It is with shock and horror that we watched the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota this week. Along with the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, it serves as a reminder that Black lives simply do not matter to many of the people who run our society or the police forces who enforce their laws.
On May 15, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Karen Bass introduced the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act. It would have Medicare pay for all necessary medical expenses for all uninsured Americans, including those tens of millions of unemployed workers who have lost their employment-based health insurance. Medicare would also pay for all out-of-pocket expenses for those currently covered by private insurance or any public insurance plan (including traditional Medicare).
Reacting to Senator Bernie Sanders’ announcement this morning that he is suspending his 2020 presidential campaign, UE General President Carl Rosen said that “In his two presidential campaigns, Bernie Sanders highlighted the way corporations and billionaires have corrupted our democracy and showed that by standing together, working people can successfully fight back. He has fundamentally changed American politics, making pro-worker policies like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and strengthening workers’ ability to join unions central to political debate.”
UE officers: In order to bring the COVID-19 public health crisis under control, we must shut down all workplaces except those truly critical to sustaining life; give workers in those critical jobs everything they need to do their work safely and compensate them for the immense risk they are taking; and provide robust economic support for everyone else to allow and incentivize them to stay home.
A coalition of hundreds of worker, community and environmental organizations, including UE, launched a new People’s Bailout campaign yesterday, to demand that congressional coronavirus responses focus on the needs of working people.
“Now is the time for bold actions that will not only save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, but also create an economy that works for working people,” said UE General President Carl Rosen.
Update, March 20: UE and our partner organizations are suspending organization of public activities for the proposed 10 days of action from Earth Day to May Day for climate, jobs and justice, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early January, President Trump took us to the brink of war with Iran when he approved the assassination of Iranian general Soleimani. UE has endorsed anti-war rallies taking place across the country on Saturday, January 25, and encourages UE members and allies to attend.
The proposed replacement of NAFTA, now known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), remains a tool for corporate interests and provides insufficient relief to address the problems for working people embedded in the original agreement. At their core, these trade agreements serve to guarantee corporate investments in foreign countries and stop elected governments from passing measures that might impact corporate profitability while offering no real guarantees to workers in exchange.
On Human Rights Day, December 10, join UE and unions throughout the world in taking action to support the working people of the Philippines, where trade unionists and activists are facing increasing repression and violence — send a letter to Philippines President Rodrigo Roa Duterte demanding he stop the attacks on union organizations and labor activists.
Retired UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley joined labor rights activists at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, November 20 to demand justice for recently murdered Mexican unionists, and that labor-rights provisions in the renegotiated NAFTA 2.0 be strengthened before it is sent to Congress.