------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON TO HALT WAR: WORKERS By Sara Flounders As the international movement to stop the war on Iraq gains momentum, the power that is capable of actually stopping the war has stepped forward. In early January, two Scottish train drivers made headlines in the British press when they refused to move a freight train carrying munitions to the Glen Douglas Base on the west coast of Scot land. According to the Jan. 11 Guardian, a total of 15 drivers are threatening some form of anti-war action. This was the first such political action by Scottish or British workers in many decades. Officials of the ASLEF Rail Union, which represents the train drivers, were pressured by the government and the rail management to end the job action. But the unionists were unlikely to comply, reported the Jan. 9 Guardian, a major British newspaper. This is because the union itself has taken a stand against the war. Glen Douglas is NATO's biggest weapons storage base in Western Europe. The war materiel was to be shipped to British troops deployed for war in the Gulf. Britain is the U.S. junior partner in the coming war to recolonize the entire oil-rich Gulf region. The two unnamed Scottish workers are in a key position to stop the shipment because they are the only ones at the Motherwell freight depot trained to operate on the route to the Glen Douglas base. The ministry of defense is therefore faced with moving the war materiel by road. While the union could face legal action and fines for contempt of court, the government may fear a confrontation. The Tony Blair Labor Party government faces a bigger problem: This refusal to comply could quickly spread to other key sections of organized labor that are part of the war industry--and the Labor Party's base. The government's problem is compounded by support for the two workers from the mobilized and increasingly militant anti-war movement in England. Lindsey German, a convener of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain, said: "We fully support the action that has been taken to impede an unjust and aggressive war. We hope that other people around the country will be able to do likewise." The anti-war movement is a rising tide in England. On Sept. 28, more than 400,000 people flooded London to oppose the war. Many other demonstrations have been held since then, involving hundreds of thousands of people. Without massive demonstrations it is doubtful that these two courageous workers would have acted on their own or that the government and management would be so worried about the idea spreading to other sectors. The massive mobilizations break isolation and challenge the corporate media's line that the imperialist war has broad support. Individual workers know they will have organized support and can act with the confidence that their actions represent the aspirations of millions of other working people. And millions of rank and file workers who are deeply opposed to the war are emboldened to challenge their own leadership to take a stand against the war. Soldiers and reservists feel that they can refuse the criminal orders of their officers. Students begin to organize walkouts and strikes. The mass protests show that there is a basis for more radical actions. They act as yeast to raise resistance. Workers have learned through their own bitter experiences of spiraling layoffs and runaway shops that looting oppressed nations does not "trickle down" to them. Instead each military adventure strengthens the hand of the largest corporations and leads to lower wages and a new round of layoffs. Entire industries move overseas. Real income for working people has declined every year for the past 20 years. An ever-growing list of cuts in vitally needed social programs-health care, education, housing--pay for a military budget that grows relentlessly. Those who do the world's work every day are not consulted about how the bosses run it in the murderous pursuit of profits. If workers by the millions put down their tools and walk off the job to protest the war, they have the power to shut down all business as usual-- including the Pentagon's. [Flounders is co-director of the International Action Center and a coordinator of the Iraq Sanctions Challenge.] - 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] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
