Monday, June 2, 12PM – 2PM (ET) - Online Event
The Militarization of Europe and The Workers’ Fightback - Lessons and Connections for the US
Join Massachusetts Peace Action on June 2nd at 12 Noon EDT for a conversation with Peter Mertens (General Secretary Belgian Workers Party and Member of Parliament), Harris Gruman (Exec. Director SEIU Mass State Council), and Carlos Aramayo (President, UNITE HERE Local 26, MA & RI) as we explore the lessons US workers can take from European workers' fight against the militarization of their economies and discuss the potential for collaboration in the US between the Peace Movement and labor and other workers organizations.
As Europe is increasingly drawn into the expansion of NATO and into the Ukraine war, workers are rebelling, seeing evaporate not just the peace they’ve experienced since the end of WWII begin but also the Cold War creep back, while their economies increasingly falter. Organized and unorganized they are beginning to fight back, while at the same time right wing forces are gaining some foothold in Europe as in the US.
Workers in the US have not known peace now for many decades, with the US involved in endless wars all over the globe, endless billions of tax dollars flowing into production and export of weapons, and real wealth continuing to flowing into fewer and fewer hands. US workers rage against the government, the true nature of their wealth decline obscured by rightwing rhetoric and misinformation.
Working together, can the workers in Europe and in the US create an effective front against the militarization of their economies and the ongoing march forward of NATO and the Right?