Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Unions Representing 130 Million Workers Say NO to War!
Global Unions Antiwar Press Conference/Campaign
Organized by US Labor Against War
IN THIS MESSAGE
1) Introduction, by OWC Co-coordinators
2) Letter from Michael Eisenscher to the ILC
3) Unions Representing 130 Million Workers Say NO to War!: Global Labor
Press Conference Reports on International Labor Declaration Against War in
Iraq
4) International Labor Statement Opposing War Against Iraq -- initiated by
USLAW, February, 2003
5) Press Accounts of Global Labor Antiwar Phone Press Conference of Feb.
19
6) Thank You Letter from USLAW Coordinator Amy Newell to ILC
7) Reply by Daniel Gluckstein to Letter from Amy Newell
8) List of Non-US Endorsers of International Antiwar Statement Issued by
USLAW
**********
1) Introduction, by OWC Co-coordinators
On Feb. 9, 2003, the national coordinators of US Labor Against War (USLAW)
-- the newly formed coalition of unionists against the war in the United
States -- wrote a letter to Brother Daniel Gluckstein, the coordinator of
the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC),
requesting the ILC's support in obtaining endorsements from major national
unions and union federations around the world for an antiwar statement
issued by USLAW. [For more information on USLAW, please visit their
website at www.USLaborAgainstWar.org.]
The ILC was one of many coalitions solicited to help with this campaign.
As many of you may know, the ILC is a component organization of the
Continuations Committe of the Open World Conference, together with the San
Francisco Labor Council and various trade unions internationally.
For 10 days, the ILC-affiliated unions, political organizations and
activists on all continents worked tirelessly to obtain endorsements
from major unions, federations and top union officials the world over.
Brother Gluckstein, in a statement motivating support for this effort,
said that the ILC was honored to be able to participate in this vitally
important international antiwar campaign alongside the trade unionists
from the United States.
On Wednesday, February 19, some of the antiwar unions and federations that
signed onto this statement participated in a Global Telephone Press to
present the statement and the endorsements gathered in just these 10 days,
but also to highlight a few examples from all continents on why workers
oppose the U.S. war in Iraq and what they plan to do in response if this
unjust war is launched by Bush and his cronies. After making brief
statements, they responded to questions from the international press.
The ILC and OWC Continuations Committee are proud to have contributed to
gathering endorsements on this statement. We urge trade unions and labor
federations the world over to learn more about US Labor Against War (USLAW)
and to join in the struggle against this unjust and immoral war for oil
and empire that is being prepared in Iraq.
We are reprinting in this section an initial account of the global unions
antiwar press conference. We hope to have a full transcription of the
press conference call shortly.
In solidarity,
Alan Benjamin and Ed Rosario,
Co-coordinators,
OWC Continuations Committee
**********
2) Letter from Michael Eisenscher to the ILC
USLAW is circulating a statement to labor federations around the world.
The objective is to get as many as possible to sign on to this declaration
so that on February 19th it can be released at a press conference at the
UN in NY, and around the world in countries of the signatories.
Federations in other countries will be invited to send a representative to
be present at that press conference where they will join with the national
executive officers of a number of U.S. unions - to make a ringing global
declaration on behalf of the world's labor movements against the march to
war. The statement being circulated is based on the USLAW resolution and
is reproduced below.
I am writing to solicit your help in getting affiliates of the ILC and any
other federations with which you have contact to sign on to this
declaration.
This press conference is timed to immediately precede the AFL-CIO
Executive Council meeting. It also will occur on what the Administration
may intend to be the eve of the launch of war. We can have a dramatic
impact on both if we can gather a very large and broad group of labor
federation signatories. This action will have a demonstrable impact on the
deliberations at the AFL-CIO meeting and will provide important support to
the peace forces on the Executive Council.
Please let me know if you can help with this important project by
providing a list of the groups to which you are prepared to circulate the
declaration to solicit their signatures. We have very little time, so
immediate action is urgently needed.
