Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 15:09:20 -0400
From: "Robin Alexander" <international-AT-ranknfile-ue.org>
Subject: AUT: Statement of the UE General Exedcutive Board



STATEMENT OF THE GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
ON THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001


Like all Americans, the members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America (UE) are devastated by the mind-numbing loss of life
caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  We share the sense
of loss and violation, despair and outrage. We mourn as our nation mourns.

The horror visited upon our nation that Tuesday morning should never have
happened; it should never happen to another people again,
anywhere.  Innocent people suffered deaths more horrific than could be
imagined in nightmares.  Many of the slain were union members, murdered at
their place of work and on the job.   With profound sorrow, we mourn our
fallen brothers and sisters and express our solidarity with the families of
the victims.

We condemn unreservedly the hidden, unseen, faceless killers who are
responsible for this crime against humanity.  We demand that the
perpetrators be brought to justice.

We are resolved not to yield to terror or to terrorists=92 designs. Democracy
is too precious.  We continue with plans for our convention =97 the highest
expression of our union democracy =97 with renewed commitment to freedom and
solidarity.   We shall not be stopped by cold-blooded, calculating killers.

And we shall not allow our grief and righteous anger to be polluted by
hatred and bigotry. We recall with pride that weeks after Pearl Harbor, as
UE mobilized to win the war for freedom, our union condemned anti-Japanese
racism as fundamentally opposed to that great cause.  Today=92s war against
the terrorism of an evil few must not be confused with attacks on an
ethnicity or religion.  Verbal slurs and physical assaults against our
Arab-American and Islamic neighbors and co-workers must be countered,
condemned and stopped.

As we mourn and as we rage, we also declare our resistance to efforts to
use this tragedy to curtail our civil liberties or to engage in military
adventures that can lead only to more carnage and senseless loss of life.
Our greatest memorial to our fallen brothers and sisters will be a world of
peace, tolerance and understanding, underscored by the solidarity of
working people.

Robin Alexander
UE Director of International Labor Affairs
One Gateway Center, Suite 1400
420 Fort Duquesne Blvd.
PGH., PA. 15222-1416

412-471-8919
412-471-8999 FAX

Please note new e-mail address above.

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