Statement from Labor Movement in Support of Work Stoppages for Black Lives (English)

Last week’s actions by professional athletes in the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, and professional tennis are a call to action for all of the labor movement. 

They remind us that when we strike to withhold our labor, we have the power to bring an unjust status quo to a grinding halt. The status quo--of police killing Black people, of armed white nationalists killing demonstrators, of millions sick and increasingly desperate--is clearly unjust, and it cannot continue. 

As unions representing millions of  workers across the country, we stand in solidarity with our comrades on the courts, on the fields, and in the streets. We echo the call to local and federal government to divest from the police, to redistribute the stolen wealth of the billionaire class, and to invest in what our people need to live in peace, dignity, and abundance: universal health care and housing, public jobs programs and cash assistance, and safe working conditions.

Progressive labor leaders stood with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We have a long history of supporting the Black Freedom Movement and we will not stop now. The labor movement and the Movement for Black Lives are each other’s keepers, and we are ready to work together to do what we must to win justice for our people. We support the demands for racial justice echoing throughout this nation, and the simultaneous call for a more just economy. We will use our strength and influence to make sure organized labor is on the right side of history in this moment.

Labor Unions in Support

AFSCME Local 526

AFSCME LOCAL 2822 Hennepin County Clerical

AFSCME 3800 - U of MN Clerical Workers

Autonomous Design Union

Berkeley Federation of Teachers

Black Workers for Justice

Campaign Workers Guild

Chicago Teachers Union

Committee of Interns & Residents/SEIU

Cook County College Teachers Union - Local 1600

Detroit Federation of Teachers

Fight for $15

ILWU Local 142

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2304

International Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

Jobs with Justice

Labor Notes

Madison Teachers Incorporated

Massachusetts Teachers Association

Milwaukee Area Labor Council

Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association

Minnesota Workers United

MTI Professional Staff Union - IBEW 2304

NAGE-SEIU, Local R4-75

National Black Worker Center

National Union of Healthcare Workers

New Haven Teachers Association CTA, NEA

Nonprofit Professional Employees Union

NPMHU Local 322

Oakland Education Association

Peralta Federation of Teachers, AFT 1603

Pittsburgh LCLAA

Racine Educators United (REA-REAA)

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania

Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, Local 6324

Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local #28

San Diego Education Association

San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers

SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS

SEIU Local 49

SEIU Local 73

SEIU Local 509

SEIU USWW

South Central Federation of Labor

Southern Workers’ Assembly

Teamsters Local 251

UAW 2865

UFCW Local 7

Unemployed Workers United

UNITE HERE Local 274

UNITE HERE Local 2850

United Auto Workers Region 9A

United Educators of San Francisco

United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE)

UE Local 150 -  North Carolina Public Service Workers Union

United Teachers Los Angeles

United Teachers of Richmond

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36

USW Local 8751, Boston School Bus Drivers Union

Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council

Individual Labor Leaders in Support*

David Bacon, Pacific Media Workers Guild, CWA Local 39521 (Co-chair, Guild Freelancers)

Kathy Black, CLUW, Philadelphia Chapter (Treasurer; President Emerita)

John Braxton, American Federation of Teachers Local 2026 (Co-President Emeritus)

Jim Brough, CSEA/AEU Retired (Local President)

Doug Bullock, Albany County Central Federation of Labor (First Vice President)

James Capozzi, Faculty Association of County College of Morris (President)

Kooper Caraway, South Dakota Federation of Labor (President)

Josh Downey, Denver Area Labor Federation (President)

Mike Keenan, Troy Area Labor Council, NYS AFL-CIO (President Emeritus)

Michael Letwin, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325 (Former President)

Paula Lukaszek, Local 1488 WFSE (President)

Nicole Marie Masika, AFSCME 3937 (Secretary)

Heather Messner, DUEA (President)

David Newby, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO (President Emeritus)

Jay O'Neal, Kanawha County Education Association (Treasurer)

John Paul Patafio, TWU Local 100 (Vice President, TA Surface (Brooklyn Buses))

Monica Robinson, AFSCME Local 810 (Secretary Treasurer)

Edgar Romney, Workers United (Secretary Treasurer)

Jeff Sanceri, Peralta Federation of Teachers, Local 1603 (Secretary)

Meghan Schimmel, Fresno Teachers Association (Director At Large)

Jennifer Shanoski, Peralta Federation of Teachers (President)

Susan Solomon, United Educators of San Francisco (President)

Grace Sweeney-Maurer, Veterans Union Council (Colorado Vice President)

Jessica Tang, Boston Teachers Association (President)

Nellie Taylor, Easthampton Education Association (President)

Jessica Wender-Shubow, Brookline Educators Union (President)

Laura Zucker, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers (Vice President)

*For brevity, only officers of unions that have not already signed on as unions have been listed here.

Declaración del movimiento de trabajadores en apoyo de los paros por las vidas negras (Español)

Las acciones de la semana pasada, por parte de atletas profesionales en la NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, y tenis profesional son un llamado a la acción para todo el movimiento de trabajadores.

Ellos nos recuerdan que cuando hacemos paramos para retener nuestra fuerza de trabajo, tenemos el poder de interrumpir un status quo injusto. El status quo-- de la policía asesinando gente negra, de nacionalistas blancos armados asesinando manifestantes, de millones de enfermos y cada día más desesperados-- es claramente injusto y no puede continuar.

Como sindicatos representando millones de trabajadores a través del país, nos postramos en solidaridad con nuestros camaradas en las cortes, en los campos, y en las calles. Hacemos eco al llamado al gobierno federal y local a despojar a la policía, redistribuir la riqueza robada por la clase billonaria, y a invertir en lo que nuestra gente necesita para vivir en paz, con dignidad, y abundancia: Salud universal, vivienda, programas de empleos públicos y asistencia monetaria, y condiciones laborales seguras.

Los líderes trabajadores progresistas se plantaron del lado del movimiento de Derechos Civiles en los 1960s. Tenemos una larga historia de apoyo a los movimientos de libertad negra y no nos detendremos ahora. El movimiento trabajador y el movimiento por las vidas negras son guardianes uno del otro, y nosotros estamos preparados para hacer lo necesario para lograr justicia para nuestra gente. Apoyamos las exigencias por justicia racial que hace eco a través de esta nación, y el llamado simultáneo por una economía más justa. Nosotros utilizaremos nuestra fuerza e influencia para asegurarnos de que una labor organizada esté del lado correcto de la historia.