President Biden,

We write to publicly call upon your Administration to immediately halt all military aid to Israel as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

We all shared hope that the three-part ceasefire proposal you outlined in the final week of May would bear fruit, allowing for the immediate end of violence, the safe return of hostages, and the creation of space for a lasting peace.

As we write you today, however, neither Israel nor Hamas has accepted the agreement as proposed. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet members have publicly refused key elements of the deal, despite your characterizing it as an Israeli proposal.

As you said on May 31, the Israeli response has “devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months” and that “Hamas [is] no longer capable of carrying out another October 7th.” Yet it is clear that the Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response to the horrific attacks of October 7th until it is forced to stop.

We believe that immediately cutting US military aid to the Israeli government is necessary
to bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

Recent reports only underscore the urgency of our demands. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza.

Furthermore, Israel’s refusal to minimize civilian harm and its demonstrated restriction of U.S. humanitarian aid call for a halt to U.S. military aid under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Control Export Act.

Mr. President, the time to act decisively to end this war is now. Stopping US military aid to Israel is the quickest and most sure way to do so, it is what U.S. law demands, and it will show your commitment to securing a lasting peace in the region.

Signed,
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA)
American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
International Union of Painters (IUPAT)
National Education Association (NEA)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
United Auto Workers (UAW)
United Electrical Workers (UE)

The post Seven Unions Call on Biden to Halt All Military Aid to Israel first appeared on Labor Today.

Our unions are all members of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire, united by our shared call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the safe return of hostages, and safe passage for urgently needed humanitarian aid to those displaced, starved and injured by Israel’s campaign in Gaza. We see our demands broadly reflected in the campus protests.

Moreover, as trade unionists, we can never support efforts to repress, intimidate or deploy state-sanctioned violence against those exercising their democratic rights of free speech and who protest, strike, or demand justice.

The repressive response of certain university administrators and local police to these protests is also a labor rights issue. Faculty, student workers, and other campus workers – many of whom belong to our unions – are among those who have been arrested and forcibly removed from the protests or suspended from their work. University staff have been ordered to clear protests led by students, their fellow workers and union members. Academic freedom, free speech, the right to assemble, and the right to protest are fundamental rights and they must be respected on campuses and across the country.

The time for peace is now. We stand in solidarity with the protesters.

American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA)
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
National Nurses United (NNU)
United Auto Workers (UAW)
United Electrical Workers Union (UE)
Chicago Teachers Union Local 1 (CTU-1)
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania (SEIUHCPA)
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (1199SEIU)
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 3000 (UFCW 3000)

The post Unions Stand in Solidarity with Campus Protesters, Demand Their Rights to Protest and Free Speech Be Respected first appeared on Labor Today.

Since October 2023, the UE and UFCW local 3000 became some of the first unions to begin the call for a ceasefire. Through organizing, many more unions including the UAW in December 2023 added their names to the list. The NLNC is currently calling for:

• An immediate ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
• Restoration of basic human rights.
• Immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.
• Unimpeded full access for humanitarian aid.
• Our president calling for a permanent ceasefire.

Labor United Educational League supports ceasefire efforts along with the NLNC as well as the call for UN Resolution 242 which establishes an independent Palestinian state established on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and guaranteeing Palestinian refugees the right of return.

The post Unions Representing Over 9 Million Workers form the National Labor Network for Ceasefire first appeared on Labor Today.

Since the McCarthyite period of the 1950’s the AFL-CIO has taken an active role in regime change operations and worked with the US government in disrupting class-oriented labor movements that would prove detrimental to American business interests. From colluding with Pinochet against the Allende government in Chile, to creating the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) to support the government’s anti-communist policies abroad, to playing an active role in the Maidan coup in Ukraine the organization has taken an active role against progressive labor movements around the globe. Working as an appendage of the ruling class for decades coupled with their role in funneling votes to Democrats to appear “pro-labor” has given the AFL-CIO no option but to tacitly endorse the actions of the Biden administration. Apart from their three-sentence statement published on October 11, 2023, the organization has ignored the burgeoning labor movement behind a call for ceasefire.

This is in stark contrast that most unions calling for a ceasefire are affiliated with the AFL-CIO. UE, SEIU, ALU and others may be in the minority but have taken a vocal stance on the issue with the UE being one of the original sponsors of the petition.

The post The Widening Split in the US Labor Movement and the AFL-CIO’s Increasing Complicity in US Imperialism first appeared on Labor Today.

As a union that stands for equality, social justice, human and labor rights, and international solidarity, we unite with unions and people of goodwill around the world in calls for justice and peace.

We unreservedly condemn the Hamas violence of October 7, which killed over 1,000 Israeli civilians and saw the kidnapping of more than 200 people.

However, Israel’s response has made the prospects for peace more remote. Over 10,000 innocent civilians, including 4000 children, have been killed by the relentless and indiscriminate bombing campaign on Gaza. Israel has shut off the flow of food, water, fuel and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, a war crime. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding every day in Gaza. Thousands more innocent civilians stand to die wholly preventable deaths.

We call on our government, which is the primary foreign benefactor of the Israeli government, to use all its power to protect innocent lives and to help bring about peace in the region, and not use our tax dollars for more war.

We join the calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less.

APWU General Officers: President, Mark Dimondstein; Executive Vice President, Debby Szeredy; Secretary-Treasurer, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Powell.

The post Statement from APWU General Officers on the Conflict in Israel and Palestine first appeared on Labor Today.