Teamsters Local Calls for Troops Out

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This report was posted on the Internet on September 25, 2003.

Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago passed a resolution last week condemning the Bush administration’s occupation of Iraq—and calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces. The local has 20,000 members, most of them at United Parcel Service.

The resolution was proposed at a membership meeting, where speakers in favor talked about the terrible conditions for ordinary Iraqis—and the fact that rank-and-file soldiers are facing all the risks in Iraq in an occupation for oil and empire. Turnout to the meeting was fairly low, but the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority in a voice vote.

In the buildup before the war, dozens of union locals and councils took a stand against Bush’s war drive. With the occupation unraveling, antiwar unionists should try to raise resolutions calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq—now!

Text of Local 705’s resolution

Whereas, the Bush administration’s military occupation of Iraq has proved to be a disaster for the working class people of Iraq and the United States;

Whereas, the people of Iraq have clearly demonstrated that they are opposed to the presence of U.S. and other foreign troops in their country;

Whereas, Bush’s proposed $87 billion spending bill on the occupation of Iraq, for this year alone, could be spent at home on health care, prescription drugs, education, and fighting unemployment;

Be it resolved, that Teamsters Local 705 calls for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq and for the spending of funds earmarked for the occupation on social services at home.