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“unions representing millions across several ... sectors [teachers, autoworkers, truck drivers and clerical staff, among others]

“amid calls for concrete measures that address racial injustice

“to escalate protest tactics to force local and federal lawmakers to take action on policing reform and systemic racism. the walkouts ... would last for as long as needed.

““The status quo — of police killing Black people, of armed white nationalists killing demonstrators, of millions sick and increasingly desperate — is clearly unjust, and it cannot continue,”” wrote “several branches of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, and affiliates of the National Education Association.

“In July, organized labor staged a daylong strike with workers from the service industry, fast-food chains and the gig economy to call out the lack of coronavirus pandemic protections for essential workers, who are disproportionately Black and Hispanic.

“Now, in the wake of the August shooting of Jacob Blake, ... the union leaders say they are following the lead of professional athletes who last week staged walkouts over the shooting. Basketball, baseball and tennis league games had to be postponed. Some athletes resumed game play only after having talks with league officials over ways to support the push for policing reforms and to honor victims of police and vigilante violence.

““They remind us that when we strike to withhold our labor, we have the power to bring an unjust status quo to a grinding halt....”” https://apnews.com/02da00cb921ec61a69d8a30c9ff56244