New flood of support for Nov. antiwar conference
1985Jeff Mackler 1985-10Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 3 →
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Egardo Garcia, leader of the proSandinista trade-union federation, will be featured speaker at Nov. 2 antiwar conference.
The San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) on Sept. 9, 1985, unanimously approved a proposal to support the Nov. 2 antiwar conference sponsored by the Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice. [See conference call and endorsers in September issue of Socialist Action.] This action was followed by similar votes of the San Mateo Labor Council, the Marin Central Labor Council, District 115 IAM, and dozens of other Bay Area labor bodies. Hundreds of endorsements have already been received as a result of the first coalition mailing. • The conference will feature two major panels opposing U.S. intervention in Central America and U.S. support to South African apartheid.
Another major session entitled "Can nuclear arms be stopped; Is a peace economy possible" will feature Jane Gruenbaum, executive director of the National Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, and William W. Winpisinger, president of the International Association of Machinists.
The Central American discussion will consist of a dialogue between Egardo Garcia, president of the Nicaraguan Trade 1 Union Coordinating Council (CSN), and several leading U.S. trade unionists.
Unionists at this session include Keith Johnson, president, International Woodworkers of America; James Herman, international president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (iLWU); Dolores Huerta, first vice president, United Farm Workers of America; David Dyson, union label director, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU); and others.
Dyson has been a central leader and public spokesperson for the National Labor Committee in Support of Democracy and Human Rights in El Salvador.
This committee, which includes the presidents of 24 national unions, recently published a report on the findings of a prominent trade-union delegation to Nicaragua and El Salvador. The report strongly opposed U.S. intervention in Central America and condemned the murderous attacks on the tradeunion movement in El Salvador, holding the Duarte government responsible.
According to Carl Finamore, one of the conference staff organizers, "The bulk of the funds received by the Mobilization so far have come directly from organized labor."
Finamore reported a number of sizable contributions from major unions in the area.
Reception picks up support On the eve of the conference, the Mobilization is sponsoring a reception and fundraiser for Naomi Tutu-Seavers, the daughter of Nobel Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Funds from the benefit will also be destined to the Bishop Tutu Refugee Project.
In addition to Naomi Tutu, the reception will feature Pulitzer Prize winning 51,000 Salvadorans killed since 1979. Pledge of Resistance members planted white crosses on a hill behind the crowd.
The rally was called in conjunction with the National Pledge of Resistance Days of Action. The Pledge has grown in opposition to U.S. war moves in Nicaragua and has extended its outlook to El Salvador as well. The Pledge also plans a march on Sept. 23 to the INS detention center to protest the detention of two Salvadorans held for deportation.
The first El Salvador demonstration in a year, the Sept. 21 action showed that the opposition to U.S. policy can be mobilized when organizing is combined with grass-roots activity and educational campaigns.
An effort to build a broad coalition is vital in securing increased labor support for antiwar actions.
As the war escalates in El Salvador, public actions can be an important step in building a broader movement. A meeting of the Stop the Bombing Coalition will be held on Oct. 2. For more information on the work of the coalition call CASA at (617) 492-8699. author Alice Walker, who will read some of her works for the benefit.
Activist-musician Peter Yarrow (of the group Peter, Paul and Mary) will perform for the event.
The invitation to the reception is being issued by a group of religious leaders whose organizations represent much of the church community in the Bay Area.
The Rev. William E. Swing, Episcopal bishop of California, will open the reception set for Grace Cathedral on Nov. 1, 1985, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 Other prominent reception hosts, who will also speak at the conference, include Walter Johnson, secretary-treasurer, San Francisco Labor Council; John Henning, executive secretary-treasurer, California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); and Mario Obledo of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The Nov. 2 conference will serve an important educational function. It will also provide a forum of opposition to the current U.S. war drive. But more important, as the conference call states, one of its goals is to "issue a call for another large Bay Area mobilization in April 1986."
Socialist Action/Joe Auciello Protesters on Boston Common on Sept. 21