Labor Union Leaders Say:
End the War on Gaza, Cut All Aid to Israel!
Trade Unionists to Mobilize
for Nov. 4
The following joint letter has
been issued by anti-war union leaders. They are asking all union
members who agree with this message to
sign the letter and help build a stronger labor movement in solidarity
with Palestine.
Joint Letter
Working people around the world are
looking on in horror at the genocidal massacre being perpetrated by
Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. As labor organizers, we condemn
these murderous actions of the Israeli government. Over the last three
weeks, Israel has repeatedly bombed hospitals, schools, and
residential buildings in Gaza and has prevented crucial humanitarian
aid from entering the occupied territory. Electricity and internet
access have been completely cut off, preventing communications for
emergency responders and journalists. At the time this letter is being
written, 8,000 Palestinians have been murdered by US-funded airstrikes
— at least 3,000 of whom are children.
The U.S. government has enabled
these war crimes by providing Israel with over 3 billion dollars of
funding every year. Now, Joe Biden is calling for an additional 10
billion of funding for Israel to support this genocidal campaign.
While the U.S. government always has money for war, the working-class
in the US suffers from rising cost of living, suffocating debt crises
and stagnant wages. Our taxpayer dollars should instead be allocated to fund
healthcare, public education, and other social services that meet the
needs of workers.
In its proudest moments, the labor
movement has stood firmly on the side of the oppressed, and therefore
on the side of justice. We raise our voices today in the spirit of
that proud tradition of the same movement that stood against South
African apartheid and in solidarity with trade union resistance to
Latin America dictatorships.
We raise our voices to demand that
the U.S. government end its funding of Israel and to demand that the
siege of Gaza end immediately.
We raise our voices to express our
solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Trade unionists across the country are mobilizing on
November 4th to march on Washington D.C. to show the White House that
its unconditional support for Israeli war crimes is not done with our
consent. Join us and
thousands of others on November 4th and beyond in building a labor
movement in condemnation of war and for a free Palestine.
[Sign this letter
here]
Signed,
Cassondra Curiel, President, United
Educators of San Francisco
Neal Sweeney, President, UAW Local
5810
Mike Kramer, Executive Vice
President, UNITE HERE Local 26
Ramona Malczynski, Vice President,
UGW-UE 1466, United Graduate Workers of UNM
Eleanor Chavez, ED District SEIU
1199NM
Rafael Jaime, President, UAW
2865
Yunyi Li, Southern Vice President,
UAW 2865
Kooper Caraway, former executive
director SEIU CT Council, former President South Dakota
AFL-CIO
Brandon Mancilla, Director, UAW
Region 9A
Emily Weintraut, Northern Vice
President, UAW 2865
Alex Hu, President, UAW Local
2325
Cora Bergantinos-Crespo, President
UAW 4100
(All organizations listed for
identification purposes only)
Make
an urgently-needed donation to help cover the costs of the
National March on Washington.
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