Jackson delivers rousing speech

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Although dogged by personal scandal and considered by some ineffective at mobilizing black voters for the 2000 election, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is still very welcome at the organized labor table.

And after numerous standing ovations during his rousing 25-minute speech Tuesday to the AFL-CIO convention in Las Vegas, he offered three quiet words to his friends in the labor movement -- "I love you."

Jackson worked nearly 1,000 delegates into a frenzy, urging them to rise up and march for workers' rights in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, which have turned the nation's attention elsewhere.

Jackson warned that the Bush administration is using the fear of "a caveman in Afghanistan" to winnow away at personal freedoms, including workers' right to organize.

"The flag is a symbol of our patriotism, not a mask that covers our face from reality," Jackson said.

And while many things have changed, he added, anti-union politicians have the same fervor they did Sept. 10.

"Our mission in 2002 is to send them into retirement," he urged. "Workers have a compelling story to tell."

Jackson said Attorney General John Ashcroft is "using Bin Laden as an excuse to take away basic workers' rights and civil rights."

Jackson said Ashcroft "threatens Democracy" and is using the war on terrorism as a guise to disgrace labor leaders, church officials and peace groups.

He warned that requested policies would lead government to trail money, tap phones, bring in the IRS and leak news to conservative media.

"This is not just about a caveman in Afghanistan," Jackson warned. "It's about labor leaders in Ohio, in Mississippi ... Our civil liberties are at stake."