Emergency solidarity resolution with workers & people of Honduras

The following resolution was adopted by the delegates meeting of the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) on Sept. 28.

Whereas the San Francisco Labor Council supports the immediate and unconditional return of President Manuel Zelaya to his position as head of state of Honduras and supports the restoration of all democratic rights there, while demanding that those responsible for the coup be brought to justice and that the U.S. government suspend all aid until Zelaya is restored to his position;

Whereas the AFL-CIO at the Convention in Pittsburgh, Pa., passed a resolution calling for the reinstatement of President Zelaya, the restoration of all labor and democratic rights, and an immediate halt to U.S. aid to the coup government;

Whereas the San Francisco Labor Council sent a representative to Honduras to help build solidarity with the labor movement and with the National Front Against the Coup;

Whereas the situation in Honduras today—in the aftermath of Zelaya’s return to Honduras, where he has been holed up in the Brazilian Embassy—has been marked by increased repression against the resistance movement, in particular against the labor movement;

Whereas the Portland Central American Solidarity Committee and Cross-Border Labor Organizing Council (PCASC) is organizing a West Coast Honduras Labor Solidarity Tour in November 2009 with Israel Salinas, Secretary General of the Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Honduras (CUTH), one of the major trade union federations of Honduras;

Therefore be it resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council urge its affiliates to participate in the regular demonstrations organized in San Francisco in solidarity with the resistance movement of the workers and people of Honduras.

Be it further resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council urge the national AFL-CIO leadership to actively and visibly express their solidarity with the resistance movement in Honduras, through press conferences and a public call on the Obama administration to break all diplomatic and economic ties with the coup government in Honduras.

Therefore be it finally resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council invite and host the visit of Brother Israel Salinas to the Bay Area in mid-November, and, if possible, coordinate and/or include the participation of other greater Bay Area Labor Councils in this speaking tour of Brother Salinas, all in order to help build a campaign of solidarity to help defeat the coup.