AFL-CIO says 'Close School of Assassins'

The decision of the AFL-CIO to adopt a resolution calling for closing of the U.S. Army's School of the Americas (SOA) owes much to the work of Kenneth Little and others like him.

Little, a member of the Carpenters union from Seattle, was pacing the hallway when I saw him.

When asked the reason for his concern, Little said, "Right now the council is discussing a resolution calling for abolition of the [SOA]. I've got my fingers crossed."

He uncrossed them when a member of the AFL-CIO International Affairs Department handed him a copy of the council resolution, adopted unanimously.

Calling the SOA "a relic of a previous era of violence," the resolution said, "Therefore, the AFL-CIO supports legislation now pending in Congress to close the School of the Americas."

"The job will be easier, now," Little said, stopping yet another executive council member to sign his bright red shirt with language labelling the SOA the "ultimate union-busters."

Little said the campaign to win the support of the AFL-CIO "began in earnest" at the 1997 Convention when AFL-CIO President John Sweeney became the first to sign the shirt.

Other signers include Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Pete Seeger.

Little said he had spoken to more than 10,000 trade unionists at local meetings, conventions and seminars.

"In the process, we've been able to bring nearly 50 labor organizations on board," Little said. "It was this grass-roots activity that helped bring the issue to the executive council."

- Fred Gaboury