Public Employee Press

Members rally against Iraq war

Days before the U.S. Congress would debate resolutions against Bush’s troop escalation, more than 100,000 demonstrators spoke out against the war in Iraq by descending on the National Mall in Washington and marching for hours past the Capitol.

DC 37 and SSEU Local 371 sent six busloads of members and retirees to the Jan. 27 protest.

Clarinda Robinson, 85, a Brooklyn Library retiree, had to start at 3 a.m., walk seven blocks and take two trains to get to her bus on time. “Ending this war is very important. I have a nephew in Iraq, and I worry about him every day,” she said.

Chris Butler, a member of Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420, arrived early and heard the speeches on the Mall. “I am proud to be here, building the grassroots pressure that Congress needs to end this war,” he said.

The DC 37 Executive Board endorsed the protest. “Bush is bringing the war home to us in the form of terrible budget cuts aimed at our hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance, food stamps, child care and other vital services,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Bush’s escalation will send more young working class men and women home in body bags.”

Locals of DC 37’s national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, bused in from East Coast cities. Gary Kapanowski from DC 47 in Pennsylvania came “to protest this immoral and unjust war. In Iraq, soldiers are dying and corporations are making money.”

Marchers carried signs such as “Pray for Peace,” “Impeach Bush,” and “Honor the warriors, not the war.” One home-made poster, “Congress: Stand up to Bush!” urged lawmakers to stiffen their opposition to the 21,500-troop “surge.”

Two weeks later, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 246 to 182 to repudiate the president’s disastrous plan.

In the U.S. Senate, an anti-war resolution seemed capable of passing, but the Republican minority was blocking a vote. With the administration seeking a record $622 billion military budget for 2008, many political observers believe the next big fight in Congress will be over Bush’s request for another $93 billion for the war.

Addressing the rally, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, Jr., threatened to cut off funds for the unpopular war: “The founders of our country gave Congress the power of the purse because they envisioneda scenario just like today, with the president defying the will of the people,” he explained.

Other speakers included the Rev. Jesse Jackson and actors Susan Sarandon — “Defund the war and fund the vets.” — and her husband Tim Robbins — “Now 21,500 more will risk their lives for this misguided war. Is impeachment still off the table?”

The rally and the massive march past the Capitol were planned by United for Peace and Justice, acoalition of 1,400 peace, religious, student, ethnic and labor groups. Varied in ages, races, and political views, the marchers included Catholic nuns side-by-side with saffron-robed Buddhists, socialists alongside active duty soldiers (banned from wearing their uniforms), and Vietnam veterans together with ­studentswho weren’t yet born when massive opposition bythe U.S. people forced an end to that war.

At the time of the demonstration, 3,065 U.S. troops had been killed and 22,834 wounded since the war began in March 2003, and more than 100,000 Iraqis were dead.

Caseworker Carline Beliard of SSEU Local 371 told PEP, “We should plan for an exit. Too many are dying.”

Many marchers seemed exhilarated at the possibility of ending the war. “We’re going to keep protesting, because the money for this war could keep people employed and improve health care and education at home,” said Local 372 Executive Vice President Santos Crespo.

— Bill Schleicher