For more information, you can also contact Bob Muehlenkamp and Gene
Bruskin, national coordinators of USLAW.
Thanks for your help.
Michael E.
********************
(reprinted from US Labor Against War website)
3) Unions Representing 130 Million Workers Say NO to War!
GLOBAL LABOR PRESS CONFERENCE REPORTS ON INTERNATIONAL LABOR DECLARATION
AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ
GLOBAL LABOR PRESS CONFERENCE REPORTS ON INTERNATIONAL LABOR DECLARATION
AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ
Over 200 unions and 550 union leaders from 53 countries representing 130
million workers have signed the International Labor Declaration circulated
by USLAW, beginning just ten days ago.
Workers of the world have spoken with a single voice, demanding that the
US abandon its militaristic threats of illegal aggression against Iraq.
They have said in unison, "Give peace a chance!"
This is the first time in history that the world's labor movements have
come together to speak with a single voice on an issue of urgent
international concern.
On Wednesday, February 19, USLAW convened an unprecedented global
telephone press conference to brief the media about the Declaration and
its signatories.
Participating in that call were representatives of major labor federations
and unions from the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Quebec, France, England,
Tunisia, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, and Italy. Each made a brief
statement about their organization's antiwar activities and expressed
their solidarity with one another in building a global labor front against
War in Iraq.
They reported on the massive participation of workers and unions in the
February 15-16 demonstrations and promised continued waves of actions in
their countries. Among the steps being taken or planned are convening
meetings with the leaders of those countries who are supporting the war,
national teach-ins at every school level in France, a call for a
world-wide meeting of teachers' unions to oppose the war, the refusal of
unions to transport war goods, work stoppages and other forms of workplace
protests, and massive demonstrations at U.S. embassies around the world if
war breaks out.
Note was taken of the meeting of the AFL-CIO General Executive Board
meeting next week in Florida. A number of major national affiliates such
as CWA and AFSCME, have adopted resolutions which they intend to submit
for discussion. As additional resolutions are adopted almost daily by
union bodies around the country, pressure is building on the Federation to
adopt a clear antiwar position.
The unions agreed to continue to communicate and coordinate strategies and
activities, as this effort represented just the first of many steps that
will be taken together to demonstrate broad popular opposition to war.
The press conference was broadcast in real time on the World Wide Web. A
recording of it will be posted shortly on the USLAW Website at .
PARTICIPANTS ON CALL:
Australia: Sharan Burrows, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions
Australia: Leigh Hubbard, Victorian Hall Trades Council, ACTU
Brazil: Julio Turra, National Executive Director, CUT Federation
Canada: Judy Darcy, National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees
(CUPE)
Canada: Carol Phillips, Director of the International Dept., Canadian Auto
Workers (CAW)
Canada: Debra Bourque, President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
France: Paul Barbier, General Secretary of Education & Culture Dept.,
Force Ouvriere (FO)
Italy: Enzo Bernardo, Director of the International Dept., CGIL, Funzione
Pubbblica
Mexico: Francisco Hernandez Juarez, Co-President, UNT
Middle East (Northern Africa): Djeman Hacene, General Secretary,
International Confederation of Arab Unions
Pakistan: Rubina Jamil, President, All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation
Quebec: Claire Lalande, International Dept., CSQ
UK: Mick Rix, General Secretary, Assc. Society of Locomotive Engineers and
Firemen
USA: Larry Cohen, Executive Vice President, Communications Workers of
America, AFL-CIO
USA: Bob Muehlenkamp, National Co-Convenor of USLAW and former Organizing
Director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
USA: Gene Bruskin, National Co-Convenor of USLAW
USA: Amy Newell, Former Business Manager, Monterey Bay Labor Council, now
national organizer for USLAW
Messages were also read from ZENROREN of Japan and KCTU of South Korea
For continuing news on these and other labor antiwar developments, check
the USLAW website (www.uslaboragainstwar.org) frequently.
