Labor for an Arms Embargo

Labor for an Arms Embargo (L4AE) is the Democratic Socialists of America's national campaign to build the arms embargo on Israel from inside the labor movement: union members organizing their own unions to go on record for an embargo, and organizing the workplaces that physically move the weapons. Break the Chain is how the campaign runs in New York City.

Where did the campaign come from?

Rank-and-file union members began moving ceasefire and arms-embargo resolutions through their unions in 2023. DSA's National Labor Commission consolidated that work into a national campaign, launching Labor for an Arms Embargo on a national call on May 10, 2025, and DSA's 2025 national convention adopted it into the organization's program, passing Resolution 42 by 347 votes to 86. The resolution also aligned the campaign with the Palestinian Youth Movement's Mask Off Maersk campaign.

Which national unions are on record?

Seven national unions have gone on record for a ceasefire and an end to US arms shipments to Israel: the United Auto Workers, the National Education Association, National Nurses United, the American Postal Workers Union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and the United Electrical Workers. The campaign's work is turning those national positions into action from below, with locals, labor councils, and worksites adopting them and acting on them.

How does the campaign work?

Three mechanisms. Workers' circles: recurring meetings where union members trade organizing experience and plan next steps. Resolutions: organizer trainings walk members through building a workplace committee, having organizing conversations, and passing an arms-embargo resolution in their union, with a template resolution provided. Chokepoints: the campaign's demand is that ports and airports stop being used to move the weapons, which turns paper resolutions into leverage at the specific facilities where members work.

How does New York run it?

Through Break the Chain, the NYC-DSA Anti-War Working Group's campaign for a people's arms embargo. The New York campaign maintains a sourced tracker of the companies with a documented role in the regional arms supply chain, runs a field campaign at JFK Airport's cargo terminals, keeps the resolution record of the unions and locals on the books, and organizes the coalition behind the demand.

How do you start it in your local?

Join a workers' circle and take the organizer training through DSA's National Labor Commission, whose campaign hub runs the circles and trainings and provides the template resolution (linked in the sources below). In New York, plug into Break the Chain directly: the campaign's labor committee organizes airport and logistics workers, and it can connect a resolution effort in any local to the regional chokepoint work.

Also known as: L4AE, Labor for Arms Embargo

Last reviewed August 13, 2026.

Cite this page: Break the Chain (NYC-DSA Anti-War Working Group), "Labor for an Arms Embargo," Arms-Trade and Logistics Glossary. https://wecanbreakthechain.com/glossary/labor-for-an-arms-embargo/