With the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union passing the resolution to oppose the war by stopping work on May 1, 2008, and doing so by a 90% margin, PTI finally has a solid and powerful partner in forging solidarity between labor and activist organizations.
It is clear that we must build solidarity among the millions of Americans who oppose the current direction our government is taking us, before we can even hope to bring sufficient pressure upon the heads of Congress to compel our representatives to do the will of the people and impeach Bush/Cheney and scrap their aggressive war policies.
The ILWU action is an opportunity for us to begin building that solidarity, and one we must not squander.
PTI will be submitting our statement of solidarity to the ILWU by April 4th. We would like this statement to include every peace and impeachment group in America, all pledging to advise their members and anyone within earshot to participate in staying home from work and shopping on May 1, 2008. Though the one day of action is the extent of the ILWU action, PTI sees it as an initial warning to Congress, that if we can do it for one day we can do it again, and for as long as it takes to win back our democracy.
As anyone familiar with PTI will know, our organization has always refused to endorse actions we felt did not hold promise of success, or we felt were not sincere. After speaking to persons at the ILWU National office in San Francisco and the locals in Los Angeles, we are confident that this event will take place, and have determined that unless we learn something different, we will call our strike for that day as well. This means that the thousands of people across the country who have signed PTI pledges to strike, will now make plans to stay in their home on May 1. Our job between now and May is to expand that number to include every American who wants to preserve the free American way of life by returning a balance to power.
If you plan to participate in this day of national solidarity sign a pledge on the home page and contact every activist list and group organization leadership urging them to join the campaign to build unity through this action. Time is running short and we may not get another chance like this to prove to this government that the people are united and it is time for the traitors to get out of our White House and
Congress.
To learn more about the PTI guidelines for the strike - go to The Plan.
In solidarity: the staff at IYFR
