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AFT - U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)

Report on AFT Convention Anti-War Activities

I offer this report to initiate a discussion of the anti-war work at the AFT convention earlier this month (July 12-17). I hope that many of us will become engaged in this discussion and offer suggestions for the future of our work together.

The narrative below represents a full analysis of what transpired at the AFT. Telescoping the results, I would suggest that what was accomplished was that we built a broad anti-war group within the AFT, our presence and activity was a force for the leadership to recon with, we were able to win open and extended debate on the war and occupation, and the activists had the pleasure of shared and effective action. The need to solidify our organization and to build USLAW remains.

US Labor Against the War (USLAW), a national organization with close to 100 affiliated locals, state federations, and internationals and hundreds of independent unionists, initiated an e-list of AFT activists representing the 16 AFT locals that had joined (and paid affiliation dues to) USLAW. The activists on the AFT e-list discussed ways of creating an anti-war presence at the AFT convention, including presenting various resolutions and creating an anti-war group. Conference calls involving representatives before the convention yielded agreement to do the following:

Establish a USLAW table at the convention each day possible with literature, sign-up sheets, etc. DC USLAW activists plus AFT USLAW members from across the country would staff the table.
Hold a planning meeting at the Washington Hilton on the evening of Tuesday, July 12, to further flesh out plans for the larger outreach meeting the next morning, the opening day of the convention (July 13).
Bring several thousand copies of a leaflet calling for an end to the occupation and announcing a meeting of anti-war delegates on the first day of the convention. The leaflet was to be distributed to delegates as they entered the convention hall for the opening session.
Hold a general outreach meeting at the convention center for delegates who oppose the war and occupation, with specified speakers and a time to create a plan of action for anti-war forces in the convention.
Bring 4 banners stating, "KerrySay No To War", each 20' long, plus a leaflet calling for the same to be brought out for the Kerry speech.

All of these objectives were accomplished. When we got to the convention, the USLAW table was up and running, leaflets for the Wednesday morning meeting were ready for distribution, rooms were reserved for the planning meeting and the large outreach meeting. The planning meeting (the night before the convention officially started, Tuesday night) involved about 50 activists from all over the country, many of whom had been in locals that were involved with the initial USLAW e-list and conference calls but included others as well. We solidified plans for the outreach meeting the next morning, discussed an appropriate strategy for the international committee on specific resolutions and considered particular recommendations for convention floor actions. Lively discussion ensued but what was remarkable was the level of camaraderie, good will and agreement.

On the opening day of the convention (Wednesday) we had over 30 activists handing out our leaflet inviting delegates to our anti-war forum. We distributed over 4000 leaflets that morning. Several delegates told me, "Your people are everywhere!" Indeed, we were. The USLAW table was jammed and we were on a roll.

Between 350 and 400 people attended our anti-war forum on that Wednesday morning about 200 of who signed in to be included in future anti-war work with us. Many joined USLAW on the spot. Barbara Bowen, president of local 2334, Mike Zweig, local 2190 and Andy Griggs, local 1021, spoke and then discussion and comments from the floor of the meeting were aired. People referred to the anti-war work of their locals, discussed their ideas about strategy at the convention, and considered our future as an anti-war group within the AFT. Again, the atmosphere in the meeting was comradely, positive and determined.

Those in attendance at the outreach meeting agreed upon the following:
1.      To build an on-going group within the AFT (specifics to be determined in the future) that organizes against the war and occupation in Iraq;
2.      To insist upon an open and full discussion of the war and occupation both at the international committee and on the floor of the convention;
3.      To have one additional anti-war meeting later in the convention;
4.      To create another but stronger anti-war leaflet to be distributed to delegates during the international committee reports at the general session discussion;
5.      To hold an impromptu caucus of international committee delegates who were explicitly anti-war and occupation immediately following the larger meeting to identify specific strategies for that committee.

It is important to note that at our outreach meeting there were several known members of the UFT (local 2), one of who is on the AFT executive committee, who are clearly pro-occupation. Their presence made our public discussion of strategy cryptic at best and less than fully participatory. Consequently this left much of the decision-making and work to members of the international committee. As a result we had no clear democratic form that ultimately generated problems of procedure and accountability.

The international committee meeting went as expected for anti-war forces: we were outvoted and outfoxed procedurally. But surprisingly the difference in the votes was not as extreme as we had feared: they ranged from 57-38 against our strongest substitute resolutions on the war and occupation of Iraq and 42-38 for our resolution on the National Endowment for Democracy. We left the international committee ready to prepare for the convention floor debate demanding, "No blank check for the continued occupation."

