RESOLUTION ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS EDUCATION

WHEREAS, the AFT has long recognized that developments abroad concern all of American labor, and that international affairs is the "business" of American unions; and

WHEREAS, recent developments in the Middle East and Europe have underlined this fundamental principle. In particular, the quadrupling of the price of oil, the unprecedented accumulation of financial resources by Arab elites, Soviet exploitation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and instability in Western Europe are potentially disastrous for economic and political progress in the Western and even non-Western world; and

WHEREAS, it is vitally important that AFT members understand current world trends, how they affect American labor and how American labor can shape these developments; and

WHEREAS, some AFT locals have developed credit and non-credit educational programs with Georgetown University's International Labor Program, and some have sent AFT members to international affairs conferences:

RESOLVED, that AFT local representatives participate in special briefings and report back on international developments affecting the labor movement; and

RESOLVED, that AFT locals be kept informed about the resources that are available for international affairs education in cooperation with Georgetown University's International Labor Program. (Executive Council)