United for Justice With Peace
Join us in opposing violence and remembering the loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan, New York and DC. Support the legal path towards justice and end the cycle of violence.
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Rally and March
Join us for a rally in the square with music, speakers and culture followed by a march to Blackstone Park concluding with a memorial, more culture and food! Bring signs, banners, flags, a white flower (real, paper-maché, paper: ie, be creative!).
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As Officials Voice Alarm at Preparedness in Crisis,
Nurses Urge Action on Safe Hospital Staffing
Citing growing reports that the hospital nursing shortage may hamper emergency preparedness during the current national crisis, the California Nurses Association today asked Gov. Gray Davis to act to assure safe registered nurse staffing in California hospitals.
In a letter to the Governor, CNA asked for rapid implementation of safe RN-to-patient ratios, along with a joint state-hospital industry campaign to recruit additional nurses to work in hospitals around the state. CNA also asked to meet with the Governor to expedite achieving these goals.
Following the catastrophic attacks September 11 many public officials across the nation and California have expressed alarm at the readiness of hospitals to respond.
The Los Angeles Times, for example, reported on Wednesday that health officials in Southern California are worried that the region "is not sufficiently prepared to respond to a major biological assault or the immediate aftermath of a large-scale disaster that leaves thousands seriously injured." It added that "some treatable patients would die."
Shortly after the September 11 terror incidents, Los Angeles officials ordered police and fire departments to assess their readiness to respond to a similar emergency. The results were not good news, noted the Times in an editorial September 20. The main concerns were inadequately staffed trauma centers and emergency rooms that contribute to long patient waits and frequent ambulance diversions, and "a severe nursing shortage (that) has led to cutbacks in the number of hospital beds available, including those in intensive care units."
In the New York region, it now tragically appears that only the high percentage of fatalities in the attack on the World Trade Centers may have prevented New York City hospitals from being completely overwhelmed in caring for the victims of the attacks. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who chaired a Congressional hearing last week on the hospital nursing care crisis warned, "as the dust clears, the disaster is likely to highlight underlying problems in America's health system."
Even in normal times, California hospitals are stretched to the breaking limit, with overcrowded emergency rooms, and long waits for patient care hospital wide. Heavy flu seasons already overwhelm many communities, and have resulted in patients being sent hundreds of miles away from home for care. Major newspapers across the state have long warned about the consequences of natural disasters, such as major earthquakes, even prior to the current concerns about bombs or other terror attacks.
At the heart of this problem is the inability of our health care system to meet public need - a deficiency directly related to insufficient registered nurse staffing, said CNA's Board of Directors in its letter to Gov. Davis.
California already has a law in place that would "dramatically ease the nursing shortage, and encourage nurses to come back to the hospital bedside," said the CNA letter. That law, AB 394, the Safe Staffing law, requires minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals. The law says the ratios are supposed to go into effect next January, but California's hospital industry has been seeking to erode the regulations and delay implementation.
"We ask that you join us in supporting decisive action now to complete the AB 394 rule making process on time, and in accordance with the procedural and substantive requirements necessary to achieve appropriate ratios and regulations," wrote CNA.
"Disaster planning contingencies have made it clear there is reason for alarm about how we would care for victims in California of a terror attack or other casualties associated with the current national emergency," said CNA President Kay McVay, RN.
California should "immediately act to increase our nursing workforce to assure everyone who needs emergency care would have access to care. The decline in patient care standards has driven away far too many RNs and left many of our hospitals ill prepared to handle a crisis. But we have the opportunity to bring nurses back to the hospital setting by restoring safe conditions, and aggressively recruiting nurses to work in the hospitals," McVay said.
In Victoria, Australia, for example, the establishment of strong nurse-to-patient ratios coupled with a public outreach campaign recently boosted the nursing workforce by 13 percent in a period of just over six months, she noted.
"With troops already headed to the Middle East, and heightened concerns about public safety in California, we can no longer afford to wait," said McVay.
Thousands of nurses are potentially available to work in the hospitals, McVay explained.
