Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Open Letter to the Organizers of the Sept. 14 Antiwar Rallies in
the United States
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
The International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC) has
learned that on September 14 in San Francisco and other cities across the
United States you have called on working people and youth to mobilize in
the streets behind the banner of "No New War Against Iraq!"
We have noted, in particular, that in San Francisco the call for the march
and rally was issued jointly by the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO),
the International A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, and ILWU Local 10, which is
currently facing an anti-union onslaught at the hands of the PMA
employers' association.
We are in total agreement with your rally appeal, which states:
"After the devastating Gulf War, which killed 200,000 Iraqis, and 12
years of genocidal sanctions which have taken the lives of over 1.5
million Iraqi civilians, the Bush administration is trying to launch a new
all-out military aggression against Iraq. Bush and his fellow corporate
cronies are also trying to turn their 'endless war' on workers, using the
cover of 'Homeland Security' to justify government intervention in the
labor movement. We must stop them in their tracks! On Sept. 14 join people
across the U.S. to demand:
* Government Hands Off Our Unions!
* Defend Civil Rights and Civil Liberties!
* Stop Racist Scapegoating!
* Money for Jobs, Healthcare, Housing, Schools -- NOT for War!"
The ILC sends its fraternal greetings to all those who, this September 14,
are demonstrating across the United States around these antiwar slogans.
The ILC also salutes the trade unions, such as the San Francisco Labor
Council and the Washington State AFL-CIO, which in recent days have
adopted resolutions linking their rejection of a new war in Iraq with a
steadfast determination to defend all the rights and gains of the U.S.
working class.
In this vein, the ILC salutes the West Coast dockworkers, organized in the
ILWU, who are standing strong in defense of their collective-bargaining
agreement -- against the union-busting assault of the PMA, backed by
threats of government intervention in their contract dispute. The ILWU is
right: In the United States and in every country, the government has no
business intervening in the trade unions. We join you in stating, loud and
clear: Government Hands Off the Docks!
On September 12, U.S. President George Bush addressed the United Nations'
General Assembly and called on all the world's governments to line up
behind the military intervention the U.S. government is preparing against
Iraq. The pretexts for waging this war of aggression presented by Bush --
and, for that matter, by all who follow in his step such as the Blairs,
Chiracs, Kofi Annans and others -- are nothing but lies. It is a known
fact, hidden though it may be by the media, that the U.S. administration
has been pressed for some time now by the major multinational oil
companies to intervene against Iraq. Hence, it is no accident that no
sooner had Bush declared that he sought UN backing before intervening that
the price of oil dropped abruptly on the world market this past September
12.
The international working class movement, however, understands what a new
war would entail. Not only would it lead to a bloodbath of the Iraqi
people, who have already been decimated by a 12-year deadly embargo, it
would signify increased hardships and attacks on working people the world
over -- including in the United States itself.
It would signify -- in every corner of the globe -- even greater attacks
on democratic rights and civil liberties, and even greater threats against
any and all unions that dare to stand up in defense of the rights of their
members.
You should know that already thousands upon thousands of workers in
Pakistan demonstrated behind the banners of the All Pakistan Trade Union
Federation (APTUF) on September 9 in the streets of Lahore in support of
the same demands around which you are mobilizing in the United States.
Likewise, in Europe, trade union activists of all political persuasions
and backgrounds, as well as workers and youth, reject massively the
threats of a new and destructive war against Iraq.
In Great Britain, for example -- at the initiative of Labour Party Members
of Parliament as well as of trade union bodies at all levels, union
militants and political organizations -- a mass antiwar march is being
organized on September 28th by the Labour Against War and Stop the War
coalitions. Reflecting the mass antiwar sentiment that exists among the
British people and working class,hundreds of delegates to the recent Trade
Union Congress (TUC) convention protested loudly when Tony Blair called on
them to support the war against Iraq.
This is why we salute your demonstrations. And this is why we wish to
inform you that the International Liaison Committee for a Workers'
International (ILC) is calling upon the trade unionists, activists and
organizations that are affiliated with the ILC in 71 countries on all
continents to step up their efforts -- in the manner they judge most
appropriate -- against the war and in defense of workers' and democratic
rights!
- Say No to War!
- The unity of working people across the globe will bring peace!
We wish to conclude by inviting a representative of your September 14
demonstration to come to France to express his/her point of view on the
impending war at a rally against the war and in defense of labor and
democratic rights, which we are organizing on Friday, September 27, 2002
at 8 p.m. at the Mutualité Hall in Paris.
In solidarity,
Daniel Gluckstein,
Coordinator,
International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC)
- Paris, September 14, 2002
cc. All unions, labor & democratic rights' organizations and unionists
and activists affiliated with the ILC around the world