The Million Worker March, with Brenda Stokely (Taking Aim Radio)

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[Sept.  21, 2004]

040921

The Million Worker March, with Brenda Stokely

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Antiwar Labor at the RNC Protests

Antiwar Labor at the RNC Protests
by Michael Letwin
NYCLAW Co-Convener
September 18, 2004

On August 29, what may have been the largest labor antiwar assembly since 9/11 marched with half a million people to protest the Republican National Convention in New York City. The march was sponsored by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ).

More than 1,000 trade unionists assembled behind a solid row of labor banners that followed the lead contingent of military families and veterans — including the newly-formed Iraq Veterans Against the War — among which a number of union members also marched.

Participating labor bodies included: 1199ers for Peace & Justice; AFM Local 1000; AFSCME DC 37; AFSCME locals 215, 375, 1930, 1549, 1723 and 2187; AFSCME district councils 47 and 1707; AFT Local 2026; BMWE, NY Lodge 3068; CWA Local 1180; ILCA; IWW-NYC-GMB; NWU/UAW Local 1981, NJ Labor Against the War, NYC Labor Against the War; NY Taxi Workers Alliance; NY Teachers Against the War (UFT); Postal Workers Against the War; PSC-CUNY/AFT Local 2334; SEIU District 1199P; Transit Workers Against the War (TWU Local 100); UNITE/HERE; and U.S. Labor Against the War. Members of numerous other labor bodies also marched.

As in past NYC antiwar demonstrations, the union with the largest presence was PSC-CUNY, which estimated that some 500 of its members were there, holding red-and-white placards that said “Money for Education, Not for War.” NYCLAW’s banner declared “Bring the Troops Home Now, End the Occupation of Iraq.” Another large banner announced the Million Worker March on October 17 in Washington, D.C. Signs and banners also identified individual labor bodies.

Labor officials at the march included PSC-CUNY president Barbara Bowen, AFSCME DC 37 program director Frances Curtis, HERE/UNITE president Bruce Raynor, AFSCME DC 1707 president Brenda Stokely and TWU Local 100 president Roger Toussaint.

While still modest relative to the overall march, labor’s presence on August 29 reflected rising antiwar sentiment throughout the United States. Over the summer, trade union activists successfully proposed resolutions against war and occupation – without significant opposition, and with strong support from military veterans – at the international conventions of AFSCME, APWU, CWA, NPMHU and SEIU. Another antiwar resolution was defeated at traditionally pro- war AFT, but only after unprecedented floor debate.

Debate in the Movement

While these resolutions are symbolically important, however, they were not accompanied by large-scale mobilization for August 29 on the part of international unions, which have devoted virtually all their political energies to electing Democrat John Kerry — who supports the war.

Kerry’s candidacy also appeared to blunt the official message of August 29, which UFPJ labeled “Say No to the Bush Agenda.” New York City Labor Against the War had unsuccessfully proposed that UFPJ substitute “End the Occupation of Iraq and Bring the Troops Home Now” – which applies equally to both presidential candidates.

This slogan was first widely voiced last year by Military Families Speak Out and antiwar veterans’ organizations. Soon after, NYCLAW successfully proposed its adoption by both UFPJ and U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW). By June 2004, the Washington Post and ABC News reported that 42% of those polled agreed.

Working people also participated in other RNC protests. Thousands attended a September 1 New York City Central Labor Council anti-Bush rally. While war in Iraq went virtually unmentioned from the speakers’ platform, rank-and-file unionists were receptive to PSC-CUNY antiwar placards, NYCLAW flyers, and materials for the Million Worker March.

Others joined marches organized on August 30 by Still We Rise/Racial Justice 911 and the Poor People’s Human Rights Campaign, a September 2 march sponsored by Harlem antiwar organizers, and a memorial vigil for victims of the Iraq war organized by antiwar vets and military family members.

In addition, thousands of people participated in a rally cosponsored by International ANSWER, NYCLAW and other organizations outside Madison Square Garden during Bush’s acceptance speech, which called for “U.S. Out of Iraq, Bring the troops home now, and End the Colonial Occupation of Iraq, Haiti, Palestine and everywhere.”

