5) Worldwide Protests: "Stop War, End Racism"
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6) Major N.Y. Union Takes Anti-War Stand
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: torstai 27. syyskuu 2001 08:01
Subject: [WW] Worldwide Protests: "Stop War, End Racism"
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 4, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
WORLDWIDE PROTESTS TELL BUSH: "STOP WAR, END
RACISM
By Greg Butterfield
President George W. Bush's proclamation of a protracted "war
against terrorism" sparked protests throughout the world
during the last two weeks of September. Millions, both
inside and outside the U.S., decried Bush's attempt to use
the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon
as the pretext for a new war of aggression in Afghanistan
and the Middle East.
In Central Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent
and Indonesia, militant demonstrations of tens of thousands
have targeted U.S. government sites, Big Oil and Wall Street
business interests. People in these countries have been
frequent targets of U.S. economic strangulation and Pentagon
terrorism.
Seeking to bully U.S. client regimes in the area, Bush
declared before Congress Sept. 20: "Every nation in every
region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us,
or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any
nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be
regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Washington has consistently labeled as "terrorist" any
country or movement resisting U.S. economic and military
domination, from the Palestinian liberation movement to
socialist Cuba to the revolutionary forces in Colombia.
Revolutionary and progressive organizations in Nepal,
Bangladesh and Pakistan protested after the governments
there agreed to let their airspace be used for U.S.-launched
attacks.
"The U.S. has itself indulged in killing the people of poor
countries, labeling them as 'terrorist,'" said Nepal
Communist Party (Maoist) leader Kirshna Bahadur Mahara. In
India, the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation
called for a week of protests against Bush in Delhi and
other cities.
President Fidel Castro of Cuba said Bush's war plan, called
"Infinite Justice," could turn into an "infinite killing of
innocent people."
In the U.S., where many workers are still grieving the loss
of loved ones, anti-war sentiment has taken more moderate
forms, including vigils, rallies and teach-ins.
But in the hundreds of cities and towns where anti-war
actions have been held-from New York and Washington to Los
Angeles and San Francisco-organizers have been encouraged by
strong turnouts and sympathetic responses from the public.
"There is a strong anti-war sentiment just under the
surface," said Larry Holmes, a co-director of the
International Action Center (IAC) and an organizer of the
Sept. 29 International A.N.S.W.E.R. rally in Washington.
"Our job is to provide a way for workers and poor people
here in the U.S. to grieve for the Sept. 11 victims while
also standing up to the racist attacks and Bush's war
drive."
A.N.S.W.E.R. stands for "Act Now to Stop War & End Racism."
Groups throughout Europe plan actions to coincide with
International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s demonstrations on Sept. 29.
TARGETED GROUPS RALLY
The media and government's unceasing barrage of chauvinist
propaganda has led to hundreds of racist attacks on
immigrants from the Middle East and South Asia.
On Sept. 19, over 200 representatives of Arab, Muslim and
South Asian groups rallied in Washington, D.C. They gathered
at the memorial to the 120,000 Japanese-Americans forced
into internment camps after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
"A turban does not signify a terrorist," said one
participant, Tejpal Singh Chawla of the Sikh Mediawatch and
Research Task Force. A Sikh immigrant from Punjab, India,
had been killed by a racist gunman Sept. 15. At least three
other immigrants have died in racist attacks.
Defending Muslims and immigrants was a big priority for anti-
war activities in New York. There, at the epicenter of the
Sept. 11 tragedy, Union Square Park in lower Manhattan and
its memorial for World Trade Center victims became home base
for progressive and anti-war forces.
Grief and mourning turned to action Sept. 21. Earlier in the
week community groups and progressive organizations met at
the embattled Charras Community Center and called for a
march from Union Square to Times Square to protest Bush's
war plans.
Over 2,500 people marched on the sidewalks, chanting: "Bush
says war, New York says no!" Hundreds of police used horses
and clubs to block the peaceful, mostly young marchers from
entering the area around the Times Square Recruiting Station-
the traditional site of anti-war rallies. Five people were
arrested.
Workers World's G. Dunkel reported: "The slogans were
varied, but all opposed the war. The IAC's chants of 'No
more victims, no more violence, no more war' and 'No to war
and racism' were popular. Another was, 'Stop the war, stop
the attack, that won't bring our loved ones back.' Banners
read 'No racist war for oil profits' and 'Don't use my grief
as an excuse for more grief.'"
Dunkel added: "What was particularly noticeable was the
support and encouragement the march got from passers by and
people in bars, restaurants and coffee shops. Counter-
protesters were few and far between."
Anti-war activities continued over the next two days, with a
Sept. 22 rally at Union Square and a teach-in Sept. 23
sponsored by Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right of Return
Coalition.
'END SANCTIONS'
In Los Angeles, hundreds gathered on Sept. 22 and Sept. 24
in Pershing Square to denounce the war drive, including
Mexican and Chicano community groups. Many passing motorists
waved or honked their horns in support.
