As Israel perpetrates a genocide in the Gaza Strip, key players in the labor movement have joined forces to strategize how unions might apply leverage to help bring about an end to the assault. Over the last year, recognizing the widespread opposition to the war among their membership and the potential for dissent inherent in cross-union solidarity, representatives of over 200 U.S. unions — from many dozens of participating locals, to the leaderships of multiple leading national unions — banded together to form The National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC).

Since its launch in February of this year, the NLNC has amassed public information resources, rallied together leading forces in labor, established links to trade unionists in Palestine and petitioned the Biden administration to meet its core demands: an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an arms embargo and humanitarian aid. Thanks to concerted advocacy and outreach efforts, the group has been able to count some of the nation’s largest labor interests — which would come to include marquee unions like the American Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), National Education Association (NEA), United Auto Workers (UAW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — as allies, whether as network members or in the growing chorus of U.S. labor’s calls for ceasefire. These have been noteworthy developments; for so many key facets of the U.S. labor movement to take an official position on an international human rights issue is considered unprecedented.

The concept of a cross-union ceasefire advocacy network came about soon after the October 7 attacks, in early conversations between leaders at the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and Washington State’s United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000, all of whom shared serious concerns about the emerging Israeli military response. What, they wondered, should be the role of labor in domestic peace advocacy? In answer to that question, they created NLNC: an informal network that coordinates between national union representatives and union locals, brought together by shared moral conviction.

Mark Dimondstein, as executive director of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), heads one of the NLNC’s largest member unions, and was one of the coalition’s founding leaders. “This is a working people’s issue,” Dimondstein told Truthout, speaking of the ongoing genocide.

“Number one, my union and many other unions believe in social justice and solidarity, including international solidarity. We’re going to take our responsibility by not remaining silent. And the fact of the matter is, this kind of situation in the Middle East could easily lead to a wider war. And who’s asked to fight these wars, if not working people?”

The NLNC is premised on the notion that labor can and should take an explicit stance condemning the war crimes on display in Gaza — an issue that fundamentally affects people of the international working class. This is a fairly radical notion for a contemporary American labor union to officially embrace.

“The workers [of Gaza] need us to push back through our unions,” Dimondstein said. “These are bombs often funded by the United States of America. We don’t want our tax dollars being used … to bomb the hell out of innocent men, women and children. And about half of the known deaths in Gaza have been children. This has got to stop. The idea of the NLNC is to bring more organized strength to the issue, to educate on the issue, and to pressure the Biden administration to use their leverage to force a ceasefire and [deliver] massive humanitarian aid.”

Since its initial organizing last year and the official launch in February, the coalition has made steady progress toward those stated aims. After the alliances that would become the NLNC first took shape in the wake of October 7, organizers set about connecting with other U.S. unions sympathetic to the effort, gauging support and rallying allies, laying the groundwork for a coalition. This involved lobbying union leaders as well as internal supporters (the APWU is an AFL-CIO affiliate, and there are numerous movement interconnections) in hopes of establishing ceasefire calls as an official position at flagship U.S. unions.

Once groundwork was complete and alliances forged, the NLNC’s initial organizing efforts involved putting together an initial petition for a ceasefire and calling for restraint in the escalating Israeli retaliation. Early on, it became clear that Israel’s response would be disproportionately violent and indiscriminate in scope. With the death toll among Gaza civilians mounting, it was evident that Israel’s reactionary hardliner Netanyahu administration and its military forces were intent on inflicting harm on civilians, and stemming the immediate killing was paramount.

“Unions believe in social justice and solidarity, including international solidarity. We’re going to take our responsibility by not remaining silent.”

Some unions were taking official ceasefire........

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