Wisconsin union supports campaign to ditch Biden over Gaza
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Calls for a ceasefire among local labor unions in the United States have increased since the outset of the war on Gaza.
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Joe Biden meets workers as he tours the Fiat Chrysler plant in Detroit, Michigan on March 10, 2020. (AFP)
In Wisconsin, the Listen to Wisconsin campaign, inspired by the Michigan campaign to reject President Joe Biden during the Democratic primary due to his backing of "Israel", has garnered support from rank-and-file trade unionists, as well as a statewide coalition of low-wage workers and immigrants dissatisfied with the President's handling of the war on Gaza.
Janan Najeeb, a Wisconsin organizer spearheading the Listen to Wisconsin campaign, expressed that “individuals in labor have been very active."
Workers from the grassroots group Wisconsin Labor for Palestine have joined forces with the Uninstructed campaign, assisting with the organization of a protest at the capital on March 30 and encouraging voters to vote uninstructed.
Barret Elward, a member of the union representing faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin, remarked that the administration's mere use of the word "ceasefire" was only a "PR thing, detailing that "nothing has changed on the ground.”
Some immigrant and low-wage workers in Wisconsin also support the campaign. Voces de la Frontera Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz reported that “we should not be giving all of this money to this genocidal war."
Biden has also suggested legislation to crack down on immigration and stricter measures at the southern border, prompting Neumann-Ortiz to say he was "definitely eroding and alienating your own base."
Voces backed Biden's 2020 presidential campaign and mobilized support for Democrats during the 2022 midterms. That effort is now being focused on promoting the Uninstructed campaign using social media and personal visits.
“It’s so important that in the months ahead, that he respond to the demands that are being made on Gaza, and for Latinos and immigrants, who he needs to reaffirm his commitment to,” stated Neumann-Ortiz.
Virtually every major US union has declined to endorse the protest vote, and Wisconsin's connected unions have generally followed suit, highlighting the labor movement's division on the war on Gaza.
The AFL-CIO issued a statement on October 11 denouncing Operation al-Aqsa flood on October 7 and expressing worry about "the emerging humanitarian crisis that is affecting Palestinians in Gaza." The union made no mention of a "ceasefire", only a "swift resolution" to the war.
In December, the United Auto Workers union called for a ceasefire and said that it would consider divesting from military manufacturing employment, spurring other US unions to make harsher demands.
Jacob Flom, president of the Milwaukee Public Museum's union, who serves on the board of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council and is an outspoken critic of "Israel's" war on Gaza, said the Wisconsin Labor for Palestine coalition aims to push Wisconsin unions to take a stronger stance in support of Palestinian workers, citing an "obligation to stand in solidarity with them."
200+ unions launch network to push for Gaza ceasefire
In February, seven national and over 200 local labor unions in the United States announced the formation of a coalition aimed at advocating for a ceasefire to end the genocidal war in Gaza.
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the Association of Flight Attendants, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the National Education Association, National Nurses United (NNU), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the United Electrical Workers (UE), along with 200 local unions and labor organizations, have joined forces to launch the National Labor Network for a ceasefire (NLNC), aiming to "end the death and devastation" in Gaza.
The coalition stressed that it represents over 9 million union workers, constituting "more than half the labor movement in the United States."
In a statement, the NLNC said that the coalition stresses that it represents over 9 million union workers, constituting "more than half the labor movement in the United States."
BREAKING: Seven major unions have just launched a new coalition to fight for a #CeasefireNOW.
— Сeasefire Tracker (@Ceasefire_Track) February 16, 2024
Over 9 million workers—more than half the American labor movement—belong to unions participating in the newly-formed National Labor Network for Ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/bLNDWzEy88
