Resolution on the Bush Administration's Drive for War
Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO

WHEREAS, this Council supports the Resolution On Iraq recently passed by the National AFL-CIO Executive Council and stands with the AFL-CIO in its support for all working men and women in our armed forces and honors their courage, realizing that those who fight for the United States are, as they always have been, the men and women of America's working families; and

WHEREAS, this Council further supports the position stated by the National ALF-CIO that, "America's working families and their unions fully support the efforts to disarm the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein. This is best achieved in concert with a broad international coalition of allies and with the sanction of the United Nations." and realizing that a preemptive war on Iraq does not have the support of the United Nations or the international community, and undermines our nation's credibility with our allies in the war on terrorism; and

WHEREAS, we believe that our country and our families will be more secure if America is the respected leader of a broad coalition against terrorism, rather than isolated as a lone enforcer and we heed the words of Democratic Senator Robert Byrd, who stated before the Senate "This Administration has split traditional alliances, possibly crippling, for all time, International order-keeping entities like the United Nations and NATO. This Administration has called into question the traditional worldwide perception of the United States as well-intentioned, peacekeeper"; and

WHEREAS, the Bush Administration under the pretext of war has spearheaded an assault on Organized Labor and has worked to deny the rights of union representation for 170,000 employees in the Department of Homeland Security and proposes to privatize at least 850,000 federal jobs, although our security depends on the daily hard work and commitment of all of these government workers; and

WHEREAS in defense of this blatant attack on Labor, the Bush administration claims that maintaining workers' fundamental rights to union representation is incompatible with the war against terror. The administration's stance insults every union member on the front lines of the battle for domestic security: fire fighters and rescue workers sacrificing their own lives to save the lives of others; nurses tending to the victims of terrorist attacks; construction workers toiling around the clock to clean up Ground Zero; and

WHEREAS, under Bush's leadership in a scant two years, this Administration has squandered a large projected surplus of some $5.6 trillion over the next decade and taken our country to projected deficits, a sinking economy, blatant and still unchecked corporate corruption at the same time proposing tax cuts for the most wealthy of our nation, while many wonder about their ability to retire and whether Social Security will, in fact be secure; and

WHEREAS, the billions of dollars to be spent on a war with Iraq will dramatically take away from the massive funds needed at home to help our cities and states through the current fiscal crisis, strengthen our educational system, meet the health care needs of all Americans including 41 million people without coverage, build housing, rebuild our national infrastructure and bolster Social Security rather than destroy it; and

WHEREAS, the Bush Administration and appointments made by that administration bring forth policies and decisions that undermine the National Labor Relations Act, attack California certified Apprenticeship Programs and propose their removal from Federal projects, bring forth a Presidential Executive Order outlawing Project Labor Agreements on Federal projects, propose elimination of overtime pay and witness a Republican dominated Congress that is considering proposals that will undermine the strength of our Taft Hartley Pension Plans in favor of defined contribution plans (401K, I.R.A.), knowing full well that 401K's and I.R.A.'s are far more vulnerable to the market and do not have the guarantees contained within our Union pension plans that pay a consistent monthly amount to our elderly pensioners, regardless of market fluctuations.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, stands firmly against the Bush Administration's drive to war and calls for a re-ordering of our national priorities which must include creating jobs, rebuilding our national infrastructure and stopping the blatant attacks on Labor Union men and women; and

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, joins other labor organizations and community allies in actively promoting and participating in activities opposing the Bush Administration's drive to war.