Opinion: Global labor movement is united for a cease-fire
On Thursday, the national AFL-CIO, representing 12.5 million American workers, joined affiliated unions and the global labor movement in calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing war in Gaza, and called for the immediate release of all hostages.
In North America and Europe, the Canadian Labour Congress, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Confédération Générale du Travail, the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, and more have issued calls for a cease-fire. Across the globe, trade union federations on all continents are demanding a just peace that protects the lives of innocents, continuing the labor movement’s historic role as a voice of conscience that calls the powerful to account.
AFL-CIO affiliates like the American Postal Workers Union and the United Auto Workers, as well as unions like the Service Employees International Union, have led the way in calling for peace. As the statement endorsed by UAW says, “(t)he road to justice cannot be paved by bombs and war.”
War is a worker issue. When bombs fall, they rob innocents of their lives and livelihoods, and rob them of the right to have a future. When they fall, they destroy pathways to prosperity and economic security, leaving only destitution and grief in their wake. When they fall, they sow the seeds of future violence and conflict.
There is no justice to be found in war, only pain for those left to mourn those that are lost to them. The families of over 26,000 Palestinians, some of whom live in our community, know that pain all too well, as do the families of those Israeli civilians killed or held hostage. All working people in Israel and Palestine deserve a future of peace, prosperity and justice. Continued fighting will not secure it for them, nor will it bring back those who have been lost. It will only ensure that more innocents have loved ones to grieve.
A just peace means more than an end to the fighting. Hostages must be reunited with their families so they can begin the process of healing. Immediate humanitarian aid is essential, and displaced Gazans, forced to flee bombing of an area smaller than the Centre Region, must be able to return and rebuild. Permanent settlements in the Gaza Strip in contravention of international law must not be allowed, nor should Gazans be pushed or incentivized to permanently leave their homes. Media workers, 85 of whom have been confirmed killed, must be allowed to report freely and safely on the aftermath of the war, shining a light on a too often dark world.
A tangible, concrete pathway to enduring Palestinian self-governance, including statehood supported by the AFL-CIO, must be part of any end to the fighting. We must recognize that without peace and self-determination, provided by treaty and international law but long deferred, the future promises more conflict.
It might seem odd for labor to speak on issues across the globe, far from the workplace issues that impact American workers here at home. But our own union sisters and brothers here are watching, helpless and horrified, as their loved ones are killed or displaced. Our own union sisters and brothers have had to bear the uncertainty of not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead, and the uncertainty of knowing what the next day will bring.
We are connected to workers outside our borders, and it has always been labor’s belief that an injury to one worker is the concern of all workers — and that we must, in the words of Mother Jones, both pray for the dead and fight for the living. If we want peace and prosperity for working people, we must stand and fight for it.