“Last week’s actions by professional athletes in the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, and professional tennis are a call to action for all of the labor movement.
“They remind us that when we strike to withhold our labor, we have the power to bring an unjust status quo to a grinding halt. The status quo–of police killing Black people, of armed white nationalists killing demonstrators, of millions sick and increasingly desperate–is clearly unjust, and it cannot continue.
“As unions representing millions of workers across the country, we stand in solidarity with our comrades on the courts, on the fields, and in the streets. We echo the call to local and federal government to divest from the police, to redistribute the stolen wealth of the billionaire class, and to invest in what our people need to live in peace, dignity, and abundance: universal health care and housing, public jobs programs and cash assistance, and safe working conditions.
“Progressive labor leaders stood with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We have a long history of supporting the Black Freedom Movement and we will not stop now. The labor movement and the Movement for Black Lives are each other’s keepers, and we are ready to work together to do what we must to win justice for our people. We support the demands for racial justice echoing throughout this nation, and the simultaneous call for a more just economy. We will use our strength and influence to make sure organized labor is on the right side of history in this moment.”
Signed by:
AFSCME Local 526
AFSCME LOCAL 2822 Hennepin County Clerical
AFSCME 3800 – U of MN Clerical Workers
Autonomous Design Union
Berkeley Federation of Teachers
Campaign Workers Guild
Chicago Teachers Union
Committee of Interns & Residents/SEIU
Cook County College Teachers Union – Local 1600
Detroit Federation of Teachers
Fight for $15
ILWU Local 142
International Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Labor Notes
Madison Teachers Incorporated
Massachusetts Teachers Association
Milwaukee Area Labor Council
Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association
Minnesota Workers United
National Union of Healthcare Workers
New Haven Teachers Association CTA, NEA
Nonprofit Professional Employees Union
NPMHU Local 322
Oakland Education Association
Peralta Federation of Teachers, AFT 1603
Pittsburgh LCLAA
Racine Educators United (REA-REAA)
Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania
Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rutgers PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, Local 6324
Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local #28
San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers
SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS
SEIU Local 49
SEIU Local 73
SEIU Local 509
SEIU USWW
South Central Federation of Labor
Teamsters Local 251
UAW 2865
UFCW Local 7
Unemployed Workers United
UNITE HERE Local 274
UNITE HERE Local 2850
United Auto Workers Region 9A
United Educators of San Francisco
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE)
United Teachers Los Angeles
United Teachers of Richmond
United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36
Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council