* From 1996-2000, there were over 80,000 RN graduations annually in the US, or 320,000 total. Yet the net gain in RNs was only 137,000 over those four years.
* The percentage of RNs who work in hospitals, as opposed to other professional settings, has fallen by about 9% over the past decade.
* Hospital RN turnover rates have risen steadily and now stand at about 18% nationally.
* Nearly 500,000 licensed RNs across the U.S. are not currently practicing.
* Nearly one-third of nurses under 30 years old have said they plan to leave their job in the coming year due to poor conditions.
* Some 17% of currently licensed California RNs are not working in nursing. Of those, 20% reported leaving the profession due to dissatisfaction or employment related stress, and may be candidates for re-entry if working conditions improved.
"There is a large pool of RNs who can be brought back to the hospital," said McVay. "Now we need to act. The margin for error is rapidly diminishing."
Contact: Charles Idelson, 510-273-2246, Liz Jacobs, 510-273-2232 or Jill Furillo, 916-446-5019.
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Urgent Action Needed To Stop Fast Track!
Believe it or not, the Republican Congressional leadership is now pushing "Fast Track/Trade Promotion Authority" through Congress attached to "war on terrorism" legislation stemming from the terror attacks of September 11th. A vote could come anytime during the week of October 8th. Phone calls and messages are urgently needed RIGHT NOW! See our on-line flyer for details on how you and your co-workers can get busy to stop this disgraceful scheme.
Intolerance and War Are Not Solutions to Terror
<http://www.cupw.ca/pages/document_eng.php?Doc_ID=203>
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
2001-09-26
In the days following the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on New York and Washington, it is little wonder that people in the US and elsewhere have experienced great difficulties in coming to terms with these horrific events.
The toll of innocent lives was mind-numbing. Many of the slain were union members or unorganized workers, murdered at their workplace. There can be no goal or cause which could ever justify the crimes carried out by the faceless and hidden killers responsible for these acts.
While the membership and leaders of CUPW join in unconditionally condemning these terrorist acts and in calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, it is also important for us to renew our commitment to the struggle against the cycle of hatred, bigotry and violence threatening to follow on the heels of this outrage.
Recently, we have witnessed a disturbing increase of verbal and physical attacks against Arab and Islamic people, as well as against some non-Islamic religious communities. Most of these working people are not connected to the Middle East, much less to a terrorist group. Our desire to see terrorists brought to justice should never be confused with attacks on ethnicity, religion or on whole communities.
In fact, perhaps the strongest statement CUPW members can make to commemorate those who have suffered and died in this tragedy is in expressing our solidarity with all our sisters and brothers, whether at work, in the community or abroad, who are in danger of suffering retribution in response to a horrific act for which they are not responsible.
For this reason, we view with alarm the calls for massive military intervention in countries in the Mid-East, an intervention which can only lead to unthinkable carnage and the deaths of uncountable innocents. This is precisely in line with the designs of those who planned and carried out the attacks of September 11.
CUPW calls upon the Canadian Government to take a stand against military adventures at this crucial time and, instead, embark upon a more difficult but also more courageous effort to find political solutions to the political and ideological conflicts underlying the attacks of September 11.
Solidarity and the struggle for peace are not dispensable.
In solidarity,
Dale Clark
National President
Copyright © 2000-2001 Canadian Union of Postal Workers
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Resolution to denounce terrorism and to fight against retaliation by force
All Japan Dockworkers' Union
October 3, 2001
On September 11, more than 6000 people died in a synchronized attack to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by hijacked airplanes. We express our condolence to all the victims and sternly denounce this act of terrorism depriving so many citizens' lives.
President Bush is forcing the world to choose the USA or terrorism and is preparing for a military retaliation to the suspect and its supporters. But the background of this terrorist attack seems to be the Palestine - Israel issue and the self-centered approach of the US to the Islamic world. No one has the right to kill people, whether in a war or by an indiscriminate act of terrorism. The vicious circle of terrorism and retaliation only leads to more civilian victims, new hatred and further act of terrorism, but no solution. We are against all retaliatory wars. What is needed is investigation by the judiciary and disclosing of the facts. We also have to endeavor for the achievement of a humane security, free from poverty, illness and discrimination.
