Milwaukee Area Labor Council passes statement in support of campus protest

Milwaukee, WI – On International Workers Day, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council AFL-CIO passed a resolution supporting the “Popular University” encampment for Palestine at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Several union leaders and delegates donned Palestinian keffiyehs to support the motion introduced on the floor of the delegate meeting to support the student and faculty protest. The UWM encampment is one of hundreds that have sprung up at U.S. campuses, led by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and others.

Delegates took turns speaking in favor of the motion, urging the council to heed the plea from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza (PGFTU), which called on unions in the United States to expand their efforts to oppose the U.S.-funded genocide in Gaza.

The PGFTU statement distributed at the delegate meeting read in part: “Instead of celebrating with you on May 1st, International Workers Day, we are busy shrouding dozens of people who are being killed around the clock in the middle of a genocidal war against our people…We have suffered and lost thousands of members, union offices, facilities, and other institutions ,” and “We call on you to be our voice and advocate inside and outside America.”

After a thorough process of discussion, amendments and motions concluded, the delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of the statement which reads as follows:

“The Milwaukee Area Labor Council stands in solidarity with the student protests happening at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. We condemn any attempt to violently, physically, or administratively repress the students, faculty, staff, or public’s right to demonstrate peacefully in support of humanitarian issues. They are using their constitutional right to assemble in public spaces to voice their concerns. An injury to one, is an injury to all!”

The full PGFTU statement is available here.

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