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Article

3 Jun 2020

Author:
James Dennis Hoff, Left Voice,
Author:
James Dennis Hoff, Left Voice

USA: Labor unions demand justice for George Floyd

Labor unions and rank and file union members across the country have been standing in solidarity with those protesting police violence in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities. Since the protests over the brutal and callous murder of George Floyd began on Thursday, several local and national labor unions have issued strong statements against police violence and racism, while others have cut ties with police unions or even refused to cooperate with police...

Ending with the demand: “NOT ONE MORE! JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD,” this letter was followed by a true act of working class solidarity on Friday, when bus drivers, members of the ATU 1005 refused to cooperate with police requests to haul arrested demonstrators to prison on Minneapolis public buses. This action was repeated in New York City on Friday, when bus drivers similarly refused to cooperate with police attempts to commandeer their buses and force them to drive arrested protesters to jail...

The militant— but isolated— refusals of bus drivers in New York and Minneapolis shows that the latent power of organized labor is huge, and a robust and militant intervention of organized labor at this stage of the struggle could meaningfully change the terrain on which the working class is fighting.