In its strongest statement yet on the battle against terrorism, the AFL-CIO Executive Council warned of "hardship and sacrifices" while reiterating labor backs the U.S. government's use of military force "to defend the world's democracies" against terrorism.

But the council linked support to a strong statement that the battle against the terrorists who attacked on September 11 - destroying the World Trade Center, damaging the Pentagon, and killing up to 6,000 people - must include global justice for workers and U.S. economic vitality.

Otherwise, the council warned, the poverty, repression and powerlessness that breed terror will continue. And U.S. workers will resent use of the battle against terrorism for selfish interests here at home.

Never forget
'The union movement pledges never to forget those who lost their lives on September 11,' including 343 Fire Fighters and approximately 300 other unionists. 'We mourn their loss, and will work ceaselessly to build a new, more just world that will be a true and fitting memorial to their sacrifice,' it declared.

And the council reminded the Bush administration that working men and women 'manned the battlefields of all the nation's wars in this past century' as well as 'the arsenal of democracy that defeated fascism and totalitarianism.

'We have struggled with workers across the world for the right to organize in countries rich and poor...from apartheid South Africa to communist Poland and oppressed Burma. Our internationalism and commitment to furthering human rights will not flag,' the council declared.

This battle is different, however, because 'we cannot defeat terrorism with force alone,' the council warned. 'We will not stop terrorism as a global menace by instilling fear, but by fostering hope.'

To do that, however, means a struggle for 'hope and hearts' worldwide where we must emphasize basic rights for people, including freedom of speech, free assembly and the right to organize. It also requires worldwide measures to reduce starvation, homelessness and deaths 'from curable disease.'

The anti-terrorism struggle must include 'equitable, sustainable and democratic development,' the council added. Global justice - the statement's theme -'demands not simply that the guilty be punished but the innocent be empowered.'

So, taking aim at U.S. pro-corporate policies which hurt workers here and abroad, the council warned that: 'Only when the United States lead a global effort to reduce desperation and empower peoples to determine their own destinies in a democratic manner will the siren song of terrorism lose its allure.'

Actions at home
The U.S., however, must take several measures here at home to gird for the ongoing battle against terrorism, the council pointed out. They include a strong commitment to civil rights, and in particular to preservation of the rights of Arab-Americans and Moslems in the U.S.

Recalling past abuses during wars, the council said the U.S. 'must not allow fear to justify blind racial profiling, hate crimes or xenophobic reactions.' It pledged to 'work to protect its Arab-American members from hate crimes.'

The second key measure here the council advocated is its a broad-based economic stimulus package that helps all the workers fired since January - a total that is 1.7 million and rising.

Labor's package, trimmed down somewhat but still emphasizing distribution of jobless benefits to more people and for a longer time, plus subsidies to buy health insurance, narrowly passed the Democratic-run Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 8. It faces a floor vote in November.

And it is competing against a package heavily weighted towards tax cuts for business and the wealthy that Bush unveiled and the GOP-run House approved in October.

The council strongly pushed its package. It 'will bolster unemployment insurance, help displaced workers sustain health care for their families,' aid state and local governments facing cuts in social services due to falling revenues 'and restore the nation's long-neglected infrastructure.' That construction includes better security at airports against terrorism.

'This is a time for shared sacrifice, not for using the crisis to benefit the few while ignoring the workers whose jobs are on the line,' the council said in comparing the two stimulus plans.