UE and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 3000 have initiated a labor call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine [1]. We urge all union members to join us here:

SIGN THE CALL [1]

“We, members of the American labor movement, mourn the loss of life in Israel and Palestine. We express our solidarity with all workers and our common desire for peace in Palestine and Israel, and we call on President Joe Biden and Congress to push for an immediate ceasefire and end to the siege of Gaza. We cannot bomb our way to peace. We also condemn any hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, or anyone else.”

Read, and sign, the full statement at the link above.

Thirteen of the most pro-worker members of Congress, including UE allies Representatives Summer Lee and Chuy Garcia, have also called for an immediate ceasefire [2].

In initiating this call, UE is following the directives of our membership who, in a resolution passed at our recent convention in September [3], called on the U.S. government to end all military aid to Israel and pressure Israel to end the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the siege of Gaza, and to negotiate a peace agreement on the basis of equality, democracy, and human rights for the Palestinian and Israeli people, including Palestinian self-determination and the right of return for refugees.

As UE General Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker recently told [4] In These Times, “We certainly don’t support any killing, whether it’s in the form of bombs, guns, starving people through blockades, or through apartheid, from any side. U.S. military aid going in is pouring gasoline onto a fire. It encourages that there be military solutions, and military solutions will get more people killed.”

Learn more:

• Read about the conditions faced by Palestinian workers in retired UE International Representative Carol Lambiase’s report on a 2015 trade union delegation to Palestine [5].
• Read about the roots of the conflict in “Blood and Oil: A Middle East Primer for UE Members,” [6] a UE NEWS Feature from 2002.
• UE has long supported a just peace in Israel and Palestine — statements issued by the UE officers and General Executive Board over the past decade and a half can be found here [7].