“Whereas, the appalling loss of life which will inevitably result…will fall with crushing force on the working class alone…., and
Whereas, no possible outcome of such an international war can benefit to any extent whatever the workers, whose enemies are not the workers of other nations, but the exploiting class of every nation…
Therefore, as representatives of the organized working class, we declare the …war to be an international crime and a horror…” (Seattle Central Labor Council)
“There is no way to fund what we must do as a nation without bringing our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The militarization of our foreign policy has proven to be a costly mistake. It is time to invest at home.” (AFL-CIO Executive Council).
The first statement above was issued in 1914 at the beginning of World War I in Europe. The second statement was issued August 3, 2011. Throughout this period, organized labor—and sometimes less organized labor—has recognized that among the many injustices of war, particularly wars waged by richer nations against poorer nations, is the disproportionate costs borne by working people and their even less fortunate comrades in the lowest economic classes.
Despite active war resistance, members of the working class were drawn into war after war through a “universal” conscription process—up until 1973 when the draft was replaced by a “volunteer army,” which is a euphemism for “economic draft.”
The Vietnam War showed clearly that drafting young men from the middle and upper classes increased anti-war activism among groups with serious economic and political clout. However, promising income, training, and benefits to unemployed members of the working class has proven to be a way of conscripting the less powerful members of society into the armed services.
Let us honor labor on Labor Day by joining them in the fight against war.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology