Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
1)
Greetings from Brazil and Bolivia
2)
Greetings from Julio Turra (Brazil) and Edgar Ramirez (Bolivia)
3)
Greetings from The CUT Trade Union Federation -- Brazil
4) Greetings
from Japan
5) Greetings
from Sri Lanka
6)
Greetings from Stop the War Coalition -- Canada
7)
Greetings from NUPGE -- Canada
8)
Greetings from CGT Trade Union Federation -- Brazil
9) Greetings
from Bangladesh
10) Greetings from India
11 )Greetings from Pakistan
12) Greetings
from Algeria
13) Greetings
from Germany
14)
Greetings (in Spanish) from World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
15)
Greetings (in Spanish) from Mexico
**************************
1) GREETINGS FROM BRAZIL AND BOLIVIA
(Cover Letter and Greetings from Julio Turra, CUT, Brazil)
October 23, 2003
La Paz, Bolivia
Attention: USLAW Coordinators
Dear Amy Newell, Bob Muehlenkamp, Michael Eisenscher, Gene Bruskin and
Alan Benjamin:
For the past few days I have been in La Paz, Bolivia, where -- as you
surely know -- the powerful movement of the Bolivian workers and people
has led to the resignation of former President "Goni" Lozada. I
was dispatched to Bolivia to express the solidarity of the Brazilian trade
union movement with the fighting trade union federation and workers of
Bolivia.
Unfortunately, I will have to remain in Bolivia till October 27th, which
means I will be unable to participate, as I had hoped, in the National
Labor Assembly for Peace in Chicago on October 24-25.
I will be meeting later today with one of the historic leaders of the
Bolivian trade union movement: Edgar "Huracán" Ramirez. He is
the General Secretary-Emeritus of the National Mineworkers Federation and
of the COB trade union federation of Bolivia. We will be preparing a joint
message to your Assembly in Chicago. We ask that you please read this
letter to the delegates assembled at your gathering.
I urge you to please excuse my absence from your Assembly, but I trust you
will understand the emergency situation in Bolivia that has prevented me
from joining you in Chicago. I appreciate your understanding.
I am sending you as an attachment a message of greetings to the USLAW
Labor Assembly for Peace from the President of the CUT, Brother Luiz
Marinho, and from his General Secretary, Brother João Felício, both of
whom, in the name of the 9 million members of the CUT trade union
federation in Brazil and all its affiliates, salute your Assembly and wish
it the greatest success.
I send my best wishes to all of you and join with Brothers Marinho and
Felicio in wishing your Assembly full success.
In Solidarity,
Julio Turra
National Executive Director, CUT
Member, CUT Collective on International Relations
****************
2) GREETINGS FROM JULIO TURRA (BRAZIL) AND EDGAR RAMIREZ
(BOLIVIA)
[Note: This letter was read to the Assembly delegates.]
La Paz, Bolivia
October 24, 2003
Dear Sisters and Brothers Gathered at the
USLAW National Labor Assembly for Peace:
We send you greetings from La Paz, Bolivia, where the people -- through
the heroic mobilizations and national general strike waged under the
slogan, "Bolivia Is Not For Sale" -- forced President Goni
Sanchez de Lozada to resign.
We firmly believe -- as do trade unionists around the world -- that the
struggle you are carrying out as USLAW in the U.S. trade union movement
against the war of aggression and occupation of Iraq by the Bush
administration has given a tremendous boost to all of us who, throughout
Latin America, are victims of the same imperial interests that are
destroying nations across the globe to plunder our resources in the
interest of a tiny corporate minority.
The fight you are waging against your government's "war at home"
-- that is, its attacks on working people in the United States --
represents a call to working people around the world not to relent in our
struggle for justice and self-determination.
Bush's war policies on our continent continue in the form of the
stepped-up attempt to impose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
via all the submissive governments of the region, such as that of Goni
Sanchez de Lozada in Bolivia.