Upcoming Efforts

The RNC protests were exciting and energizing. But as reflected throughout the week of protest, labor antiwar activists have a range of views about what comes next.

Many feel that Bush’s defeat is paramount – even it means campaigning for John Kerry. Others
(including NYCLAW) are mobilizing for the Million Worker March, which has an expressly antiwar position. Although USLAW voted not to support the MWM, it has been endorsed by a growing number of labor bodies, including CWA, NEA, APWU and AFSCME DC 37, and by UFPJ. For more information: <http://millionworkermarch.org/index.php&gt;.

The future of antiwar labor will be the subject of two fall meetings: NYCLAW’s organizing conference on November 20 and USLAW’s National Leadership Assembly on December 4-5 in Chicago. NYCLAW can be contacted at: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/&gt;, nyclaw@comcast.net. USLAW can be contacted at: <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/&gt;. uslaw@igc.org.

RNC Protest Sight & Sound

Visual and audio coverage of antiwar labor at the RNC protests include: Photos: <http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mletwin2001/album?.dir=/f342&.src=ph>. Video: <rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/c04/c04082904_protest1.rm&gt;, at 29:00,
31:00, 34:00. Audio: <http://www.radio4all.net/pub/files/knash@igc.org/123-1-20040905-clcrnc30.mp3&gt;.

Michael Letwin is a co-convener of New York City Labor Against the War, on the national steering committees of USLAW and UFPJ, and former president of UAW Local 2325.

Report on Antiwar Labor at RNC Protests

Report on Antiwar Labor at RNC Protests
by Michael Letwin, NYCLAW Co-Convener

AUGUST 29 UFPJ MARCH

Amongst the half-million people who protested the RNC in New York City on August 9 included what may have been the largest labor antiwar contingent since 9/11.

The contingent included more than 1,000 people assembled behind a solid row of abor banners; labor was the second march contingent, immediately following veterans and military families — in which a number of trade unionists also arched. As in the past, PSC-CUNY/AFT Local 2334 had the single greatest presence, which the union estimated at 500 participants.

Other labor bodies included:

**1199ers for Peace & Justice
**AFM Local 1000
**AFSCME DC 37
**AFSCME DC 37, locals 375, 1930, 1549
**AFSCME DC 47
**AFSCME DC 1707
**BMWE, NY Lodge 3068
**CWA Local 1180
**Internet Labor Communications Association
**IWW-NYC-GMB
**NJ Labor Against the War
**NWU/UAW Local 1981
**NY Taxi Workers Alliance
**NYC Teachers Against the War (UFT)
**Postal Workers Against the War
**SEIU 1199P
**Transit Workers Against the War (TWU Local 100)
**UNITE/HERE
**U.S. Labor Against the War

Labor officials participating in the overall event included Barbara Bowen (PSC-CUNY), Francis Curtis (AFSCME DC 1707), Bruce Raynor (HERE/UNITE), Brenda
Stokely (AFSCME DC 1707) and Roger Toussaint (TWU Local 100).

On Sunday afternoon, NYCLAW held an open house for labor marchers at AFSCME DC 1707.

In the weeks prior to the march, NYCLAW representatives on the UFPJ Steering Committee had advocated that the coalition should rescind its decision to
abandon the battle for a permitted rally in Central Park (which was done). NYCLAW also proposed replacement of the main slogan “Say No to the Bush Agenda”
with the more concrete demand to “End the Occupation of Iraq and Bring the Troops Home Now” (which was not); the latter, however, was displayed on NYCLAW’s
lead banner and flyers <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/message/2089>, and on those of the Vets/military families contingent.

