Landmark UAW International Ruling Rejects Local BDS Resolution

Excellent news from the civil rights activists at Informed Grads 

Landmark UAW International Ruling Rejects Local BDS Resolution 

In a landmark decision yesterday, United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union granted an appeal filed by a member of the University of California student group Informed Grads, thereby striking down a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolution adopted by UAW Local 2865 last year. UAW 2865 represents graduate student workers at all of the University of California campuses. UAW International, the body that oversees all UAW locals in the United States, set national precedent by denying the local organization the right to adopt such a divisive and alienating measure. 

Over the past year, certain members of UAW 2865 championed a one-sided, counterproductive BDS referendum that limits academic freedom and promotes discrimination based on national origin. Rather than focusing on the needs of the student workers they were elected to represent, these activists promoted an effort that seeks to undermine peaceful dialogue and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. 

“All workers represented by UAW International can now rest assured that their union will not support BDS tactics or endorse an extreme political agenda that is discriminatory, alienating, and stifles academic freedom,” said Informed Grads member Karra Greenberg, who testified at the appeal hearing. “The anti-Semitism and active promotion of hate that ran rampant throughout this BDS campaign cannot and must not be tolerated. We applaud UAW International for taking a firm position against BDS and discrimination based on religion or national origin.”

 “We are very pleased by United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union’s forceful rejection of BDS, which sets a powerful precedent for other labor unions and national organizations” said Scott Edelman, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the international law firm that represented Informed Grads in its appeal. “This result was due to a real team effort between our firm and Informed Grads, and I want to pay tribute to my colleagues Jesse Gabriel, Lauren Eber, Neta Levanon and Will Brien for their dedication and hard work.” 

From the International UAW:

"...it is our unanimous belief that the notion of BDS, credibly, espouses discrimination and vilification against Israelis and UAW members who are of Jewish lineage. From this perspective, we find that the BDS Resolution is systematic in its decrying orations about Israel and its stated atrocities against Palestinians. Conversely, as emphasized earlier, the local union’s critique of any other ethnicity or victimizer outside of the Israeli and /or Jewish population is not present in its arguments. Thus, the local union’s platform is apparent in its unfavorable stance against the state of Israel, Israelis and , invariably, Jewish union members.”

For more information on the International UAW's repeal of  BDS , see
BDS resolution overturned by UC grad students’ national union: It discriminates against Jews

UAW, San Jose State foundation reject BDS measures

United Auto Workers International Overturns Local Union’s BDS Vote

United Auto Workers Union reaffirms opposition to BDS movement.

UAW's region 5 covering California  and 16 other states sent a brief letter to UAW 2865 leadership reaffirming its opposition to the BDS movement.   The letter states that the UAW International’s position has not changed since it signed a Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel in 2007 with 40 other national labor leaders.

Via our friends at  Informed grads

Dear Sisters [Michelle] Glowa & [Leslie] Quintanilla [President and Recording Secretary of UAW 2865],

The International Union has received numerous requests for a position from the Local 2865 leadership and membership regarding the BDS movement. Please find enclosed a 2007 Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel, signed by over 40 national labor leaders.
The International Union’s previous position has not changed.

The following is the aforementioned statement of opposition to BDS, signed by various labor leaders, that still stands as a statement of principle.

Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel

We view with increasing concern the phenomenon of trade unions in a number of countries, including, most recently, the United Kingdom, issuing resolutions that either directly or indirectly call for divestment from and boycotts of Israel.

With the large number of local, regional and international conflicts, with the diverse range of oppressive regimes around the world about which there is almost universal silence, we have to question the motives of these resolutions that single out one country in one conflict.

We note with increasing concern that virtually all of these resolutions focus solely on objections to actions or policies of the Israeli government, and never on actions or policies of Palestinian or other Arab governments, parties or movements. We notice with increasing concern that characterization of the Palestinians as victims and Israel as victimizer is a staple of such resolutions. That there are victims and victimizers on all sides, and that many if not most of the victims of violence and repression on all sides are civilians, are essential items often not mentioned in these resolutions.

