Images of Ground Zero workers rolling up their sleeves to dig
the country out in our time of need, and the celebration of the
blue-collar worker that followed, are quickly fading in light of
recent moves by the Bush administration to disjoint organized
labor, notes Communications Workers of America spokesman Steve
Early in a recent Boston Globe op-ed. Events like the
refusal of aid for displaced workers from the airline industry,
congressional approval for future free trade deals that threaten
U.S. manufacturing jobs, and the privatization of 170,000 federal
jobs are just a few examples of this administration?s assault on
labor. And the president?s plans to privatize 700,000 more jobs
means minimal rights for workers who would otherwise have a
collective voice and full union benefits. ?Union attitudes began to
change when it became clear that there was going to be a war on
labor at home as well as on enemies abroad,? writes Early. Protests
that started at the grassroots level spawned USLAW (US Labor
Against the War), which is opposing a possible war in Iraq. They?ve
convinced the AFL-CIO executive council to declare that President
Bush has failed to make the case for military action.
?Nick Garafola
