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07/19/2004:

"Scant Coverage of US Labor Opposition to Iraq War"

by David Swanson counterpunch.org
Recently the two biggest stories in the U.S. news media have been the war in Iraq and the presidential election campaign. Labor unions have been part of a number of major stories on the presidential campaign, especially stories about Senator Kerry's selection of John Edwards as a running mate.

But labor has not been part of stories on the war. There was some reason for that up until a few weeks ago. The AFL-CIO has not taken a position on the war, and most of the international unions have followed suit. That changed at the conventions last month in California of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Kerry spoke at both conventions, and his speeches received significant media coverage.

What did not receive coverage and should have was that both SEIU and AFSCME passed resolutions at their conventions supporting the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. These strongly worded resolutions passed by two of the largest, most politically active labor unions in the country -- two unions that have received substantial coverage from national political reporters on other stories -- were quickly followed by passage on July 13 of a similar resolution by the California Labor Federation, the largest state federation within the AFL-CIO. Together, these three organizations represent close to 5 million union members. Other union conventions will be addressing the issue throughout the summer, a remarkable development and a striking contrast to labor's behavior during the Vietnam War. full article