Postponement of June 3rd Workers First Caravan, Deepening Fight vs. Racism

NEW DATE: June 17 at Noon more information can be found here

In concert with the national AFL-CIO, the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation is postponing the Workers First Caravan planned for Houston this Wednesday. In the wake of events over the last week, now is the time for the labor movement to join in the national conversation underway around racism embedded in American institutions.

We plan to create spaces for that conversation and to explore actions the Gulf Coast working people can take together to more aggressively undo the racial and economic inequalities that plague our nation, including fighting for reforms in policing.

The HEROES Act will be one of the most important pieces of social legislation in the last 30 years and is urgently needed in response to the economic crisis our nation faces. We will continue to agitate around the 5 Economic Essentials and passage of the HEROES Act. As the national AFL-CIO revises its plans to mobilize on behalf of the 5 Economic Essentials and the HEROES Act, we will announce local plans.

Below is the statement AFL-CIO President Trumka issued this morning.

Trumka on AFL-CIO Building and Justice for George Floyd

Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the events of the weekend:

My heart is heavy at the events of the past few days. I watched the video of George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. No person of conscience can hear Floyd’s cries for help and not understand that something is deeply wrong in America.

What happened to George Floyd, what happened to Ahmaud Arbery, what happened to far too many unarmed people of color has happened for centuries. The difference is now we have cell phones. It’s there for all of us to see. And we can’t turn our heads and look away because we feel uncomfortable.

Racism plays an insidious role in the daily lives of all working people of color. This is a labor issue because it is a workplace issue. It is a community issue, and unions are the community. We must and will continue to fight for reforms in policing and to address issues of racial and economic inequality.

We categorically reject those on the fringes who are engaging in violence and destroying property. Attacks like the one on the AFL-CIO headquarters are senseless, disgraceful and only play into the hands of those who have oppressed workers of color for generations and detract from the peaceful, passionate protesters who are rightly bringing issues of racism to the forefront.

But in the end, the labor movement is not a building. We are a living collection of working people who will never stop fighting for economic, social and racial justice. We are united unequivocally against the forces of hate who seek to divide this nation for their own personal and political gain at our expense.

We will clean up the glass, sweep away the ashes and keep doing our part to bring a better day out of this hour of darkness and despair.

Today and always, the important work of the AFL-CIO continues unabated.