Over the past two years, Israel has been committing a recognized genocide in Gaza with weapons and cargo that is shipped by U.S. workers and paid by U.S. tax dollars. There has been miniscule effort by the U.S. labor movement to take collective and meaningful action against the war crimes we are complicit in.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has stayed silent on the genocide in Gaza, completeley diminishing the power that the labor movement could have.
CODEPINK, in solidarity with our friend Chris Smalls’ call for a day of action against the AFL-CIO, is demanding that the AFL-CIO take action against genocide and occupation!
We, the undersigned individuals against occupation, demand that The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) recognize the genocide Israel is committing in Palestine and to take direct action against it.
The AFL-CIO has been virtually silent on the war crimes Israel has committed in Gaza - war crimes that are enabled by weapons shipped from U.S. ports by U.S. workers. The United States is the largest exporter of weapons to Israel and our ports and workers are being used to ship weapons for genocide everyday. What funds this? The $22.7 billion from American tax dollars.
Americans have been made complicit in the murder of over 600,000 people in Gaza, the injury of many more, and the displacement of over 1.5 million people. The AFL-CIO could have a direct impact on stopping shipments to Israel and mobilizing labor power to fight for justice. This is not a controversial topic, it is a matter of life and death, and one central point of power in this country is that of the labor movement – a movement that has been historically successful in leveraging political and civil wins in this country.
In coordination with Chris Smalls' call for a day of action, we demand that the AFL-CIO:
- Recognize Israel's campaign in Gaza as genocide under international law.
- Condemn the abduction and assault of Chris Smalls aboard the Gaza aid flotilla and demand an independent international investigation
- Affirm that attacks on workers anywhere are attacks on all workers.
- Recognize Israel as an apartheid state, consistent with Amnesty, HRW, the UN, and B'Tselem.
- Take direct action: Refuse to ship weapons, cut ties with war profiteers, and mobilize union power to end genocide
The AFL-CIO must rise up and fight for humanity, the inclusion of unions in the struggle for peace globally is crucial. Stand firm with your core mission of “fight[ing] for social and economic justice and strive to vanquish oppression in all its forms.”
Sincerely,