The U.S. Labor movement has been making monumental strides in its “union boom” campaigns across the nation since its uptick in 2022. As labor continues to gain a newfound momentum, it is important to critically analyze its ideological inconsistencies and the dire need for militant restructuring of national unions in principles and guidance. Unprincipled peace and corrosive liberalism has been the trend for union bureaucrats since the Cold War, and so far little to no change has been made to reverse this trend of upholding the inherent tenants of American exploitation. That is, no radical political struggle is being waged within union campaigns beyond temporary and arbitrary protections for the working-class. Of course, the dedicated work of the rank-and-file who have been the primary agitators in ushering this new wave of modern labor movements cannot go unrecognized. Yet, this era of election victories and historic contracts can easily dwindle without implementing strategic militancy in political education, organizational structure, and most importantly — international solidarity. This is for the overall purpose of upholding political consciousness amongst the poor in regards to class contradictions, its relation to capital, and its overarching exploitation of workers outside of the core imperialist countries. For the most part, rank-and-file members and their union leadership don’t grapple or internally connect their struggles with their boss in the international arena. They fail to make the connections between their local campaigns against their employer and the overall global struggle waged against the international bosses of the world: the capitalist class.
Before I continue diving into this history —- this topic became apparent to me after I left my teaching job in Miami and moved to join the country’s largest public-sector collective bargaining campaign for educators and operational staff. Even though I am a relatively new union organizer, I’ve personally witnessed this philistine attitude and outright opportunism from the bureaucrats and leadership I’ve worked under. Ideology was incoherent (outside of the organizers), internationalism was non-existent — and in the midst of an anti-imperialist epoch amongst the American working-class — this particular national union was utterly spineless when it came to solidarity outside of the bargaining unit we were organizing.
The history of colonialism by U.S. unions remains an ignorant and undisclosed topic among the working-class they allegedly represent. It is not the fault of the worker, but the history of colonialism and imperialism that was sown into national union leadership since the wake of McCarthyism in the 1950s. To this very day, national unions — a sector of American politics that is generally well-received amongst the working-class — are viciously and proudly contributing to the imperialist machinations of U.S. foreign policy. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), for example, has been one of the leading unions to push for privatization of education in Puerto Rico. The island’s working class have fought tirelessly for decades against both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFT against their encroachment on la Federación De Maestros de P.R. (FMPR) since the 1970s, a conglomerate of one the most radical, rank-and-file centered teacher’s unions in the island’s history. The AFT and the SEIU have threatened increased educational privatization, complete overtake of local unions in the island, and engaged in several closed-door negotiations with La Junta to decimate pensions for Puerto Rican teachers. This is the work of a Colonial union — one that legitimizes the illegitimate debt of colonial subjects and risks the struggles of the actual working-class by putting their own neoliberal interests on a pedestal. This is especially severe to me, considering that the national union I work under is the AFT. Randi Weingarten, the current president of the AFT, is a smug and narcissistic zionist whose politics are nowhere near ideologically practical or for the benefit of the exploited — and this same critique is applicable to most union leadership across AFT’s locals. FMPR was founded in 1966 as a militant alternative to pro-management unions in PR — namely, the AMPR (Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico) —- which is an extended wing of the colonial government. Labor colonialism is real and thriving, and it is up to the rank-and-file to combat this. If teachers and workers represented by the AFT knew about the inner-workings of colonialism and AFT’s contribution towards it, such a betrayal would inevitably be reversed through an internal, popular struggle against leadership — but that is entirely dependent on the level of political education brought forth by this new labor movement.
Another union in Puerto Rico — UTIER (Puerto Rico Electric and Irrigation Industry Workers Union) faced an eerily similar crackdown by none other than the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). Prior to LUMA energy’s privatization contract in 2020, UTIER leadership met with IBEW leadership to discuss methods of solidarity and support against their fellow workers. This ask for solidarity was silent and unresponsive by U.S. unions and was met instead with a load of IBEW Local 222 Floridian scabs to break an UTIER strike. In fact, the scabs were actually guarded by private LUMA police when UTIER workers fought back against this clear attempt to side with colonialism. Why must the call for internationalism be met with hollow selfishness? Where is the comradery? Where is this alleged commitment to help the working-class? It seems that national unions are neither committed to the struggles in their own country or abroad — and these systemic policies and imperialist allyship exist as a way to appease the class divisions. Imagine if a strike against LUMA or the government encroachment on public education in the oldest colony of the world was met with international solidarity and coordinated movements by U.S. unions? Uncle Sam would never tolerate a global unification of workers, so it concentrates power in those that specialize in inoculation and political theater.
The CIA and other intelligence sectors unsurprisingly has an ample history of sabotaging progressive labor movements, and the largest federation of unions in the U.S. (AFL-CIO) has contributed greatly to U.S. intervention schemes in Guyana, Brazil, Dominican-Republic, Haiti, and Venezuela. In fact, the AFL-CIO works closely under the policies of the National Endowment for Democracy, the monetary wing of U.S. foreign policy. The AFL-CIO actually operates under the American Center for International Labor Solidarity. The irony speaks for itself: one of the only constituencies for “international labor solidarity” that exists within national unions is indeed one that aims to overthrow democratic movements in the global south with the aim of replacing them with capitalist economies. The philosophy of U.S. unions rests upon the protection and acceptance of capitalism not only domestically, but internationally.
Further proof of the colonial betrayal can be seen in the spineless stances regarding Palestine through the release of vague statements in support of a ceasefire but no clear position against the ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli genocide. In fact, during the most recent Labor Notes conference that had over 4,000 attendees from unions all across the nation — I witnessed direct push-back from individuals against the spontaneous protest that was held in solidarity for Palestine and against Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson’s betrayal. In spite of its inherent progressiveness, these negative reactions serve as extended proof that labor in the U.S. has yet to answer the vital call for global struggle. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, the labor movement — its organizers, its rank-and-file, and its leadership — remain steadfast supporters of the colonial structures of their country. The labor movement must reconnect with its anti-imperialist roots and once and for all lock in arms with the working movements of the world — chiefly with the people being bombed by the same imperialist powers that economically exploit them.
As organizers, we commend the leadership of FMPR and their continuous battle to take back complete representation of their people! May 1st will be a strategic date for a labor strike in the colony, and we must retain and amend the criticisms of U.S. unions by taking ownership in its decision-making. We combat liberalism by pressuring and overtaking ignorance, and I urge all rank-and-file members to take charge of the necessary militant political education and organizational structure to reverse the Mccarthyism of unions that expels international solidarity. Liberation is possible through a harmonious attempt of international demonstrations to combat the crisis of American imperialism — and as always, for the eventual downfall of the United States government and full sovereignty of her colonies.
In Solidarity,
Dailyn B.
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