Unions Demanding an End to Israel Military Aid Is a Welcome Escalation
While the Biden administration uses rhetorical tricks and delay tactics, labor unions are pressuring the White House to end the war by embracing an increasingly popular demand: “not one more bomb.”
Adam Johnson July 26, 2024
https://inthesetimes.com/article/labor-unions-israel-gaza-biden-harris
On the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 address to Congress, seven unions representing six million workers published an open letter to President Biden demanding that he cut off military aid to Israel until it ends its brutal assault on Gaza. This is the clearest signal yet that labor is serious in imploring Democrats to end their backing of the destruction of Gaza.
The joint letter was signed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW), United Electrical Workers (UE) and National Education Association (NEA) — the largest union in the United States. As Luis Feliz Leon writes at Labor Notes, this move comes after “Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000 and UE issued a call demanding a ceasefire soon after Israel began its assault on Gaza following the Hamas attack of October 7. That letter garnered the support of 248 unions, labor councils, and labor organizations representing 9 million members, including the UAW, APWU, AFA-CWA, IUPAT, NNU, and NEA among others. These unions then formed the National Network for a Ceasefire, a loose coalition advocating for peace.”
The July 23 letter is clear in its demands: “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.”
The pivot from simply demanding a ceasefire to demanding one enforced by an arms embargo extends well beyond these unions that represent millions of workers. The Uncommitted movement and Palestinian activists have similarly put forward the position that the United States government must halt offensive weapons transfers to Israel immediately in order to bring an end to the war. The call highlights how intentionally slippery and cynical the White House has been in recent months in its efforts to distance itself from the carnage that the bombs and military support it is providing Israel have led to.
FULL story at link above.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Was in a hurry and didn't notice the date as I was posting it.
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