Above photo: PSC.
The delegate assembly of the Professional Staff Congress union, which represents 30,000 workers at CUNY, voted to pass a resolution to oppose military aggression against Venezuela.
The resolution illustrates the power that U.S. workers have to take up the fight against imperialism from within the belly of the beast.
On December 19, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) delegate assembly voted to pass a resolution repudiating the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela.
The resolution follows Trump’s announcement of an escalation of his offensive, introducing a “total blockade” on Venezuela. As we have written previously, “This blockade and continued military escalation is only going to impoverish and hurt the Venezuelan working class, who face not only an acute economic and social crisis due to imperialist sanctions and increasing military attacks, but also repression by the Maduro government.” We must stand in complete solidarity with the Venezuelan people and their right to self-determination in the face of these attacks. As the PSC statement notes, U.S. militarization diverts public funds away from public systems like CUNY, where it is desperately needed, towards the death and destruction of the Venezuelan working class.
PSC is a union of 30,000 workers — faculty and staff — at the City University of New York. Alongside this resolution, the PSC is also continuing to defend the anti-imperialist free speech of the CUNY Fired Four: four faculty members who were fired because of their activism in the Palestine movement.
As Left Voice, we support this resolution, which is an important example of how workers in the epicenter of imperialism can stand with our working class siblings in Venezuela and Latin America. We call on the PSC and other unions to speak out loudly against Trump’s aggression, and to organize towards the kind of strike action that can grind the gears of U.S. imperialism to a halt.
We reproduce the resolution below.
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Oppose Military Aggression Against Venezuela
Whereas, U.S. political and military aggression toward Venezuela and the wider Caribbean is escalating—including the deployment of more than 10,000 U.S. military personnel, ongoing naval operations, and actions that have resulted in the killing of over 80 people on boats off the Venezuelan coast—based on unproven claims of drug smuggling from the U.S. mainland and creating conditions many observers describe as a march toward a new war in the Americas;
Whereas, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has formally condemned the military strikes conducted by the U.S. administration against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean; and has called for a full and independent investigation into these acts which represent a clear violation of international human rights law and the principles of the United Nations Charter;
Whereas, the demonization of Venezuela and other Latin American countries in mainstream U.S. media inflames xenophobic and racist narratives long used to justify intervention in the hemisphere, and such narratives directly impact CUNY’s students and workers, many of whom are immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean;
Whereas, since the 19th century the Monroe Doctrine has served as a justification for repeated U.S. political, military, and economic interventions across Latin America and the Caribbean, undermining governments, social movements, and trade unions committed to working-class struggles, resulting in repression, military coups, sanctions, and widespread killings of civilians, workers, and their organizations;
Whereas, U.S. militarization in the Caribbean—carried out even as federal aid is slashed, benefits are cut, Affordable Care Act premiums are set to rise, and public resources are clawed back from New York City—diverts desperately needed funds from education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure and other social needs at a time when CUNY remains chronically underfunded;
Whereas, Venezuelan workers, students, and communities—like workers everywhere—deserve peace and the right to determine their own political, economic, and social future free from foreign intervention;
Whereas, the PSC, in solidarity with international workers harmed by U.S. wars and military occupations, has consistently declared its resolute support for anti-war campaigns, has successfully organized events like the 2019 “Should an Anti-War Union Oppose Sanctions?” and has brought anti-war resolutions forward for adoption by NYSUT, and the AFT in the past,
Be it resolved, that the PSC opposes any U.S. military intervention, coercive action, or aggression against Venezuela and any regional expansion of the conflict,
Be it further resolved, that the PSC will bring this resolution forward for consideration by our state affiliate NYSUT, and our national affiliate the AFT, in order to help build a broad labor movement that opposes U.S. intervention in Venezuela and supports sovereignty, peace, and international law in the Americas.
Resolution submitted by the PSC International Committee, Dec. 4, 2025
