North Texas Activists

Unions Oppose Iraq War

After the invasion of Iraq, the AFL-CIO and most American unions decided that they had to "support the troops" and remain silent on the war itself. A group called "U.S. Labor Against the War" organized individuals and a few local unions who had the foresight and courage to oppose the war. Today, major union forces have joined them.

Most recently, USLAW has announced that the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the mighty Communications Workers of America (CWA) have both passed anti-war resolutions in their respective conventions.

The CWA has recently been extended to include the Association of Flight Attendants and other former nationwide unions. The final part of their resolution is as follows:

"The threat of terrorism with a global reach is real. We have experienced the terrible destruction it can wreak. To respond to that threat, America will need the support of our allies and the major nations of the world. Our country and our families will be more secure if America is the respected leader of a broad coalition against terrorism, rather than isolated as a lone enforcer.

'RESOLVED: The Communications Workers of America calls on the Bush administration to reject the philosophy of pre-emptive war without a clear and present threat to the United States;

'RESOLVED: That CWA demands that the President abandon his failed policy (of preemptive war) which has made our nation less - not more - secure, and support our troops and their families by bringing our troops home safely now, by providing adequate veterans' benefits and promoting domestic policies that prioritize the needs of working people who make up the bulk of the military;

'RESOLVED: The Communications Workers of America calls on the next administration to vigorously pursue the war on terror in conjunction with our allies;

'RESOLVED: The Communications Workers of America encourages the president and the Congress to make federal funds available to staff and train first responders;

'RESOLVED: That the Communications Workers of America will take any and all action to ensure that the 46,000 members of the Association of Flight Attendants receive mandatory security training as first responders."

The APWU resolution, as reported by USLAW, is as follows:

"Whereas, the Bush Administration carried out an invasion of Iraq under the pretense that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the capability to deploy them, and therefore posed an immediate threat to the security of the United states and the rest of the world, and

'Whereas, after an extensive post-occupation search, there is no evidence that Iraq possessed WMD or the capability to deploy them, and

'Whereas, the war and military occupation of Iraq has cost the lives of over 750 U.S. troops, the wounding and disabling of thousands more, and death and injury to thousands of Iraqi civilians, and

'Whereas, the war and occupation has already cost the taxpayers of the United States over a hundred billion dollars, while at the same time social and human services, education and veterans' benefits are being cut, and

'Whereas, part of the cost to taxpayers is to pay for contracts awarded to corporations that are overcharging government agencies for both occupation services and rebuilding projects,therefore be it

'Resolved, the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO calls for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the implementation of a plan to turn over sovereignty to the people of Iraq as soon as possible, and the return of U.S. troops to their homes and families.

U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW) can be reached at www.uslaboragainstwar.org

info@uslaboragainstwar.org