The Vermont AFL-CIO's Convention on September 16th voted to
encourage affiliates and members to organize participation in the Iraq
Moratorium and October 27th. This followed a powerful presentation by Iraq Veterans Against the War and AFGE member at
the VA Hospital, Adrienne Kinney, who urged union members to mobilize to bring
our troops home now and demand that Congress fully fund the Department of
Veterans Affairs to provide world-class care to wounded vets.
Vermont
Labor Against the War - a coalition of the Vermont AFL-CIO, Champlain Valley and
Washington-Orange-Lamoille Labor
Councils, and Vermont Workers Center - is circulating a letter from union
leaders and activists urging Vermont labor organizations to mobilize our
members: "Let’s
Engage Our Members to Bring Our Troops Home . . . and Take Care of Them When
They Return"
Engaging Our Members in Anti-war
Activity
Whereas, the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO has
expressed its opposition to the ongoing occupation in Iraq;
and
Whereas, these conflicts continue unabated, and over 3700 US
troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have lost their lives, and
countless others have been wounded, and
Whereas, the costs of the
war, both in its operation and expected costs in healthcare and benefits for
returning troops is projected to be over $1 trillion, while other pressing human
needs at home such as healthcare, education, housing, and disaster recovery
(such as Katrina) are neglected and under funded. The cost to Vermont taxpayers
already totals $663 million, and
Whereas, From Walter Reed Army
Medical Center to Veterans Administration hospitals across the country,
inadequate funding has denied medical health professionals in the VA system the
tools they need to provide world-class care to wounded vets. The American
Federation of Government Employees has been warning for years that veterans are
not getting the health care they need, that Bush and Congress are ignoring the
true cost of war, and
Whereas, the AFL-CIO has condemned the
actions of the Iraqi Oil Minister in declaring oil worker unions illegal, adding
to the attacks on workers in that country, and supported the Iraqi unions’
opposition to the multinational oil corporations’ attempt to control Iraq’s oil
resources – effectively hijacking the economic rights of the Iraqi people,
and
Whereas, President Bush and the Congress continue to fund the
war despite the fact that over 60% of the American public feels we should bring
our troops home from Iraq, and
Whereas, U.S. Labor Against the
War, a national coalition of affiliated unions, including the Vermont AFL-CIO,
the Champlain Valley and Washington-Orange-Lamoille Labor Councils, and the
Vermont Workers Center, is organizing educational programs and mobilization
efforts designed to pressure the administration and Congress to end this
conflict,
Therefore, let it be resolved that the Vermont State
Labor Council, AFL-CIO renew its call for bringing our troops home now from
Iraq, and
Resolved, that the State Labor Council call on Congress
and the Bush Administration to provide genuine support, not just lip-service, to
our armed forces, making good on promises to take care of these workers-in-arms
when they return home; fully fund annually the Department of Veterans Affairs;
remove any restrictions, including time limits, means testing and salary caps,
that interfere with veterans receiving medical care; expand benefits for
veterans, including a G.I. Bill for returning Iraq veterans and a Veterans
Administration housing program; and
Resolved, that the State Labor
Council encourage our affiliates through our communication networks to mobilize
our members to participate in labor based actions to end the war, to break their
daily routine by taking some action to end the war, such as organizing programs
in their workplaces or union halls, the wearing of armbands, and other forms of
participation in the Iraq Moratorium on the third Friday of every month,
and
Finally Resolved, that the State Labor Council promote and
endorse the October 27th regional and local mobilizations.
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