The Koizumi Government fully supports the US military retaliation and has announced its seven point immediate measures including,
1 Dispatching Self Defense Forces troops to provide logistical support to the US troops by offering medical care, transportation and provision of supplies.
2 Guarding of US military bases in Japan and other important facilities by the SDF.
3 Sending SDF ships to gather intelligence.
4 Dispatching SDF troops to provide humanitarian assistance for refugees.
But these measures are an escalation of the Emergency-at-periphery Law, which is already a violation of the Constitution and will lead to the dispatch of the SDF troops and the exercise of the right of collective defense, both of which are prohibited by the Constitution.
Japan has a pacifist Constitution stipulating, "The Japanese people forever renounce the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." Even if it is a rear-guard logistic support, transportation of military supplies is a military action. As workers in the dock and transport industry, we have opposed corporation to war and have fought against the Peace Keeping Operation Law and the Emergency-at-periphery Law. We seek solidarity with the peace loving people, oppose military retaliation and will fight against the passage of the bill to support US forces and Security Operation Registration.
Akinobu Itoh
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NEW YORK CITY LABOR AGAINST WAR
September 27, 2001
September 11 has brought indescribable suffering to New York City¹s working people. We have lost friends, family members and coworkers of all colors, nationalities and religions--a thousand of them union members. An estimated one hundred thousand New Yorkers will lose their jobs.
We condemn this crime against humanity and mourn those who perished. We are proud of the rescuers and the outpouring of labor support for victims' families. We want justice for the dead and safety for the living.
And we believe that George Bush¹s war is not the answer.
No one should suffer what we experienced on September 11. Yet war will inevitably harm countless innocent civilians, strengthen American alliances with brutal dictatorships and deepen global poverty -- just as the United States and its allies have already inflicted widespread suffering on innocent people in such places as Iraq, Sudan, Israel and the Occupied Territories, the former Yugoslavia and Latin America.
War will also take a heavy toll on us. For Americans in uniform -- the overwhelming number of whom are workers and people of color -- it will be another Vietnam. It will generate further terror in this country against Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, people of color and immigrants, and erode our civil liberties.
It will redirect billions to the military and corporate executives, while draining such essential domestic programs as education, health care and the social security trust. In New York City and elsewhere, it will be a pretext for imposing ³austerity² on labor and poor people under the guise of ³national unity.²
War will play into the hands of religious fanatics -- from Osama bin Laden to Jerry Falwell -- and provoke further terrorism in major urban centers like New York.
Therefore, the undersigned New York City metro-area trade unionists believe a just and effective response to September 11 demands:
*NO WAR. It is wrong to punish any nation or people for the crimes of individuals -- peace requires global social and economic justice.
*JUSTICE, NOT VENGEANCE. An independent international tribunal to impartially investigate, apprehend and try those responsible for the September 11 attack.
*OPPOSITION TO RACISM, DEFENSE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES. Stop terror, racial profiling and legal restrictions against people of color and immigrants, and defend democratic rights.
*AID FOR THE NEEDY, NOT THE GREEDY. Government aid for the victims' families and displaced workers -- not the wealthy. Rebuild New York City with union labor, union pay, and with special concern for new threats to worker health and safety.
*NO LABOR ³AUSTERITY.² The cost of September 11 must not be borne by working and poor New Yorkers. No surrender of workers¹ living standards, programs or other rights.
SIGNERS as of October 5, 2001: 19 local union presidents, 168 other members.
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The Timothy McVeigh Silence is Loud and Profound
When can a silence speak volumes? When does saying nothing at all tell a lot about the speaker? When you ask some white folks why Americans didn't "profile" young Christian white guys with crewcuts after Timothy McVeigh was known to have blown up the Federal building in Oklahoma City killing 162 innocent men, women and children because of his radical beliefs. The question has come up numerous times in the context of discussing the increased suspicion of, disrespect for and discrimination against Arab looking people since the September 11 attacks. Typically there is no response. None. Silence. The discussion is changed to something else. What is not being said here?
