To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
June 24, 2020
Re: Continue the struggle against racism
by Joseph Green, Detroit Workers' Voice
On June 19, 2020 the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) staged an 8-hour strike at 27 West Coast ports to commemorate Juneteenth (Emancipation Day), a celebration of the official end of (non-penal) slavery after the Civil War. This was the first time the ILWU had done so, and the purpose was to express solidarity with the anti-racist demonstrations sweeping the country. On the morning of June 9, the ILWU had stopped work for 9 minutes in honor of George Floyd, but on Juneteenth, it shut down the ports for a whole shift. And in Oakland, California, a spirited demonstration of several thousand people accompanied the port closing. (1)
This was the most dramatic union action for some time in support of the anti-racist movement. Youth from the working masses flood the anti-racist demonstrations, but few unions have played much of a role in the movement. The AFL-CIO eventually issued statements against the murder of George Floyd, but it hasn't organized national actions. Moreover, the June 9 statement of the AFL-CIO, which pretends to call for "police reform", contained firm support for the police unions despite their role in zealously backing up the racist police murders. (2) But as a result of pressure from their membership, several unions have been more active than the national office of the AFL-CIO.
The first major union action after the murder of George Floyd was when transport unions in Minneapolis and New York backed the right of its members to refuse to drive buses commandeered by the police in order to carry out mass arrests or to carry large numbers of police officers to demonstrations. The refusal of transport workers to help suppress demonstrations was very strong support for the protest movement; it sends a message much more strongly and clearly than resolutions unbacked by action. (3)
Since then, as the movement continued week after week, more unions have done such things as denounce the racist police murders, carry out 9 minutes vigils for George Floyd, demand transfer of funds from the police to community services, and/or call for the police unions to change or be ostracized by the labor movement.
On June 16th, most of the staff at Seward Co-ops Franklin Avenue
store in Minneapolis ceased work for 9 minutes to mourn George Floyd.
They did this in the face of the union leadership who were "pretty
resistant to work stoppage from the beginning." (4)
The UAW held a 8 minute 46 second work stoppage on Juneteenth, but it
insisted that the workers don't do anything that the union leaders
didn't authorize. The Boston Building Trade Council also held a 8
minute 46 second work stoppage. (5)
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) have demanded that police leave the schools and be replaced by more suitable support personnel. Members of CTU joined a BLM community protest on June 4 to demand defunding the police. And BLM activists and UTLA were together protesting in favor of defunding the police on June 8 outside the meeting of the Los Angeles City Council budget committee. (6)
Despite AFL-CIO President Trumka's support for police unions, there is growing sentiment among workers for expelling them from the AFL-CIO. The King County Labor Council, which represents over 150 local unions, voted on June 4 to throw out the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) unless by June 17 it took seriously the need to deal with systematic racism in policing. On June 17, it then expelled the SPOG.
Other unions have also been considering similar steps against the police unions. The Writers Guild - East has passed a resolution asking for the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) to be expelled from the AFL-CIO. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has passed a resolution giving support to the Black Live Matters movement and also asking that "law enforcement unions immediately enact policy to actively address racism in law enforcement and especially to hold officers accountable for violence against citizens, or be removed from the Labor movement". Workers United in Upstate New York, a union representing 5,000 workers, has also called for the expulsion of police unions. And the Troy Area Labor Council in New York state has called for the immediate suspension of the IUPA from the AFL-CIO. (7)
Nurses have also contributed to worker activism. National Nurses United issued a statement on June 1 supporting the anti-racist protest, saying "There's a common link between the latest wave of police and white supremacist killings of African Americans and the disproportionate racial impact of the pandemic and the economic crisis." Nurses and other health care workers have taken part in solidarity actions with the anti-racist movement, such as the June 11 "White coats for black lives" demonstration at the Queen of the Vally Hospital in West Covina, California. And a recent internal memo by the New York State Nurses Association envisions defunding the police, jails, and prosecutors of $2 billion, which would be transferred to public hospitals that serve mainly poor New Yorkers. (8)
No doubt there have been other actions by unions. But mostly we see
only statements and 9 minute vigils; a few unions have gone further,
and much more needs to be done. Nevertheless, the massive support by
union members for the Black Lives Matter movement is helping shake up
the unions, just as the teachers strikes of 2018-9 did, and just as
with the teachers strikes, it is the initiative of the mass of workers
that is pushing unions into action. It's time to keep up participation
in the anti-racist movement while also pressing the unions for
meaningful action.(9) <>
[1] Pictures of the Oakland demonstration.
[2] See the "Statement on Law Enforcement Unions" in the June 9th AFL-CIO press release.
[3] See "Protests against the murder of George Floyd spread across the country" in the D/SWV list for June 1.
[4] See "Grocery workers walk off in solidarity with #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd!".
[5] John Lynds, "Union Construction Site in Eastie, Pauses to Affirm Black Lives Matter During Juneteenth Observation".
[6] See Indigo Olivier, "Chicago Teachers Join the Nationwide Movement to Kick Cops Out of Schools"; Ariella Plachta, "Teachers union board calls to defund school police at LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified School District] campuses, sparking debate"; and "Teachers Union Calls For Disbanding LA School Police Department". The Board of Directors of ULTA voted 35-2 to "eliminate the LA school police budget and redirect those funds", but there still has to be a vote in UTLA's 250-member House of Representatives. Also, note that Los Angeles and Chicago are the second and third largest school districts in the US, trailing only New York City.
