On Friday, October 10, SEIU 1021 members took part in Oakland People’s Arms Embargo’s massive demonstration outside the Oakland offices of shipping giant FedEx. They rallied to draw attention to FedEx’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians and to demand an end to FedEx military cargo shipments to Israel.

Among the 1021 members in attendance were North Coast Vice President Travis Balzarini, Non-Profit/Private Industry Chair Jeffery Dix, RN Industry Chair John Pearson, and Alameda Health Systems President and Retirement Security Committee Chair Maria Betancourt. 

Speaking at the event, John Pearson said: “I’m an ER nurse. My job is to care for sick and injured people, often on the worst day of their lives. I can’t imagine what it’s like for my fellow nurses and doctors to care for the sick and injured of Gaza in bombed-out hospitals, under threat of death at any moment, starved of basic supplies. Our airport is staffed by workers represented by several unions, including SEIU 1021, IFPTE Local 21, SEIU USWW and UNITE HERE. FedEx is making our union siblings unwillingly complicit in the Zionist bombing of Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. As workers, we have the power to put an end to this practice at our airport. The Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions calls on workers to enact the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. That is what we are doing today at this FedEx facility. FedEx ships the only Israeli F-35 fighter jet part capable of carrying 2,000 pound bombs out of our Oakland airport. We join with our union siblings in Palestine demanding an end to these shipments.”

So far, more than 25,000 Bay Area residents have signed the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo’s online petition calling on the Port of Oakland to stop the military cargo shipments to Israel out of the Oakland airport.

You can add your name to the petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/oakland-stands-against-genocide-no-killer-cargo-out-of-oak-now-3