Public Employee Press

Marching and raising funds, DC 37 members battle Bush’s war in Iraq

In an effort to support labor’s ongoing campaign against the war in Iraq, Local 420 President Carmen Charles and Treasurer Peter DeLeon presented a check for $1,000 to the U.S. Labor Against the War group June 16 at union headquarters.

USLAW organizer Tom Gogan accepted the check on behalf of the anti-war organization and thanked the members of Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420 for the generous donation.

“Our members who work in city hospitals have seen the harm this war is doing, not only in Iraq but also at home, by draining off the funds we need to provide health services and other public services in our own community,” said Charles. “We’re very proud to be able to contribute something to the effort against the war in Iraq.”

Some DC 37 members marched against the war in Washington on Sept. 29, and as PEP went to press, many more were planning to join the USLAW labor contingent in the Oct. 27 New York City war protest organized by United for Peace and Justice, the nation’s main anti-war organization.

The symbol of the Oct. 27 protest was the empty boots of a dead soldier, and fliers included a reminder of the war’s sobering statistics: 3,801 U.S. troops dead, over 1 million Iraqi people dead or displaced, and $455 billion spent. People from all walks of life were set to gather at 11 sites nationwide for massive regional demonstrations against the war.