The Western Mass Area Labor Federation has endorsed a letter sent to President Joe Biden calling for a weapons embargo against Israel to end the bloodshed in Gaza. It comes after a unanimous delegate vote this month. The group represents 50,000 workers in more than 60 unions across Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Berkshire counties and is joining a national effort by seven major unions. Just weeks into the conflict that erupted when Hamas attacked on October 7th, the federation issued a call for a ceasefire that still has yet to materialize. Western Mass Area Labor Federation President Jeff Jones tells WAMC that labor must increase the pressure on the White House to find an end to the carnage.
JONES: It basically boils down to, this ongoing situation in Gaza has been going on, the latest version, since October 7th, and there has been a back and forth among various parties about a ceasefire, and nothing seems to be happening. At the same time, thousands of people are being killed and injured and maimed and whatnot, and recently, the British journal Lancet came out with an estimate that said there were approximately 186,000 people that have been killed in this situation in Gaza, which is far more than the mainstream media figure, which I think just crossed over 40,000 in the last week or so. So, the point of the letter to the Biden administration is, it's time to practice real diplomacy and put a stop to this. And the way to put a stop to this is to withhold any further military funding for the Israeli military until they seriously approach stopping the carnage in Gaza and we have a permanent ceasefire in place.
WAMC: Why is this an issue that it’s important for Western Massachusetts labor to get involved in?
I think one of the things that the military aid to outside of the country is, is it's, you're diverting funds from Western Massachusetts, and the entire country, for that matter, that could be used for things that we need here at home, as like fully funded public schools in Western Mass, which we do not have, roads and bridges, healthcare, childcare, better healthcare. And you can basically multiply that around the country, I'm sure. But we seem to have an open checkbook for these foreign entanglements, and when it comes to taking care of our own people here at home, all of a sudden, we're dealing with austerity, and that's not in the budget, and I don't know, and let's kick the can down the road. And where I live, Josh, we have 22 public school staff in Northampton being laid off, and some of those layoffs affect the most vulnerable children in our public school system, and that's where our resources should be going, not in this endless carnage in Gaza, seemingly with no end in sight, where US taxpayers are funding 500-pound bombs to be dropped on refugee tents, and it's just unconscionable that we are, our government is supporting and enabling this because it is a genocide.
WAMC: The press release behind this vote from the Western Mass Area Labor Federation stresses how an arms embargo is the next logical step after calls for a ceasefire that still have yet to materialize. Can you sort of explain for us why a weapons embargo is that next step that organized labor thinks will achieve an end to bloodshed in Gaza?
I think for me, looking at it historically, there was a time when the United States government practiced real hands-on diplomacy, and I don't see that happening right now. There was a time when President Eisenhower in 1956 picked up the phone and told the Israelis and the British and French, for that matter, to stand down in the Suez Crisis. There was a time when Ronald Reagan, of all people, picked up the phone in 1982 and told Menachem Begin of Israel to stand down in Lebanon, and they did. And so, I'm kind of wondering, where's the phone call right now? And I don't see it. All I see is an open-ended policy with no end game.
As President Joe Biden has abandoned his reelection bid for the presidency and he's coming to the close of his four years in office, I'm interested in your thoughts on his claims that he has been the most pro-labor president in American history. As we prepare for the end of the Biden era, what are your thoughts on that claim?
It’s very complicated question. I think, first of all, historically, that's rather low bar to get over, because I would argue that most of the past presidents have not really been that labor friendly. You can certainly argue that Johnson in the 1960s passed a lot of progressive legislation and helped, but a lot of the stuff that Biden has done has been, taking shape as appointees and executive orders and things that can easily be reversed by a change in administration. So, there's a lot of work still to do. We were promised the PRO Act, which is protecting the right to organize, that got stalled out in Congress. And I'd say it's a work in progress. He's certainly been more favorable to labor than his predecessor was, not even close.
Can you tell us a little bit about the other labor groups who have signed on to this letter to Biden? Who is the Western Mass Labor Federation standing alongside in this call for action from the President?
Probably the leader of it right now, I would say, in my opinion, would be United Auto Workers. The Service Employees International Union, the National Education Association, which is one of the largest unions in the entire country, the International Union of Painters, United Electrical Workers, UE, and I think the postal workers, American Postal Workers Union is the other one, and also the Association of Flight Attendants. So those are some of the most progressive labor unions in the overall labor umbrella.
What do you think is most important for folks in Western Massachusetts to understand about this moment for labor, with the backing of this letter and this statement calling on the embargo on weapons to Israel? What do you want people in the 413, to take away from this stance?
I just think the best way forward for everybody is to embrace an end to the carnage currently going on in Gaza, and I would say for Ukraine, for that matter, for the same reasons that I already talked about with Gaza. It’s just, it's an expenditure of money and support that should be directed in other areas, and we need to take care of people in the 413 more than we are right now.
