On March 19th, more than 1000 people reflecting the diversity of Tacoma came out for a march and rally demanding that money being poured into prolonging the war be shifted to cover basic needs including health care, living wage jobs, veterans benefits, education, housing and Gulf Coast relief and that the troops be brought home from Iraq. Speakers included Dexter B. Gordon, professor of African-American Studies at the University of Puget Sound; Jeannie Darnielle, State Legislator from the 27th District and Executive Director of the Pierce County AIDS Foundation; and Lietta Ruger, a woman who has two Iraq-war veterans in her family and who is a member of Military Families Speak Out. Over 150 of the marchers were in the JwJ labor and workers' rights contingent, including 40 who came from Seattle on a bus provided by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

The Tacoma rally reunited Department of Defense workers and faith-based peace activists who had joined together in a rally last year at Ft. Lewis to protest the use of the war as an excuse and cover for attacks on federal workers, particularly those in the Department of Defense, facing the anti-union National Security Personnel System.  WSJwJ has made "worker organizing impacted by war" a top priority, and is working closely with federal workers represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to relate the war both to anti-union attacks and to cuts in funding for basic human needs.

Washington State JwJ joined a number of its member organizations in urging participation in the Tacoma rally, including Church Council of Greater Seattle; Fellowship of Reconiciliation of Tacoma; First United Methodist Church Micah Project; Pax Christi Tacoma; Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War; St. Leo's Peace & Justice Commission; and Tacoma Catholic Worker.  But importantly, it wasn't just peace and faith-based groups that turned out.  There were banners and signs from a number of unions, including Locals of AFGE, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  Other unions with rank-and-file presence including the Musicians, IFPTE (representing Boeing engineers and technicians), Food & Commercial Workers, Operating Engineers, and State County & Muncipal Employees.  They were joined by contingents from a variety of faith communities, including Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, CME, Quaker, Unitarian and Buddhist; veterans and military families groups, led by Iraq Veterans Against the War; and community and political groups including Mothers for Police Accountability, America in Solidarity and the Labor Party.  WSJwJ's 2005 honorees were all present: members of the Legislative Labor Caucus, federal workers from the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration, and Catholic Workers.

JwJ circulated petitions that will be forwarded to South Sound members of Congress and the US Senators from Washington, making it clear that the working people of Washington want an end to the war and to attacks on workers, and a renewed commitment to the needs of working families.

Background for "War Hits Home"

Extending the Iraq War Will Cause Severe Loss of Jobs and Social Programs

In our state, we will spend $2.4 billion in 2006 taxes on the Iraq War under Bush's proposal to raise the total war cost to $315 billion and $7.4 billion for our state.  

The Bush Administration is attempting to cut Medicare by $36 billion by 2011 and by $105 billion a decade from now.  Medicare funding cuts mainly hit hospitals, nursing homes, and homecare as well as many healthcare jobs.  About $20 billion of the $36 billion would come from reducing payment increases to hospitals and other institutional providers.  3.8 million beneficiaries would pay an additional $48 to $262 per monthly premium by 2016 for physician and outpatient costs.  The Bush plan shifts at least $60 billion in Medicaid costs to the states over 10 years, imposes new costs on 13 million recipients, and ends insurance coverage for 65,000 Medicaid enrollees.  The plan will also terminate millions of dollars in bioterrorism preparedness and preventive health, Alzheimer's care, Lou Gehrig's disease and traumatic brain injuries research, rural heart attack training, and newborn and child healthcare grants. 

Bush's proposed $3.5 billion 2006 cut is the deepest in the Department of Education 26-year history.  Our state stands to lose in vocational and adult education $26.1 million in 2007 and $140 million over the next 5 years while the nationally higher education loses $2.1 billion from student loans to vocational training.  No doubt, many local educators will lose jobs.  Our taxes taken as Washington residents for military spending could have funded 59,306 higher education scholarships or 5,282 new teachers in our state.

The Bush budget plan slashes benefits for veterans by eliminating funding for state programs that provide veterans with long-term care, including: More than doubling prescription drug co-payments for some veterans, and requiring them to pay an annual enrollment fee of $250. Trimming nursing home care by $351 million, which would eliminate approximately 5,000 beds in nursing homes run by the Veterans Administration.

For more background and fact citations, see:
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/warcitycost
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/auxiliary/somePdfs/BetterSecurityforLessMoney/wa.pdf
 http://www.cbpp.org/2-23-06bud.pdf (page 3, 6, Table 2).