OPEIU Statement in Solidarity with Working People in Minnesota

OPEIU stands in solidarity with the working people of Minnesota, including hundreds of OPEIU Local 12 members, who are standing up for our inalienable rights in the face of federal government repression.

Minnesota workers are standing together and saying, "enough is enough," defending the freedoms and rights we cannot and do not take for granted. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association are sacred rights available to everyone in the United States and serve as the bedrock of unionism, regardless of immigration status.

Union members - citizens and non-citizens alike - have been targeted by ICE on their way to work and on their job sites. Workers in hospitals, schools and construction sites are forced to stay home out of fear for their safety.

Members of Congress need to know the labor movement will not tolerate our rights, safety and freedoms being infringed upon. Tolerating the federal government's willful infringement of working people's rights is akin to supporting it. We cannot do that.

OPEIU stands in solidarity with the working people of Minnesota who are demonstrating to the federal government that our rights and freedoms are non-negotiable.