Labor for Palestine

The following resolution was adopted by the CounterPower Labor Committee on October 27, 2023.

As members of the international working class, we stand in solidarity with the workers and oppressed peoples of Palestine in their struggle for national liberation from the settler-colonial apartheid regime of Israel, and heed the call of the Palestinian workers' movement, signed by 32 Palestinian trade unions, demanding an end to international support for the arming of Israel.

1. Whereas since October 7, 2023, Israel has significantly intensified its attacks on the Palestinian people – subjecting 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza to unprecedented bombardment, unleashing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and targeting '48 Palestinians with a mass arrest campaign;

2. Whereas Israel has leveled entire neighborhoods in Gaza, killing more than 7,000 people – including nearly 3,000 children – and injuring thousands more;

3. Whereas, Israel has demanded that 1.1 million Palestinians evacuate the northern half of Gaza and cut off the little fuel, electricity, water, food, and medical supplies from entering into Gaza;

4. Whereas, Israel has distributed more than 10,000 rifles to extremist settlers in ‘48 Palestine and the occupied West Bank to facilitate their escalating attacks and pogroms against Palestinians;

5. Whereas, Israel’s actions, massacres, and rhetoric point to its intention to implement its long-promised second Nakba, expelling as many Palestinians as possible and creating a "New Middle East" in which Palestinians live in perpetual subjugation under the boot of Greater Israel and U.S. imperialism;

6. Whereas, Palestinian trade unions have issued an appeal and call to action asking their comrades in the international labor movement to take immediate action to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes;

7. Whereas, workers in the U.S. and many other countries are facing a heightened risk of retaliation by employers and the state when they speak or act in defense of Palestinian freedom and against U.S. and Israeli imperialism; and

8. Whereas, the working class in the U.S. and other imperialist countries has sometimes taken bold actions in solidarity with the overseas victims of imperialism, as seen, for instance, in the refusal of West Coast longshore workers to load U.S. weapons destined for the terrorist military regime in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992.

As members of U.S. labor unions, this committee believes that:

• These latest attacks are a continuation of more than 75 years of Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including belligerent occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid.
• Israel’s actions and escalation are enabled and facilitated by the impunity afforded it by its strategic allies and trade partners, who provide it with the weapons, machinery, and technology to maintain its illegal occupation and to undertake its attacks.
• As trade unionists we must always stand on the side of justice, in both word and deed.
• Lobbying our governments and issuing statements must be coupled with trade union action, ensuring that we are practically contributing to Palestinian liberation.

The Labor Committee of CounterPower hereby resolves:

• To respond to the call issued by Palestinian trade unions by:
  • Taking immediate and concrete steps to ensure that, as members of the U.S. labor movement, we ourselves are not complicit in supporting and sustaining Israeli oppression, and to:
    • Encourage workers to refuse to build and handle weapons destined to Israel and/or support workers refusing to transport weapons to Israel, including the use of political strikes;
    • Examine our institutions’ contractual agreements to ensure we are not doing business with companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege on Gaza, particularly military companies; and
    • Examine our institutions’ investments to ensure we are not financing complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege on Gaza, particularly military companies.
  • Calling upon our unions and union caucuses to issue public statements of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and expressing support for the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel to bring it in line with its obligations under international law.
  • Preparing to take collective action, including strikes, in defense of our fellow workers and others who are threatened with retaliation for acting in solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle.

From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free!