********************
4) International Labor Statement Opposing War Against Iraq
February, 2003
On the eve of a threatened war against Iraq, we, trade unionists from
around the world, join with U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the
U.S. unions, representing more than 4 million workers, who have opposed
this war.
As trade unionists we have the responsibility to inform all working people
about issues that affect their lives, jobs and families, and to be heard
in the international debate on these issues.
We oppose a US led war against Iraq for many reasons.
There is no evident purpose for this war that we can support. There is no
convincing link between Iraq and Al Qaeda or the attacks on Sept. 11, and
neither the Bush administration nor the UN inspections have demonstrated
that Iraq poses a real threat to Americans and other nations.
It is clear that military action in Iraq will actually increase the
likelihood of retaliatory terrorist acts around the world against Western
targets.
This action against Iraq by the U.S. military and others nations that may
join them, threatens the peaceful resolution of disputes among states,
jeopardizing the safety and security of the entire world.
We know that the principal victims of any military action in Iraq will be
the sons and daughters of working class families who serve in the military
forces and innocent Iraqi civilians who have already suffered so much.
We have no quarrel with the ordinary working class men, women and children
of Iraq, or any other country.
We oppose the spending of billions of dollars to stage and execute this
war when our nations need money for education, healthcare, housing, and
other basic needs.
We oppose the use of this war, and the threat of war, as pretext for
attacks on labor, civil, immigrant and human rights in the United States
and in other nations.
We believe Bush's drive for war serves as a cover and distraction for the
sinking U.S. economy, corporate corruption, and layoffs.
As representatives of the labor movement around the world, we have long
had an historic role in fighting for justice. We urge our members to
actively protest this war. At the onset of the 21st Century we join with
the vast majority of the people of the world who seek a better life and
who yearn for a peaceful resolution to this and other international
disputes.
US Labor Against the War
**********
5) Press Accounts of Global Labor Antiwar Press Conference
David Bacon, a well-known labor reporter based in the San Francisco Bay
Area, was one of the many journalists on the antiwar unions global press
conference phone call on Wednesday, Feb. 19th organized by US Labor
Against War.. He writes:
GLOBAL LABOR REJECTS AN IRAQ WAR
By DAVID BACON
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (2/19/03) -- After a weekend of demonstrations involving
over 10 million people worldwide, protesting an impending US war on Iraq,
opposition to the Bush plan in many countries is hardly a question. But US
military action may have political costs that go far beyond rising
unpopularity. Particularly among unions in many countries, opposition may
take a much more concrete form.
On Wednesday, over 200 unions, on all five continents, representing over
130 million members, agreed on a joint statement rejecting a war in Iraq.
That declaration questions the US rationale, saying no convincing link
exists between the terrorist attacks of September 11 and Iraq's Saddam
Hussein, nor evidence for immediate threats from weapons of mass
destruction. Unions signing the statement point out that such a war would
be fought overwhelmingly by the sons and daughters of workers, and they
assert that war hysteria is being used as a pretext for attacks on labor,
and to mask the effects of a sinking economy worldwide. The appeal ends by
calling on labor to organize opposition in every country.
Such an appeal is unprecedented. During the Vietnam War, the majority of
US unions supported involvement until it was almost over. While unions in
other countries voiced opposition, there was no common front, much less
one organized at the initiative of US labor. The appeal made Wednesday was
initiated by US Labor Against the War, a growing coalition including at
least five major national unions, three state labor federations, and many
locals and labor councils.
That appeal is not simply a flowery statement, but groups together unions
who have already taken action. In Britain, where opposition is sharpest,
unions have squared off against the support of the Labor government of
Tony Blair for an Iraq invasion. On January 9, two train engineers refused
to climb into the cab of a locomotive and pull a train from Glasgow to the
Glen Douglas military base on Scotland's west coast, the largest weapons
store in NATO.
