UE Statements

The UE National Officers today issued the following statement in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux people of North Dakota in their struggle to protect their land and water from the oil industry.

UE joins others in the labor movement in condemning the ongoing violent attacks on the Standing Rock Sioux nation and others who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. These attacks by a private security company bring back horrific memories of the notorious Pinkertons, who used clubs, dogs and bullets to break up peaceful worker protests.

At its meet at UE's national headquarters in late May, the union's General Executive Board adopted a resolution opposing the ongoing coup against the democratic pro-labor government of Brazil.

DEFEND DEMOCRACY AND THE WORKING PEOPLE OF BRAZIL

Statement of the UE General Executive Board

UE OFFICERS' STATEMENT ON VENZUELA

On March 9 President Obama issued an executive order that declared “a national emergency” because, it said, Venezuela is an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” The executive order imposed sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials whom the White House accuses of “undermin(ing) democratic processes or institutions,” “violence or abuse of human rights,” undermining freedom of expression, and/or “public corruption.”

The UE General Executive Board, in its triannual meeting September 18-19 in Pittsburgh, adopted the following statement on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.

Ferguson Affects Us All

UE activists are joining members of labor, civil rights, religious and community groups around the country in expressing outrage over what transpired in Missouri. Members of Local 150, UE's statewide organization in North Carolina, have participated in prayer vigils, protests and public discussions. UE members have been active in other states as well.

Delegates to UE’s 73^rd National Convention in August 2013 reaffirmed UE’s longstanding concern about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and reiterated our union’s view that the U.S. government policy in this conflict has made matters worse. On the basis of our union’s principles and policies, we urgently call for an end to the bloodbath that is now occurring in Gaza.

In the resolution “For Peace, Jobs and a Pro-Worker Foreign Policy,” last year’s UE convention said in part:

The Ukraine Crisis and the New Cold War

During its two day meeting January 27 and 28, the General Executive Board – UE’s national leadership body – discussed recent attacks on the constitutional rights of antiwar and labor activists by the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, and other government agencies. The board unanimously adopted the following statement:

Meeting in Pittsburgh January 15 and 16, UE’s General Executive Board adopted a statement condemning the current war in the Gaza Strip. The union’s national leadership body reiterated the position adopted by delegates to UE’s 70th Convention in 2007, which called for "replacing the lopsided pro-Israel policy of the U.S. with a good faith, even-handed effort to achieve lasting peace between Israel and Palestine based on full justice and mutual respect." The GEB called on the incoming Obama administration to move quickly to initiate such a new policy.