For this reason, the mass insurrectional upsurge of the Bolivian people,
led by the Bolivian Workers Federation (COB) and the Bolivian Peasants
Federation (CSUTCB) and organized through popular assemblies and councils,
has represented a blow to the interests of the Bush administration and the
multinational corporations -- all of which backed the Goni government till
the very end and have now provided him a "golden" retirement in
Miami.
During the past few days of this conflict, the international press has
announced that the Pentagon has sent a contingent of Green Berets to
Bolivia to "protect" the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. Everything
indicates that the U.S. government is strongly considering sending U.S.
troops to Bolivia under the pretext of "combating drug
trafficking" -- much like they did in Iraq using the pretext of
"weapons of mass destruction."
That is why we are calling on your Assembly and all its affiliated unions
and labor organizations to remain alert and prepared to mobilize against
any and all U.S. troops in Bolivia or any other form of intervention by
the U.S. government in the internal affairs of the Bolivian people.
We wish your Assembly the greatest success, and we join you and the U.S.
labor movement in supporting the national AFL-CIO leadership's public
campaign to stop the FTAA. This is a treaty designed to further destroy
our national economies, which is why it is encountering such strong
resistance from working people across the continent, including in the
United States itself. The uprising of the Bolivian people these past weeks
was in essence an uprising against the FTAA.
We hope you will join us in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec. 12-14, 2003, for
the Western Hemisphere Workers Conference Against the FTAA. Join us in
charting a fightback plan for 2004 so that together we can defeat the FTAA.
- Down with Bush's policies of war!
- Let us unite across the continent to stop the FTAA!
- Long live the strugggle for justice and liberation of working people on
all continents!
Julio Turra,
National Executive Director
Unified Workers Confederation of Brazil (CUT),
Brazil
Edgar Ramirez Santiesteban,
General Secretary Emeritus,
National Federation of Mineworkers of Bolivia
General Secretary Emeritus,
Bolivian Workers Federation (COB)
***********************
3) GREETINGS FROM THE CUT TRADE UNION FEDERATION (BRAZIL)
Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 21, 2003
Dear Sisters and Brothers of USLAW:
We thank you for the invitation you sent to the Central Única dos
Trabalhadores (United Workers Federation of Brazil, or CUT) through our
National Executive Director, Julio Turra, requesting that we send a
representative from our federation to USLAW's National Labor Assembly for
Peace in Chicago on October 24-25.
Unfortunately, due to our packed calendar of activities in Brazil and the
emergency trip of Brother Julio Turra to Bolivia, we will not be able to
be present physically at your gathering, but we wish to convey our message
of solidarity to all the delegates present in your Assembly.
Indeed, we value tremendously the activity that USLAW has carried out
during this terrible period of the war of aggression by the Bush
administration against the people of Iraq -- a war that has been extended
with the U.S.-led occupation of that war-torn country. Your leadership in
this antiwar effort within the labor movement has brought great honor to
the labor movement the world over.
As you know, the CUT was among the various international trade union
federations that participated in the International Internet Labor Press
Conference last February, organized by USLAW, to present an International
Labor Statement Against the War. Be assured that you can continue to count
on us to join you in the struggle for a world without war, a world in
which the voices of working people will be heard and their interests will
prevail.
The CUT will be participating next November in Miami in the activities
organized to fight the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This fight
has been strengthened immeasurably on a continental level by the AFL-CIO
leadership's decision to launch a mass petition campaign to "Stop the
FTAA! No More NAFTAs!" addressed to the Foreign Ministers who will be
gathered in Miami.
This stance by the AFL-CIO has reinforced the struggle which the CUT is
waging in Brazil against the FTAA -- a struggle that in September 2002
witnessed more than 10 million votes by Brazilian working people in a
Popular Plebiscite in opposition to this attempt to impose a NAFTA-like
treaty on the peoples of the Americas.
We wish you full success in your Assembly deliberations and in the
follow-up work that will result from your gathering. Your struggle and
your successes are ours, too.
Please convey our best greetings to all Assembly participants.
Long Live the Struggle of Workers and Peoples Against War and For Peace!
