Juneteenth, celebrated annually on June 19, is a day of profound meaning to Black workers, as it should be to all working people who enjoy and defend the freedom to live our own lives, speak with our own voices and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
The labor movement knows firsthand the economic disparities that persist for Black Americans in our workplaces. Though explicit slavery has been abolished for more than 150 years, the exploitation of Black labor continues to this day through a systemically racist economy designed to promote wage disparity in the workplace and the chronic unemployment, underemployment and economic exploitation of Black people.
As Juneteenth approaches, we're reminded of how much further we, as a labor movement, still have to go to fulfill the promise of liberty and justice for all.
We must remain at the tip of the spear to uproot systemic racism in all forms if we seek to fully uphold America’s promise of dignity for Black people. We must be a voice for all who live and work in these United States and to say out loud the names of those who were taken from us by racist violence.
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