On Tuesday afternoon, delegates unanimously endorsed a resolution, “End the Genocide in Palestine,” which demands that the U.S. government immediately cease all military aid to Israel, and instead pressure Israel to end its genocide against the Palestinian people. The resolution also reaffirms UE’s support for the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which UE first endorsed in 2015.
Aniruth Adavi, Local 256, spoke about how the genocide in Palestine “really is a labor issue, because we understand that we have a lot more in common with the people being bombed, those are also workers like us, and they’re members of the same class, than we do with the billionaires and the capitalists telling us that we should be happy about this.” He described Local 256’s successful efforts to win jobs back for members who were fired for speaking out about Palestine.
Both Gabe Sekeres, Local 300, and Gary Stuard, Local 203, described how members of their locals have also been disciplined for exercising their free speech rights in support of the Palestinian people, and how their locals have fought to defend them. In the case of Local 300 member Momodou Taal, an international student, although Local 300 fought to reverse his suspension, he was eventually forced to flee the country when Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents came to his house earlier this year.
Sophie D’Anieri, Local 197, shared how her local had “developed and passed a BDS-compliant investment portfolio to ensure our members dues are not invested in companies that profit from Israeli apartheid and genocide.”
Michele McCoy, Local 1186, decried “the number of human beings who have been bombed, burned, and starved to death” by Israeli forces in Palestine. “I love my union,” she said. “I really appreciate that we all took time for this very, very vital and important issue.”
Janvi Madhani, Local 197, Rhiis Buswell, Local 228, Daniel Shen, Local 256, Iris Powell, Local 667, Deborah Wells. Local 808, and Matthew Thompson, Local 1186 also spoke on the resolution.