Later that night (still Wednesday, July 13), a large group of international committee anti-war delegates came to the PSC-CUNY (local 2334) delegates meeting and afterwards spent several hours crafting a leaflet to be distributed at the convention floor discussion of the Iraq resolutions. These discussions were incredibly productive, cooperative and inspiring. Alisa Messer (local 2121) and Penny Lewis (local 2334) agreed to take on the lion's share of completing the wording and design of the leaflet and doing the on-line research to support our positions. By the next day they had produced a magnificent piece of work that was clear, engaging, and convincing. Bravo to them! (We scurried around to get 3,000 copies made for distribution on Friday morning, the first possible time that the Iraq discussion could be aired on the floor of the convention.)

On Thursday morning, as Alisa and Penny were diligently crafting the leaflet, activists gathered in front of the USLAW table to further strategize, plan our next outreach meeting the following day, and consider actions on the floor of the convention, including choosing speakers to represent our group. This is where a lack of representative structure first became apparent and problematic. Our decision-making became dependent upon who showed up at the USLAW table and who took responsibility for the work. This made many feel and be, in fact, disenfranchised. But no alternative was put forward to deal with this at the convention itself. We were trying our best to be inclusive without the benefit of a democratic structurequite a contradiction but one that we should learn from for the future.

Another aspect to the real politic of the situation was the way the financial responsibility was distributed. Locals 2334 and 1021 reserved and paid for meeting rooms (at $400 each) and leaflets prior to and during the convention, necessitating fund-raising throughout. We also incurred large expenses for leaflets throughout the convention. We did collect over $1000 from participants at our meetings and at the USLAW table. Those two locals offering significant material support were re-paid in part. It should be noted that local 2121 voted post convention to repay UTLA. Further contributions for this work should be made out to USLAW.

In addition, from our very first planning meeting on Tuesday night through the entire convention, two delegates and several visitors from the Equal Opportunity Caucus/ By Any Means Necessary lobbied the anti-war group to follow a strategy of a very limited amendment to the official AFT leadership's position. They argued that although the amendment would wrest only a small concession it would still signal a change. The majority at each meeting argued against their proposal, saying that the amended resolution would still give a blank check to the occupation and that we preferred to argue a fuller case against the war on the floor of the convention. EOC/BAMN continued to argue their position, distribute their own leaflets on the matter to the delegates on the floor of the convention, competed with us for the mike to move different amendments, and did not participate in advertising the two anti-war meetings held. Many in our group were dismayed by their determination to stand outside the group; many experienced them as a determined group with an interesting strategy. Nonetheless, they were included in all discussions and decision-making.

Getting the word out for the Friday morning meeting was quite difficult; about 50-60 were in attendance despite the challenge of an inadequate communications system between anti-war delegates. At that meeting we decided upon the following:

We would insist upon open discussion on the convention floor of the war and occupation of Iraq. Specifically we would insist upon 30 minutes of floor debate and if we did not get it we would chant, "Union Democracy, Union Democracy".
If we lost the vote on the convention floor and the AFT executive committee resolution giving a blank check to the occupation won the vote we would chant (only 5 times so as not to be spoil-sports) "End the occupation, bring the troops home".
These chants would be initiated by a committee of Barbara Bowen and Nancy Romer (local 2334) and Alisa Messer (local 2121) -the official "temperature takers" so we would be able to make quick judgments.
We would initiate an e-list and send out a mailing to those who signed in for either of the two anti-war meetings asking for opinions on the kind of organization, e.g., AFT chapter of USLAW, Anti-war caucus within the AFT, the kind of representative structure of that group and nominations for those representatives. The purpose was to build a democratic group that could function with minimal difficulty and maximal representation and effectiveness.

On Friday, July 16, we had our people sitting at each of the 8 mikes on the convention floor from 8 am, through the lunch break and then throughout the day, in hopes that the Iraq resolutions would be discussed and thus we would have ready access to the mikes. We managed to get all 4 Kerry anti-war banners and the leaflets into the convention hall. The Kerry leaflets were quickly distributed. When Kerry entered the room we began to make our moves with the banners. Most of us carrying the banners agreed to wear Kerry t-shirts as an indication that we were not criticizing the endorsement but rather wanting the AFT to hold his feet to the fire on the war and occupation. As one banner went up and the sergeants-at-arms descended upon us to put it down, the other banners sprung up; one team creatively walked around the room holding their banner for all to see. Kerry definitely saw our message as did all the convention delegates. Kerry's speech got the greatest applause when he criticized the war, saying, "I promise I'll never get us into a war because we want to but only because we have to." The audience went wild. The Iraq resolutions never got to the floor that day.

