The following resolution has been submitted to the upcoming AFSCME convention by multiple locals, including Local 1215 (Chicago, IL), and Local 1674 (Burlington, VT). To support it, please contact green4falasteen@gmail.com
========
47th International Convention
August 17 – 21, 2026
Chicago, IL
END STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
WHEREAS AFSCME recognizes that labor plays a crucial role in addressing interconnected systems of militarized violence and advocating for policies that promote peace, restorative justice, human rights, and solidarity with oppressed communities worldwide; and
WHEREAS Israel’s ongoing military occupation of Palestine demonstrates a pattern of blatant violations of international conventions, with massive civilian casualties, catastrophic destruction of hospitals and essential infrastructure, and severe deprivation of basic necessities to sustain life; and
WHEREAS Palestinians in occupied and besieged territories endure persistent human rights violations due to Israeli military policies, including restricted access to clean water, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on the freedom of movement, and restrictions on home and business construction that perpetuate widespread poverty and displacement; and
WHEREAS The ceasefire agreed to in October 2025 has failed to remedy the above conditions, with over 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed since its implementation; and
WHEREAS The Trump administration’s “Board of Peace” plan is clearly not designed to create the conditions for autonomy, the right of return, stabilization, or self-governance of Palestinians; and
WHEREAS The U.S., as a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention and a primary supplier of military aid and weapon sales to Israel, bears a responsibility to uphold fundamental human rights, including access to food, water, medical care, security, the right of refugees to return home, and the right to earn a livelihood; and
WHEREAS Every U.S. resource spent on war and occupation diverts critical funding from health, education, housing, infrastructure, and other essential services that improve public health outcomes, strengthen communities, and build a stable, peaceful, and healthy future for working people in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS The labor movement has a long and proud history of using economic pressure through boycotts and divestment as effective, nonviolent tools to combat injustice, with both the AFL-CIO and AFSCME historically endorsing such strategies, including against unfair labor practices by corporations in the U.S. and against apartheid South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s; and
WHEREAS Racist, dehumanizing rhetoric and policies surrounding this conflict has fueled violence and discrimination against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in the U.S. and worldwide; and
WHEREAS The suppression of peaceful Palestinian solidarity demonstrators in the U.S., including workplace discrimination, employment termination, disciplinary action, and violent arrests, highlights the urgent legal and ethical need for unions to defend concerted activities of labor solidarity without discrimination; and
WHEREAS The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), a fellow member of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), has called upon the U.S. labor movement to stand in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinian workers facing starvation, state violence, bombardment, and loss of livelihood within Gaza; and
WHEREAS the Israeli labor central, the Histadrut, has been a partner in the colonization of Palestine since the foundation of Israel, and maintains discriminatory practices against Palestinian workers;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED That AFSCME actively opposes and holds accountable any policy or practice that dehumanizes or devalues individuals based on their race, ethnic group, gender, or religion; and be it further
RESOLVED That AFSCME will, without discrimination, take action against employers that attempt to curtail protected activities by union members such as peaceful demonstrations of worker solidarity, including via harassment, disciplinary action, discrimination, or acts that endanger workers’ health and safety; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED That the AFSCME International Executive Board will align the advocacy and lobbying efforts of AFSCME International with the following positions:
● All parties involved in these conflicts, which have continued despite the October 2025 ceasefire, including the U.S. as an active sponsor of Israel, must respect and enforce international law, including adherence to the Fourth Geneva Convention and international standards concerning the welfare and security of civilians during armed conflict and military occupation.
● The U.S. government must ensure that food, water, medical care, security, the right of refugees to return home, the right to earn a livelihood, and all basic rights of people in currently besieged and occupied Palestinian territories are restored; and they must ensure the immediate and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to currently besieged and occupied regions. Israel’s systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in the West Bank must be condemned.
● The U.S. government should suspend all military aid and weapon transfers to Israel in pursuit of an immediate cessation of state and settler violence inflicted on Palestinian people and territories via military aggression, blockade, and occupation.
● The U.S. government should join with the 147 other U.N. member states that have recognized Palestinian statehood.
● Boycott, divestment and sanctions of the Israeli state should be encouraged, implemented, and defended as means to pressure the government of Israel and corporations that are facilitating human rights abuses in Palestinian territories to comply with human rights standards and international law.
● The severing of all organizational and fraternal ties to the Israeli labor association, the Histadrut.
● Rejection of all legislation that oppresses the free speech of workers, including the weaponization of the very real issue of anti-Semitism in order to stifle free speech.
● Divestment of AFSCME funds, at the International level and those of subordinate bodies, from Israeli bonds and currency.
● Support for sanctions against Israel in consequence of its documented war crimes and violations of international law.
● AFSCME will not endorse political candidates who take money from lobbies including AIPAC and its shell entities; who support weapons for Israel; who support integration of U.S. defense operations and agencies with Israeli counterparts or corporations, or use of Israeli technology, as exemplified in NDAA Section 219 (formerly 224); or who are otherwise complicit in genocide.
● AFSCME declares its support for the autonomy, the right to return, and the right to self-rule of the Palestinian people in Palestine.
