------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the March 13, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
AFL-CIO COUNCIL MEETS, RESOLVES, BUT SHOWS NO OOMPH BUT GENUINE ANTI-WAR CURRENT EMERGES IN LABOR'S RANKS By Milt Neidenberg Retired Teamster On the eve of the U.S. war against the Iraqi people, a war that could change the face of the globe, the AFL-CIO Executive Council held its annual winter session Feb. 24-27 in balmy Hollywood, Fla., not far from where George W. Bush stole the 2000 presidential election. The Executive Council passed a resolution expressing reservations about the war--a historic first--but the language was timid, especially given the breadth of mass opposition here and around the world. The 65 affiliated unions face staggering crises and tumultuous events exploding around the labor movement. War preparations have diverted hundreds of billions of desperately needed dollars from social programs--Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. In the last two years more than 2 million jobs have perm anently disappeared. Household incomes for workers and their families have dropped precipitously. The U.S. Constitution has been shredded by repressive laws such as the Patriot Act, which have wiped out decades of civil-rights and civil-liberties legislation so precious to the 13 million union members. The Bush administration has declared all-out war against organized labor, backing employers who violate labor laws. "We can't grow through the National Labor Relations Board. ... It takes three years to resolve an organizing campaign," said Stewart Acuff, the new AFL-CIO director of organizing. The Executive Council conference participants spent much time discussing strategies about how to organize the unorganized. One idea was floated to get around the slow NLRB union recognition process: election by card check, a simple and democratic voting process. However, employers would have to agree to be neutral. Highly unlikely. The unorganized, who make up the overwhelming mass of the multinational working class, are anxious and willing to struggle for the right to join a union. They are the working poor--predominately people of color, women and immigrants--who are being driven onto food lines and into the streets for lack of decent wages and housing. A recent survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found that half of all U.S. workers would vote for a union in their workplace if given a chance. Yet only 13.2 percent of the workers are organized. The time is ripe for a major struggle against intransigent bosses. WOOING DEMOCRATS: FUTILE AND UNPRODUCTIVE At the conference, AFL-CIO leaders passed many resolutions against Bush's relentless attack on labor's rights. How ever, there was no clear strategy for fighting back, no plan for organizing the multinational rank-and-file work force of millions. Instead, these leaders spent much precious time discussing strategy for the 2004 presidential election. And once again it was Democratic presidential candidates who took front and center stage. The politicians lounged around in the luxurious Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa, a 39-story seafront hotel, where they were wined and dined by AFL-CIO leaders. This wooing of Democratic hopefuls is a futile ritual, proven unproductive over the years. Former President Bill Clinton's national security advisor, Sanford R. Berger, and Clinton's special Middle East envoy, Den nis B. Ross, were invited to participate in the Executive Council's decision to prepare an anti-war resolution, which passed in the final days of the four-day conference. The smell of the Democratic Party was pervasive. The labor federation agreed unanimously that Hussein is a "demagogue and despot," but said the best way to disarm him is "in concert with a broad international coalition of allies and with the sanction of the United Nations." This language is certainly in sharp contrast to the overwhelming support the labor movement gave to the Vietnam War. But a clause in the resolution moved it further to the right by adding labor would "support the war as a last resort." This was a compromise that deferred to the American Federation of Teachers bureau cracy, which supports unilateral U.S. military action. Resolutions from progressive labor forces were ignored. As per protocol, the federation invited Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to hear their gripes and exchange a few pleasantries. They were shocked and insulted when she delivered a 30-minute harangue about supposed corruption, listing charges of union embezzlement and resulting convictions. Her speech was in perfect harmony with Bush's strategy to housebreak the labor movement. She defended new regulations requiring stricter financial reporting by unions. The new accounting requirements will cost the unions tens of thousands of dollars and much time. The conferees were infuriated by Chao's attacks. It's not that there are not greedy individuals who dip into union treasuries. This is a shameful act. But it should be punished internally, not by labor's enemies. The leaders' anger was understandable: What about the Wall Street billionaires and corrupt corporate executives who cover up their obscene wealth and get away with it through criminal accounting practices and illegal tax shelters? The 2002 AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting will be remembered, if at all, for missed opportunities and what wasn't accomplished. It was a repeat of previous Executive Council meetings such as the 1999 winter session. Then, too, the council took up saving Social Security, Medicare and Med icaid. They called for raising the minimum wage and organizing the unorganized, and demanded health and retiree benefits. They didn't win any concessions when the Democrat Clinton was in the White House, even though he boasted of budget surpluses over $100 billion and a booming economy. So how in the world can the AFL-CIO leaders expect to win concessions now with out planning a major confrontation against the anti-labor war hawk, Bush? He is bankrolled by a billionaire corporate/ banking clique, is hell-bent on destroying the labor movement and is beginning a preemptive attack on Iraq. PROGRESSIVE UNIONISTS ARE ORGANIZING AGAINST WAR Fortunately, the AFL-CIO has a way out. The class struggle has surfaced in a spectacular and dramatic fashion. On Feb. 15-16 alone, more than 10 million people worldwide protested an impending war on Iraq. Demonstrations took place in 600 cities in 100 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, in Europe, North America and Oceania. A progressive sector of the labor movement is growing within this powerful glo bal anti-war movement. A few days after the splendid Feb. 15-16 outpouring, U.S. Labor Against the War set up an international telephone news conference call. More than 200 unions, from 53 countries on five continents, representing over 130 million workers, agreed on a joint statement rejecting a U.S. war against Iraq. The statement says in part: "There is no evident purpose for this war that we can support ... . We oppose the use of this war ... as a pretext for attacks on labor, civil, immigrant, and human rights ... and the spending of billions of dollars. ... Our nations need money for education, health care, housing and other basic needs." Another section points out, "The principal victims of any military action in Iraq will be the sons and daughters of working-class families and innocent Iraqi civilians who have already suffered too much." USLAW sent this statement to the AFL-CIO Executive Council conference. It is far superior and more responsive to the war and domestic crises than the one the Exe cutive Council ratified. The USLAW anti-war statement reflects a spectacular mushrooming of the progressive sector of the labor movement, which is growing out of the impressive show of numbers coming into the streets. It is a burgeoning movement that includes local unions, citywide central labor councils and state federations, and a few progressive national union presidents. This movement is now far to the left of the AFL-CIO Executive Council. USLAW has called for March 12 anti-war activities at the work place. The recent AFL-CIO conference failed to measure up to these historic developments. The survival of many of these officials as leaders is in question. The tide sweeping the globe that rejects this war encompasses tens of millions of workers and their allies in class struggle. This is where the future of humanity lies. - 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 [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]>