Luiz Marinho
President,
CUT Workers Federation
Brazil
João Antônio Felício
General Secretary,
CUT Workers Federation
Brazil
********************
4) GREETINGS FROM JAPAN
(Solidarity Statement to the National Labor Assembly for Peace)
Dear Brothers and Sisters
We, Doro-Chiba, wish to send herewith our sincere solidarity statement to
the National Labor Assembly for Peace convened by U.S. Labor Against War.
Now Japan has stepped on the road to war again by formation of 'emergency'
(which means war itself) related 3 laws. On October 17, the warmonger
Koizumi promised positively another big warmonger Bush to contribute 1.5
billion U.S. dollars for fiscal 2004 to 'reconstruction' of Iraq and to
send the Self-defense Force as active-duty troops within this year.
We railroad workers are going to be forced to obey government's order in
the wartime as 'designated public organization'. And simultaneously,
merciless attack of sacrificing workers like mere worms is being made on
us.
The worldwide control by U.S. in the name of 'globalism' has brought war,
poverty and big unemployment to the workers. We need international joint
struggle to break through and do away with such present conditions across
the borders. Above all things, to stop immediately occupation of Iraq and
Afganistan, and to block the war of aggression to North Korea by
Bush-Koizumi, we are firmly determined to fight on in Japan, withstanding
any oppression with our full strength.
To lay the foundation of this joint struggle, it is quite important to
develop strong labor coalition in U.S. We are deeply impressed by and
support strongly that all of U.S. workers are fighting on jointly to
protest against the war. What workers should acquire is the world. Let’Äôs
keep on fighting for the common victory!
- A great success of the National Labor Assembly for Peace on October 24
to 26!
- Long live the solidarity of U.S. workers and Japan workers!
PS: The following resolution and flyer shows what Doro-Chiba is now
fighting for.
October 22, 2003
In Solidarity
TANAKA Yasuhiro (Y. Tanaka)
The Chair of Doro-Chiba
(The National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba)
********************
5) GREETINGS FROM SRI LANKA
Dear Brother Michael Eisencher and Delegates to USLAW Assembly,
It is a great pleasure to have received the e-mail from OWC on the
proposed NLA for Peace Conference to be held from October 24-26, 2003.
Your mail was received by us this afternoon (Sri Lanka Time 22-10-2003).
It is also a great pleasure to hear that this conference is dedicated to
peace and against war.
The Lanka General Services Union endorse your endeavor to develop a strong
World Labour Coalition against war and war policy of the Bush
Administration and its allies both at home and abroad.
This Union is of the view that the scope of such a coalition should be
expanded against the current glamorization of the capital which adversely
affects the labour in both the South as well as the North - the developed
and underdeveloped countries- in particular, and the entire humanity in
general.
This Union Stresses that to achieve peace, first pre condition is stomping
the manufacture and sales of Armed. Unless a control of this is in place
to a maximum possible extent, peace cannot be assured.
At the same time we cannot be unmindful of the devastating religious
fundamentalism often going handing hand with rabid nationalism which has
made no lesser contribution to the escalation of ethnic war and
hostilities in various part of the world and also ethnocide in some parts.
We of Sri Lanka have a long historical experience of this-which, we dare
say, has divided a once united labour movement of Sri Lanka, among others.
Finally, this Union conveys its warm and solidarity greetings to the
delegates to the Assembly and it sincerely hope that the conference will
be fully geared to developing a pragmatic world labour coalition against
war; World Peace, and to ridding the humanity of the grips of the war
lords.
Sincerely,
Executive Board,
Lanka General Services Union
Sri Lanka
*******************
6) GREETINGS FROM STOP THE WAR COALITION -- CANADA
October 22, 2003
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
On behalf of StopWar.ca, our broad based Peace/Anti-War coalition across
Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, comprising some 160 labour,
community, solidarity, students and religious organizations, please extend
our heartfelt solidarity to the delegates to the National Assembly for
Peace in Chicago this weekend, October 24 - 26, 2003. Our own
organizational life goes back to our first Peace/Anti-War demonstration
November 17th, 2002 which saw some 15,000 British Columbians speak out
against the illegal U.S. war on the people of Iraq and led to the
formation of StopWar.ca. Please feel free to check out our website by the
same name, http://www.stopwar.ca
We have been very active since in organizing numerous educational,
demonstrations both large and small, a Peace Camp at the U.S. Consulate
here in Vancouver, film showings, speaking at organizational meetings and
much more. In all of our work labour has and continues to be central to
our organizing efforts, as it must if we are to succeed in changing the
body politic in our respective nations to an agenda of peace and
development rather than war and conquest.
