Statement of the General Executive Board on the Tragic Events of September 11, 2001

Like all Americans, the members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) are devastated by the mind-numbing loss of life caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  We share the sense of loss and violation, despair and outrage. We mourn as our nation mourns.

The horror visited upon our nation that Tuesday morning should never have happened; it should never happen to another people again, anywhere.  Innocent people suffered deaths more horrific than could be imagined in nightmares.  Many of the slain were union members, murdered at their place of work and on the job.   With profound sorrow, we mourn our fallen brothers and sisters and express our solidarity with the families of the victims.

We condemn unreservedly the hidden, unseen, faceless killers who are responsible for this crime against humanity.  We demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

We are resolved not to yield to terror or to terroristsâ™ designs. Democracy is too precious.  We continue with plans for our convention â” the highest expression of our union democracy â” with renewed commitment to freedom and solidarity.   We shall not be stopped by cold-blooded, calculating killers.

And we shall not allow our grief and righteous anger to be polluted by hatred and bigotry. We recall with pride that weeks after Pearl Harbor, as UE mobilized to win the war for freedom, our union condemned anti-Japanese racism as fundamentally opposed to that great cause.  Todayâ™s war against the terrorism of an evil few must not be confused with attacks on an ethnicity or religion.  Verbal slurs and physical assaults against our Arab-American and Islamic neighbors and co-workers must be countered, condemned and stopped.

As we mourn and as we rage, we also declare our resistance to efforts to use this tragedy to curtail our civil liberties or to engage in military adventures that can lead only to more carnage and senseless loss of life. Our greatest memorial to our fallen brothers and sisters will be a world of peace, tolerance and understanding, underscored by the solidarity of working people.

Robin Alexander
UE Director of International Labor Affairs
One Gateway Center, Suite 1400
420 Fort Duquesne Blvd.
PGH., PA.
15222-1416
412-471-8919
412-471-8999 FAX

Please note new e-mail address above.

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