Posts tagged activism
Columbia student workers’ union drops Israel divestment demand amid contract negotiations
July 30, 2026 // Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers made pro-Palestinian activism a central tenet of its presence on campus since the start of the war in Gaza.
Op-ed: You can’t legislate member loyalty
July 23, 2026 // Oregon State House Bill 3789, which last year made it illegal to “impersonate” a union, created new restrictions and legal risks to communicating with union-represented workers. The Freedom Foundation maintains that the law was designed to suppress effective outreach and has challenged it on constitutional grounds.
Unions’ Capital Activism Harms Members
July 16, 2026 // A new Mackinac Center study, “Unions and ESG: From Worker Representation to Shareholder Activism,” shows how activist investing by organized labor slows the economy, weakens the financial system, and directly harms union members. The most common vehicle is ESG investing, in which shareholders pressure publicly traded companies to enact certain environmental, social and governance policies. While ESG advocates often present the movement as a benign effort to make companies more socially responsible, unions use it to advance their political and organizational self-interest.
Op-ed: ‘The issue is the revolution’: Who is running your city’s teachers union?
March 4, 2026 // Under the banner of “social justice unionism,” teachers’ unions are increasingly treating classrooms, teachers, and even students as instruments in a wider ideological project — one organized, replicated, and funded across the nation. This shift helps explain why contemporary political controversies are now being filtered into elementary, middle and high schools. As one activist leader put it during the NEA Educators for Palestine webinar, the anti-ICE movement is “the spark that could ignite the fire under Labor.” As the saying goes, “The issue is never the issue — the issue is the revolution.”
Beyond the assembly line: Auto workers’ labor union emerges as key player in anti-Israel activism
January 26, 2026 // A number of labor unions have seen a rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, despite many being historically supportive of Israel, dating back nearly a century, when many American unions donated money to the Histadrut, Israel’s national labor union. Multiple groups have now taken legal action against UAW branches in response to certain campaigns, which some legal experts allege were discriminatory against Israelis and Jews.
Commentar: Why the UAW Endorsed Zohran When Other New York City Unions Held Back
August 11, 2025 // The UAW’s risky endorsement of Mamdani would never have happened without the transformation of the union that occurred over the past half-decade. After a serious of corruption and embezzlement scandals led to the removal and conviction of top UAW officials, the union reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that required a national referendum on adopting direct election of union leadership.
Chair Foxx Demands Answers on Biden, Harris Use of Taxpayer Dollars to Boost Government Unions’ Priorities
October 9, 2024 // The total compensation paid to DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees to negotiate collective bargaining agreements or to work with federal labor unions; Travel and lodging expenses paid or reimbursed to DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees and union staff in order to negotiate collective bargaining agreements; Expenses paid for retaining experts, factfinders, mediators, and arbitrators relating to collective bargaining agreements or disputes; Cost of administrative support and purchasing supplies—including acquiring technology—to administer collectively bargained agreements; The fair market value of space controlled by the federal agencies provided to labor unions; Expenses paid for “official time;” The number of hours DOL, NLRB, and EEOC employees spend on official time, as well as the number of employees who use official time—particularly those who spend more than 50 percent of their hours on official time; and Penalties levied related to collective bargaining with labor unions, including but not limited to arbitration awards or monetary settlements provided to workers or unions because of unfair labor practices related to collective bargaining.
EXCLUSIVE: House GOP Presses Biden-Harris Admin To Disclose How Tax Dollars Are Funding Union Activism
October 9, 2024 // “The Biden-Harris administration has also covered up the practice of ‘official time,’ which permits federal employees to engage in union activities during work hours instead of focusing on the public service they were hired to do,” the committee’s letter to the Department of Labor reads. “Federal agencies and unions negotiate over issues most taxpayers would consider a waste of time and attention. Examples include the addition of 14 inches in the height of cubicle desk panels, designated smoking areas on an otherwise tobacco-free campus; and federal employees’ right to wear shorts, sweatpants and spandex at work.”
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION GIVES NEARLY $1.3M TO SITTING ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS
June 10, 2024 // Since 2010, CTU has funded the political committees of 84 of 177 lawmakers currently in the Illinois General Assembly. When you look at just Democrats, it is 72% – nearly half from outside Chicago. Nearly half of current Illinois state lawmakers have received money from the Chicago Teachers Union – with nearly half of them from outside Chicago. When you look at just Democrats, it’s nearly 3 of 4 sitting lawmakers who’ve received CTU cash.
Op-ed: Workers Rights Won by Unions, From the 8-Hour Workday to Overtime Pay
September 11, 2023 // The overall proportion of unionized workers in the United States remains relatively low, with only one in every 10 workers in the country belonging to a union. But whether you're a union worker or not, you may benefit from policies for which unions have fought long and hard — and they continue to fight. Labor organizing has helped secure everyday benefits that many of us now take for granted. And these efforts have shown people what kind of protections they can hope to secure in the workplace.