We are heartened by the work of USLAW and other courageous Americans who
speak truth to power and say, without equivocation, 'the king has no
clothes, his reign is illegitimate, he beggars both his subjects and his
foes'. Never before has the common perception of the United States
government been so low, so painfully stripped of any veil of decency and
legitimacy. Never before have designs of empire been more obvious. Only
the wilfully blind accept the Bush war doctrine at face value. Only the
wilfully deaf fail to hear the cries of Iraqi, Afghani and Palestinian
men, women and children punished for the simple 'crime' of living. Only
the wilfully dumb fail to speak out against such injustice. We applaud
USLAW for your clear sight, your keen hearing and your strong voice!
May your National Assembly for Peace be substantial step forward in
advancing the Peace and Anti-War agenda in the United States and around
the world.
In Solidarity,
Jef Keighley,
Co-Chair, StopWar.ca
& Canadian Auto Workers National Representative
cc. StopWar.ca Coordinating Committee
********************
7) GREETINGS FROM NUPGE -- CANADA
October 22, 2003.
Michael Eisenscher Co-ordinator National Labor Assembly for Peace Chicago,
Illinois
Dear Brother Eisenscher and Delegates to USLAW Assembly:
The National Union of Public and General Employees wants to send a message
of solidarity to the delegates to the National Labor Assembly for Peace in
Chicago on October 24-26.
One of the most exciting developments during the world-wide mobilizations
in opposition to a war against Iraq has been the increased presence of
workers and the trade union movement. In almost every nation, on every
continent, workers took a stand for peace and justice. In particular, I
want to commend all of you, activists in the US labor movement, for the
leadership shown in opposing the military aggression.
I am pleased to say that the National Union was one of the signatories to
USLAW's international declaration in opposition to the war. This was a
historic moment for the world's trade union movement and will lead to many
more. As the occupation of Iraq continues we are seeing an escalation of
violence around the world. The children of workers, many of whom are our
members, are risking their lives for the political and economic gain of a
small elite. We must struggle together to bring home the troops, end the
occupation and build a just world that is free of war.
During a large strike by my union the slogan "No Justice No
Peace" was adopted. I believe that this is a fundamental truth. Peace
will only come to the world when justice prevails. The National Union
looks forward to continuing the struggle for a just world alongside our
sisters and brothers in the US. Best wishes during your conference.
In Solidarity,
James Clancy
National President,
National Union of Public and General Employees
Nepean, ON, Canada
********************
8) GREETINGS FROM CGT TRADE UNION FEDERATION -- BRAZIL
Congratulations to National Labor Assembly for Peace
and the USLAW Conference
Congratulations to Answer International -Vote No War
From Central Geral dos Trabalhadores
Maria Pimentel, Secretary ffor International Relations
Rua Mario de Andrade, 61/2º Andar
01154-060 - São Paulo / SP - Brasil
São Paulo, October 24, 2003
Dear Friends,
Unfortunately it was not possible for us to write to you earlier. However,
we cannot fail to salute you for the very important initiatives of you
brothers and sisters for the promotion of peace and for the end of the
occupation of Iraq.
We firmly believe that, for the advance of this struggle of all peoples
against exploitation, it is indispensable that the North American people
understand the true character of the anti-American policies of the Bush
government. In this sense you fill a fundamental role inn the struggle of
the peoples for a better and more just world.
