UE Statements

Statement of the UE officers on the election

For over half of a century, working people in the U.S. have seen stagnating wages, worsening working conditions, the loss of good jobs, and constant increases in the cost of living. This is the result of corporations’ never-ending thirst to squeeze as many profits out of workers as possible. Throughout this time, both major parties have been complicit in this corporate assault. They have maintained their power, and a corrupt two-party system, by dividing the working class along lines of race, gender, and education. Frustration with the Democrats and their unwillingness to confront corporate power or offer real solutions to working people’s economic concerns led many working people to vote for Donald Trump on Tuesday, giving him the margin of victory.

Israel’s recent strikes on Lebanon, which have killed hundreds of people including women, children, and paramedics, are exactly the type of regional escalation of hostilities that we predicted would happen without a ceasefire in Gaza. Right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has faced massive protests including a general strike, is attempting to stay in power by expanding the war and killing additional innocent people.

Meeting in Pittsburgh this week, UE’s General Executive Board discussed the 2024 elections and adopted a statement declaring, “Working people desperately need an independent political organization, based on a political program that can unite us, which can fight for that platform in the electoral arena — in short, a labor party.”

Statement of the UE officers.

In the face of rising working-class militancy, anti-union forces have launched various legal attacks on the labor movement, using the false claim that union involvement in protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza is somehow “anti-Semitic.” Most prominently, the federal monitor charged with rooting out corruption in the United Auto Workers has engaged in wildly inappropriate behavior, in a clear attempt to use his immense legal power over the union to shut down their criticism of Israel. The National Right to Work Committee and union-busting law firms like Jones Day have also launched a series of legal cases, including some against UE locals, aimed at undermining union shop and exclusive representation.

This year’s presidential election is the starkest demonstration yet of how the two corporate parties which dominate American politics prevent working people from using our democracy to improve our conditions.

The only way out of this two-party trap is a strong and politically independent labor movement, with millions more working people organized into unions and other worker organizations independent of the existing political parties. Only then will we be able to force politicians to address the needs of the working class and then hold them accountable once they are in office, not only through elections but through other forms of political action such as marches, strikes, occupations and mass civil disobedience.

UE stands in full solidarity with the students and workers who have been expressing their support for the Palestinian people through peaceful protests on campuses across the country. We unequivocally condemn the violent tactics which university and local police forces have used to break up the encampments.

The contracts won by the UAW at the “Big Three” automakers this year are a major victory for the working class. Workers engaged in creative, militant tactics and won not only significant economic improvements but also important measures to strengthen their union and exert control over production and investment decisions. Their victory makes it clear that if workers exercise the power to withhold their labor, they can shape the future, including the economic transitions necessary to address climate change.

UE stands in full solidarity with the United Auto Workers as they pursue strike action against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. Auto workers are standing up for the entire working class as they demand that record profits for the companies should translate into record contracts for the workers who produce that wealth.

The six-member right-wing majority of the Supreme Court has made it clear this term that it intends to impose its reactionary views on the American people, regardless of precedent or public opinion. The undemocratic nature of the Supreme Court — an unelected body who serve for life — has never been clearer. After attacking the rights of women when they overturned Roe v. Wade last year, this year the Court’s right wing has attacked the rights of Black people and other people of color, LGBTQ+ people, students, and workers.

UE condemns the increasing repression being directed towards the “Stop Cop City” movement in Atlanta and their supporters. The violent police attacks on peaceful protesters, including the murder of one activist in January, are unconscionable in a democracy. The charges of “domestic terrorism” against protesters, and the recent arrests of organizers whose sole “crime” was to provide bail for those arrested during the protests, are clearly designed to criminalize and stifle dissent.