[7] Frida Garza, "'They don't belong': calls grow to oust police from US labor movement", June 11; Unanimous resolution of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Executive Board, June 5, 2020, "Black Lives Matter"; Hamilton Nolan, "Workers United Branch Calls on AFL-CIO to Expel Police Unions"; and Adam Pelletier, "Troy Area Labor Council calls for suspension of police union from AFL-CIO". Note that only some police unions are in the AFL-CIO. The Fraternal Order of Police, for example, with about a third of a million members, is outside the AFL-CIO, while IUPA, with about 100,000, is in the AFL-CIO.
[8] Jake Johnson, "National
Nurses United's Statement on Protests and Systemic Racism 'Stop Blaming
Underlying Health Conditions and Comorbidities". "Tax the rich and defund the police: Nurses'
union pushes for post-pandemic shift: New York nurses want to divert
billions from the NYPD budget to fund public hospitals."
[9] See "Two years of teacher strikes", D/SWV list for January 6,2020. <>
By Mark Williams, Detroit Workers' Voice
On June 1, 2020 thousands of working people in Louisville took to the streets to demand justice for the murder of George Floyd. They were also expressing outrage at the police for their killing of Breonna Taylor, an innocent victim shot eight times by police after a no-knock warrant forcible entry into her home. The police and National Guard attacked the June 1 protest, firing rubber bullets and pepper-spray pellets and arresting 40 people.
Meanwhile, some distance away, there was another atrocity taking place. David McAtee, a 53-year-old black man, was shot at by two white members of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) who were patrolling with the National Guard, and he was killed by a bullet from the Guard. This is a major issue in Louisville, but is not so widely known as other parts of the efforts to stomp on the massive nationwide movement against racist police repression.
Who was David McAtee? Bay all accounts, McAtee was not one of the protesters. Rather he was a small businessman who operated a popular BBQ place known as Ya’Ya’s, popular even with the police. His friends and neighbors have mourned the loss of the well-known “BBQ man”, as he was known. The family was correct when they said McAtee was a pillar of the community, and his distraught mother, Odessa Riley, denounced the sone being killed “for no reason.” Even Louisville Mayor Fischer heaped praise on McAtee as a wonderful citizen and a dear friend to many. The next day after the shooting, Fischer went on to put the two cops involved on administrative leave and to fire the police chief, Steven Conrad.
Now, in the first place, why were the police and National Guard sweeping through the area like it was part of the protest? It was just a social gathering of people eating and milling around between the BBQ place and Dino’s Food Mart, which was across the street from it. Yes, they were violating the curfew. But no one in their right mind would imagine white people being attacked in such a situation. No peaceful negotiation - only intimidation and pepper bullets, driving people to take shelter. It's not that the police and Guard are right to attack actual protesters, but that they attack bystanders and social gatherings shows how wild they are. They come down hard on anyone, even the most innocent, like BBQ man.
Now, after the police and National Guard pressed on the crowd, the people retreated and some sought cover, coming inside the side door of YaYas. Prior to that, McAtee had been in his restaurant cooking ribs, and he had a side gun that he normally carries, as some shopkeepers do. The police and National Guard then lay siege to the restaurant. Pepper balls were fired at the establishment, both at people and property. One barely missed the head of McAtee’s niece. Another hit a bottle in front of a window. Evidently, this is when McAtee shot, though with what intent and at what is not clear. But he wasn't near the cops, and a video of the incident is consistent with him firing warning shots in the air. And then two cops, Katie Crews and Allen Austin, along with the National Guard, shot eighteen times in reply.
The cowards behind their shields and uniforms are crying that they were in the right to kill McAtee because he fired a shot. What did they expect Mr. McAtee to do? He sees his friends and neighbors being treated like animals. He sees them herded into his small establishment and fired upon. He doesn’t know or care if it’s a pepper pellet, it’s very dangerous. Really, after we have heard so much from these worthies about how right it is to use force to defend your property, why shouldn't the same standards be upheld here?
The essence of what happened is this. He was a black person with a BBQ business, which happened to violate a curfew. He was killed by police and National Guard who thought the crowd that gathered around his business and a nearby store were part of the movement against police repression.
There’s more to the story. The officers who fired at McAtee had no prior records up to that point and were relatively new. But they weren't wearing their cameras. Worse yet, Officer Katie Crews made clear her true nature. She posted a photo of a May 28 demonstration where she is in a police line, and a white female protester is offering her flowers. Crews’ captions is: “I hope the pepper ball that she got lit up with a little later on hurt” and “Come back and get ya some more old girl, I’ll be on the line again tonight" ("Louisville cop in fatal shooting of David McAtee had mocked protester on Facebook”. (1))
There was a protest of about 400 people in response to McAtee's death. The night after McAtee was killed, it started with protesters gathering across the street from the Louisville City Hall, the courthouse, and the Department of Corrections. They were young, shouting “no justice, no peace”, and “am I next”. A woman among them said, “you need to disperse when they tell you to disperse”, and echoed this in a call and response. But then 200 or so people, doubling the size of the protest, marched down to join them at 15 minutes past the 9 o’clock curfew. By 10 o’clock cars were packed bumper-bumper around them in support and honking. So the police and National Guard went wild, spraying tear gas and deploying flash bangs. After twenty minutes they had cleared and quieted the area, and made three arrests.
In Louisville McAtee's name has become part of the movement along with Breonna Taylor, and mass actions continue in Louisville.
[1] Ben Tobin in the June 2nd Louisville Courier Journal. <>
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