Alan Benjamin, an Executive Board member of the San Francisco Labor Council and a member of OPEIU Local 3, spoke on behalf of the San Francico Labor Council at the rally at Pier 31 in San Francisco.
- Are we going to stop this illegal and immoral U.S. war in Iraq! (Response from the crowd, "Hell, yes!")
- Are we going to stop this war by the bosses against union labor on the San Francisco waterfront? (Response from the crowd, "Hell Yes!")
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
My name is Alan Benjamin, and I bring you greetings from the San Francisco Labor Council; from our Executive Director Tim Paulson, who could not make it today; and from the 80,000 union members in this city.
As you may have heard, close to half a million people demonstrated earlier today in Washington, D.C., in response to the call from United For Peace and Justice. I am proud to tell you that we had a large labor contingent that marched from the headquarters of CWA in DC and that had speakers at the rally, including Fred Mason, co-convenor of US Labor Against the War and head of the Marlyand-DC AFL-CIO.
Our Council is an affilitate of USLAW. Together with USLAW we call for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq and an immediate end to the occupation. We are circulating the USLAW petition, which you can sign at the rally here today, urging the Congress to cut all funding -- not just the supplemental funding for the 21,500 extra troops -- for the war in Iraq. This is the cutting edge question: If we can get the Congress to cut off the funding, the war will be ended -- just as occurred in Vietnam. Not one more dollar, not one more day, not one more death!
I want to commend the rally organizers for having the march end up with this rally at Pier 31, in support of the embattled IBU/ILWU workers on the Alcatraz Ferry. The war we are facing is a corporate-driven war against working people at home and abroad. This fight here is a fight to defend these union members' jobs and working conditions, but it is more than that. It is a fight to defend trade unionism in San Francisco, a labor town; it is a fight to defend union labor on the waterfront, where modern industrial unions were forged in the bloody battles of the 1930s.
We cannot, we will not, allow Hornblower and its cronies to break our unions. This is why we call on everyone here to join the IBU workers in mass picketlines every Sunday from 10 a.m. till 12 noon -- and to assemble here today with your picket signs at that one gate over there. We must exert our full union muscle to send them a signal that labor and its allies are united, that we will fight back, and that, if necessary, we will shut them down.
Sisters and brothers, this war on working people can be stopped. Last November, the people of this country spoke out against the war in Iraq. Now the Congress must heed the will of the people: U.S. Out of Iraq Now! Bring the troops home Now!
To force them to respect this mandate, we need to take to the streets again in March in even great numbers and broader unity.
Working people, on picketlines such as this one, are fighting back to defend our unions, our jobs, our wages and conditions. We must builder larger and larger picketlines in support of the Alcatraz ferry workers.
We can and we will prevail! Thank you.
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