Luis Feliz Leon

“I can hire half of the working class to shoot the other half,” the 19th-century robber baron Jay Gould bragged. That's exactly what the billionaire boss Donald Trump is doing today, and what Teamsters President Sean O'Brien has enthusiastically signed on to.

Labor federations around the world are condemning the Trump administration’s acts of war in Venezuela. In a raw display of imperialist aggression, the United States bombed the country, kidnapped its president and his wife, and imprisoned them in New York City on January 4. Special forces and military aircraft killed 80 civilians and military personnel. “We join the international labor community in condemning President Trump’s unconstitutional actions in Venezuela,” said the main U.S. labor federation, the AFL-CIO, in a social media post.

The whistle blows in short bursts: PHWEEE! PHWEEE! PHWEEE! PHWEEE! Code: ICE is nearby. Then comes the long blast: PHWEEEEEEEEEEE! Code: ICE has taken someone.

Unions and international labor federations argue that it's the same billionaires that want to run Venezuela who keep us working longer hours for less pay, without health care, job security, or stable housing.

Unions and international labor federations argue that it’s the same billionaires that want to run Venezuela who keep us working longer hours for less pay, without health care, job security, or stable housing.

Above photo: American Axle workers in Three Rivers, Michigan, who supply the Big 3, kicked off their contract campaign with a rally. Their strike deadline is May 31. Jim West.

“We are also doing this to demand freedom. We’re not treated like people. We’re treated like animals.”

En un tramo de acera en un corredor industrial de Newark, agentes federales con fusiles, porras metálicas, chalecos antibalas y balaclavas se enfrentaron con activistas desarmados que portaban carteles de cartón y un megáfono. Desde el campo de fútbol detrás de las paredes de la prisión, se podía oir a los trabajadores detenidos gritar: ‹‹¡Libertad!››

Protests are exploding outside of a New Jersey immigrant detention center after detainees say they are being “treated like animals” and are engaged in a work stoppage and hunger strike.

In a time when there's real cause for fear and despair—and when the Trump administration is pushing hard to divide us—the Labor Notes Conference June 12-14 in Chicago was an oasis of inspiration and solidarity.