When airline passengers ask not to be forced to fly with middle-eastern looking fellow passengers and in some instances pilots refuse to fly them, you have to wonder if they got off of the highway a few years ago when they saw white guys driving Rider trucks. I will bet the answer is no. In fact, few white Americans, while waving their flags, like to remember that before McVeigh was apprehended, there was much speculation of a middle-east connection in that terrorist attack and there was harassment of members of the Nation of Islam in several cities. What few white Americans think about these days is that that the greatest number of terrorist incidents on American soil have been by American "Patriots" who have been blowing up abortion clinics, shooting doctors, and blowing up Federal buildings and exploding bombs at the Atlanta Olympics -- none of which seems to cause those white Americans to do much "generalizing" about who should be "profiled." If you add to this the fact that most serial killers in America are also white males, you have to wonder what real criteria so many white folks use to decide when they are uncomfortable around folks.
The answer is simple. It is the same answer to the question of why did America lock up Japanese-Americans during World War II, but not German-Americans. The answer is that America is a racist country. Racism causes us to dehumanize people and assume them to be one-dimensional. We only see them as threats, not as complex and feeling people like we are. And when the legitimate fears and apprehensions, that flow from the shock that took place as the symbols of American finance and the American military were attacked, coincide with the existing racist sentiments, there is cause for trouble -- and deafening silences.
Efforts may be made to rationalize the differing treatments of those of us who look different. There is sometimes the "I'm not racist, but ..." preamble. But, indeed, when all is said and done, and we look for an explanation that covers all of the facts that we know now, the racism is undeniable. That is why it is important to linger a while on the McVeigh point. Don't let them get away with the silence. We need to take this opportunity to help people see how racist they are while they are paying attention and feeling very proud of being American. We need to help them see their racism before it continues to affect the way they understand foreign policy matters and give license to the government and giant financial interests to continue their domination, exploitation and terror against other non-white folks around the world.
We need to tell folks what their silence is telling us. It says a lot.
Ed Whitfield
October 4, 2001
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Will the Drive to War Kill International Solidarity?
by Teófilo Reyes
October 2001
We are all horrified by the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. Thousands of working men and women were senselessly murdered, and unions across the world have joined to condemn the act.
We are proud of how working people, and unions in particular, have responded to support the victims of terror. The firefighters who died in the rescue attempt, the volunteers searching for survivors, the nurses tending the wounded, the Ironworkers sent to shore up buildings, the locals that organized gate collections and blood drives have shown the generosity of spirit that is our best hope for a collective and humane solution to these horrors and others still to come.
Resolution on US Attacks
<http://www.labor.net.au/news/1428.html>
Labor Council of New South Wales
The following resolution was unanimously adopted at a meeting of Labor Council affiliates today:
1. Labor Council condemns the attacks upon the US on September 11 that lead to a tragic loss of life.
2. We express our sympathies to all those who have suffered a loss as a consequence.
3. We condemn all acts of terrorism, whether state sanctioned or the actions of individuals or small groups, as indefensible. Labor Council reaffirms that terrorism has no place in our civilisation and reassert our commitment to combat the poverty and injustice that all too often provide unwitting recruits for the armies of the intolerant.
4. Labor Council calls for a calm and measured response to the attacks and seeks that a peaceful resolution to the terrorist threat be the primary objective.
5. Such response must not only seek to find those responsible for these acts of terrorism but to ensure that justice within the rule of law, not retaliation, is the key objective.
6. The Labor Council reaffirms our condemnation of racially motivated attacks on Arabic and Islamic communities in Australia. We call on the international community not to allow the September 11 atrocity to increase hatred, racial and religious intolerance. We encourage our national leaders to view this as an opportunity to work with the UN, an international community, in its search for peaceful solutions to conflicts.
7. We add our voices to those people around the world who recognise that true security can only be obtained through social, economic and environmental justice.
8. In terms of longer term stability in the Middle East we welcome the statement by US President Bush recognising the need for an independent Palestinian state to coexist with the state of Israel.
