To the 50,000 UAW workers engaged in a nationwide strike against General Motors and Aramark, we send our support from the state of Washington!

Your message has come through loud and clear: GM management profited enormously since they were bailed out following the recession in 2008. But now, the company refuses to share its gains with the workers who made this success possible.

In the four years since your last contract, company profits have soared to $27.5 billion. CEO Mary Barra is paid $22 million per year -- 281 times that of the median employee. And yet, a year ago GM announced that it would idle five North American plants and cut as many as 15,000 jobs. They still refuse to agree to real job security and a pathway to permanent seniority for temporary workers. And in response to your strike, they've canceled your health insurance to try to intimidate you and deprive your families of their basic right to medical care.

This corporate greed must stop. By taking this strike action, you join other brave union members who have been striking for justice in recent years in multiple sectors of the economy. Whether in manufacturing, construction, education, service or health care, union members are standing up not only against greed, but also against other forms of injustice like racism, sexism, and xenophobia. You remind us all of the need for strong unions and strident collective action. At the same time that you walked off the job for justice at GM, millions around the world struck for climate justice on Sept. 20th. Our struggles are interconnected and urgent.

We in the Pacific Northwest thank you for your commitment and your sacrifice as you fight for your fellow UAW members -- and for all workers. We stand with you in solidarity, and will support you for as long as it takes.

Signed,