File photo of a protest rally in New York City condemning Israeli regime's atrocities against Palestinians
Burlington, June 20 (RHC)-- A labor union in the U.S. state of Vermont has declared its decision to join the alliance of Labor for Palestine, a group that opposes "Israeli apartheid," brining to 15 the number of American labor associations joining the alliance.
"Our affiliate Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO joins its counterpart at the Connecticut Labor Council in standing against Israeli apartheid," said the Vermont State Labor Council in statement posted on its Facebook page as quoted in a Saturday report by the UK-based Middle East Monitor news outlet.
"This should come as no surprise," the labor institution added, citing its leadership's "reputation of standing on the right side of history and embracing rank-and-file unionism."
"We have heard the call of Palestinian workers' organizations for global solidarity in their struggle for freedom and justice and we applaud the growing number of U.S. unions that have responded with resolutions, statements, and workplace actions, such as the Block the Boat campaign,” the council’s Executive Board Member Helen Scott emphasized in remarks regarding the decision. “We, therefore, endorse U.S. Labor Must Stand with Palestine."
According to the report, the pro-Palestinian labor alliance has previously blamed the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime against Palestinian people -- since occupying their land in 1948 – on the persisting American sponsorship of the occupying entity.
"These crimes are only possible because of $3.8 billion a year (or $10+ million *per day*) in bipartisan US military aid that gives Israel the guns, bullets, tanks, ships, jet fighters, missiles, helicopters, white phosphorus and other weapons to kill and maim the Palestinian people," the alliance declared in a statement last month following the Israeli regime’s bloody onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip.
The council also congratulated the labor alliance to its “undeterred and uncompromising solidarity with the Palestinian fight for freedom” and called on all US-based organized labor “to support Vermont AFL-CIO's righteous vision of building a united, powerful labor movement.”
The development came as a number of U.S. unions and bodies had already joined the pro-Palestine labor alliance prior to Vermont, including UMN Clerical Workers Union, Black Attorneys of Legal Aid, Attorneys of Color of Legal Aid, Labor Against Racist Terror, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Central Jersey DSA, NYC DSA Labor Branch and others.
