The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents almost 2 million workers across more than 100 occupations in the U.S. and Canada, called for a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday.
It’s the largest U.S. labor union yet to call for a ceasefire.
“Our call for a ceasefire is a call for peace, rooted in the pain that SEIU members are feeling, from the Jewish member concerned for her son’s safety in Tel Aviv, to the Muslim member who immigrated to this country from the Middle East to escape war and violence, to the hundreds of thousands of SEIU healthcare workers who see themselves in the healthcare workers in Gaza who have been killed trying to save lives,” read a statement put out by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry.
Henry’s statement also directly references Israel’s ongoing occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
“We call on elected leaders to come together to bring an end to the violence and demand a peaceful resolution that ensures both lasting security for the Israeli people and a sustained end to decades of occupation, blockades and lack of freedom endured by the Palestinian people,” the statement continues. “This war must end, as it is expanding into a regional conflict. It is time for long-term solutions that will bring safety, peace, democracy, and justice to all in the region.”
1199SEIU, the highest elected body of the union and the largest healthcare union in the nation, endorsed a ceasefire last month.
The SEIU is not the first major labor union to call for peace in Gaza. The United Auto Workers (UAW), United Electrical Workers, and the American Postal Workers Union have all backed a ceasefire in recent weeks.
On December 14, representatives for all these unions attended a DC press conference organized by Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Cori Bush (D-MO) calling for a ceasefire.
“We know unions are the best bridge toward fighting all forms of hatred and phobias: racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, Islamophobia and more,” UAW president Shawn Fain told the crowd, “As union members, we know we must fight for all workers and people suffering around the world.”
Across the country rank-and-file union members are also pushing for their leadership to take action on the issue. Members of the National Education Association (NEA) want the organization to rescind its endorsement of President Joe Biden until the administration supports a ceasefire and stops sending weapons to Israel.
“What’s going on over there right now is that children are being killed. School-aged children are being killed by the thousands. And schools are being bombed. So there are two very direct connections specifically to our union,” Stephen Siegel, a high school special education teacher in Troutdale, Oregon told The Nation. “352 schools have sustained damage across the Gaza Strip, affecting the education of 400,700 students.”
The labor movement’s growing critique of Israel is notable, as the largest United States unions have traditionally been broadly supportive of the country. “The AFL-CIO is not neutral,” declared the labor coalition during the 1982 war on Lebanon. “We support Israel.”
“American Unions Long Backed Israel. Now, Some Are Protesting It,” reads a recent New York Times headline on the issue.
Max Blumenthal at the Grayzone speaks to Mohammed Al Bukhaiti senior political officer and spokesman for Ansarallah about the naval blockade and Yemens war with the US, UK and “Israel”, as they say in Yemen our blood is not more precious than Palestinian blood. and they all wear that wicked dagger on official business, tough dudes. Any of you remember the Aden crisis and the battle of Crater when the British were driven out in 1967, i think.
https://youtu.be/9k3hAkr1FNc?si=CoExnhwjLNiDPe_H