Today, when the Iraqi people struggle with much heroism to expel the
invaders and prevent the installation of an American protectorate in Iraq,
and Syria, Iran and Palestine continue being menaced by ithe U.S.proposaal
to "remodel" the Near East , the demonstrations in the U.S.
demanding the immediate return of the troops are a patriotic act and an
act of solidarity, since at the same time that it rescues the true ideals
of the North American people it reinforces the Iraqi resistance and that
of the other peoples of Latin America and the world who struggle for
self-determination and the economic and social development of their
peoples.
Also, in Brazil, in every concrete act, we seek to make clear to the
workers what the real interests of the North American government are. In
spite of tryiing to sell through the media the image of a great defender
of "democracy', of "human rights' and of struggle against
"the drug traffic", the White House is the true international
center of terrorism.
- No one can forget what happened in Vietnam where, in the name of
democracy, the assassinated one million civilians.
- At the same time that they talk of a war against the drug traffic to
"justify"
their invasions, they support the gangs of drug traffickers when they want
to impose their domination on a sovereign country, as was the case with
the "contras" in Nicaragua, or more recently with the Albanian
"rebels" (ELK drug traffic) in Yugoslavia to impose their
control over the "Balkans through the so-called "surgical
war" which bombed schools, hospitals, asylums, among others and
killed more than 10,000 civilians.
- one can forget the assassinations of leaders like Patrice Lumumba,
Samora Michel, Malcom X, Martin Luther King and the attack on the very
president, Kennedy.
- Also it can not be forgotten that it is the White Househ which supports
and finances the invasion of Palestine and the occupation of the Arab
territories by the terrorist state of Israel.
In Iraq, beside the constant bombing with depleted uranium which causes
contamination of the soil and the water causing fatal illnesses,
principally of children, the North American government also finances
groups of "collaborators" who work diretly with the CIA against
the Iraqi people. It is this which is condemned by a group of resisters in
their international open letter ( www.neravt.com/left/war/cadre1.html
) in which they state that for a long time these collaborators worked
actively with the USA, whuich finances them, and that "since 1993
they worked directly with the CIA against the Iraqi people".
The gigantic demonstrations against the war, the successive defeats which
the Iraqi people is imposing on the powers of the Anglo-American axis, are
evidence for all the world and for the North Amereican people themselves
that Bush distorted the facts with frauds and lies to manipulate public
opinion to launch a war to appropriate the petroleum, the hydraulic
resources and transform Iraq into a base of mllitary operations in the
region of the Gulf.
The CGTB, (General Central of the Workers of Brazil), was twice in Iraq
bringing the solidarity of the Brazilian workers to the GFTU (General
Federation of Trade Unions from Iraq) and the Iraqi workers. We were able
to know first hand the effects of the 12 years of economic blockade and
pillage which took the lives of more than 1 million and a half Iraqis and
of the bombing with depleted uranium. We know first haand also the will of
the Iraqi people to confront the invaders and struggle to guarantee their
sovereignty, preserve their history and their culture and reject whatever
army oif occupation.
For these reasons the CGTB firmly supports the struggle of the Iraqi
people to expel the invaders and prevent the Bush government from
continuing with its threats to all peoples who have an independent policy
and don't accept submission. In the same manner we want to demonstrate
also our total suppport for the brothers and sisters who, with courage and
determination, organize mobilization inside the United States against the
occupation of Iraq, carrying forward the struggle for pleace, justice,
self-deternination of peoples and cooperation between sovereign nations.
The war of the peoples is against hunger in the world!
All support to the Iraqi resistance!
For an end to the occupation of Iraq!
For the immediate exit of the invading troops!
No to war!
Resources for Jobs, Health and Education!
With the fraternal greetings of the CGTB
Maria Pimentel, Secretary of International Relations
Central Geral dosTrabalhadores - Brasil
*********************
9) GREETINGS FROM BANGLADESH
Dear Comrades, Friends,
Brothers & Sisters of USLAW,
On the occasion of your historic gathering in Chicago against an unjust
war of occupation in Iraq, we congratulate you for this bold initiative.
Invasion and occupation of Iraq has thrown the civilization centuries
back. Mutual respect for nations and national boundaries has been proved
to be useless. Status of sovereign states ignored. The invaders are still
not ashamed when it has proved beyond all doubts that the story of
"weapons of mass destruction" is totally false and concocted.
