Statement by the CUAD Collective Defense Working Group on Recent Comments by the Leadership of the Transport Workers Union:
The recent statement by TWU leadership regarding the Barnard sit-in is a politically motivated attack that betrays the long-standing tradition of solidarity between international labor, student movements, and the working class. Rather than standing in unity with those fighting for justice, the reactionary leadership of TWU has chosen to scapegoat student protesters—a move that serves only to divide us and distract from our shared struggle against the billionaire class that exploits workers and enriches itself at the expense of Palestinians, students, and laborers alike. We ask that TWU leadership join us in the fight for Palestinian liberation and respect the Palestinian Trade Union’s picket line, which calls on labor unions to divest from Israel and reject complicity with the Israeli war machine.
Recently, a small minority of union leaders, including at TWU, have abandoned the working class to kowtow to Trump and Zionists. But the cause of labor has a long record of standing with Palestine. One powerful example is the Detroit auto workers strike of the 1970s, where Arab workers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow laborers, fighting for better wages and working conditions while also drawing connections between their struggles and the fight for Palestinian liberation. This tradition of solidarity is one we honor and seek to uphold.
The ultra rich try to divide us by suggesting that blue and white collar workers (including working students) are opposed. The divisive rhetoric coming from TWU leadership is a cynical attempt to widen that gap. Luckily, organizing drives like those in UAW, which is now nearly a third academic workers, are proof that despite real differences between students and the blue collar workers who are an essential part of our campus community, we have more in common with each other than with the bosses trying to divide us. 25 percent of UAW workers are academic workers, a testament to the deep and enduring connections between labor and student movements. The TWU leadership’s attempt to drive a wedge between these groups is not only misguided but also counterproductive to the broader fight for justice and equity.
The President of TWU, John Samuelsen, is suspiciously cozy with the MAGA agenda. His relationship to the truth is loose — seriously exaggerating details to manufacture outrage and score political points. Samuelson has repeatedly threatened student protestors with violence, stating:
“We’re not going to let a bunch of freaking trust-fund babies hold our members against their will at Columbia. We’re going to go get track workers with sledgehammers and track wrenches and we’re going to go get them. That’s our plan.” A student protestor told Spectator that they witnessed only one physical altercation — a guard tackling a protestor: “I saw the guard putting his arms around a student and twisting until a student fell to the ground…It was people trying to help that student, that is how that guard got injured.”
This kind of violent and dehumanizing language is unacceptable. It not only undermines the principles of solidarity but also threatens the safety of students and workers alike. Such statements are a stark reminder of the need to hold leadership accountable and to ensure that the labor movement remains a force for justice, not division.
Given this context, the allegations of an assault on a union member during the Barnard sit-in must be scrutinized. While we take any claims of harm seriously, TWU leadership’s history of inflammatory rhetoric and threats of violence against students raises serious questions about the sincerity of their concern. The framing of this incident as an “assault” by “trust-fund baby ideologues” appears to be a politically motivated attempt to vilify protesters and justify their own aggressive stance. This is a clear example of bad faith, designed to manufacture outrage and further divide students and workers.
We call on the rank-and-file members of TWU to reject this divisive and reactionary rhetoric from their leadership. Together, we can rebuild the bonds of solidarity between students and workers, recognizing that our struggles are interconnected. Let us not allow the billionaire class to pit us against each other. Instead, let us unite to dismantle the systems of exploitation and oppression that harm us all.
Endorsed by
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