting out of hundreds of thousands
of federal jobs. On more than one occasion, government spokespersons have
referred to union actions defending our jobs, working conditions and living
standards as akin to terrorism, or as "aiding and abetting
terrorists", or as a "threat to national security"; and
Whereas, Bush's war (on Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, the Philippines, where
next?) has become the main engine for the repression of labor. "National
security", in the hands of a thoroughly anti-labor Bush Administration, is
being used as a bludgeon against labor, with the intent of rolling back all the
gains workers have won since the 1930s, including collective bargaining itself,
and including social programs championed by the labor movement like welfare,
social security, unemployment insurance; and
Whereas, a strong fight-back requires that labor make it a priority to stake out
a clear, forthright and fighting stance against Bush's war, and see the anti-war
and anti-globalization movements as our strategic allies, needed if we are to
defeat the assault on labor and move to the offensive. We got a glimpse of the
potential power of this combination during the 1999 showdown in Seattle; and
Whereas, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. embodied the coming together of the
labor, anti-war and civil rights movements during the tremendous upsurge of the
mass movement in the 1960s, and we need to revive this powerful combination of
the people's forces to defeat Bush's war and the racism that underlies it and
that it promotes; and
Whereas, our opposition to the Bush Administration's war on the Iraqi people,
and to their attacks or threats against other smaller, sovereign countries
around the globe, fits hand in glove with labor's fighting defense of the
interests of the working people of all races and nationalities here at home;
therefore be it
RESOLVED: That the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, endorse the Martin
Luther King weekend anti-war activities—the January 18, 2003 marches in San
Francisco and Washington, DC in opposition to the war on Iraq, and the
Grassroots Peace Congress being held in Washington, as well as the People's
Anti-War Referendum ["VoteNoWar"] by
which millions of Americans are casting their "votes" against this
war; and be it further
RESOLVED: That this council work to ensure that organized labor and the national
AFL-CIO take a clear and early stand against Bush's war.
-- Adopted unanimously by the San Francisco Labor Council,
December 9, 2002