Organizations Representing 130 Million Workers Say NO to War!

OVER 200 UNIONS and 550 union leaders from 53 countries representing 130 million workers have signed the International Labor Declaration circulated by USLAW, beginning just ten days ago.

Workers of the world have spoken with a single voice, demanding that the US abandon its militaristic threats of illegal aggression against Iraq and that a peaceful means be pursued to assure that Iraq has dismantled and abandoned all weapons proscribed by the UN resolutions. They have said in unison, "Give peace a chance!"

This is the first time in history that the world's labor movements have come together to speak with a single voice on an issue of urgent international concern.

On Wednesday, February 19, USLAW convened an unprecedented global telephone press conference to brief the media about the Declaration and its signatories.

Participating in that call were representatives of major labor federations and unions in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Quebec, France, England, Tunisia, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, and Italy.

The press conference was broadcast in real time on the World Wide Web and a recording of it will be posted shortly on the USLAW Website.

PARTICIPANTS ON CALL:

Larry Cohen, Executive Vice President, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO

Bob Muehlenkamp, National Co-Convenor of USLAW and former Organizing Director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Gene Bruskin, National Co-Convenor of USLAW

Amy Newell, Former Business Manager, Monterey Bay Labor Council

Mick Rix, General Secretary, Assc. Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, UK

Pakistan: Rubina Jamil, President, All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation

Australia: Sharan Burrows, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions

Australia: Leigh Hubbard, Victorian Hall Trades Council, ACTU

Italy: Enzo Bernardo, Director of the International Dept., CGIL, Funzione Pubbblica

Middle East (Tunisia): Djeman Hacene, General Secretary, International Confederation of Arab Unions

Brazil: Julio Turra, National Executive Director, CUT Federation

Canada: Judy Darcy, National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Canada: Carol Phillips, Director of the International Dept., Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)

Canada: Debra Bourque, President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers

France: Paul Barbier, General Secretary of Education & Culture Dept., Force Ouvriere (FO)

Mexico: Francisco Hernandez Juarez, Co-President, UNT

Quebec: Claire Lalande, International Dept., CSQ

Messages were also read from ZENROREN of Japan and KCTU of South Korea

For continuing news on these and other labor antiwar developments, check the USLAW website (www.uslaboragainstwar.org) frequently.

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ON THE EVE OF A threatened war against Iraq, we, trade unionists from around the world, join with U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the U.S. unions, representing more than 4 million workers, who have opposed this war.

As trade unionists we have the responsibility to inform all working people about issues that affect their lives, jobs and families, and to be heard in the international debate on these issues.

We oppose a US led war against Iraq for many reasons:

There is no evident purpose for this war that we can support. There is no convincing link between Iraq and Al Qaeda or the attacks on Sept. 11, and neither the Bush administration nor the UN inspections have demonstrated that Iraq poses a real threat to Americans and other nations.

It is clear that military action in Iraq will actually increase the likelihood of retaliatory terrorist acts around the world against Western targets.

This action against Iraq by the U.S. military and others nations that may join them, threatens the peaceful resolution of disputes among states, jeopardizing the safety and security of the entire world.

We know that the principal victims of any military action in Iraq will be the sons and daughters of working class families who serve in the military forces and innocent Iraqi civilians who have already suffered so much.

We have no quarrel with the ordinary working class men, women and children of Iraq, or any other country.

We oppose the spending of billions of dollars to stage and execute this war when our nations need money for education, healthcare, housing, and other basic needs.

We oppose the use of this war, and the threat of war, as pretext for attacks on labor, civil, immigrant and human rights in the United States and in other nations.

We believe Bush's drive for war serves as a cover and distraction for the sinking U.S. economy, corporate corruption, and layoffs.

As representatives of the labor movement around the world, we have long had an historic role in fighting for justice. We urge our members to actively protest this war. At the onset of the 21st Century we join with the vast majority of the people of the world who seek a better life and who yearn for a peaceful resolution to this and other international disputes.

US Labor Against the War