Two AFSCME Locals Call For National Strike Against the War-ILWU May Day Strike Inspired Workers

AFSCME LOCAL 304 originated the resolution and it's also been passed by Locals 341 and 843. For more information, Fred Hyde is at fhyde@igc.org]

For a national AFSCME strike to fund public services by ending the war and taxing corporations and the rich

WHEREAS the war to control Iraq's oil has already cost over $500 billion, with long-term costs that include healthcare for veterans estimated to be at least $3 trillion; and

WHEREAS the rapidly deteriorating economy is forcing at least 28 states and many local governments to face budget cuts (many of them severe like California's $16 billion shortfall) which will slash funding for vital services such as healthcare for the poor and elderly, education, libraries, and parks; and

WHEREAS thousands of AFSCME members are threatened with lay offs as a result of these cuts; and

WHEREAS neither Democratic nor Republican state legislators or governors are proposing even modest tax increases on the wealthy or closing tax loopholes on big business in order to fill these funding gaps; and

WHEREAS the federal tax burden has steadily shifted onto workers, while the percentage of federal tax receipts from corporate income tax has gone from over 30% in the 1950s down to less than 10% today; and

By Meredith Schafer and Chris Kutalik - Monthly Review, October 5, 2006 

Millions of dollars worth of goods sat unmoved on the docks of the United States' largest port, Los Angeles/Long Beach, as port truckers, mostly Latino immigrants, struck on May 1.  Despite being organized only informally in small networks, the truckers were able to use their position at a vital point in the economy to multiply their power.

Let's skip ahead to 2008 and imagine an even grander scenario.  Instead of a small, determined group in one locale mining a strategic position, imagine the power of hundreds of thousands of workers who control the flow of goods -- from the docks to the airports to the truck barns and package centers -- using their leverage in one concerted, nationwide effort.

Sound like fantasy?  In the spring and summer of 2008, master contracts will expire throughout the economically vital transportation, warehousing, and distribution industries, giving unions in those linked areas the rare, strategic opportunity to make an impressive show of force against employers.