Posts tagged Anti-Semitism
Union accused of forcing Jewish students at MIT, Stanford, and Cornell to fund pro-Hamas agenda
August 12, 2025 // At MIT, following the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, the UE affiliate supported campus protests favoring Hamas, the letter states. Five Jewish graduate students requested religious accommodations to avoid paying dues to the union, citing conflicts with their faith. UE General Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker reportedly denied the requests, saying, “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees to a labor union.” At Stanford, three graduate students faced similar challenges. Their requests for accommodations were met with what the letter calls an “abusive” questionnaire, which the union dropped after legal pressure.
Opinion: Why Trump’s anti-Semitism crackdown should worry UC union
February 23, 2025 // Following President Trump’s executive order to combat anti-Semitism came reports that his administration has opened investigations at five U.S. universities — including at UC Berkeley. There is, unfortunately, plenty to uncover from violent student groups to passive university administrators. But investigators would be wise to also examine the role unions have played. My own lawsuit against the United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents 48,000 employees across the UC system, should be enough to raise alarm bells. At UC Berkeley, where I am a postdoc, campus administrators were poised to break up a post-October 7, anti-Israel encampment, when the union came to its rescue. The encampment prominently displayed the inverted red triangle—the Hamas symbol used in violent propaganda videos to target Israelis—and banners reading “Glory to the martyrs” and “Student Intifada.” That didn’t deter UAW officials, who legitimized the protest by establishing a “union village” within it.
‘Time is running out.’ University unions rush to organize before the Trump White House
December 17, 2024 // Between 2012 and 2023, the number of unionized graduate student and postdoctoral workers more than doubled, from roughly 64,000 to 150,000. Faculty unions also increased by 7%, from 374,000 to 402,000, in the same period, the report said. Today, more than a third of graduate-student and postdoctoral workers are unionized while a quarter of faculty are. “Among faculty, the drive for unionization has been strongest among non-tenure track faculty,”
Jewish Teachers Forced to Pay Dues to Anti-Semitic Labor Union They Don’t Belong To
November 24, 2024 // The lawsuit says the EERA and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that the union signed leaves the plaintiffs trapped in a union at odds with their political and religious beliefs. “UTLA inserted requirements into the CBA for adoption of model curricula for the classroom that is openly ant-Semitic, and has provided teacher training opportunities where teachers are taught how to avoid detection for anti-Israel rhetoric. UTLA also supports anti-Semitic and anti-Israel professional development classes–classes that can advance teachers’ careers.” The end result is that both “the EERA and the CBA compel Plaintiffs to associate with UTLA’s anti-Semitic speech and curriculum despite Plaintiff’s objections based on their sincerely held beliefs.
Ranking Member Cassidy Introduces Legislation Preventing Unions from Abusing Workers’ Dues to Promote Antisemitism, Hateful Ideology
October 4, 2024 // “At a time when major unions are blatantly disregarding the opinions and interests of their members, I applaud Senator Cassidy for introducing legislation that will ensure workers know their union rights and enhance them,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, President, Institute for the American Worker.
Education and the Workforce Committee Releases Shocking Report on Union Antisemitic Activity
September 20, 2024 // Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released a report detailing how unions put politics over members while pursuing antisemitic activism. The report includes a thorough accounting of rampant antisemitic activity within the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), a United Auto Workers local union, following ALAA’s passage of an anti-Israel resolution in December of 2023. Following the resolution’s adoption, it was revealed that the statutory rights of union members were violated through retaliatory actions related to the resolution.
Anti-Semitic California Union Prohibits Jewish Teacher Exodus
September 20, 2024 // One union official made use of this curriculum in the classroom, likening life in Gaza to imprisonment in Holocaust concentration camps. Outside of the classroom, anti-Semitism began to permeate union ideology. During a 2021 UTLA meeting regarding ethnic studies, union President Cecily Myart-Cruz dubbed the Museum of Tolerance, a Holocaust museum, the “enemy,” while another speaker’s profanity-riddled remarks attacked Israel directly. And, despite its name, UTLA’s standing “Human Rights Committee” continues to spew similar anti-Jewish rhetoric to this effect
Josh Shapiro rescued me from Soviet antisemitism, can continue fighting for Jews – opinion
August 15, 2024 // How can a union that broadcasts its hatred for Jews also negotiate in my best interests? The idea is absurd to me, and I’m far from alone. Public employees throughout New York and across the country are, likewise, unable to represent themselves or choose a different representative no matter what their union says or does in their name. But in America, the First Amendment protects our rights of free speech and association. So, I joined with five of my colleagues, four of whom are also Jews, to file a lawsuit to gain complete freedom from a union we see as antisemitic. Now, the US Supreme Court will soon decide whether to hear our case.
Jewish MIT students sue union, say they are forced to pay dues to anti-Semitic organization
April 2, 2024 // “Jewish graduate students are a minority at MIT. We can’t remove the GSU or disabuse it of its antisemitism,” Sussman wrote. “But we also can’t support an organization that actively works toward the eradication of the Jewish homeland, where I have family living now.” Sussman and his colleagues initially sought recourse through non-legal channels, sending letters to the union asking for an exemption. UE allegedly denied these requests, however, writing in their reply to Sussman that “no principles, teachings or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees to a labor union.” The students reportedly filed their charges through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal body responsible for enforcing worker laws that “make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex … national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.”