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Across North America, immigrant workers are under attack from the capitalist class. Including brutal detention, policing, deportations, and the everyday hyper exploitation of immigrant workers by the capitalist class. This exploitation is made possible by deliberately maintaining immigrants in a state of legal and social precarity. And disgustingly much of the opportunist union leadership has remained silent on these issues and some have promoted nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiments.
As part of the Class Struggle Action Network’s Immigrant Worker Solidarity and Defense Campaign, we are coordinating efforts across our network to pass immigrant solidarity and defense resolutions in unions and workers’ organizations. These resolutions aim to bring the attacks on immigrant workers to the forefront of the labor movement and to lay the groundwork for mobilization, solidarity, organizing, and collective defense.
We must hammer home the central point that the struggle of immigrant workers is the struggle of the whole working class. And that the working class must fight and organize together, regardless of national origin and immigration status!
As part of this effort, the following resolution was passed in Local 128 of the American Postal Workers Union:
Whereas, immigrant workers are a central part of labor, vital to our labor organizations, and their struggle is inseparable from those of the rest of the working class, and
Whereas, a union is a self-defense organization for the working class as a whole, and
Whereas, attacks either from the government or from groups of racist thugs pose a danger to workers everywhere, and
Whereas, we cannot look to the government, the courts, politicians of either big-business party, or the police to protect immigrants from bigoted attacks, and
Whereas, it is the duty of the unions to defend our fellow workers against oppression and racist attacks, and
Whereas, an injury to one is an injury to all,
Therefore, be it resolved that APWU Local 128 will mobilize its membership to defend immigrants who are under attack either from government raids or racist groups, and
Be it further resolved that this body repudiates the vile attacks on immigrants and calls for the rest of labor to mobilize in defense of our fellow workers.
Additionally, the following resolution was circulated at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Western Regional Conference:
Brothers and sisters, our union has always been about one thing: defending workers. Today, that defense is under attack.
Right now, union members in our industries are being targeted for deportation. A sheet metal apprentice—one of our own—was deported to El Salvador in March. A labor organizer was arrested by ICE in Washington State. These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a systematic attack on our collective strength.
Here’s what the bosses know that we need to remember: when they create a workforce living in fear, they drive down wages for everyone. When they can threaten some workers with deportation, they weaken every worker’s power to organize and bargain.
This isn’t about politics—it’s about basic union principles. An injury to one is an injury to all. Our strength comes from unity, not division.
The aerospace and manufacturing industries depend on immigrant workers. They’re our coworkers, our union brothers and sisters. When ICE raids our workplaces, they’re attacking our union.
We have a choice. We can stand silent while our fellow workers are picked off one by one, or we can do what unions do best: defend each other.
This resolution puts our union on record that we will not cooperate with workplace raids, we will organize rapid response when our members are attacked, and we will build the defense committees necessary to protect all workers.
We’re not alone in this fight. Unions across the country—including the Teamsters, SEIU, healthcare workers, and teaching assistants—have already passed similar resolutions. They understand what we understand: that defending immigrant workers is defending all workers.
The bosses want us divided. We choose solidarity. The government wants us silent. We choose action. I urge your support for this resolution.
Immigrant Worker Defense and Solidarity Resolution
WHEREAS, immigrant workers constitute a fundamental component of the labor force in aerospace, manufacturing, and allied industries, contributing essential skills and labor to our workplaces and communities; and
WHEREAS, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has historically stood as a defensive organization for all workers, committed to protecting the collective strength and solidarity of our membership; and
WHEREAS, recent escalations in workplace raids, detentions, and deportations have targeted union members and workers in our industries, including documented cases of union apprentices and labor organizers being detained under laws historically used to suppress union activity; and
WHEREAS, the deliberate maintenance of a vulnerable workforce through uncertain legal status serves as a mechanism to suppress wages, undermine working conditions, and weaken collective bargaining power across all sectors of the working class; and
WHEREAS, attacks on any section of the workforce—whether through government enforcement actions or workplace intimidation—directly threaten the organizing capacity and bargaining strength of all workers; and
WHEREAS, our union’s strength derives from the unity and collective action of all workers, regardless of the legal classifications imposed upon them by systems outside our control; and
WHEREAS, an injury to one worker is an injury to all workers, and the defense of our most vulnerable members strengthens the entire labor movement;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Western Conference commits to active defense of immigrant workers within our industries and communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body will mobilize its membership and resources to respond to workplace raids, detentions, and deportations that target workers in our sectors, including the organization of rapid response actions and legal support where appropriate; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the IAM Western Conference will not voluntarily cooperate with federal agents or other authorities in actions that target our members or fellow workers based on immigration status; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we will not collect or maintain personal information from our members that could be used to challenge their immigration status beyond what is legally required for employment verification; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this conference will organize and support “Know Your Rights” training sessions for all members, providing education on workplace rights, immigration enforcement procedures, and collective defense strategies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we will build active partnerships with immigrant worker organizations, worker defense committees, and other labor bodies committed to the protection of all workers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the IAM Western Conference will coordinate with locals to ensure that no workplace enforcement action targeting immigrant workers goes unanswered, and that our response includes both immediate solidarity actions and longer-term organizing efforts; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we condemn all forms of workplace discrimination and intimidation based on immigration status, national origin, or legal classification, recognizing these tactics as attempts to divide and weaken worker solidarity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the IAM Western Conference will allocate appropriate resources toward immigrant worker defense activities, including legal support funds, organizing materials, and coordination with inter-union defense committees; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this conference calls upon the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers nationally, and all labor organizations, to adopt similar commitments to immigrant worker defense and to coordinate our efforts in building a labor movement capable of defending all workers against economic exploitation and legal persecution.
These resolutions not only bring the attacks on immigrants to the forefront of the labor movement—challenging the apathy and complicity of boss-linked union leadership—but also lay the organizational foundation for solidarity and action in defense of immigrant workers.
Help spread the word with this printable flyer (En/Es).
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact the network via email at class-struggle-action@proton.me, or join us at the next CSAN General Meeting, where coordination for this campaign will occur on an ongoing basis.