9. The Labor Council of NSW will actively involve itself in campaigns and public forums in pursuit of the above objectives.
© 1997-2000 LaborNET, a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW
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Local 1199 Opposes "Launching a war against any nation"
The President of Local 1199/SEIU, Dennis Rivera, with the support of the union's Delegate Assembly, announced the union's opposition to "launching a war against any nation because of the actions of a few," as well as the union's condemnation of terrorism and demand that the perpetrators of terrorist acts be brought to justice.
Local 1199 represents 220,000 members in the New York metropolitan area. Local 1199 was the first labor union to openly oppose the war in Vietnam. A union primarily of health care workers, many of its members worked to save lives following the attack on the World Trade Center.
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Thanks to Congress for reminding us that not everything changed on Sept. 11
by Max Page, Amherst, Massachusetts
October 1, 2001
To the Editor, New York Times:
Re: ²House Republican Leaders Balk at Any Help for Laid-Off Workers" (Business Day, Sept. 26)
With their prompt bailout of the airline industry - which mercifully allowed chief executives to keep their mammoth salaries - and their equally prompt refusal to provide aid to the 100,000 airline and aerospace industry workers facing layoffs, our representatives have offered us a reassuring view of business as usual.
Representative Dick Armey of Texas said calls for extending unemployment benefits and health insurance to these laid-off workers is not "commensurate with the American spirit here."
Indeed.
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S.F. LABOR COUNCIL STATEMENT ON THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
[Note: The following statement was adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council at its delegates meeting on Monday, September 24, 2001. The statement was submitted to the Labor Council by the Executive Board of OPEIU Local 3. It was adopted following one friendly amendment from the floor.]
The San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) joins the nation and the world in mourning the devastating loss of life resulting from the vicious attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the crashed plane in Pennsylvania. We condemn the criminality of those attacks and those responsible.
Many of those killed were union members and other workers killed on the job. Our hearts go out to our sisters and brothers and their loved ones. We particularly honor the rescue workers who continue to risk their lives to save others.
No one, in this country or any other, should suffer the fate of the victims in these attacks. We demand that the perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice. The United States has a responsibility to establish with irrefutable facts the identity of those who were behind these attacks. The tragic attacks of September 11 should be treated as a heinous crime rather than an act of war.
As we mourn this tremendous loss of life, we declare our resistance to efforts to use this tragedy to engage in military actions that can lead only to more carnage and senseless loss of life. We reject the idea that entire nations should be punished for the actions of a few. Bombing raids and military strikes will only fuel an endless cycle of revenge that can only bring the deaths of more innocent civilians, both here and around the world.
In the face of such sorrow, we urge all people, particularly members of the labor family, to stand united against prejudice, hatred and intolerance wherever it arises. Within our own borders, we call upon all in our communities to join us in immediately confronting any anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Sikh or other anti-immigrant hate speech or acts of violence, whether in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, or in the media. We strongly oppose efforts to curtail the rights of immigrants and refugees, including expulsion of suspect foreign nationals without due process.
We also declare our resistance to efforts to use this tragedy to curtail our civil liberties. Militarization of our society inevitably leads to erosion of civil liberties and workers' rights. We must remain vigilant in the defense of our democratic principles, including the protection of our civil liberties. Already proposals have been put forward to allow increased federal surveillance of private activities, and there is a strong push for greater use of racial profiling. In the past, national security has often been used to justify interference with our rights to freedom of association, to organize, to strike and to picket. We must redouble our efforts to fight for justice, and must not allow those who oppose our goals to use a national crisis as an excuse to assault our civil and economic rights.
We encourage open discussion as to the origins of this crisis and the most appropriate response to the atrocities that have taken place - particularly about the need for a foreign policy that is based on economic and political justice.
A century ago, Samuel Gompers, first President of the AFL, said that labor wants more justice and less revenge. Our greatest memorial to our fallen sisters and brothers will be a world of peace, justice, tolerance and understanding, underscored by the solidarity of working people.
