***** New York Times February 28, 2003
Labor, Breaking Tradition, Criticizes War Preparations
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Feb. 27 - After backing administrations in the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, the labor movement departed today from tradition and criticized President Bush's approach to a conflict with Iraq.
At its winter meeting, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. executive council unanimously approved a resolution urging Mr. Bush to embrace a broad multilateral approach to Iraq and criticizing the administration for dividing the world and insulting America's allies.
"The president has not fulfilled his responsibility to make a compelling and coherent explanation to the American people and the world as to the need for military action against Iraq at this time," the council, which represents 65 unions, said....
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/28/national/28LABO.html> *****
***** Union Federation Opposes War With Iraq Thu Feb 27, 4:43 PM ET
By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - The nation's largest labor federation declared its opposition Thursday to war against Iraq at this time, saying President Bush (news - web sites) has not made a case for an attack without broad support from U.S. allies.
The executive council of the AFL-CIO, made up of 65 unions, ended its four-day meeting by unanimously passing the carefully worded resolution, which also says Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) must be disarmed - with "multilateral resolve, not unilateral action."..."The president has not fulfilled his responsibility to make a compelling and coherent explanation to the American people and the world," the resolution said....
Labor officials ended the meeting with a sense of unity in a time of uncertainty, with mounting job losses, a poor economy and a presidential administration that is hostile to their cause, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said.
Perhaps the defining moment was Wednesday's address by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, which shocked and enraged labor leaders, Sweeney said.
They were particularly angry about her response to a question about the department's proposed new financial reporting requirements. She read from a paper a list of criminal charges involving one union.
Teamsters Union President James P. Hoffa, a White House ally whom officials said was growing frustrated with Bush for his administration's anti-union tactics and policies, was particularly enraged over Chao's remarks. He told colleagues in the closed meeting that unions should support a presidential candidate friendly to working Americans....
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030227/ap_on_re_us/unions_iraq_3> *****
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Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>
