As preparations for war with Iraq continue, and prospects for the economy look bleak,
John Peterson, editor of the US Marxist Magazine Socialist Appeal
looks at the complete hypocrisy of the US government in relation to Iraq.
As contract talks are underway between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, a Bush Administration task force has said that if the longshore workers strike, troops of the National Guard will be sent to occupy the ports, and members of the Navy will be used to load and unload ships. But this threat has only made the workers of the ILWU more determined to fight. In the name of the "War on Terror" Bush is attempting to destroy the most fundamental gain of the Labor Movement - the right to strike.
The West Coast shipping bosses have declared a lock-out which affects all 29
ports along the US Pacific coast. The bosses are demanding that new
technical jobs be non-union. This is a mortal attack on the union's future.
Thus while Bush prepares to go to war against Iraq he has another war
opening up on the home front - the class war - this time against US workers.
David May in the USA reports on the latest developments in this key struggle
of the American workers.