Labor speaker says unions voted to demand troop withdrawal, ties war to local budget pressures

Hal Leashan, representing US Labor Against the War, told the crowd that labor organizations are increasingly aligned against the U.S. occupation and urged broad worker solidarity.

"This week the nation's largest union, the Service Employees International Union, with 1.6 million workers, working members, voted unanimously at their convention to end the US occupation of Iraq and to bring our troops home," Leashan said, using the SEIU vote to illustrate rising union opposition. Leashan tied the anti-war stance to local economic concerns, arguing that military spending diverts resources from local needs: "While our hometown struggles to pay workers, to pave the streets, and to keep our schools and hospitals open." He also cited casualty figures and said "Over 850 U.S. soldiers have died already, including 10 Vermonters killed in combat," and asserted a high civilian death toll in Iraq.

Leashan positioned labor's opposition as rooted in recruitment patterns and the domestic effect of contracting and job shortages, urging attendees to see anti-war work as part of defending working people at home.