Resolution 53: How the AFL-CIO Stood Up Against the War

Henry Nicholas, President, SEIU Local 1199, during the debate on Resolution 53. Photo by Howard Kling.

The video follows the story of the creation of a moment in labor history. At its 2005 Convention, the AFL-CIO for the first time passed a resolution against an ongoing war — the war in Iraq.

Shows the preparations to this breakthrough, of how U.S. Labor Against the War worked at the Convention to strengthen the Resolution Committee’s initially weak resolution.

It shows how USLAW used the momentum of its 2005 Iraq Labor Tour and the 18 anti-war resolutions passed by labor bodies around the country; how Resolution 53 was amended; how the discussion was moved up to a prominent point of the Convention agenda through Jesse Jackson’s call to “bring the troops home”; how Resolution 53 was debated on the Convention floor; and the celebratory Iraq Forum, with labor representatives from Iraq and Kurdistan immediately after the resolution passed.

These two days in July 2005 will be remembered as a turning point in labor’s fight against the war.

Available from Labor Beat, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607 or via PayPal on www.laborbeat.org. More info: mail@ laborbeat.org, 312-226-3330. $15; Narrated, 28 minutes on DVD or VHS.