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No New War Against Iraq
No New War Against Iraq -- Keep the Government Off the Docks!
(resolution adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council on August 26, 2002)
Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council has for many years opposed
the U.S. bombing and sanctions against Iraq, which have resulted in
dire shortages of food and medicine and contributed to the deaths of
over 1 million Iraqis, including 500,000 children; and
Whereas, now the Bush administration is beating the drums for a new
war against Iraq, despite mounting opposition to this war at home and
abroad; and
Whereas, in early 1998 the U.S. government's drive to launch a new
war against Iraq was abruptly halted by a rising opposition movement
that included the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU), the San Francisco Labor Council, the Alameda Central Labor
Council, and the students who debated Defense Secretary Cohen and
Secretary of State Albright on national television at Ohio State
University, which showed that the labor movement and people's
movement do have the potential to force a reversal of unjust
government policies; and
Whereas, wasting billions of dollars on the Iraq war buildup
translated into cutbacks of essential job-producing social programs
at home such as education, health care, social security and housing,
and threatening the rights of labor to strike and organize; and
Whereas, the Bush administration's war drive has a domestic component
-- threatening to turn his "endless war" against the International
Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) as an opening wedge against the
entire labor movement, by threatening government intervention on the
West Coast docks under the guise of "Homeland Security," on the side
of the Pacific Maritime Association bosses and a coalition of
anti-union corporate interests, including WalMart and The Gap;
therefore be it
Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) reaffirm and
join the growing movement in opposition to any U.S. war against Iraq,
and call on the unions and AFL-CIO at all levels and Congressional
representatives to publicly oppose this war; and be it further
Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council strongly condemn any
attempt by the government, at any level, to introduce troops or
otherwise intervene in the contract dispute between the ILWU and the
employers, and call on Congressional representatives to publicly
oppose this interference; and be it further
Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council endorse the
"Stop-the-War" marches and rallies taking place September 14-16 in
Oakland, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other cities, as well as
International Day of Protest on October 26, 2002, behind the banner,
"No New War Against Iraq -- Keep the Government Off the Docks!"