A thread on the trashing of the AFL-CIO's building last night. Here is the union federation's response, indicating that it understands "which side" America's union members are on. Last night changed nothing. 1/ https://twitter.com/AFLCIO/status/1267298616231833600

One should also read the statement of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 2/

What is extraordinary is ultra-left political projection on this site, with suggestions that trashing the AFL-CIO HQ was a political act designed to punish unions for various "crimes," including incredibly, support for a bill before Congress (the bill was misrepresented). /3

There are two plausible explanations for what happened last night. The first is that because the building is a block away from Lafayette Park, it became an immediate target of those with a rage that did not know how to distinguish between friend and enemy. /4

The second is that it was 'black bloc' anarchists, or people posing as them, that did it. This video shows people engaged in the trashing, dressed in all black dress of the anarchists. /5 https://twitter.com/calebfiles/status/1267291465165701120?s=21

Assuming that these actors were not agent provocateurs (which is a real possibility with anarchists), they would have a purportedly political purpose, but in reality are as politically clueless and counterproductive as the first, as is always the case with ultra-left violence. /6

Here's what's telling. The Laborers Union HQ, which is literally across the street on the next block, had no damage. (AFL-CIO HQ is 815 16th Street; Laborers is 905 16th Street.) The Laborers HQ was untouched. 7/

Here's the President of the Laborers, offering "effusive" praise for Donald Trump. Note how he ducks the question about where AFL-CIO President Trumka stands. /8

The Trump presidency, Laborers President O'Sullivan said, felt like “a new day for the working class." Laborers were particularly pleased that Trump reversed Obama opposition to new gas pipelines. /9 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/04/as-unions-remain-cozy-with-trump-they-remain-wary-of-republicans-in-congress/

Needless to say, at least among those who know the first thing about American unions, that the Laborers have not said one thing about justice for George Floyd, or the desperate need for racial justice, and an end to police violence. /10

And yet the AFL-CIO HQ was trashed, and the Laborers HQ was not. If this was not senseless rage, if it was a political act, it was a political act that struck out at friends and overlooked foes. That's where acts of agent provocateurs and the ultra-left are indistinguishable. /11

One last thought. I am critical of the AFL-CIO on a regular basis for its untapped potential, for its inability to be a more effective force for working people and for the principles unions uphold. 12/

It feels odd to have to come to the federation's defense. But when people trade in ultra-left nonsense that can only harm the movement, it needs to be called out. /13