Peace & Justice Conversations: War, Peace & Partisan Politics

As multiple world crises are calling on us to work more collaboratively, the U.S. system of governance seems determined to create division. Whether at home or abroad we are being told to line up and fight each other for the honor of a political party. Harris Gruman will help us challenge the idea that we are so different from each other in this country based on who we vote for or that any war is worth fighting just because someone we voted for is leading it.

Harris Gruman is the Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union Massachusetts State Council. In that role he has helped lead campaigns to win union rights for child care providers and rideshare drivers. In 2013, he founded and has since helped lead the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition of labor, community and faith organizations, which has nearly doubled the minimum wage to $15-per-hour, created the most extensive paid family and medical leave program in the United States, and won a constitutional amendment to raise tax rates on the top One Percent. In 2024 Harris joined the board of directors of Mass. Peace Action and is active in their Ukraine: a Time for Peace working group.