Click to skip to main content

Worker Power for Palestine

Worker Power for Palestine
Vigil for Gaza; Friday, Feb 2. Hosted by Cultural Workers for Palestine (@culturalworkers4palichi), Education Workers for Palestine (@eduworkers4palichi), Healthcare Workers for Palestine (@hcw4palichi), Social Service Workers for Palestine (@ssw4palichi), Tech Workers for Palestine (@techworkers4palichi)
The Genocide in Gaza affects all of us. The IOF is dropping bombs American workers made. The IOF uses AI & facial recognition American workers made. The Israeli government profits off of companies American unions invest in. And yet... Cultural institutions & hospitals in the United States are silent as colleagues in Gaza are killed and buildings destroyed. Teachers and professors are silenced & threatened for speaking out.
And yet... workers have enormous power when we organize, especially across sectors. How can we realize that power? What will we do with our power?
Palestinian resistance has a long history with labor strikes. 1936 – 6 month long general strike against British and Zionist colonization > Anti colonial revolt. 1948 – The Nakba. 2013 – Palestinians called for a general strike to stop the eviction of 70,000 Bedouin from the Negev and won! 2021 – Palestinians put on the Karamheh (dignity) strike as part of the Unity Intifada across Palestine.
All over the world, workers have found ways to stop the war machine. In 1973, Arab autoworkers used wildcat strikes against the United Auto Workers (UAW) and convinced several UAW locals to divest holdings in Israel. In 2014, the International Longshore Workers joined with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center to block and Israeli shipping container from docking. Trade federations internationally have divested from Histadrui, Israel's racist trade union that powers the Zionist project.
Labor is power. So what will you do? Research: what are your field's ties to Zionism? What is the history of resistance and complicity to zionism in your field? How are major institutions in your field responding to the genocide? Build power: find out who's on your side. Get to know each other. Make demands together. Take risks collectively. Use many tactics: organize sick-outs, strikes, vigils, boycotts, petitions, phone banks. Show up to protests in blocs. Leafleet your workplace, hold a teach-in, and learn together.
Resources for workers. Legal support: Palestine legal (palestinelegal.org), American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee (adc.org), Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago (cairchicago.org). Organizing resources: Beautiful Trouble (beautifultrouble.org), Palestinian Feminist Collective (palestinianfeministcollective.org/all-out-for-palestine), Labor for Palestine (laborforpalestine.net)