Talking to workers and unions about war, military spending and U.S. foreign policy

Most union leaders don’t consider foreign policy to be a core labor issue. Aside from trade, immigration and (during the Cold War) anti-communism, the labor movement has largely avoided debates about US foreign policy and the deployment of the US military around the world.

In its first 50 years, the AFL-CIO never opposed commitment of U.S. forces anywhere in the world until 2005 when members of US Labor Against the War successfully spearheaded adoption of a convention resolution to put the AFL-CIO on record for rapid withdrawal from Iraq.

Since then, USLAW has begun to make US foreign policy a legitimate issue for debate in the labor movement. It makes the connection between war, militarism and the economic crisis and argues for shifting the nation’s resources from militarism to meeting human needs and creating a sustainable peace economy.

This workshop will describe this effort and will explore with participants approaches and educational materials used. Participants will discuss obstacles and arguments they encounter when trying to discuss these issues, and ways of overcoming resistance to treating U.S. foreign policy and military spending as a vital concern to unions and union members.