Coverage of antiwar labor on August 29 (and several of the activities discussed below) includes the following:

Photos: <http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mletwin2001/album?.dir=/f342&.src=ph>
Video: <rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/c04/c04082904_protest1.rm>, at 29:00, 31:00, 34:00.
Audio: <http://www.radio4all.net/pub/files/knash@igc.org/123-1-20040905-clcrnc30.mp3>

More generally:
<http://travel2.nytimes.com/mem/travel/article-page.html?res=9502E1D71631F933A05\75BC0A9629C8B63>
<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/02/veterans_of_iraq_war_join\_forces_to_protest_us_invasion/>
<http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2576>
<http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/107181/index.php>
<http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff08302004.html>
<http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/mobile/article/coalition_needed_for_common_interests/>
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/30/wus30.xml&sShee\t=/portal/2004/08/30/ixportaltop.html>

OTHER RNC PROTESTS

On September 1, an estimated 40,000 of trade unionists turned out for a Labor Day anti-Bush rally sponsored by the New York City Central Labor Council. Every
rally speaker condemned the war against workers at home, but none mentioned the war abroad. Nonetheless, participating union members were quite receptive to
PSC-CUNY antiwar placards, NYCLAW flyers, and materials for the October 17 Million Worker March.

See:
<http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/ns09012004.cfm>
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/228124p-195914c.html>

In addition to the above, NYCLAW prioritized participation in the Still We Rise <http://www.racialjustice911.org/regnyc.htm#8-30> and Poor People’s marches
<http://kwru.org/mfol/bushville8-30.htm> on August 30; and the Harlem antiwar march <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/03/1457255 and
Vets/Military families vigil on September 2 <http://www.ny1.com/ny/TopStories/SubTopic/index.html?topicintid=1&subtopicintid\=1&contentintid=43001>.

NYCLAW also cosponsored a final RNC protest rally at Madison Square Garden during Bush’s acceptance speech, attended by thousands of people.
<http://newstandardnews.net/alivewires/elections2004/content/?show_item=943>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/03/politics/campaign/03protest.html>
<http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aOGkKkT2gPAQ&refer=us>
<http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/09/03/thousands_d\emonstrate_outside_convention_site_as_bush_speaks/>
<http://www.internationalanswer.org/>
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/228574p-196293c.html>
<http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-nyprot033953477sep03,0,62\65201.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines>
<http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1094191998295530.xml>
<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/9573077.htm1c>
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=6141426>

UPCOMING NYCLAW EVENTS

NYCLAW’s upcoming efforts include mobilization for the Million Worker March <http://www.millionworkermarch.org/>, and for a NYCLAW organizing conference on
November 20.

To receive regular NYCLAW reports, send an e-mail message to:
LaborAgainstWar-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

NYCLAW Speech at NYC RNC Demo

NYCLAW Speech at NYC RNC Demo
September 2, 2004
Presented by Michael Letwin
NYCLAW Co-Convener

**To tell George Bush and the Republicans to get out and stay out of our city. **To get the U.S. get out of Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere else – and to Bring the Troops Home Now! And we’re proud that this call has been endorsed by the largest U.S. labor unions, including: SEIU, AFSCME, APWU and CWA.

**To end U.S. support for the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and denial of Palestinians’ right to return to their country.

**To fight for jobs, health care, education, housing, racial and economic justice – not war.

Ever since 9/11, the Bush administration has exploited our pain its gain: oil, empire, and plunder by companies like Haliburton and Bechtel. It has lied shamelessly: about phoney “WMD” and about bring “democracy” to Iraq.  But the world knows that this “war on terror” is no more than a war of terror; another Vietnam – and just as wrong.

So:

**We know that the brutal U.S. wars and occupations haven’t brought “democracy,” but rather death and injury to thousands of Afghans and Iraqis; that the true face of U.S. occupation can be seen in the systematic torture and murder practiced in the gulags of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

**We know that the same lies have killed more than 1,000 G.I.s and seriously wounded thousands more — most of whom are workers and people of color.

**We know that the war has already cost hundreds of billions of dollars, while workers and the poor at home suffer from mass unemployment, poverty, homelessness; from the lack of health care, education.

**And we know that the administration has exploited 9/11 to inflict sweeping attacks on our hard-won civil liberties, immigrant and labor rights.

And we also know that the Bush administration could not have committed these crimes without enthusiastic support from their accomplices in the Democratic Party and the media.

But this week, New Yorkers – including thousands of union members and other working people – have turned out in record numbers to say Enough!: