From November 24th to December 4th, 2019, United States Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ) led a joint labor delegation to Colombia. UE was represented by Field Organizer John Ocampo.

Here at the UE Research and Education Fund, we’ve done a lot this past year to deepen UE members’ understanding of the world through international solidarity with workers from other places. We look forward to continuing this work to challenge capitalism, militarism and nationalism in the new year.

On Human Rights Day, December 10, UE joined hundreds of other unions throughout the world in taking action to support the working people of the Philippines, where trade unionists and activists are facing increasing repression and violence.

(Washington, DC)— Retired UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley joined labor rights activists at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, November 20 to demand justice for recently murdered Mexican unionists, and that labor-rights provisions in the renegotiated NAFTA 2.0 be strengthened before it is sent to Congress.

UE unequivocally condemns the removal of Bolivia’s elected president Evo Morales by the military on Sunday, and the violence carried out by the military and right-wing paramilitary forces against Indigenous people and political activists in that country. This coup is just the latest example of an attack on a progressive Latin American government by “big business forces supported by U.S. administrations”, as denounced by UE policy, attacks which have as their goal the fattening of corporate profits at the expense of the region’s workers and environment.

The commitment to international solidarity that is a core UE value was on display at UE’s 76th Convention, held in Pittsburgh in August. Guests from Canada, Mexico, Italy and Japan joined UE members to celebrate victories, share experiences and reaffirm solidarity.

On July 5 and 6 the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT), an independent, democratic Mexican union and one of UE’s closest international allies, hosted a forum in Mexico City entitled “Federal Labor Law Reforms: Perspectives and Challenges.” The labor law reforms enacted on May 1, 2019 by at the behest of the new, pro-worker government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador were described by a variety of speakers as “historic,” and “huge.”

In May, UE Local 150 President Bryce Carter traveled to Japan to participate in an international conference addressing the privatization of public work. Carter was hosted by Jichiroren, the Japanese public sector workers’ union affiliated with UE ally Zenroren.

In June, UE General President Peter Knowlton traveled to Quebec to speak to the 37th convention of the Conseil Central du Montréal Métropolitain–CSN. The central council represents unions affiliated to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) in greater Montreal, representing more than 95,000 members in about 400 local unions.

Fresh off a strike in Erie, PA, the United Electrical Workers are a model of the working-class internationalism that can build a more just world, writes Michael Galant in Foreign Policy in Focus.