Like many foes of war, Pawel Chmielewski said U.S. policies
were at the root of the Sept. 11 attacks. "We need to
normalize our relations and end sanctions against Iraq and
the Palestinians," he told the Los Angeles Daily News.
In San Diego, some 500 people turned out Sept. 22 for a
"very powerful demonstration of opposition to Bush's war
drive," said WW correspondent Bob McCubbin. The diverse
crowd "lined both sides of Broadway in the heart of the
downtown area, holding signs, banners and flags opposing war
and racism," he explained.
Speakers included a high school student from Afghanistan, an
Armenian activist who participated in the first Iraq
Sanctions Challenge, and a representative of the
International Action Center. Gloria Verdieu, a leader of the
San Diego Free Mumia Coalition, read from death-row
political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal's commentary on the Sept.
11 attacks.
A spirited march through the Gaslamp District followed.
Hundreds of flyers were distributed.
Northeast Ohio was the site of several anti-war/anti-racism
activities. On Sept. 18, 30 people rallied in Akron at an
action called by the Radical Action Network. In Cleveland,
the Interreligious Task Force held a silent vigil Sept. 21,
and the People's Fightback Center brought out 100 people,
including students, for a loud Sept. 22 protest.
"This threat to go to war will do nothing to ease the
suffering that thousands of people are facing right now,"
said organizer Martha Grevatt. "They need jobs. They need
assistance. They need support," she told the local Channel 5
News.
On Sept. 24 in Boston, the Women's Fightback Network of the
IAC held a Women's Speak-out that drew hundreds of listeners
in the downtown area. Some passersby stopped to thank the
speakers for their statements and to express their own
solidarity with struggling people around the world. IAC
members also participated in the weekly Vigil for the Iraqi
People.
Boston was a major hub of nationwide campus actions Sept.
20. During the day, 650 students and workers rallied at
Harvard University. Hundreds more gathered at Boston
College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Emerson
College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern
and other area campuses. That evening, groups from all the
campuses sponsored a united march.
Over 130 campuses nationwide participated in the National
Day of Student Action. "Here in Oberlin College, a school of
3,000 in the middle of rural Ohio, the new coalition-the
Campaign Against Racism and War-had a march and rally
against the racist attacks, the war, and the attacks on
civil liberties," reported Ted Virdone, a member of
Socialist Alternative. "We drew 500 people, which is more
than I have ever seen come out at my school."
Over 3,000 students answered the call at the University of
California in Berkeley. WW correspondent Bill Hackwell
reported, "Activists flooded Sproul Plaza, a symbol of anti-
war protest from the free speech movement that began there
in the early 1960s against the Vietnam War." Later they
marched through the streets. "For many students in the
march, it was their first political protest," Hackwell
added.
WW received reports from the State University of New York at
New Paltz and Bard College in New York's Mid-Hudson region;
Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown University; Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, Va.; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and
several campuses in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Buffalo, N.Y., activists reported numerous anti-war
activities, the largest being a Peace and Unity Rally at the
University of Buffalo on Sept. 21. A speak-out in front of
the student union drew 100 people, including representatives
of the Organization of Arab Students, the Muslim Student
Association, the Asian Student Union, Environmental Network,
Lackawanna High School International Youth and Student
Organization, U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization, Workers
World Party and the IAC.
And on Sept. 22 students from Goucher College, Johns Hopkins
University and Towson University joined with Baltimore
community groups for a march and rally against war and
racism. Two thousand marched against war in Seattle that
day.
CANADA, EUROPE RESPOND
The Bush administration called on its fellow imperialist
governments in Canada and Europe to join the planned war-
under Washington's command, of course. Attacks on Muslims
and immigrants have escalated in those countries, and
activists have responded with strong protests.
In Montreal, over 1,000 people demonstrated Sept. 23. Jaggi
Singh, a leader of the movement against capitalist
globalization, reported: "The protest, called by the
Emergency Coalition Against War Hysteria and Racism, was
organized within one week, and only publicized for a few
days. It is part of ongoing anti-war events that have
emerged here since Sept. 11."
The demonstration gathered at Concordia University. Speakers
represented the local Afghan community, opponents of Iraq
sanctions and the South Asian Women's Community Center.
"The speakers voiced clear opposition to war and racism, and
some spoke of the context of U.S. imperialism in the world,"
Singh said. After a march to the U.S. consulate, Palestinian
and Jewish activists spoke.
On Sept. 22, several thousand rallied in the German cities
of Berlin, Cologne, Bremen and Kassel, carrying banners
reading "Enough deaths" and "No retaliation," the Reuters
news service reported. Another rally in Berlin by the Afghan
community demanded "No bombs on Afghanistan."
Representatives of the German peace movement met in Kassel
and called for a national demonstration in Berlin on Oct.
13.
Thousands more demonstrated Sept. 22 in Britain. Prime
Minister Tony Blair has been a major backer of Bush's "anti-
terrorist" campaign. In London about 5,000 people gathered
near Blair's official residence at 10 Downing St. Many
carried signs reading: "Stand shoulder to shoulder for peace
and justice. No more violence."
