War and Peace Are Union Issues

A majority of Americans think the U.S. should go to war against Iraq only with the United Nations. Internal trade union polls show their members share these sentiments -- disarm Saddam Hussein, but only with the U.N. It comes as no surprise that as a U.S. peace movement reflecting majority American opinion grows, organizations already opposing the war, reporters, journalists, and most importantly, union members are asking: "Where are the unions?"

In fact, unions have begun to question their government's war policy earlier, more broadly and more seriously than ever before at such an early stage of a war threat.

On Oct. 24, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney took an unprecedented step by sending a letter to members of Congress two days before the congressional vote authorizing President Bush to go to war. Although Sweeney did not urge members to vote against the legislation, he raised a series of points:

• The war must not distract from the "vital mission" of destroying the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
• The U.S. must "deal with Hussein's lawlessness in a manner that reinforces international law. We must treat his defiance of the United Nations in a manner that respects that crucial institution and all it stands for."
• "We cannot defeat terrorism with military force alone. ... The world community must rededicate itself to the defense of basic human rights -- the freedom to speak, to assemble, and to organize as well as the freedom from starvation, from homelessness, and from curable disease."
• "Military action and costs associated with re-building Iraq . . . should not be used as a reason for not investing in other critical national needs."
• "It is, after all, the sons and daughters of America's working families who will be asked to carry out this mission" and therefore war must be "the last option, not the first."

The letter was sent after briefings to the AFL-CIO by Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and Admiral Pointdexter. A draft of the letter was run by all sectors of the AFL-CIO -- industrial unions, service and public sector, building and construction trades; all agreed that Sweeney should send it.

In effect, President Sweeney's letter outlines the reasons unions consider the issue of war and peace a trade union issue:

• Make sure we keep America safe by destroying terrorist networks.
• Make sure Hussein's weapons of mass destruction are disarmed -- but only through the UN. Make sure the Bush government does not use war as an excuse for not taking care of the urgent economic and social needs of America's working families.
• Make it clear that Bush has not made his case -- to union members --that the U.S. should unilaterally attack Iraq. As Sweeney says, "America cannot engage in a conflict that involves the clear potential for significant casualties, as well as social and economic costs, without a full public debate free of political inferences."
• Never let anyone forget that it is the kids of union families who will be put in harm's way by this war.

Winning Without War

With similar concerns, local unions, central labor bodies and even AFL-CIO state federations have begun to speak out.

Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago, the second largest in the union, passed a resolution on Oct. 18 which stressed that, "We value the lives of our sons and daughters . . . more than Bush's control of Middle East oil profits"; that the "billions of dollars being spent to stage and execute this invasion means billions taken away from our schools, hospitals, housing and social security"; and that "Bush's drive for war serves as a cover and a distraction for the sinking economy, corporate corruption, layoffs," and the use of Taft-Hartley against striking longshoremen.

The 85,000 member SEIU local 250 in Northern California resolution opposes "any unilateral, preemptive war against Iraq."