March 17, 2024
Greetings comrades, and thank you for registering for the first Labor for Palestine National Network (L4PNN) meeting, held on March 16, with 90+ participants from many labor bodies across the U.S.
L4PNN points of unity are the following:
We welcome growing union calls for a permanent ceasefire to end the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. Now, we call on our labor bodies to take the next step of fully embracing the Urgent Call from Palestinian Trade Unions: End all Complicity, Stop Arming Israel, and of standing in solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation and return, by:
- Demanding an immediate end to the siege on Gaza and to all U.S. military aid for Israel.
- Following the example of Block the Boat, ILWU West Coast dockers, and workers around the world who refuse to build or transport weapons destined for Israel.
- Respecting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) picket line by severing ties with Israel’s racist labor federation, the Histadrut and its US mouthpiece, the Jewish Labor Committee, and by divesting from Israel Bonds and industries connected with Zionist settler colonialism and occupation.
From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free!
Meeting Summary
The meeting was opened by L4P organizing collective members Suzanne Adely (Food Chain Workers Alliance), Monadel Herzallah (Arab American Union Members Council), Michael Letwin (UAW L4P), and Clarence Thomas (ILWU Local 10 retired), and by Tamar from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM).
The meeting also heard a report on the ongoing congressional witch hunt against UAW 2325, in retaliation for the Palestine solidarity resolution overwhelmingly adopted by its membership.
Following discussion, the meeting unanimously agreed to: (1) Endorse the call for an April 15 port shut down (details to follow); (2) Organize L4P activity at the Labor Notes conference in Chicago on April 19-21; and (3) Take the lead of Bay Area Labor for Palestine, by issuing a May Day national call to action.
Join L4PNN
Organizations that are not yet part of the L4PNN can join here
Solidarity!
