September Iraq Moratorium, Friday, Sept. 19, 5:00 pm
“Recruiting for Peace”
Outside of Dobie Mall near the UT campus, Guadalupe & 21st St., Austin
This antiwar action will also call attention to the dishonest recruitment practices by the US military and the recruitment office inside the Dobie.
For more information, contact [email protected]
Activists will present a resolution opposing the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at the general assembly of the Texas State Employees Union/CWA Local 6186, to be held Oct. 3 – 5 in Austin. The resolution will be an endorsement of the antiwar resolution passed in June at the national convention of the Communication Workers of America, TSEU’s parent union.
Here’s the CWA resolution. We will publish the proposed TSEU resolution when its wording is finalized.
2008 CWA Convention Resolution: Working for Peace and Labor Rights in Iraq
Communications Workers of America
June 28th, 2008
Resolution 70A-08-9
The military actions of the Bush administration in the Middle East have reached a critical point, one which may commit future administrations to an expanded war. The costs of that war are now running over $341 million per day and total more than $531 billion to date. These costs will be borne by generations to come.
The money spent on this war could be spent to repair our nation’s infrastructure and restore social programs that have been devastated by years of Republican neglect. But the cost in human Iives is even more important, with 4,104 of our young men and women killed to date, over 30,000 wounded, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children killed.
The Iraqi labor movement also has been devastated. It is increasingly dangerous to be a union leader in Iraq. The Iraqi labor movement reports that union property has been seized and destroyed, bank accounts have been frozen, and leaders have been abducted, arrested and assassinated. With their lives in danger, many labor leaders have been forced to leave the country.
Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority kept intact a 1987 decree by Saddam Hussein outlawing unions in the public sector and in public enterprises. This ban has been continued by the current government of Nouri Al-Maliki. In place of free union elections, the government is imposing an elections process. This is an affront to the principles of free trade unionism and counter to the Iraqi government’s 2004 pledge to create a law that would comply with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards and guarantee workers the right to form their own trade unions.
A coalition of international labor rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO, is calling for the lraqi government to cease its interference with lraqi unions and to respect workers’ rights to form unions. In the United States, local unions, state and regional labor organizations and others have built a solidarity network – U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW). USLAW has sponsored two visits by lraqi trade unionists to the United States and continues to provide a key link between U.S. workers and our brothers and sisters in the Iraqi labor movement.
RESOLVED: CWA continues to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and believes that the best support is to bring them home and give them all medical treatment, care and benefits they need and deserve.
RESOLVED: CWA encourages all Locals to unite with labor unions here and internationally in the growing movement against the war and to deepen their active solidarity with the Iraqi trade unionists.
RESOLVED: CWA Joins with the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations to call on the lraqi government to take immediate steps to bring Iraq into compliance with International Labor Organization core labor standards.
Following days of demonstrations and strikes by thousands of workers, the Iraqi government reversed its order to cut wages by up to 30% and eliminate many industrial labor benefits. The authorities agreed to direct negotiations with the representatives of the workers.
Workers were able to achieve a number of major demands, such as stopping pay and benefit cuts, and above all advancing the demand for freedom of association and other labor rights that have been denied to Iraqi workers both under the dictatorship and by the U.S./British occupation. The government agreed to retroactive payment of the wage cuts put into effect and to meet with worker representatives over other issues, such as workplace hazards. The Parliament must now consider a labor rights law that recognizes, respects and protects labor rights in conformity with International Labor Organization standards.
More than 275 people responded within 48 hours to the urgent appeal USLAW sent to its supporters asking them to sign electronic letters to the Iraqi Ambassador in Washington DC and the Iraq representative to the UN in New York. Similar efforts were mounted in other countries around the world. The combination of determined courageous worker protests in the face of threats and violence and international solidarity turned an attack on the living standards of workers into a victory. However, promises are not the same as performance. We must be ready to act again if the Iraqi government and parliament fail to follow through.
Thanks to all those who responded by sending protest messages to the Iraqi government.
Texas Labor Against the War will hold our regular monthly meeting Sunday, Sept. 14, 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the Texas State Employees Union hall at 1700 S. First St., Austin, TX (across from Jovita’s and Freddie’s).
Topics for discussion include Iraq Moratorium plans, upcoming TSEU General Assembly, the war in Afghanistan, the elections, and any other relevant matters that members bring to the meeting.
* What: The acclaimed “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit, a project of the American Friends Service Committee, returns to Austin with a new focus–that of displaying combat boots representing the fallen among our Texas soldiers. Additionally, civilian shoes will symbolize the deaths of Iraqi men, women, and children caught in the war’s grip of violence. A hospitality tent will be on site, for active military and veterans (and their families), and veterans are asked to wear their medals in solidarity with the fallen.
* Where: Auditorium Shores West, Lake Lady Bird, 950 West Riverside.
* When: September 12,13, and 14, from 7:00AM to 7:00PM. Special candlelight vigil, Saturday September 13th, from 6:30 to 7:30PM
* Who: A coalition of Austin groups and individuals, from Physicians for Social Responsibility to the American Friends Service Committee, the Austin Center for Peace and Justice, Texans for Peace, CodePink Austin, Veterans for Peace, and others. For the full list, see the website, http://eyeswideopenaustin2008.org/
* Why: To bring a much-needed focus to the deaths of so many individuals, both civilian and military, and honor their lives now lost, and to explore the history, cost, and consequences of war.
Note:In case of rain, please check the website or call 512-857-0080 for updated information on our location. We still need volunteers for early morning shifts. Please send an email to [email protected] if you’d like to help.