For whom these blood bath in Iraq and Afghanistan, for whom the working
class of United States are paying heavily, for whom American soldIers are
being sacrificed everyday? It is for the corporate capital only. The
present ruling clique of America is a group of slaves at the hand of
loompen corporate capital and oil tycoons. They are ready to do any thing
and every thing for the benefit of their masters. Bush's "never
ending war" is against the whole working class of the globe for
unhindered super-exploitation by the capitalists.
Our total solidarity with your initiatives. We wish success of your
campaign. We believe that only you can persuade the U.S. administration to
bring back the soldIers and "hands off from Iraq and
Afghanistan"
Sincerely yours,
Tafazzul Hussain
President,
BANGLADESH JATIYO SRAMIK FEDERATION"
(Bangladesh National Workers Federation)
BJSF.
Zakir Hossain
General Secretary. BJSF
Ms. Shamim Ara
Convener,
Democratic Women Organization,
Bangladesh
Delwar Hossain
General Secretary
Garment, Workers Federation,
Bangladesh.
***************
10) GREETINGS FROM INDIA
October 22, 2003
Greetings from Trade Union Solidarity Committee, Mumbai, India!
Dear Brother Michael Eisenscher and USLAW Delegates,
We learned from Brother Alan Benjamin that US Labour Against War will be
organising a National Labour Assembly for Peace on October 24-25, 2003.
USLAW eminently deserves congratulations for its consistent fight against
unjust war and now against US occupation of Iraq.
India is in a tragic condition. It spends enormous amounts for perpetual
war preparation, nuclear bomb development while its one billion population
faces unemployment, indescribable poverty. On October 3 this year two
workers -- Anand Dalvi and Akhtar Khan -- self-immolated in front of the
corporate office of the Indian conglomerate TATAs in Mumbai as they were
sacked from their $50 per month jobs in 1996 and remained unemployed ever
since without any social security. This suicide incident on October 3 and
the mass suicides committed by several farmers in rural India in the
recent years expose the claims by globalisers that "free trade"
and "market economy" have helped common man. Organised
manufacturing sector has been destroyed in a systematic manner and unions
have been weakened.
Coupled with this is the attempt to change Indian labour laws in favour of
employers. And more importantly the decision of Indian Supreme Court in
August this year banning strike by employees in public service has been a
great blow to the working class. This order followed another Supreme Court
decision granting permission to employers the use of cheap contract labour
in several regular activities. Only a minuscule section of the society
benefited from all this as well as the so-called "New World
Order" designed by US and its agents.
We are convinced that Rights for Labour can be won only through global
fightback USLAW by its decisions and actions has re-established the truth
that fight against exploitation, fight for justice is universal and
toiling masses everywhere have a common objective.
Moving towards this objective, USLAWs role is unparalleled. We extend our
full support to USLAW and wish marvellous success for the National
Assembly.
In Solidarity
N. Vasudevan
Joint Convenor
Trade Union Solidarity Committee
*************
11) GREETINGS FROM PAKISTAN
Dear Brother Micheal Eisenscher
Dear Sister Erin McGrath,
On behalf of All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, we would like to
express our deep solidarity with USLAW for holding its National Labor
Assembly for Peace.
We express deepest greetings to our brothers and sisters for holding
National Labor Assembly for Peace in Chicago. We workers strongly denounce
imperialist war, and express our intense anger and unrest against American
attack on Iraq and other countries.
Within these circumstances, it is encouraging that workers around the
world are realizing exploiting policies of multinationals and capitalist
institutions like IMF, World Bank, WTO. And elevating their voices against
aggression, fascism and colonization, testifying that workers' struggle
will till final victory.
We salute our comrades struggling for peace in US, and organizing labor
under the umbrella of USLAW, putting pressure to Bush government to stop
military intervention in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq.
Today when world become global village for capitalists and capitalists
have free hand to exploit workers' very basic rights, local, national and
international workers' solidarity and unity is one tool to confront
capitalist power.
