[The following motion was passed unanimously by the ILWU Local 10 Caucus earlier today, May Day 2024.]

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Whereas, the genocidal war on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has now gone on for more than 200 days, with more than 42,000 dead and almost 80,000 seriously wounded; and

Whereas, on March 7 the headquarters of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in Gaza was demolished by Israeli bombs; and

Whereas all the heavy bombs being dropped on Gaza are supplied by the United States, as are all the warplanes from which they dropped: and

Whereas, ILWU has a long history of defending the rights of the Palestinian people and calling on Israeli soldiers and settlers to stop the beating and killings of Palestinians and the occupation of their land in resolutions passed in 1988 and 1991 Conventions, the highest bodies of our union; and

Whereas, in 2002, when the Israeli military bombed the headquarters of the PGFTU in the West Bank, ILWU Local 10 officers sent an Open Letter to the Israel Consulate in San Francisco condemning that unprovoked attack; and

Whereas, on April 5, 2003, Harry Belafonte, civil rights leader and famous singer, joined ILWU in leading an anti-Iraq war protest in Oakland. Two days later anti-war protesters in the Port of Oakland were attacked by OPD injuring 10 longshoremen in what the UN rapporteur called the worst police violence against anti-war protesters. Local 10’s historic lawsuit argued that police posed a danger to health and safety to longshoremen in a labor struggle as in the 1934 Big Strike. Local 10 and its injured members were compensated; and

Whereas, in 2010 Israel attacked the Turkish Mavi Marmara Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid of food and medical supplies, massacring 10 unarmed volunteers. When the ZIM Shenzhen docked in the port of Oakland and was picketed by pro-Palestinian protesters, longshore workers honored the picket line. This enraged the Israeli Consulate, which demanded a meeting with Local 10 officials. When their delegation arrived at the union, the Executive Board refused to meet with them; and

Whereas, in 2021 the ZIM-chartered Volans was boycotted in Oakland, and at the same time the Zim San Diego was successfully picketed until federal and city police broke up the pickets; and

Whereas, the PGFTU in Gaza last October 16 issued an appeal to transport workers around the world not to handle war cargo to Israel; and

Whereas, on March 22 the PGFTU issued an appeal to American unions to be the voice of the beleaguered Palestinian population of Gaza and to tell the truth about what is happening in Gaza and take concrete action to put a stop to the horrific war; and

Whereas, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) called on unions to refuse to work Israeli cargo, especially military cargo, and use their power to stop the war on Gaza; therefore, on this May Day 2024,  

Be It Resolved, that the ILWU will refuse to handle military cargo to Israel, as requested by the PGFTU and seconded by NUMSA, and as our union already did in 1978, refusing to load bomb parts for the Chilean military junta, and as it also did in 1980, refusing to load arms to the military junta of El Salvador; and will honor picket lines protesting the war on Gaza, as we have done repeatedly in the past.