WU statement in support of Black Lives Matter

Now more than ever, America, in the eyes of the world, is a country deeply divided by race, class, and culture.

Throughout our history, racial inequality has led to inequities that we can’t allow to continue.

Workers United stands alongside all the brave men, women, children, and LGBTQ communities who believe that Black Lives Matter.

Workers United condemns the injustices that people of color face every day. We condemn structural racism. And we condemn police brutality.

Workers United believes that the Black Lives Matter movement speaks to the social activism that has shaped our union over the past 100 years.

We believe that Black Lives Matter is a human- and civil-rights movement. We are committed as a union steeped in activism to play our role in ending structural racism.

We stand in solidarity with our black and brown families, who are our neighbors, our colleagues, and an integral part of our community. Within our membership, 70% are people of color. Our diversity has always been our strength as a union.

Words alone cannot change what has happened over the past 400 years. We cannot erase the past, but we can work toward the future. Let us be the generation to end this divide.

Workers United leadership is committed to keeping our eyes and ears open, and our hearts and our minds, to fully appreciate the pain and trials that black people endure every day. We will accept the discomfort this knowledge brings, knowing that white people have played an integral role in this injustice. With this knowledge, we will systematically work to effect change, through our communities, the workplace, and in the halls of government. We call on law enforcement to accept responsibility in the role they have played thus far, and to implement meaningful change that reflects respect for all human life.

Workers United’s legacy shows that organizing, unionization, and collective bargaining helps to ensure that there is no disparate treatment on the job. The current divide in this country brings that into focus even more. With only 6% of the private sector unionized, inequity has been allowed to flourish with the improper treatment of workers without any check and balances. We believe in fighting for our members to be paid based on their jobs and classifications, not what they look like or what gender they are or what language they speak.

Workers United affirms our support of the Black Lives Matter movement by:

 

• Working toward ensuring equity throughout our workplaces

• Fighting against policies that marginalize communities of color

• Standing in solidarity with black people, and acting against racial injustice

• Supporting policies and reforms that lead to real freedoms for black people

Workers United will lead by action, because Black Lives Matter.