MAY DAY 2008

NO PEACE NO WORK
NO PAZ NO TRABAJO

Reply-To: "Wildcat News Service" <rosagoldman@juno.com>
Subject: Vermont AFL-CIO Endorses First Strike Against the War

Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:16:17 -0700

Dear Editors:
This news is truly historic. We are forwarding the report
from AlterNet and Portside, below.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has

called for a strike on May 1, 2008, against the Iraq War.
The article in the ILWU publication, Dispatcher, "Stop work
meetings on May 1 will focus on Iraq War" announces the
action. See at
http://www.ilwu.org/dispatcher/2008/04/index.cfm and it is
on page 2 of the pdf copy of the Dispatcher.
Now, the Vermont AFL-CIO is joining the action, and other
state federations are expected to follow.

Simultaneously, May Day this year, as for the past two
years, is also a day immigrant rights groups have called for
multi-tactic (including strikes, boycotts, lunch rallies,
etc.) and multi-issue actions to support the rights of
immigrant workers, their families and the rights of all
working people. The call (online at
http://immigrantsolidarity.org/mayday2008/ ) is for
decentralized actions, for everyone to pledge to support
immigrant workers rights, while local groups can also choose
"any other topics for their mobilizations: civil rights,
anti-war, Katrina, labor rights, health care, etc." Millions
of people, especially in the peace, social justice and labor
movements, have been inspired by these May Day actions of
2006 and 2007.
The attachment is a poster from the San Francisco Bay Area,
promoting BOTH of these strike calls.
--Monty Reed Kroopkin, Editor

Wildcat News Service

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG wrote:
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:11:27 -0400
From: moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG
Subject: Labor's First Strike Against the War Gains Momentum
To: PORTSIDE@LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG

Labor's First Strike Against the War Gains Momentum

Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet at 6:11 AM on April
24, 2008.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/83192/

Vermont Union offers strong endorsement of West Coast
long-shoremen's action.

The following is a release put out by the Vermont
AFL-CIO, with thanks to reader Richard M. for sending
it along ...

The Executive Board of the Vermont AFL-CIO,
representing thousands of workers in countless sectors
across Vermont, have unanimously passed an historic
resolution expressing their "unequivocal" support for
the first US labor strike against the war in Iraq.

Montpelier, VT -The Executive Board of the Vermont
AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless
sectors across Vermont, have unanimously passed an
historic resolution expressing their "unequivocal"
support for the first US labor strike against the war
in Iraq. The strike, being organized by the Longshore
Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union

(ILWU), will seek to shutdown all west coast ports for

a period of 8 hours on the day of May 1st 2008. The

Vermont AFL-CIO is the first state labor federation to

publicly back the Longshoremen; other state federations
are expected to follow.

The resolution, among other things, calls the war in
Iraq "immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary", states that
the vast majority of working Vermonters oppose the war,
and contends that the war will only be brought to an
end by "the direct actions of working people." Many
other Vermont labor unions and organizations, including
the Vermont Workers' Center, have also made official
statements condemning the war.

The resolution also calls on working Vermonters to
"discuss the actions of the Longshoremen, to wear
anti-war buttons, and to take various actions of their
own design and choosing in their workplace on May 1st,
2008."

"Workers in Vermont and all across this nation are
against this war. We have already demanded that the
government end it, but they have consistently failed to
heed our words. Therefore working people are beginning
to take concrete steps to make our resistance known. If

the war does not immediately end we, the unions and
working people of Vermont, will also be compelled to

take appropriate action," said David Van Deusen, a
District Vice President of the Vermont AFL-CIO.

Traven Leyshon, President of the Washington, Lamoille &
Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said,
"Vermont labor has long called for an end to this war.
The untold billions being spent on the war could
instead be used to address our domestic needs. It is
working people who pay the cost of the war - in some
cases with our lives, but always with our sacrifices."

Full text of the resolution after the jump ...

Vermont AFL-CIO Resolution

In Solidarity With Longshoremen's West Coast Strike
Against War

April, 2008

Whereas the war in Iraq is immoral, unwanted, and
unnecessary,

Whereas this unjust war is opposed by the great
majority of Americans & Vermonters, the bulk of
organized labor, and by thousands of enlisted military
personal,

Whereas this unjust war has already resulted in over
4000 American dead (including a disproportionate number
of brave Vermonters), and tens of thousands of service
men & woman being wounded,

Whereas this unjust war has further resulted in untold
number of Iraqi deaths,

Whereas the Federal Government has not made any
constructive moves towards the ending of this war and
the full removal of US troops, and instead has taken
the course of escalation and indefinite occupation,

Whereas the government of Vermont, and especially
Governor Jim Douglas, have failed to find ways to bring
Vermont National Guard troops home from Iraq,

Whereas this war will only be brought to an end by the
direct actions of working people,

Therefore, Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO
continues to stand in firm opposition to this war, and
unequivocally supports the decision of the Longshore
Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union
(ILWU) to shutdown the west coast ports for a period of
8 hours on May 1st, 2008, as a means of resistance.

Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO stands in
full solidarity with the New York Metro National
Association of Letter Carriers who have resolved to
conduct two minute periods of silence on May 1st, 2008,
at 1PM, 5PM & 9PM in protest of the war and in support
of the Longshoremen.

Let It Be Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO encourages
all Vermont workers to stand in solidarity with the
historic actions being taken by the Longshoremen &
other labor unions to end this war.

Let It Be Further Resolved that the Vermont AFL-CIO
calls for all Vermont workers to discuss the actions of
the Longshoremen, to wear anti-war buttons, and to take
various actions of their own design and choosing in
their workplace on May 1st, 2008 as a means of
resistance against this unjust war.

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at
AlterNet.

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