Anti-War Resolution

California Labor Federation

July 24, 2002

Oppose the Bush Administration's Attacks on Working People

Resolution No. 9-Presented by Letter Carriers Branch 214, San Francisco.

WHEREAS, After the horrific events of September 11, President Bush and Congress began implementing a program with bad consequences for working people:

*Open-ended wars across the globe

*An anti-worker domestic program

*Laws like the USA Patriot Act curtailing civil rights, union rights, civil liberties and the Bill of Rights

*Legitimization of racial profiling

*Wiping out environmental protections

*Threats to unions and the right to strike

*Huge giveaways to corporations; and

WHEREAS, A global economic crisis gathers momentum:

*Millions lose their jobs

*Hunger and homelessness spread, while corporate cronies of the court-appointed President are feeding at the public trough; and

WHEREAS, The Bush program offers nothing for laid-off workers, the tens of millions without health care, or the 25% of U.S. children living in poverty, while the only "public housing" Bush wants to build is more prisons; and

WHEREAS, Bush's war has already killed thousands of innocent civilians, directly by bombing and indirectly by war-related starvation and disease. These are people, mostly women and children, who had nothing to do with terrorism or 9/11. Do any of us really think this will make us "more secure" here at home? Now the Pentagon, with troops already in over 100 countries, is expanding its military forces in Colombia and the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, War is not free: it is the workers and their children who pay for it. By 2007, Bush projects a military budget exceeding $500,000,000,000, devouring virtually all remaining social programs- meanwhile raiding the workers' Social Security Trust Fund to pay for his endless wars-so that for our children, the "social safety net" will be gone; and

WHEREAS, On March 9, an ominous Nuclear Policy Review was leaked to the media, detailing Pentagon plans for nuclear war targeting seven countries . contemplating U.S. "first strike" use of nuclear weapons, even against small nations; and

WHEREAS, On April 20, 100,000 marched on Washington, 35,000 in San Francisco, and many thousands in other cities, against Bush's program of endless war, racism and poverty, including labor contingents and speakers-visible opposition to the extraordinarily dangerous course Bush & Co. have embarked upon-since only a reinvigorated people's movement, and labor movement, can hope to change this course; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, gathered here in Convention, stand firmly opposed to the Bush Administration's program which hurts working people at home and in other countries, and stands committed to building unity and cooperation among unions and all workers, in defense of, and to advancing Labor's fundamental interests.

July 24, 2002

Looking Ahead on AFL-CIO Policy Abroad

Resolution No. 20-Presented by Executive Council of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Oakland.

WHEREAS, The impact of economic globalization on American working families and workers everywhere is causing more job dislocation, impoverishment of working families, division among workers and a huge economic gap between rich and poor in the U.S. and among nations, with power shifting more and more into corporate hands; and

WHEREAS, An effective strategy to serve our members' interests and counter the corporate economic globalization agenda is to build solidarity and unity among unions and workers' organizations worldwide based upon mutual respect and our common needs, with mutually determined labor standards based on social justice and human rights based on International Labor Organization (ILO) Fundamental Principles On Rights At Work; and