The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, an AFL-CIO affiliate with approximately 175,000 members in the United States and Canada, has urged the U.S. government “not to yield to the blackmail of oil producing Middle East nations.”
The text of the resolution, made available today to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said that “American foreign affairs should be carried out on the basis of high principles and not influenced by fear of immediate inconvenience or even hardship which might be caused by disruption in the world movement of petroleum.” Even from the standpoint of narrow self-interest of the United States, the resolution said, “any concession” to the Arab states on the basis of the Arab-Israeli conflict “would be only a down payment leading to further demands.”
The resolution suggested that the U.S. “should respond to these pressures by continuing to offer to be good customers of the Middle East countries and at the same time seeking alternative supplies.” Updating the slogan, “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute,” the resolution adopted by the union’s international executive board in Denver concluded that “We will spend whatever necessary to provide fuel for the people but not one cent in political tribute.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
