Resolution Calling On the International UAW and AFL-CIO To Cut Ties With Policing Unions
The following motion was overwhelmingly passed by the ALAA/UAW 2325 Joint Council on October 20, 2020:
1. WHEREAS, The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325 proudly embraces the labor movement’s core values of solidarity, and collectively fights for a just society where all workers are treated fairly and all people are respected; where no-one is held in a cage; where families can thrive together; and where no one is denied their right to housing; and
2. WHEREAS, as stated in our Bylaws: “It will be the purpose of this union to . . . . [a]dvocate for the advancement of the interests of our clients and of poor and working people in general through political and legislative outreach”; and
3. WHEREAS, as a union of public defenders and other legal service workers, we stand with the mass Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others at the hands of the prison-industrial complex, the purpose of which has always been to surveil, control, and brutalize working class and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities through physical violence, mass incarceration, strike-breaking, and political repression; and
4. WHEREAS, ties with unions of police and other repressive agencies, which uphold and reinforce racist oppression, effectively discredits the claims of AFL-CIO and other labor bodies to support Black Lives; and
5. WHEREAS, the Movement for Black Lives has called for defunding the police; and 6. WHEREAS, UAW 2865, the MLK Labor Council, the Troy Area Labor Council, the Union of Union Representatives (UUR), and a g rowing number of other labor bodies, has called on the AFL-CIO and all other labor bodies to immediately sever all ties with police unions, and to remove all police and their affiliates from union membership; and
6. WHEREAS, UAW 2865 has pointed out that “It is our position that this organization [of police unions] is inimical to both the interests of labor broadly, and Black workers in particular. Historically and contemporarily, police unions serve the interests of police forces as an arm of the state. . . . [T]heir ‘unionization’ allows police to masquerade as members of the working-class and obfuscates their role in enforcing racism, capitalism, colonialism, and the oppression of the working-class. We ask that the AFL-CIO recognize this history and take steps to serve the interests of its Black workers and community members”; we
7. THEREFORE, call on the AFL-CIO and all other labor bodies to immediately sever ties with International Brotherhood of Police Officers and the International Union of Police Association; other unions of police, sheriffs, jail and prison guards, Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), security guards, and “child protective” specialists; and all other wings of the prison-industrial complex. We also call for the immediate removal of such members from the ranks of the UAW/AFL-CIO. Immediately upon its passage, the ALAA/UAW 2325 president is directed to publicly issue this resolution, and to propose its adoption by the UAW Region 9A CAP Council and the International UAW.