From Workers Solidarity Alliance, Labor Committee.
Revolutionary unionists have always stood for the solidarity of the global working class, rejecting every attempt by the ruling class to divide us—whether through borders, race, gender, or any other means of exploitation. The idea that workers in any one country have interests in common with their bosses is a lie designed to keep us from recognizing our true power. The recent trade war policies of the fascist U.S. President Trump, which sought to pit U.S. workers against workers in other nations through tariffs, were just one example of how those in power manipulate workers for their own gain. When ruling classes in other countries retaliate, it is nothing more than a struggle between competing capitalists—none of whom serve the interests of the working class. Meanwhile, their economic and political systems continue to brutalize migrant workers, exploit marginalized laborers, and uphold structures of oppression that harm all but the wealthiest few.
Any attempt to rally workers behind protectionist policies—whether by right-wing nationalists or union bureaucrats like United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain—is a betrayal of true working-class solidarity, operating within a system that assumes the permanence of exploitation, seeking only to negotiate for slightly better conditions rather than challenging the system itself. It is no surprise, then, that they accept the logic of capitalist competition, framing economic struggles as battles between nations rather than between workers and bosses. If our unions are led by those willing to collaborate with the ruling class, then workers must build new structures of power—organizing outside the limits imposed by hierarchical union leadership and embracing direct action, mutual aid, and truly democratic decision-making in our workplaces, communities, and beyond.
At the same time, we reject the myth of “free trade” as a benevolent force. For centuries, imperialist powers—including the U.S., Russia, and China today—have used it as an ideological cover for the exploitation and plunder of workers in smaller, less powerful nations. The wealth hoarded by the ruling classes of imperialist nations is stolen from the labor and resources of the Global South, just as capitalism itself is built on the theft of Indigenous land, the unpaid labor of enslaved people, and the continued oppression of marginalized communities. Some workers in the imperial core may receive small material benefits from this exploitation, but we reject any suggestion that this justifies their complicity. The labor movement must refuse to be a tool of capitalist expansion, and those who try to convince workers that they share a common cause with their bosses—whether through nationalism or reformism—are enemies of true workers’ liberation.
Rather than being trapped in the false choice between “free trade” and protectionism, workers must demand a new world—one where resources and wealth are shared equitably, and decisions about production and distribution are made democratically by those most affected. A movement for workers’ liberation must be rooted in feminism, anti-racism, disability justice, environmental justice, and the struggle against all forms of oppression. Only through solidarity that recognizes the full humanity of all workers—across borders, genders, and identities—can we create a future beyond capitalism, where our labor serves our communities, not the profits of the ruling class.