The incident electrified British workers. Not only were the two supported
by their union, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and
Firemen, but the union's general secretary warned Wednesday that those
actions would multiply in the event of war. "We do expect more
refusals," predicted Mick Rix. He added that the bylaws of the
British Trade Union Congress call for an immediate meeting in the event of
war, a provision dating from 1918, when many unions sought to prevent the
entry of European countries into World War One. "The TUC must be
convened, so that industrial action can be considered," Rix warned.
This isn't an idle threat. Already five of Britain's largest and most
strategically placed unions have openly defied Blair, and some call for
his ouster, even at the cost of the Labour Party's grip on power. It is
just one sign of the growing gulf that now divides British unions, not
just from the prime minister, but from the party they created decades ago.
In Italy, where unions organized a turnout of over three million people in
the streets of Rome over the weekend (the largest demonstration since the
end of World War Two), the leftwing General Confederation of Italian
Workers (CGIL) made a similar threat. On Tuesday the union's executive
council declared its intention of calling a general strike in the event of
hostilities.
Italy's unions are locked in bitter conflict with the rightwing government
of media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, who has strongly supported the Bush
war policy. Enzo Bernardo, director of CGIL's International Department,
explained Wednesday that "the big majority of Italians, not just
workers, are against the war. We know terrorism in our country," he
added, "and this war has nothing to do with resolving it. Our
government does not speak for the Italian people."
Pakistani trade union leader Rubina Jamil, President of the All-Pakistan
Trade Union Federation joined the call Wednesday. Her federation
represents over 5 million Pakistani workers who, she emphasized, are
already familiar with the cost of US military action in Afghanistan, which
they oppose. "This war is only for oil," she declared, and
threatened that her federation would organize mass demonstrations,
including hunger strikes, in front of the US embassy and consulates when
any invasion begins. In Pakistan the US depends on the increasingly
unpopular regime of President Pervez Musharraf to support its continuing
hunt for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, and mass labor demonstrations
against an Iraq war would create huge political problems. Joining in the
declaration of international labor opposition was Djeman Hacene, general
secretary of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, who
agreed with Jamil that the objective of intervention in Iraq was the
pursuit of oil.
Among supporters of the international labor declaration, sentiment is
sharpest in those countries where governments have aligned themselves with
the Bush administration. The trade union federation of Australia, where
Prime Minister Ron Howard has been one of Bush's most vociferous
supporters, declared it was "ashamed" of his actions. "He
has no mandate from our people," declared Sharon Burrows, the
federation's president. She also threatened industrial action in the event
of war.
Many rejectionist labor federations represent a much greater percentage of
workers in their countries than unions do in the US, and can exact a price
for political support. In the German elections, unions supported Gerhard
Schroeder in his successful reelection bid, when he campaigned against
Bush's military policy. Schroeder's victory indicates that other
governments also may survive or fall based on their support for war. The
political map of many countries could easily be redrawn by bitter labor
battles breaking out in factories, ports and railway terminals at the
start of an Iraq invasion. In some of those countries, like Britain and
Italy, industrial battles may provoke a political realignment, and support
for Bush may cost those governments their hold on power.
-----
Information Bulletin nš 181 of Brazilian CUT reports:
Unionists from around the world against the war
Julio Turra, a leading member of the National Executive Commission of the
CUT [Unified Trade Union Federation of Brazil], represented Brazilian
unionists in the international conference of unionists against war, this
Wednesday February 19th. The Conference was held by telephone. The
statement against the war that was made public was supported by some 200
unionists from 53 countries, representing more than 130 million workers.
Among the union officers on the phone press conference, besides Brazil,
were trade union leaders from Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, France, the
United States, Canada, Quebec, Australia and Pakistan. A leader of the
International Confederation of Arab Unions also participated.
"It is the first time that trade unions from around the world unite
to discuss such an important foreign policy question", said Larry
Cohen, vice president of the Communication Workers of America, the U.S.
trade union hosting the Conference. Brother Cohen spoke on behalf of
US Labor Against the War, which initiated this international campaign.
