Teamsters Local 85 (San Francisco)
Resolution Opposing the Bush
Administration’s War on Iraq
This resolution was adopted on Feb. 13,
2003, by the Executive Board of Local 85 of the International Brotherhood
or Teamsters (IBT) in San Francisco; as far as we know, this is the second
Teamsters local in the U.S. to adopt such a resolution. The first was Teamsters
Local 705 in Chicago, which later hosted the founding meeting of U.S. Labor
Against the War (USLAW). For the text of the Teamsters Local 705 resolution,
click here.
WHEREAS, in the labor community in the US and
around the world, there is a growing recognition of a need for average citizens
to come together now to voice our concerns about decisions being made in our
name by the current U.S. presidential administration which is effectively unchecked
by Congress; and we are making this statement because there is a general
consensus developing that these decisions will have extremely damaging
consequences for us and for other working people here and elsewhere;
WHEREAS, the American people have no reason to
go to war against the people of Iraq, and have no desire to trade human blood
for oil and empire;
WHEREAS, the Iraqi people, already suffering
from 12 years of sanctions and continuous bombing (which has inflicted death
upon 1.6 million people, including 500,000 children) will be innocent victims
of the war;
WHEREAS, the billions of dollars spent to stage
and execute yet another war on Iraq are being taken away from our schools,
hospitals, housing, and Social Security and services for the poor in the midst
of the greatest economic crisis in recent memory, even as the Bush
Administration simultaneously plans even more giveaways and welfare for their rich
supporters; and
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has spearheaded
a renewed assault on organized labor which includes: attempting to implement
NAFTA against the interests of Teamsters in trucking; using Taft-Hartley
against the longshoremen; excluding over 50,000 federal airport screeners’
right to organize; privatizing nearly 200,000 federal jobs covered by the
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and removing collective
bargaining rights from these employees; and
WHEREAS, the war appears to be a pretext for
attacks on our civil liberties, labor rights, other human rights, and
immigrants’ rights: the Bush Administration and Congress are expanding the
government’s ability to detain non-citizens, to conduct telephone and internet
surveillance, and to carry out secret searches through the USA Patriot Act,
which is undermining our precious civil liberties, including labor’s right to
organize; and is therefore eroding the central character of our democracy,
which the Bush Administration is sworn to protect;
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration’s drive for war
serves as a cover and distraction for the sinking economy, ongoing corporate
corruption, layoffs, and the seemingly deliberate engineering of a widening gap
between rich and poor;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Teamsters Local
85 stands firmly against the Bush Administration’s drive to war and calls for a
reordering of our national priorities, which should include policies which
promote: jobs, education, health care, and a clean environment; and a renewed
commitment to ensure social justice, protect civil liberties, and strengthen
all human rights, including labor rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Local 85 will add
its voice to the growing number of union members and organizations who are not
only taking a stand against a war on Iraq, but also against the USA Patriot Act
and Homeland Security Act; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Teamsters Local 85
joins other labor organizations, and community allies to actively promote and
participate in activities opposing the Bush Administration’s drive to war,
including encouraging our members to attend the antiwar march and rally in San
Francisco on Sunday, February 16; and that this resolution be immediately
conveyed to: the San Francisco Labor Council, Teamsters Joint Council 7, the
IBT, our two U.S. Senators (Feinstein and Boxer), and our members of Congress
(Pelosi and Lantos).