Re: AFT Backs Israel's war, raises dues

[ediaz@csusb.edu]

In the message from Rich Gibson the stated the following:

> The AFT-AFL-CIO--CIA links are pretty commonly known and accepted.

I would like to know more about this connection.  Can I get some links to sources etc.
Thanks,
Esteban Diaz

----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>
Date: Saturday, July 22, 2006 11:47 am
Subject: Re: [ca-resisters] AFT Backs Israel's war, raises dues
To: ca-resisters@interversity.org

> I dont get the logic. If labor is cheap other places, capital will 
> leave the US. If workers get paid the same everywhere in the world, 
> theres no reason to export jobs and workers here will do better. 
> What 
> am I missing?
> Susan
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> > From: Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>
> > Date: Fri Jul 21, 2006  7:02:13 PM US/Pacific
> > To: ca-resisters@interversity.org
> > Subject: [ca-resisters] AFT Backs Israel's war, raises dues
> > Reply-To: ca-resisters@interversity.org
> >
> > My friends on staff at AFT tell me that the AFT passed a motion 
> > supporting what AFT calls Israel's response to Hezbollah 
> aggression, 
> > etc. That appears to put AFT right in line with the US State 
> > Department, and George Bush (and much of the Democratic party too).
> >
> > The vote, according to my friends, appears to be much closer than 
> the 
> > NEA  3 to 1 decision at their RA to not discuss the Middle East 
> wars 
> > at all. It is hard to tell from a phone call, but the impression 
> I 
> > have is that the AFT vote was quite close, maybe even 
> deliberately 
> > miscounted by the leadership---which is usually unnecessary in 
> AFT 
> > since dissension is hardly tolerated in the union.
> >
> > AFT has long had well-known connections to the U.S. State 
> Department, 
> > and the CIA (through AFT leadership in the National Endowment for 
> > Democracy, the American Institute for Free Labor Development, 
> etc) and 
> > AFT bosses have long played a key role in the ongoing 
> relationship of 
> > the entire AFL-CIO with the CIA. Even today, the AFL-CIO spends 
> about 
> > 50% of its dues income outside the United States, usually seeking 
> to 
> > destroy indigenous trade union and people's movements in other 
> > nations. Most recently, the AFL-CIO-NED was instrumental in the 
> effort 
> > to overthrow the elected government of Venezuela.
> >
> > Do not take my word for this stuff, nor my own research. Look for 
> work 
> > by Kim Scipes, Paul Buhle, Jack Scott, and many others. It is not 
> a 
> > conspiracy theory, but a recognition of the confluence of 
> interests 
> > between US union bosses, the US government, and US business. The 
> > AFL-CIO unions believe, and have always believed, that workers in 
> the 
> > US will do better if workers elsewhere do worse, following 
> closely to 
> > the same line that they adopted in the US, that is, white workers 
> will 
> > do better if black workers do worse.
> >
> > While this racism and nationalism may be true (that is, it works) 
> for 
> > the union leaders, who are relatively well paid, it is against 
> the 
> > interest of the mass of rank and file workers in the unions, 
> including 
> > school workers, who have much more in common with, for example, 
> an 
> > Iraqi or Israeli or Lebanese teacher, than they do with George 
> Bush or 
> > Ted Kennedy: millionaires.
> >
> > The union leaders betray the people they claim to represent, us, 
> > serving as Quislings in our ranks, in exchange for the 
> opportunity to 
> > try to behave like bosses, to win income and opportunities that 
> are 
> > denied to the rank and file. They systematically, deliberately, 
> > disorganize and mislead us, offering our potential militancy as a 
> > bargaining chip for their own benefit. They live off the fruits 
> of US 
> > imperialism which is necessarily born from US warmaking---and 
> they 
> > know it. That is why they support the many endless wars that 
> > capitalism has to offer---and it has nothing but war to offer.
> >
> > The AFT-AFL-CIO--CIA links are pretty commonly known and accepted.
> >
> > What is not so well known is the NEA's role in all of this. NEA 
> is 
> > involved through the National Democratic Institute for 
> International 
> > Affairs,  a branch of the National Endowment for Democracy. NEA 
> signed 
> > on to that in 1984.
> >
> > AFT also voted to raise member dues about 14 dollars per month.
> >
> > Justice demands new kinds of organizations.
> >
> > best r
> >
> >
> >
> 
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