The protests, also held in Manchester and in Glasgow,
Scotland, were called by the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. Thirty protesters also gathered outside the
U.S. Air Force base in Lakenheath, Suffolk.
At the Glasgow rally, Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy
Sheridan said, "I appeal to everyone to become involved in a
broad-based anti-war movement, a broad-based movement for
peace and for equality throughout the world."
In Italy some 7,000 people demonstrated in Florence Sept. 23
along with smaller demonstrations in other cities. The
entire week up to Sept. 29 has been designated as a week of
actions to stop the war, with a national protest set for
Sept. 27 in Naples. A NATO summit that had been earlier
scheduled for that day has been moved to Brussels.
Groups that had united around the Genoa Social Forum for
anti-globalization protests last July are supporting the
anti-war actions. The Refoundation Communist Party has
called another national action for Sept. 29 in Rome.
In Liege, Belgium, on Sept. 22, some 2,000 mostly young
people protested against the war.
[With reports from Bill Hackwell in Berkeley, Calif.; Bob
McCubbin in San Diego; G. Dunkel in New York; Workers World
bureaus in Boston, Buffalo, N.Y., Cleveland, Mid-Hudson,
N.Y., and Seattle; J. Gilbert in Florence; the web site of
the Belgian Workers' Party; the German daily newspaper Junge
Welt; and the "Studentsnowar" e-mail list.]
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: torstai 27. syyskuu 2001 08:01
Subject: [WW] Major N.Y. Union Takes Anti-War Stand
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Oct. 4, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
1199 HOSPITAL WORKERS: MAJOR NEW YORK UNION TAKES
ANTI-WAR STAND
By an 1199 Delegate
New York
Thousands of delegates of 1199 SEIU crowded the historic
Apollo Theatre in Harlem on Sept. 20 to mourn the victims
and to consider the challenges presented by the Sept. 11
attack on the World Trade Center.
The 1199 Health and Human Services Union is part of the
Service Employees International Union. With close to 200,000
members, it is the largest local in the greater New York
area. 1199 represents workers in private and non-profit
hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies, along with
various health and service institutions. Members and
delegates come predominantly from New York's African
American and Latino communities. The union has a militant
and progressive reputation.
Union President Dennis Rivera introduced the co-workers and
family of Marc Sullins, an emergency medical technician at
Cabrini Hospital. This union member was off-duty when he
heard about the Sept. 11 disaster. From a couple of miles
away he rushed to the World Trade Center to help. He had
pulled at least three people to safety when he re-entered
one of the towers just before it collapsed. He was never
seen again.
One SEIU member lost a nephew there, another one a spouse.
Other members who had rushed to help were also lost, while
several members from other cities were on the hijacked
planes.
Local 32BJ, a sister local in SEIU, represented the building
service workers at the World Trade Center. Many of its
members are missing, and 5,000 survivors lost their jobs.
The international union has started a fund for the families
of those who died and for those in need because of lost
jobs. Local 32BJ has negotiated extended supplementary
unemployment insurance that will cover health insurance and
80 percent of wages for the survivors.
An agreement was made with management for preferential
hiring. But, with the downturn in the economy, it is hard to
say whether new jobs will be available before the workers'
unemployment insurance runs out.
UNION TAKES ANTI-WAR STAND
Rivera presented principles of unity with regard to the
attack that had just been adopted by the union's Executive
Council, including that terrorism cannot be condoned or
justified; the perpetrators should be brought to justice;
war should be rejected as a response to the attack.
The last point--war is not the answer--stands out. It puts
1199 among those in the front line of the U.S. labor
movement. A motion for the delegates to support the
council's position was adopted by acclamation.
Earlier in the day, members of the union's negotiating
committee had taken up the difficult contract situation that
Sept. 11 created.
This year, for the first time, 1199 had been able to
coordinate contract expiration dates so that the contracts
for about 100,000 members would expire on Oct. 31. The
contract fight had been about to start. But the attack has
made it impossible for members to focus on the contract
struggle.
Even worse, it would be extremely difficult to win sympathy
from the city's working class for a strike by health care
workers in the midst of this crisis. A substantial amount of
hospital and nursing home income comes from public funds,
and community support has always been essential for a
successful contract. At the same time, a decent contract can
never be won unless the bosses know that the union is
willing and able to conduct a successful strike.
The negotiating committee, following the leadership's
recommendation, is asking management to extend the contract
until the spring, but with an important condition.
Management would have to agree to put in whatever money was
necessary through that time to maintain the current level of
health benefits. Health fund actuaries estimate that this
could mean an additional 5 percent of payroll during this
time.
The delegates understood the problem, accepted the proposal
and agreed to bring it back to the members for discussion.
It remains to be seen whether the bosses will agree. While
the League of Voluntary Hospitals represents the bosses in
about 60 percent of the contracts, there are a large number
of other employers as well. Since the health care fund is
industry wide, it will be very tricky if some bosses agree
and some don't. The workers will be watching carefully for
management's reply.
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
