The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation (SPRLF), AFL-CIO, has adopted a Resolution Supporting Anti-Racism/Anti-White Supremacy.

Delegates voted without dissent to approve the resolution, printed below, at the SPRLF’s June 10, 2020, meeting.

The SPRLF unites more than 100 local unions, representing over 50,000 union members in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties.

Resolution Supporting Anti-Racism/Anti-White Supremacy

WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO is a diverse and united labor movement of union members dedicated to improving the lives of all working families and an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the working people in Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties, and

WHEREAS, as a labor organization, the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO recognizes the need to improve the lives of and increase power for working families, bring fairness and dignity to the workplace and secure social equity, and

WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO is committed to mobilizing our members to support of justice and equity through building a strong, diverse, free, and democratic labor movement, and

WHEREAS, racism is a system of oppression, designed to divide the working class so the wealthy elite can consolidate their wealth and power at the very top, and was systemically embedded in American society from our nation’s founding when slavery was the dominant base of the economy; and although historic and heroic struggles have yielded progress in destroying its basis in law, racism continues to pervade the social and economic life of our country, causing enormous harm and suffering of all people of color, and

WHEREAS, racism continues to be used as a means to divide working people and weaken their political and economic power, with the aim of imposing austerity, the destruction of unions and the crippling of all democratic institutions and rights, and

WHEREAS, many Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, Indigenous, Immigrant, LGBTQ and female union members, along with the rest of the nation, are witnessing the results of policies and decisions driven by racial and gender exclusion, coupled with policies and decisions that undermine economic health for all working people, and

WHEREAS, repeated occurrences of deadly police violence in our community and throughout the country have outraged many decent Americans and provoked a mass movement for reform of the criminal justice system, and

WHEREAS, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, in his June 3, 2020, speech in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, spoke about the urgent need “to dismantle the traditions of oppression in our workplaces, our health system, our housing system, our voting laws, our criminal justice system,”

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO commits itself to the important initiatives outlined by of our national leadership and commits itself to helping carry out this effort in every way possible, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO works to educate union members about the way race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other differences impact the lives of our members and would-be members, and to build common understandings of how racial bias and discrimination divide working people and undermine our collective power, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO commits to dismantling systems of oppression and to building power among union members and community allies to change the institutions and practices that prevent us from advancing a shared vision for a just, anti-racist and democratic economy that works for each of us, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO affirmatively states that there is no place for white supremacy in our labor movement. To that end, no individual shall be eligible to serve as an Officer, member of the executive board or committee, or other governing body, or any committee of, or as a delegate from, or as a representative, agent, or employee of this body who is a member of any fascist or white supremacist organization and/or consistently pursues policies and/or activities directed toward the purposes of any fascist or otherwise white supremacist ideology.