Labor Urges Large Turnout For March 20th Anti-War Protests

[Solidarity]

U.S. LABOR AGAINST THE WAR
CALLS FOR LARGE LABOR TURNOUT
AT MARCH 20 GLOBAL ANTIWAR PROTESTS

On March 20, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq, millions of people across the globe will once again take to the streets to say,

"The world still says NO to war!"

A year ago, on February 16, more than 12 million people the world over took to the streets to oppose the war on Iraq. It was the largest antiwar mobilization in history.

These millions were right. This was a war based on lies. There is no evidence Iraq was involved in 9-11. Iraq posed no imminent threat to the United States. No weapons of mass destruction have been found there.

Bush lied ... and U.S. troops and innocent Iraqi civilians died.

Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have sacrificed their lives; thousands have been injured - physically or emotionally scarred for life. Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have suffered casualties and death. All this suffering for what? To make Iraq safe for Halliburton, Bechtel and a host of other corporate cronies of the Bush administration!

One year of U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has only brought chaos and disaster to that country.

Unemployment among Iraqi workers has reached 70%. There are no unemployment benefits. Wages for most Iraqi workers have been frozen at $60 per month, while all bonuses, profit sharing and subsidies for housing and food have been eliminated.

Iraqi workers have been denied the right to organize unions of their choice. While claiming to bring democracy to Iraq, the U.S.-run Occupation Authority continues to enforce a 1987 Hussein-era law that prohibits unions in the public sector and state enterprises where most Iraqis work. The Occupation Authority just issued a new decree, Public Order 39, allowing 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses and the repatriation of profits.

Iraq teeters on the brink of malnutrition, chaos and civil war while multinational corporations scramble to divide up Iraq's national resources and wealth - the same corporations that violate workers' rights, fight unions, and downsize, outsource and export jobs in the United States.

CALL for LABOR TURN OUT on MARCH 20

US Labor Against the War calls on organized labor and all working people to join veterans, military families, students, senior citizens, religious leaders, immigrant rights and other social justice advocates and millions of others on March 20th to protest the war and occupation in the mass demonstrations in New York, San Francisco and many other cities across the U.S. and around the world.

• Join us in expressing our opposition to the "Patriot Act" and erosion of our rights in the name of "fighting terrorism."

• Join us to demand an end to the mass detentions and deportation of immigrants in the name of "national security."

• Join us to say NO to vast cuts in vital domestic social programs to pay for massive increases in military spending.

• Join us to demand respect for labor and human rights in both Iraq and the United States.

• Join us in demanding that the U.S. government respect national sovereignty and uphold the right of self-determination for all peoples, beginning with the people of Iraq.

• Join is in demanding that the U.S. government solve disputes by diplomacy not war, strengthen international treaties, reject preemptive military aggression, and promote global economic and social justice rather than the race-to-the-bottom, job-destroying, discriminatory practices favored by multinational corporations.

Together, let's send a message loud and clear - "NO to occupation, NO to war profiteering, NO to labor rights violations! Bring the troops home now!"

USLAW also calls upon all trade unionists, labor and antiwar activists in the United States to support our Campaign for Labor Rights in Iraq. Urge your elected representatives to join Reps. Sam Farr, Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich and others in demanding the Bush Administration respect labor rights in Iraq and here at home.

Join USLAW on March 20th in labor contingents at demonstrations in a city near you.

END THE OCCUPATION! -- BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

MONEY FOR JOBS, HEALTH CARE AND SCHOOLS
NOT FOR PROFITS & WAR!

USLAW flyer will be available shortly at http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org

E-Mail: [e-mail]

U.S. Labor Against the War
P.O. Box 153, 1718 M Street
Washington, DC 20036