CWA 1180 - Political Action

News from United for Peace and Justice
Over two million people take to the streets around the world in global protest marking the one-year anniversary of Iraq War: End the Occupation
March 2004

August 29 - The world says no to Bush:

In a disgusting exploitation of the 9/11 tragedy, Republicans are holding their national convention in New York City this year and they changed the date in order to make it close to the third anniversary of 9/11. August 29 has been planned for over a year as another day of international protest. The biggest event will be right here. Sponsored by United for Peace and Justice.

September 1- Labor protest

On the last day of the Republican convention, the New York labor movement will stage another major protest against the policies and politics of "President" Bush. This will be in place of the annual Labor Day parade. Sponsored by the Central Labor Council.

On Saturday, March 20, upwards of two million people took to the streets around the world to protest the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. People in more than 60 countries throughout the world—from Japan to South Korea to Spain to Australia to South Africa—called for an end to the occupation, which they believe is only increasing violence and insecurity in Iraq.

[Local 1180 members joined the demonstration in New York City, carrying signs that said "fund cities not war."]

The March 20 global day of protest surpassed the expectations of its organizers, both in terms of the number of cities and countries that organized events and the number of people who took to the streets. Under the banner, "The World Still Says No To War," at least 300 U.S. cities and towns held anti-war events on Saturday, as did more than 275 other cities throughout the world.

In the United States, notable protests included a 100,000-person march and rally in New York City, and a similar event in San Francisco attended by more than 50,000. In Crawford, Texas, where President George Bush owns a ranch and often vacations, 1,000 protesters converged to repudiate his militaristic policies and call for a diversion of the billions of dollars that are being spent on war to domestic programs like schools, health clinics, and unemployment benefits. Military families and veterans led a protest that drew 1,500 to Fayetteville, North Carolina, outside the Fort Bragg military base.

In Rome, one million people took to the streets, in the largest single protest of the day. In Spain, demonstrations took place in more than 40 cities around the country, bringing hundreds of thousands out into the streets for the second time since the terrorist attacks that killed more than 200 Spaniards and injured 1500. London and Tokyo held protests drawing tens of thousands of participants.

"The unprovoked war against Iraq was a terrible tragedy for the Iraqi people, thousands of whom were killed during the last year, and for the close to 600 U.S. soldiers who also lost their lives and thousands of others who've been injured," said Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice. "It's time to hold our government accountable for the chaos it's created in Iraq - and for the fact that the Bush administration lied about the Iraqi threat to convince the American public of the need for war."

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