Participants made the commitment to continue mobilising workers against
war and pledged to build actions greater than those of last February 15th
in case the USA and Britain attack Iraq.
**********
6) Thank You Letter from USLAW Coordinator Amy Newell to ILC
[The following letters was sent by US Labor Against the War leader Amy
Newell to Daniel Gluckstein, International Liaison Committee coordinator,
following the successful international phone press conference and outreach
campaign.]
Dear Daniel and others associated with the ILC:
All of us with U.S. Labor Against the War want to thank you for the
incredible assistance you provided in obtaining endorsements for the
International Labor Declaration Against the War on Iraq.
Words are inadequate to express the profound gratitude we feel for the
super-human effort you expended during these past ten days. The results
you achieved were astounding! As you know, the effort culminated today in
a very successful international telephone call and press conference to
announce world-wide labor support for the International Declaration. This
simply would not have been possible on anything like the scale we achieved
without you and the ILC! You must have been working around the clock
making international contacts, doing the translations, communicating all
of this back to Alan Benjamin and, through him, to all of us at U.S. Labor
Against the War.
Please accept our deepest THANKS. And we look forward to hearing you
thoughts and suggestions for how we can continue building this global
movement of working people against the war on Iraq.
In Peace & Solidarity -- Amy Newell, U.S. Labor Against the War
**********
7) Reply by Daniel Gluckstein to Amy Newell
Dear Amy,
Bravo for the success of the international press conference! It marks an
important step toward bringing together all the forces in the labour
movement on a world scale in the struggle against the unjust war the Bush
administration seeks to unleash against the people of Iraq.
The expression of thanks that you and the organisers of USLAW address to
the International Liaison Committee are not necessary. As Alan Benjamin
explained in the message he sent you recounting the origins and goals of
the ILC, we in the ILC have no other purpose than to aid in promoting the
common action against war and in defence of workers' and peoples' rights
waged by all the unions, organisations, groups, and currents that were
constituted the world over as organisations independent of the bosses, the
governments, the States and the large international financial institutions
such as the IMF, the WTO, the World Bank, etc.
If the ILC was helpful in this important international initiative launched
by USLAW, it's simply because it carried out what it was founded to do.
It is now our intention to publish the full transcript of the global
unions' press conference, accompanied by the USLAW declaration itself and
the full list of signatories, in the International Newsletter published in
seven languages by the International Liaison Committee. We feel that the
publication of these materials will be exremely useful in broadening and
deepening the movement against war within the international labour
movement, so that we can stop the disaster they are preparing.
In the event that, despite all our best efforts across the globe, we are
not successful in preventing the war, we in the ILC, for our part, have
called for mass demonstrations the day of an invasion of Iraq in front of
all U.S. embassies and consulates around the world. Do you think this is a
proposal that might be embraced and promoted by USLAW?
As you may know from our common friend Alan, I often have the occasion to
travel to the United States to meet with the U.S. members of the
Continuations Committee of the Open World Conference -- either in San
Francisco or in Washington, D.C., where one member of our Continuations
Committee, Nancy Wohlforth, is now the national secretary-treasurer of the
Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
I would be very pleased to be able to meet with the coordinators of USLAW
during one of my future trips to the United States, so that we can
exchange views on how best to advance the struggle against war and in
defence of workers' interests. If this sounds like a good idea to you,
please let me know.
It goes without saying that the ILC remains fully at your disposal to
pursue any campaign or initiative deemed necessary to advance the cause
for peace.
In the coming days, which without a doubt will be decisive for the future
of humanity, please know that you can count on the unconditional support
and participation of the International Liaison Committee and all the
organisations and currents that support its activities in the struggle for
peace, democracy and the defence of the independence of the labour
movement.
Yours in solidarity,
Daniel Gluckstein,
Coordinator,
International Liaison Committee