Statement from SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry on the attack on the US Capitol incited by President Trump:

It’s no coincidence that at the same time millions of voters of all races elected Georgia’s first Black senator, violent white supremacists traveled to Washington, DC, to desecrate our democracy. Power-hungry, self-serving Republican leaders and the greedy corporate CEOs who pay them have spent decades dividing workers, scapegoating immigrants, and profiting off racism. Now, Trump and his backers have incited white supremacist terrorism in an attempt to delegitimize the votes of tens of millions of Black, brown, white, Asian Pacific Islander, and Indigenous voters. 

This treason must not stand. We join our allies in calling for the immediate removal of Donald Trump.

This insurrection is about wielding power to threaten what we hold dear — the chance for families of every race to thrive, to have good jobs and healthcare, for our kids to be safe and have clean air to breathe. It will not stand. In the labor movement, we have learned the lessons of division and hate — it has cost every American worker and our families. No more. 

Tonight, I am thinking about the essential workers who have to make their way home after the curfew in Washington, D.C. Workers who have spent the day with COVID patients, cleaning buildings, keeping people fed and safe. I am thinking of Black and Brown families waiting for their loved ones to come home, watching the news of armed white supremacists in the Capitol, carrying weapons and Confederate flags and breaking into the House chamber and offices without being arrested, when peaceful Black Lives Matter marchers this summer were met by police in riot gear with tanks, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

As we reckon with this attack, we must not be deterred from demanding the transformative change this country so clearly needs. Working people  turned out in record numbers to elect Joe Biden in November. Now, Georgia voters have chosen Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and we choose to move forward together toward a just, inclusive America, where every worker is respected, protected, and paid fair wages. We will take on corporate power and structural racism, fight for an economy that works for working people, and build a multi-racial democracy where all of us can fully, safely participate.

Statement from SEIU’s website here