Finally, the Iraq resolutions came to the floor on the last day of the convention, Saturday. We had our people sitting next to each of the 8 mikes again starting at 8 am, to ensure our ability to get to the mikes when the resolution reached the floor of the convention. Just before the international committee reports were to be discussed, two members of the AFT executive committee began to negotiate with Barbara Bowen (the sole dissenting vote on the war on the war on the AFT executive committee and the person we asked to move our amendment on the floor of the convention). The negotiations were fast and furious. At one point we thought they would accept our amendment to their resolution (see appendices below) with the addition of the phrase "as soon as it is responsible to do so" after our call to bring the troops home. We thought they would drop their demand "to reject precipitous withdrawal of US forces" but we were misled.

In the middle of these negotiations, the delegates from EOC/BAMN got to the mike and moved their amendment to simply eliminate the "precipitous withdrawal" language while keeping the language on continuous funding for the occupation.

Barbara and Nancy roamed around the 8 mikes negotiating with members of the AFT executive committee for the details of their position and an understanding of the extent to which the voice of anti-war delegates would be "allowed" to be heard on the convention floor. It was wild and wooly and very last-second. Barbara and Nancy did the negotiating and while we touched base with Alisa at one point, we did not maintain our threesome in on-the-floor decision-making as we were asked to do. AFT leaders bumped one of their closest allies poised to speak in order to let Barbara move our amendment and speak to the resolution. Significant speaking time for the resolution (ultimately about 30 minutes of air time) was allocated to the debate. We were convinced not to chant "Union Democracy". At a critical moment, one of the AFT executive board members insisted on our bumping one of our speakers poised at the mikeshe dug in her heels and intensely pressured us for the mike. Unfortunately, Pablo Rodriquez was the person at the mike that she demanded. The fact that he was our only person of color poised to speak at the time did not cross our minds, and Barbara and Nancy asked Pablo to cede his mike to the AFT exec board member. Pablo was gracious about it all. Totally warranted criticism rained upon us as soon as the deed was done. This error on our part was not conscious but nonetheless inexcusable. Our desire to have a multi-racial movement and to ensure all voices, particularly those most often negated, was very unfortunately undermined by the rapid flow of events, the last minute nature of the action. In addition, our desire to have an impact, and a lack of active consciousness on our part, contributed to our decision-making. Perhaps if Nancy and Barbara had kept the troika with Alisa on the convention floor, Alisa would have been able to strengthen our attempts to support Pablo as a speaker and negotiate 3 more minutes on the floor discussion.

Ultimately, the leadership of the AFT supported their original resolution with the tiny improvement of adding "Although the AFT supports bringing our troops home as soon as it is responsible to do so" as a bone to throw to us. We felt a bit violated but we did move them somewhat. The AFT leadership again ceded one of their speakers' mikes to Barbara who graciously acknowledged the leadership's desire to accommodate us but indicated that this small compromise was not sufficient to warrant our support. I am appending below the specific wording of the final AFT resolution and the wording of our amendment as well. Ultimately, despite the best efforts of the AFT leadership to signal their delegates to support their motions, the anti-war forces garnered about 2/5 of the votes of the delegates in attendance.

I would conclude that we gained the following from the AFT convention:

We founded an anti-war group inside the AFT that had a vibrant presence at the convention and will have a future in our locals, in the AFT and in the labor movement;
We were a force to be reckoned with, both on the floor of the convention and in our locals. We could not be ignored by the delegates or the leadership. Consequently, the leadership felt the need to engage us in negotiations around the Iraq resolutions.
We were able to demand and win full debate on the issue of Iraq on the floor of the conventionno small feat in a union not known for democratic debate on controversial issues the leadership cares deeply about.
We got to meet and work with union sisters and brothers from all over the country who are passionate about the war and the labor movement. The joy of working together, creating shared power and effect in the convention was deeply moving. Uniting our forces felt right and exciting and energizing and has a vital future.

While individuals at the AFT convention joined USLAW, I implore all readers of this report to encourage your locals to officially affiliate with USLAW. The events described above would never have happened without the initiation of USLAW. For it to continue to exist and to thrive as a vital force in the anti-war and labor movements, we need to get our locals to affiliate and pay dues to USLAW. The drama that we all participated in at the AFT convention is repeated, often with a happier ending, in almost every major labor convention in America, assisted and supported by USLAW. By supporting USLAW we buoy our own work and goals.

One important addendum should be added and that is in reference to the meetings the following week of the Fourth World Congress of Education International in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Andy Griggs from UTLA (local 1021), one of our activists, was in attendance along with official reps from the AFT, NEA and AAUP (American Association of University Professors), and reps from around the world. Resolutions condemning the war and occupation were proposed and the NEA and AFT offered resolutions softening the proposals. When those amendments failed the AFT and the AAUP (but not the NEA) voted to accept the strongly-worded anti-war resolution. Was that move by the AFT leadership influenced by our actions at the AFT convention the week before? Was the intensity and breadth of our efforts seen as indicative of the position of many AFT members? We think it may be the case. Many thanks to Andy for his efforts in Brazil. I will attach these resolutions separately.

