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Labor Demands End to Bombing on Vieques
Labor leaders and union members across the country have joined the fight against the U.S. Navy’s bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
“This isn’t a political issue. It’s a human issue,” CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. “Sixty years of bombing has poisoned this beautiful island and its hard-working people. Many have died from cancer and other diseases caused by the toxins and others, including children, are sick.”
The Bush administration announced in June that the Navy would stop the training exercises on Vieques by May 2003, but residents of Vieques voted overwhelming July 28 to halt the bombing immediately. Although the vote was non-binding, the Puerto Rican government hopes it will influence Bush.
“The people have spoken, loud and clear,” Cohen said. “If the president really cared about them, he would order the bombing to stop now.”
Vieques’ 9,400 residents aren’t just at increased risk for disease, there is immediate physical danger. In 1993, a Navy plane accidentally dropped five quarter-ton bombs a mile from Vieques’ largest town. In 1999, a Vieques resident was hit by a bomb and killed.
More than 1,200 people have been jailed for protesting on the island, including Robert Kennedy Jr., the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jackie Jackson, wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Union activists have been arrested, too, including Jimmy Torres-Velez, the AFL-CIO mobilization director in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Torres-Velez, a member of the federation’s staff union represented by TNG-CWA, said the fact that so many people have been willing to go to jail — some for up to a year — has helped mainland Americans take notice of the situation.
“When people are willing to give up their liberty, it sends a clear message that something is wrong,” Torres-Velez said. “We’re winning, we’re very close to the goal line (to stop the bombing) but we’re not there yet.”
He praised the crowd of union members who turned out July 19 for a “Stop the Bombing” march and rally in Washington, D.C. CWA and Jobs With Justice representatives joined more than a thousand union members and other activists for the event, which started at the Department of Justice and ended at the Ellipse across from the White House.
Signs read, “Bush: What if Vieques were Kennebunkport?” and “Bush: Your ‘Compassion’ is bombing Vieques,” among other slogans.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) pleaded with Bush to stop the bombing now and noted how he had referred to Puerto Ricans as “good neighbors” of the United States.
“Mr. President, you forgot that these friends and neighbors are American citizens,” she said, a slight for which several speakers admonished Bush.
Torres-Velez was arrested with Jackie Jackson and four university professors June 18, when their group cut a fence and walked into a Navy-controlled area of Vieques. They were sentenced to 10 days in jail.
In spite of the appalling treatment by some guards, including repeated strip searches, Torres-Velez said others showed respect, grateful that the protesters were fighting for them and their families.
He urged union members and their families across the country to call, e-mail and write to Congress and the White House to demand the bombing stop before 2003. “It’s important that they hear not just from Latinos, but from everyone,” he said.
“This isn’t a political issue. It’s a human issue,” CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. “Sixty years of bombing has poisoned this beautiful island and its hard-working people. Many have died from cancer and other diseases caused by the toxins and others, including children, are sick.”
The Bush administration announced in June that the Navy would stop the training exercises on Vieques by May 2003, but residents of Vieques voted overwhelming July 28 to halt the bombing immediately. Although the vote was non-binding, the Puerto Rican government hopes it will influence Bush.
“The people have spoken, loud and clear,” Cohen said. “If the president really cared about them, he would order the bombing to stop now.”
Vieques’ 9,400 residents aren’t just at increased risk for disease, there is immediate physical danger. In 1993, a Navy plane accidentally dropped five quarter-ton bombs a mile from Vieques’ largest town. In 1999, a Vieques resident was hit by a bomb and killed.
More than 1,200 people have been jailed for protesting on the island, including Robert Kennedy Jr., the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jackie Jackson, wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Union activists have been arrested, too, including Jimmy Torres-Velez, the AFL-CIO mobilization director in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Torres-Velez, a member of the federation’s staff union represented by TNG-CWA, said the fact that so many people have been willing to go to jail — some for up to a year — has helped mainland Americans take notice of the situation.
“When people are willing to give up their liberty, it sends a clear message that something is wrong,” Torres-Velez said. “We’re winning, we’re very close to the goal line (to stop the bombing) but we’re not there yet.”
He praised the crowd of union members who turned out July 19 for a “Stop the Bombing” march and rally in Washington, D.C. CWA and Jobs With Justice representatives joined more than a thousand union members and other activists for the event, which started at the Department of Justice and ended at the Ellipse across from the White House.
Signs read, “Bush: What if Vieques were Kennebunkport?” and “Bush: Your ‘Compassion’ is bombing Vieques,” among other slogans.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) pleaded with Bush to stop the bombing now and noted how he had referred to Puerto Ricans as “good neighbors” of the United States.
“Mr. President, you forgot that these friends and neighbors are American citizens,” she said, a slight for which several speakers admonished Bush.
Torres-Velez was arrested with Jackie Jackson and four university professors June 18, when their group cut a fence and walked into a Navy-controlled area of Vieques. They were sentenced to 10 days in jail.
In spite of the appalling treatment by some guards, including repeated strip searches, Torres-Velez said others showed respect, grateful that the protesters were fighting for them and their families.
He urged union members and their families across the country to call, e-mail and write to Congress and the White House to demand the bombing stop before 2003. “It’s important that they hear not just from Latinos, but from everyone,” he said.