We are saddened and angered by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many other people of color.
Labor unions champion the right of every worker to have a union, a fair wage and a strong voice. As we escalate the fight to hold billionaires and corporations accountable for their profiteering, mistreatment, and misclassification of all workers, so too will we fight to dismantle oppressors of Black lives. The equality a union contract creates on the workroom floor ends when we walk out of the door.
Today, we are confined by our inability to put into practice the idea that Black Lives Matter. For too long, our country has proliferated a discriminatory social order where some people have their needs met and their voices heard while others are systematically devalued and silenced.
Our labor unions are social and economic vehicles designed to create a unified voice out of many. We will use that voice to listen, organize and march. We will not be silent. We will lift up Black voices in our movement and in our communities.