LABOR TUESDAY! for January 21, 2003

Entnommen aus der wöchentlichen Ausgabe von Labor Tuesday

Peace Sentiment Echoes Ever Louder in Cleveland LaborMovement

By Jerry Gordon

On January 12, about a thousand people packed one of the largest and best known African American churches in Cleveland. One of the featured speakers was John Ryan, executive Secretary of the Cleveland AFL-CIO. Ryan made a strong presentation, condemning the war for oil and forcefully stating "it will be working class youth who will bedoing the fighting and dying."

On January 14, GE workers in Cleveland held a big rally on the first day of their two-day strike opposing employer cost shifting on health care. Rev.Marvin McMickle, whose church hosted the rally held two days previously, told several hundred workers, "It's a disgrace that the government is willing to spend $100-$200 billion for a war against Iraq, but is not willing to spend anywhere near that sum to guarantee health care for all of our people." This remark drew loud and sustained applause.

The Cleveland Citizen is the oldest labor news-paper in the country and is now in its 113th year of publication. It is published by the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO.

The paper's editor and general manager is Bill Obbagy, who was a featured speaker at the first big rally of the Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition (NOAC)on November 16 opposing the U.S. war on Iraq. By then, the Citizen had already printed anti-war articles.

The front page of the January edition of the Citizen has a huge cartoon divided into four blocks, each of which contains a caricature of Dick Cheney. The firstblock says, "Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense under Bush I, helps to destroy Iraq's oilfields. Cheney is saying, "Bombs away! Take that, Saddam!"

The second box says, "Dick Cheney, CEO of Haliburton, makes millions in helping to rebuild Iraq's oilfields." Cheney says, "Mine."

The third box says, "Dick Cheney, Vice President under Bush II, argues for a war likely to destroy (among other things) Iraq's oilfields." Cheney remarks, "Homeland security requires it. Bombs away!"

The final box says, "Dick Cheney, CEO of (fill in later, Inc.) makes more millions in helping to rebuild Iraq's oilfields?" Cheney comments, "Hey, a guy's gotta think about his future..."

On an inside page, the Citizen runs a caricature of Bush lampooning him for claiming that "to protect civilization from terrorism we must invade Iraq." The paper asks, "And all that oil your oil buddies would then get to pump?" Bush answers, "Just a happy coincidence."

Below this cartoon is an article titled, "Cleveland AFL-CIO Joins Move Against Iraq War." The article quotes from the Federation's anti-war resolution passed unanimously at its December meeting and then details reports of similar resolutions passed by other labor bodies, including AFSCME'sInternational Executive Board on December 12.

This writer vividly recalls an anti-war rally held in Cleveland's Public Square a decade ago, protesting then the U.S. war against Iraq. The 1500 people who turned out suddenly found themselves confronted by a large crowd of hostile building trades workers who supported the war. A huge brawl appeared imminent but was averted.

How things have changed! Demonstrations by anti-war forces in this period draw friendly reaction on an almost universal scale. All sections of the Cleveland labor movement today are increasingly gripped by peace fever and express support for the anti-war movement.

In over 50 years of anti-war activity dating back to Korea, I entertained the hope that someday labor would not only would be part of the peace movement but actually lead it. But even during the highest point of the Vietnam anti-war movement, when in January, 1973 the Cleveland AFL-CIO finally passed a resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S.forces from the area, has there been anything even remotely resembling what we are seeing to-day.

Anti-war sentiment in the ranks of Cleveland labor will surely deepen as the consequences of the looming bloodbath in Iraq become all the more clear.

Jerry Gordon, a well known Cleveland unionist, was a staff representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union for twenty-three years.