[MIM regards the following as a negative example.]


From the AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney

American workers and American trade unions are 
shocked and angered by yesterday’s cowardly acts 
of terrorism against American citizens.  We 
deplore the assault, and we stand fully behind the 
President and the leadership of our nation in this 
time of national crisis.  We affirm our full 
support for American democratic values here and 
around the globe, and we believe that those 
responsible, in any way, for this heart-stopping 
horror must be dealt with.  We will fully support 
the appropriate American response.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the thousands of 
our fellow citizens who died or were scarred or 
injured, and to their families.  We mourn those 
who perished as they performed their work, whether 
in rescue efforts, in offices or on airplanes—the 
hundreds of public safety workers, firefighters, 
police, rescue and medical personnel, the pilots, 
flight attendants, office workers and others, as 
well as the members of the armed forces and other 
public employees who were targets of these 
attacks. 

Already union members have gone into action to 
assist the rescue efforts, and the AFL-CIO and our 
unions will do everything we can to assist the 
continued rescue operations and the medical care 
of those injured.

I have called President Bush to express the AFL-
CIO’s full support for him in this time of crisis 
and offer any and all assistance from the labor 
movement.


I have spoken with union leaders whose members are 
directly affected by this tragedy.  They share my 
outrage and determination to give our full support 
to the immediate rescue and medical operations.  

It is impossible to imagine an event with greater 
capacity to compel Americans to unity and action. 
No citizen was untouched.  Around the country, 
working people want to know what they can do to 
help.  Out of the sense of national pain and loss 
brought on by this heart-stopping horror, we must 
forge a renewal of our national community.  

The AFL-CIO is urging all its members to assist in 
any way, especially by giving blood.  We are 
working with the American Red Cross to facilitate 
blood donations across the country.    

The AFL-CIO’s Community Services network in New 
York and Washington, D.C. will be fully engaged in 
needed assistance, providing support to rescue 
workers as well as volunteers.  

The AFL-CIO’s national Union Community Fund has 
issued an appeal to assist those most in need, and 
has established a special fund to accept donations 
from American working families.

Even as we denounce this act, we must remember 
that this was an act of terrorists, not an Arab 
attack, and reject anti-Arab retaliation or 
discrimination.  Now is the time to renew the 
values that bind us together as a nation.

America is a democratic and open society built 
upon universal values of freedom and human 
dignity.  No act of terror will undermine those 
values. No sacrifice is too great for Americans to 
defend those values.  American workers and 
citizens are united in our eternal support for 
American democracy.


For information:  Lane Windham 202-637-5018