Nearly one hundred Longshore Caucus delegates voted on February 8 to support a resolution calling for an eight-hour “stop-work” meeting during the day shift on Thursday, May 1 to protest the war by calling for the immediate, safe return of U.S. troops from Iraq.
 
“The Caucus has spoken on this important issue and I’ve notified the employers  about our plans for ‘stop work’ meetings on May 1,” said
ILWU International President Bob McEllrath.

Members should check with their local unions for more information about plans in their area.

Caucus delegates, including several military veterans, spoke passionately about the importance of supporting the troops by bringing them home safely and ending the war in Iraq.  Concerns were also raised about the growing cost of the war that has threatened funding for domestic needs, including education and healthcare.

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard economist Linda J. Bilmes recently estimated that the true cost of the war in Iraq to American taxpayers will exceed 3 trillion dollars – a figure they describe as “conservative.”  

The union’s International Executive Board recently endorsed Barack Obama, citing his opposition to the Iraq war as one of the key factors in their decision-making process.

Caucus delegates are democratically elected representatives from every longshore local who set policy for the Longshore Division.

McEllrath has written letters to President John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO and President Andy Stern of the Change-to-Win Coalition, and to the presidents of the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Dockworkers Council to inform them of the ILWU’s decision - and invite others to speak out against the war on May 1.