The Texas AFL-CIO passed a resolution on Monday during its Committee on Political Education (COPE) Conference calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all hostages and non-violent political prisoners.
The action may have made Texas AFL-CIO the first state labor federation to call for a ceasefire in Gaza since Oct. 7. It applied new pressure to the national AFL-CIO, which has resisted growing calls among the U.S. labor movement for a ceasefire.
The Texas AFL-CIO now joins major unions like the United Auto Workers, the Communication Workers of America, and the Service Employees International Union in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Gaza health officials claim more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,100 people.
The vote was preceded by a lengthy and contentious debate among union members.
The final resolution language included nine positions — most notably for an immediate ceasefire and return of hostages and political prisoners — which included the condemnation of antisemitism and Islamophobia, a call for the U.S. to “engage in diplomatic efforts to remove from power and bring to justice through criminal prosecution those who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre and those who have committed war crimes in the current conflict,” and a call for the U.S. to facilitate negotiations to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and establish of a Palestinian state.
Alejandra Lopez is the president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel Local 67 and the vice president of the San Antonio Central Labor Council. Both unions are affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and both voiced their support for a ceasefire in Gaza alongside their Austin counterparts in December.
Lopez voted yes on the ceasefire resolution at the COPE Conference. In a statement, she described the result of the resolution’s success.
“Today Texas workers have sent a message to the world: solidarity cannot be confined by national borders,” Lopez said. “Our solidarity is international; our message of love, peace, and hope is dedicated to all human beings. Today Texan unionists situate themselves firmly within a tradition of international solidarity as part of a global workers’ movement committed to peace and justice for all. We urge our country’s leaders to do everything in their power to end the violence in Gaza, and to bring about a lasting peace in line with international law.”
Members of the Seafarers International Union were some of the strongest opponents to the resolution, which ultimately passed on a vote of 52,858 to 43,003.
They said their members were directly in harm's way on ships that had been fired at in the Red Sea, a high-density commercial sea route between the horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The Houthi rebel group serves as the de facto government in Yemen, which sits near the entrance to the Red Sea. It has launched attacks on merchant ships in the area because it wants to pressure Israel and the U.S. to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Multiple members of the union said they were concerned a ceasefire would prevent Israel and the U.S. from protecting merchant ships in the Red Sea, endangering their fellow workers.
David Albert, a member of the American Federation of Teachers Local 6249 in Austin and a co-author of the resolution, said the ceasefire call would not put those sailors at risk during the conference’s open debate on the resolution.
“This is a resolution for a ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza,” Albert said. “It does not say anything about the United States not being able to defend its economic interests, not being able to defend its merchant marine and its sailors. That will not be impacted, and the reduction of fighting and the reduction of conflict is very likely to make those sailors safer.”
In line with one of the resolutions calls to continue discussion and dialogue within the labor federation, Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said discussion on the issue should continue beyond Monday’s vote.
“It was obvious that people had really strong feelings and that there’s a lot of interest involved in this, from people’s sense of justice but also people’s concern for the safety of their members,” Levy said. “And for what’s the appropriate role of the labor movement in addressing this. And I think there was a lot of conversation, and I think this is the beginning of a conversation, not the end of a conversation.”
