As Israel perpetrates a genocide in the Gaza Strip, key players in the labor movement have joined forces to strategize how unions might apply leverage to help bring about an end to the assault. Over the last year, recognizing the widespread opposition to the war among their membership and the potential for dissent inherent in cross-union solidarity, representatives of over 200 U.S. unions — from many dozens of participating locals, to the leaderships of multiple leading national unions — banded together to form The National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC).

The NLNC is premised on the notion that labor can and should take an explicit stance condemning the war crimes on display in Gaza — an issue that fundamentally affects people of the international working class. This is a fairly radical notion for a contemporary American labor union to officially embrace.