On this crucial time we have confidence that this conference will rebuild
the morale and encourage the workers' to struggle for peace.
On behalf of All Pakistan Trade Union Federation , we wish the
great success of the conference and assure you our fullest cooperation and
strong support.
- Long live working class!
- Long live International Solidarity!
In Solidarity
Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary
General Secretary
Rubina Jamil
Chairperson
************************
12) GREETINGS FROM ALGERIA
[Note: Following is a letter from Dalila Kouidri, president of
the Association of Mothers of the Disappeared in Algeria and
representative of the Mothers of Wednesday Committee, to the mothers of
U.S. soldiers in Iraq. This letter was forwarded by Louisa Hanoune,
Workers Party Member of Parliament in Algeria, to the delegates attending
the USLAW National Labor Assembly for Peace in Chicago.]
October 18, 2003
Zeladyia, Algeria
Dearest Mothers of U.S. Soldiers in Iraq:
As an Algerian mother who lost her son in the course of the tragic war
that has torn my country apart, I denounce the crime that took so many
lives at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. But I also denounce the
heinous crimes committed by the U.S. government in the name of the victims
of 9/11.
I embrace the courageous mothers of the victims of the World Trade Center
who have said, "Don't invade Afghanistan or Iraq in our name."
And I embrace the mothers of U.S. soldiers in Iraq who have spoken out
against the war and occupation of Iraq.
I reach out to all mothers of U.S. soldiers in Iraq -- white or Black.
Your sons and daughters, with their beautiful faces, having grown up in
such great splendor, should not be placed in harm's way by Bush, whose
only concern is oil and profit for a tiny few. Your sons and daughters
should return from Iraq to their homes in the United States --
immediately.
I want to end by saying that the mothers of these U.S. soldiers and
victims who have taken a stand against the unjust war in our region have
given me -- and given all of us -- great hope in the future of humanity.
And for that I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely,
Dalila Kouidri
President,
Association of Mothers of the Disappeared
Algeria
********************
13) GREETINGS FROM GERMANY
Dear sisters and brothers,
Last Saturday Oct. 25, 2003 workers, trade unionist and members of the
Social Democratic Party has met at a national conference to discuss
"how Germany can really be unified?" in Berlin.
We have been informed about your National Labor Assembly for Peace the
same weekend on issues of peace, prosperity, security, democracy and
justice in Chicago with the purpose of establishing an ongoing labor
coalition in the United States that will challenge the US foreign policy
of permanent war and its consequences for the working families both at
home and abroad.
Our conference has supported the demands of USLAW: - immediate retreat of
the foreign occupation troops out of Iraq - full respect on the Iraqi
workers' rights and re-establishing the ILO conventions signed by the
Iraq. This fight of USLAW has our full support.
We ourselves are confronted that the German government meanwhile has sent
8,000 soldiers out of area. So Germany is the second greatest occupation
power in the world. And this by a Social democratic government whose roots
are in the labor movement. We cannot accept this.
We, workers, trade unionist and members of the Social Democratic Party had
decided to continue our own fight for: - no military mission of German
soldiers in the Iraq - retreat of every German soldier out of area! - no
cent for this military intervention policy - stop of changing the German
Bundeswehr from a people's army to professional intervention force!
The German workers are very interested in the results of your National
Labor Assembly for Peace.
In solidarity,
Michael Altmann
(member of the executive board of the workers' commission in the social
democratic party in Hesse, and executive board of the health unity in the
trade union of the private and public service, verdi Frankfurt am Main and
Region)
********************
14) GREETINGS (IN SPANISH) FROM WORLD FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS
(WFTU)
Ginebra, Octubre 21 del 2003
Mr.MICHAEL EISENCHER
Ms. ERIN McGRATH
Estimados compañeros:
Desde la Representacion de la Federación Sindical Mundial en Ginebra,
tenemos acceso a un importante número de informaciones relacionadas con
el mundo del trabajo.
