------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
IN THE SPIRIT OF EUGENE DEBS: LABOR ORGANIZES AGAINST THE WAR By Milt Neidenberg Retired Teamster A few weeks after the World Trade Center tragedy, a small group of anti- war labor activists stated, "We believe that George Bush's war is not the answer to the tragic events of Sept. 11." Their remarks were part of a comprehensive statement issued on Sept. 27, 2001, that marked the formation of New York City Labor Against the War. Led by President Brenda Stokely of District Council 1707, American Fede- ration of State, County & Municipal Employees, and Michael Letwin of United Automobile Workers Local 2325, NYC LAW was born out of difficult circum stances. Since then, labor committees like NYCLAW have been formed in more than 10 cities. As the Bush administration prepares to invade Iraq, the anti-war labor movement has shown impressive growth. As of Dec ember 2002, eight statewide labor federations had passed anti-war resolutions, among them Service Employees Inter national Union-Wisconsin, the Washington State Labor Federation, and the California State Labor Federation, representing 2 million workers. Eleven citywide central labor councils from San Francisco to Seattle, Duluth to Philadelphia and cities in the mid-Hudson area of New York State have joined the movement. They represent the sentiments of many unionized workers throughout the country. And the movement continues to grow. Most significant has been the response of more than 50 local unions, including Local 705 in Chicago--the second-largest Teamster union and the largest truck driver and warehouse local in the country. The statement, which began, "Whereas we value the lives of our brothers and sisters more than Bush's control of Middle East oil profits," was approved 399 to one. Secretary-Treasurer Gerard Zero described the union's rank and file: "The members of Local 705 are the bedrock of the Teamsters. They are truck drivers in the freight, cartage and package delivery industry, heavy equipment operators in rail yards and municipal governments, and loaders and unloaders. They are blue-collar, working-class Americans. Politicians should pay very close attention to this vote." The no-war vote came from "members whose fathers served in the Vietnam conflict and Teamsters who are Marine and Army veterans." Representing United Par cel Service workers, Local 705 has many people of color and many women. This powerful union was host of a national meeting in Chicago on Jan. 11 of unionists, local union presidents and staff members concerned about Bush's military plans to invade Iraq. What is feeding this groundswell of anti-war protest within the trade union movement, which was so absent during the Vietnam conflict? The organized labor movement in general supported the Vietnam War and strongly opposed the anti-war protesters. Is labor's current opposition to the war primarily a mood that can be manipulated and defused into a harmless momentary opposition? Not easily. RANK & FILE BEGIN TO FIGHT BACK Today the anti-war sentiment springing up within the AFL-CIO is rooted in a deepening capitalist crisis. Exacerbated by a jobless recession, it is leaving millions of workers permanently unemployed. In the states, urban centers and the federal government, huge budget deficits and cuts are forcing millions of poor and low-paid workers, their children and loved ones onto food lines--often homeless, without health care and other essential services. Corporations are reneging on their pension obligations. Workers are fearful of losing security for their senior years. General Motors has a $19.3-billion pension fund deficit. In the takeover of National Steel by U.S. Steel, the bosses have refused to protect the pensions of 10,000 National Steel retirees in Michigan. The open ties the Bush administration has with Wall Street bankers and bosses are infuriating the labor movement. The AFL-CIO is under attack on every front and the rank and file is beginning to fight back. The Bush administration, with congressional support from both major parties, will have 150,000 troops ready by mid-February to launch a preemptive strike against Iraq. This, too, is fueling the anti-war development. Each day they send more troops, aircraft carriers, tanks and guns to the Middle East. Each day they order more National Guard and Reserve units to active duty. And each day more workers and communities from diverse backgrounds are increasingly opposing the war. Class warfare is on the rise and resistance is growing to U.S. imperialist aims, becoming a worldwide movement. All this ferment has finally reached the top layers of the labor bureaucracy. On Oct. 7, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney broke his silence on the war. He wrote a letter to both houses of Congress dur ing a debate on a resolution giving Bush broad powers to unilaterally go to war. He opposed a preemptive strike. "We must assure war is the last option, not the first used to resolve the conflict before we ask ... the sons and daughters of America's working families ... to carry out the mission." However, Sweeney demonized Saddam Hussein, and called upon Bush to "assemble a broad international coalition ... through the United Nations for an aggressive and effective policy of disarmament in Iraq." Reports from the UN inspection team have revealed that there is nothing there to disarm. He defended the "war on terrorism" but blasted Bush for timing the debate just before the election as a political maneuver. Congress ignored AFL-CIO appeals and voted 296-133 in the House and 77- 23 in a Democratic-run Senate for Bush's aggressive war plans. Since that defeat, Sweeney's letter has brought about much discussion within the labor movement. The more progressive sector is dissatisfied with it. There is also evidence of fallout from the right within the AFL-CIO hierarchy. Teamster President James P. Hoffa has joined a small group of war hawks with close ties to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney. Hoffa is a founding member of a group calling itself the "Committee for the Liberation of Iraq." (New York Times, Nov. 18.) Hoffa is collaborating with the most hostile enemies of the labor movement: executives from Lockheed Martin, Wall Street's Lehman Brothers, Charles Schwab and Co. and Bechtel, a giant worldwide construction company. These are imperialist enemies and exploiters of the world's workers and oppressed. Hoffa will ultimately be disgraced by his own rank and file, like those in Local 705, and by the anti-war movement. DEBS WOULD BE PROUD A progressive current is on the move among the 13-million member AFL- CIO, one that has been absent far too long. It will be a major influence within the labor movement in the days ahead. Recently, two Scottish railroad engineers refused to move a freight train carrying munitions believed destined for British forces in the Gulf. This act of international solidarity needs the support of all anti- war and progressive forces. Eugene Debs would have been proud of this courageous act. In April 1919, right after World War I, Debs went to jail for having spoken out against that war. Debs was a union organizer and socialist who spent a lifetime organizing railroad workers. On Labor Day of 1916, Debs had issued the following proclamation: "The class war this year is raging with unusual intensity in the United States. ... The awakened and awakening workers ... have no use for any war save the class war. They have no call to fight for the country owned by their masters. They are internationalists, not nationalists, and they scorn the patriotism that incites the slaves to slaughter one another for the profits and glory of their masters." At the 1920 Socialist Party convention in Atlanta, Debs, prisoner #9653, was nominated to run for U.S. president. While still in jail, he received almost 1 million votes from the workers, who appreciated his leadership, his sacrifices and his principles. Resistance has begun. In the spirit of Eugene V. Debs, the class struggle will emerge in many forms. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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