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Dear Sisters and Brothers,
(Here) is a statement unanimously adopted by the Steering Committee of Washington State Jobs with Justice (JwJ). Washington State JwJ is a coalition of 85 labor, community and faith organizations.
Peace & solidarity,
Paul Bigman, Co-Chair
Washington State Jobs with Justice
The Steering Committee of Washington State Jobs with Justice directs that the following statement be sent to national Jobs with Justice, to other Jobs with Justice coalitions, and to the member organizations of Washington State JwJ. We strongly reject the notion that JwJ should remain silent on the issues of militarization, war and peace. We urge other JwJ coalitions and our member organizations to pass similar policy statements, and commit Washington JwJ to work with our allies to advance the policies outlined below.
Washington State Jobs with Justice statement on 9-11-01
Washington State Jobs with Justice joins the nation, and indeed the world, in mourning the devastating loss of life resulting from the vicious attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the crashed plane in Pennsylvania. We condemn the criminality of those attacks and those responsible.
Many of those killed were union members and other workers killed on the job. Our hearts go out to our sisters and brothers and their loved ones. We particularly honor the firefighters, police and other rescue workers who continue to risk their lives to save others.
No one, in this country or any other, should suffer the fate of the victims in these attacks. We demand that the perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice.
We understand that an endless cycle of revenge can only bring the deaths of more innocent civilians, both here and around the world. We reject the idea that entire nations should be punished for the actions of a few.
Within our own borders, we call upon all in our communities to join us in immediately confronting any anti-Arab, anti-Muslim or other anti-immigrant hate speech or acts of violence, whether in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, or in the media. We will stand in solidarity with our neighbors to defend immigrant communities, religious minorities and their houses of worship. We strongly oppose efforts to curtail the rights of immigrants and refugees, including expulsion of suspect foreign nationals without due process.
Our national policies must support working people. Just as we insist that economic recovery aid benefit workers and not only corporations, we stress that while we may oppose specific war policies, we insist on adequate support for the working men and women in the armed services.
Militarization of our society inevitably leads to erosion of civil liberties and workers¹ rights. We must remain vigilant in the defense of our democratic principles, including the protection of our civil liberties. Already proposals have been put forward to allow increased federal surveillance of private activities, and there is a strong push for greater use of racial profiling. In the past, national security has often been used to justify interference with our rights to freedom of association, to organize, to strike and to picket. We must redouble our efforts to fight for justice, and must not allow those who oppose our goals to use a national crisis as an excuse to assault our civil and economic rights.
We encourage open discussion as to the most appropriate response to the atrocities that have taken place. Congress must vigorously participate in all decision-making on our foreign policy, and must not abdicate that responsibility to the Executive Branch. Our foreign policy must be based on pursuit of global justice, and not on an endless cycle of civilian slaughter.
A century ago, Samuel Gompers, first President of the AFL, said that labor wants more justice and less revenge. Our greatest memorial to our fallen sisters and brothers will be a world of peace, tolerance and understanding, underscored by the solidarity of working people.
Adopted unanimously 9-22-01
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A website that offers links to English-language Middle East news agencies and publications, plus links to background information sources:
<http://web.mit.edu/cms/reconstructions/communications/middleeast.html>
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A Modest Proposal
Nurses everywhere, essentially patient advocates, may wish to find their collective voice on the currant global crisis. If you¹re a nurse and would like to consider forming a ³nurses international for peace & justice² to articulate an action plan advocating rejection of all acts of terrorism (by individuals, groups of individuals, nation-states and groups of nation-states), support for international justice against perpetrators of terrorism, rejection of war in this day and age as essentially impacting civilians and, hence, terrorist, and the promotion of a more just economic and social order locally and globally, including the rebuilding of the public health infrastructure and the assurance of quality health care everywhere as a fundamental human right, let me know. Cutting across all organizational barriers and national frontiers, nursing¹s voice must be heard.
Sandy Eaton, RN
sandyern@mediaone.net
South Shore Labor Party/Quincy Health Campaign
PO Box 741, Quincy, MA 02269, USA
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