I want to thank everyone for the pleasure of our work together. Perhaps the richest part of the experience was the trust and support we gave each other. I particularly want to thank Gene Bruskin of USLAW and the other DC activists who helped make our USLAW table and leafleting possible. Gene's work in helping to keep this organization together is nothing short of inspiring. Sarah Ringler (local 1936) anchored the USLAW table throughout the convention and gave us the crucial support necessary to pull off what we didmuch selfless but appreciated work on her part. Alisa Messer and Penny Lewis did a bang-up job of writing the fabulous convention floor leaflet that we all felt so proud of. Too many others to list here (and for fear of leaving out too many) worked long and hard and selflessly before and throughout the convention. Thanks to all who participated.

I hope that you will use this occasion to comment on this report, to make suggested changes, and suggestions for ways to improve our work in the future. When this discussion is over, I am hoping that we can get a committee together (Andy Griggs and I were asked to initiate it), to send out a mailing to all who attended the anti-war meetings so that we can make some good decisions on organization, organizational structure, representation and our future together.

In solidarity,

Nancy Romer, Local 2334

_____________________________________________________________________
Appendix A- Our Anti-War group amendment

Delete from the last line of bullet 2 below after "families have made" through bullet 3 below and delete bullet 6 below so that the bullet would then read:

Go on record as supporting our brave men and women serving in the United States armed forces in Iraq and honoring the service and sacrifice they and their families have made, and continuing our support for the troops by bringing them home, by not putting them in harm's way, by providing adequate veterans' benefits and promoting domestic policies that prioritize the needs of working people who make up the bulk of the military.

Note that in their bullet 6 below they amended their original wording that said nothing about bringing the troops home to say "Although the AFT supports bringing our troops home as soon as it is responsible to do so."; this is their concession to our objections. We did not support their amendments.

____________________________________________________________________
Appendix Bthe AFT leadership's resolution on Iraq that carried the majority vote.

RESOLVED, that the AFT

Convey to the Bush administration the outrage of its members at the misleading nature of the case it made for this war and the mishandling of its aftermath;
Go on record as supporting our brave men and women serving in the United States armed forces in Iraq and honoring the service and sacrifice they and their families have made on behalf of the nation;
Urge the Bush administration and Congress to provide adequate resources to enable U.S. troops to protect themselves and to fulfill their responsibility to protect Iraqi citizens and others engaged in the reconstruction of Iraq;
Urge the Bush administration to mend relationships with the international community and make a commitment to share authority, not just responsibility, with the United Nations and NATO in restoring security and rebuilding the physical, economic and political infrastructure of postwar Iraq;
Urge the Bush administration to make a special effort to reach out to those members of NATO and the United Nations who can provide significant support in the training of Iraqi military and police forces to create a climate of security on the ground in Iraq;
Although the AFT supports bringing our troops home as soon as it is responsible to do so, we urge the Bush administration, the Congress and the American people to reject calls for the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces and to recognize the continuing U.S. responsibility to make significant contributions to the security and reconstruction of Iraq after the transition to Iraqi sovereignty;
Support U.S. and international efforts to help the Iraqi people reconstruct their country as a free and democratic nation, with particular emphasis on its school systems, healthcare facilities and civil service structures;
Urge the Bush administration, the international community and a new sovereign government of Iraq to respect citizens' right to freedom of association including the right to worship as they choose thus enabling the formation of a broad array of independent unions, non-governmental organizations, religious institutions and voluntary groups that can act to deepen and protect the emergence of democracy;
Urge the Bush administration to ensure that all contracts that affect the Iraqi economy and its natural resources are transparent, competitive and interim in nature;
Continue to develop assistance programs for Iraqi educators, healthcare workers, civil servants and other workers as they strive to build democratic unions, including building on current EI and AFT programs to assist Iraqi trade unionists as they develop civics education and other curriculum materials, prepare union trainers, and design union training programs; and
Continue to seek funding from the National Endowment for Democracy and other nonpartisan foundations to support AFT assistance efforts to help Iraqi workers build the trade union, education, healthcare and other institutions that will help sustain democracy and improve the lives of ordinary men, women and children.

U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
info@uslaboragainstwar.org
PMB 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Gene Bruskin and Bob Muehlenkamp, Co-convenors Amy Newell, National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, Organizer & Web Coordinator Adrienne Nicosia, Administrative Staff

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