The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), a labor union of 30,000 members, is moving swiftly — and forcefully — to condemn Israel’s mounting attacks on Lebanon. Last week, the union’s elected officers issued a statement urging President Joe Biden to “immediately cut off all military aid to Israel, as the only mechanism available to get Israel to agree to an immediate cease-fire, before the conflict escalates even further.”
This is not the first time the union has made this demand; it has issued this call since well before October 7, 2023, and repeatedly throughout the past eleven months.
But amid signs of a mounting regional war, the plea takes on new urgency. “Israel’s recent strikes on Lebanon, which have killed hundreds of people including women, children and paramedics, are exactly the type of regional escalation of hostilities that we predicted would happen without a cease-fire in Gaza,” the union’s leaders warned in their statement.
UE is not alone in demanding a halt to the flow of military support from the United States to Israel. On July 23, seven major unions, which together account for nearly half of all unionized workers in the United States, called for an arms embargo until Israel ends its assault on Gaza.
Before that, unions representing the majority of union members in the United States had already urged a cease-fire. These are significant breaks with the US government’s foreign policy in a labor movement that has often historically sided with the state department (though some rank-and-file movements are demanding more, including divestment from Israel).
But UE, which has a long history of opposing US wars and occupations, stands out for its early — and strong — call for an immediate cease-fire and opposition to US military aid to Israel. The union played an important role in encouraging other unions to sign onto an early cease-fire call, at…
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Auteur: Carl Rosen