Pese a lo difícil que resulta evidenciar en la Organización
Internacional del Trabajo las violaciones que al derecho laboral suceden
en los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, cada vez en mayor medida se
conocen de prácticas que contradicen las Normas Internacionales del
Trabajo.
Los gobiernos de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, que son de los que
menos convenciones internacionales del trabajo han aceptado, pretenden,
también en este campo, al igual que en el de los derechos humanos y otros,
erigirse en jueces de los demás.
Sabemos que el costo principal de las injustas guerras que los gobiernos
norteamericanos han impulsado, recaen, inexorablemente y principalmente,
en la economía de los trabajadores.
Es por ello que entendemos el nexo que se profundiza entre los integrantes
de la Conferencia Mundial Abierta en Defensa de la Independencia de los
Sindicatos y los Derechos Democráticos (OWC) y la organización de los
trabajadores de los EUA contra la guerra (USLAW).
En ocasión de la Asamblea Nacional de los Trabajadores por la Paz,
reciban nuestra más diáfana solidaridad y nuestro acompañamiento en las
extraordinarias y admirables luchas que despliegan a favor de los más
genuinos intereses de los trabajadores.
Ramon Cardona
Secretario General Adjunto
Federación Sindical Mundial
Representacion en Ginebra
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15) GREETINGS (IN SPANISH) FROM MEXICO
SOLIDARITY STATEMENT TO THE NATIONAL LABOR ASSEMBLY FOR PEACE
(In Spanish)
Ciudad de México, 22 de octubre de 2003
Compañeros y compañeras:
Nosotros, organizaciones y trabajadores mexicanos que nos movilizamos
contra la guerra que el presidente Bush emprendió contra el pueblo de
Irak, tuvimos en la fundación y actividad de USLAW, un formidable punto
de apoyo para promover la movilización en nuestro país. Asimismo, esa
acción tuvo una importancia fundamental para ayudar a la movilización de
sindicatos en todo el mundo.
Hoy, la lucha contra la guerra que afecta terriblemente los derechos y los
intereses de los trabajadores, no ha terminado. Las tropas de la coalición
ocupan Irak lo que lleva a la continua pérdida de vidas humanas y a la
liquidación de derechos laborales. El consejo de seguridad de la ONU ha
avalado la ocupación lo que hará más difícil la suerte del pueblo
iraquí y más fácil el saqueo de los recursos petroleros de esa nación
en beneficio de unas cuantas multinacionales como lo ha denunciado USLAW.
Compañeros y compañeras:
La "guerra total" del presidente Bush se expresa en nuestro
continente en la aceleración de las negociaciones cuyo objetivo es la
instauración del Área de Libre Comercio de América (ALCA), "una
alianza de las multinacionales y los grandes bancos contra los
trabajadores y los pueblos del continente americano" y no, de ninguna
manera, "una alianza entre los pueblos para servir a los
pueblos".
Vemos con gran entusiasmo, la continuidad de los trabajos de USLAW por la
paz, la prosperidad, la seguridad, la democracia y la justicia. Nos parece
muy importante el objetivo de su asamblea: "forjar una coalición
laboral que se oponga tanto a la política de guerra permanente del
gobierno como a las consecuencias de esa guerra en las familias
trabajadoras de Estados Unidos y en el resto del mundo".
Nosotros, junto con sindicalistas de Estados Unidos y Brasil, participamos
en la preparación de la Conferencia continental contra el ALCA y la
guerra, por la defensa de los derechos laborales y por la soberanía
nacional, que se realizará los días 13 y 14 de diciembre de 2003, en Sao
Paulo, Brasil. El 22 de noviembre próximo, en la ciudad de México,
realizaremos un encuentro nacional de trabajadores para preparar esa
conferencia que consideramos como un punto de apoyo para luchar por la
unidad de los trabajadores del continente.
Compañeros y compañeras:
Les deseamos los mayores éxitos en su asamblea nacional.
Fraternalmente
Sección 22 del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE),
Frente de Sindicatos y Organizaciones Democráticas de Oaxaca (FSODO),
Movimiento por un Partido de Trabajadores Democrático Independiente.