Any just and fair resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be brought about through meaningful negotiations between their elected representatives. We believe strongly in a two-state solution, brought about through meaningful negotiations, with the involvement and encouragement of the world community.

Trade unionists and their organizations seeking such a just and fair resolution should be assisting those working to bring the two sides together in direct talks and then negotiations. In this regard, we call for increased engagement of trade unions with their counterparts on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We support efforts of Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists and their organizations to maintain contact and cooperative and mutually supportive activities, even in the midst of tumult and political change within their respective communities and polities.

Calls for academic boycotts of Israel are inimical to and counter to the principles of academic freedom and freedom of association, key principles for which academics and educational unions have struggled over many years. Rather than limiting interactions with Israeli educators, academics and educational institutions, we see the importance of maximizing, rather than proscribing, the free flow of ideas and academic interaction between peoples, cultures, religions and countries.

Similarly, calls for journalistic boycotts of Israel are inimical to the free flow of information and journalistic objectivity, and must be opposed.

Rather than divestment from Israel, we believe that investment of time, energy and material aid is the best means to alleviate the ongoing suffering of Palestinians and Israelis. Engagement, rather than disengagement, with the Israeli people and the Palestinian people is needed, so that a just and fair resolution of this conflict may be pursued, and so that meaningful progress towards achieving the legitimate needs of Palestinians and Israelis can be made.

We offer our support to assist trade unionists as well as interested members of the community-at-large who are grappling with these matters, and who share our concern over simplistic and non-constructive approaches, whether in the form of misguided resolutions or other statements on the tragic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Stuart Appelbaum
President, Jewish Labor Committee
President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union / UFCW
Edward J. McElroy
Secretary, Jewish Labor Committee
President, American Federation of Teachers
Morton Bahr
Treasurer, Jewish Labor Committee
John J. Sweeney
President, AFL-CIO
Anna Burger
Chair, Change to Win
Clayola Brown
President, A. Philip Randolph Institute
Timothy A. Brown
International President, International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots / ILA
R. Thomas Buffenbarger
International President,
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
William Burrus
President, American Postal Workers Union
James Clark
President
International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America
Larry Cohen
President, Communications Workers of America
Barbara J. Easterling
Secretary-Treasurer, Communications Workers of America
Patrick D. Finley
General President
Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada
John J. Flynn
President, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
John Gage
President, American Federation of Government Employees
Leo W. Gerard
International President
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union
Ron Gettelfinger
President
United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union
Michael Goodwin
President, Office and Professional Employees International Union
Larry V. Gregoire
President, International Chemical Workers Union Council / UFCW
James A. Grogan
General President, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers
Don M. Hahs
National President, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / IBT
Joseph T. Hansen
International President, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
Edwin D. Hill
International President, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
William P. Hite
General President
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada
James P. Hoffa
General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Joseph J. Hunt
General President
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers
Frank Hurt
International President
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union
Louis Lacarbonara
President, Italian-American Labor Council
D. Michael Langford
National President
Utility Workers Union of America
Thomas F. Lee
President, American Federation of Musicians
Jill S. Levy
President, American Federation of School Administrators
James C. Little
International President, Transport Workers Union of America
William Lucy
President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Douglas J. McCarron
General President, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
Gerald W. McEntee
President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Bruce S. Raynor
General President, UNITE HERE
Cecil E. Roberts
President, United Mine Workers of America
Michael Sacco
President, Seafarers International Union of North America
Robert A. Scardelletti
International President, Transportation Communications Union / IAM
Michael J. Sullivan
General President, Sheet Metal Workers International Association
George Tedeschi
President, Graphic Communications International Union / IBT
Patric M. Verrone
President, Writers Guild of America, West
Reg Weaver
President, National Education Association
James A. Williams
General President, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades