Max Alvarez interviews three UAW members who protested Joe Biden for his refusal to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
hi I’m Maximillian Alvarez I’m the
0:02editor and chief of the real news
0:04network and host of the podcast working
0:07people and this is the art of class war
0:10on breaking points on Wednesday of this
0:12week sha Fame the reformed president of
0:16the United Auto Workers who led his
0:18Union through last year’s historic
0:20standup strike at Ford General Motors
0:24and stellantis formerly endorsed Joe
0:27Biden for president in the 2024 general
0:30elections on behalf of the Union which
0:33represents
0:34391,000 active members and more than
0:38580,000 retired members feain famously
0:42refused to endorse Biden or any other
0:45candidate last year warning that the
0:47Union’s coveted endorsement would need
0:49to be earned especially when it came to
0:52how candidates responded to the Auto
0:55Workers strike in September and October
0:57but fain’s endorsement of Biden and
1:00Biden’s subsequent acceptance of that
1:02endorsement was greeted with Defiance
1:05from a contingent of rank and file UAW
1:07members who argue that with this
1:10endorsement the union is contradicting
1:13its own stated support for an immediate
1:16permanent ceasefire in Gaza endorsing
1:19Joe Biden for President Joe Biden a
1:22self-proclaimed Zionist whose
1:24administration has been the number one
1:26military financial and political
1:29supporter of Israel’s genocidal assault
1:32on Gaza and its ethnic cleansing of
1:35Palestinians is a clear and blatant
1:38contradiction that undercuts uh fain’s
1:41and the uaw’s stated commitment to quote
1:44standing for justice across the globe
1:47and some UAW members took direct action
1:50to disrupt Biden’s address to the union
1:52on Wednesday in order to hold the union
1:55leadership to their own words here is
1:58cell phone video from the action which
2:01workers shared with us no matter what
2:04that was it should
2:06[Music]
2:06[Applause]
2:11[Music]
2:12[Applause]
2:22be for this breaking Point’s exclusive
2:25edition of The Art of class War I got to
2:28interview three of the members who
2:30disrupted Biden’s speech on Wednesday
2:33less than 1 hour after they were dragged
2:36out of the event by Secret Service I sat
2:38down and spoke with shahinaz ganed Nikki
2:41Thomas and Johanna king slotsky of UAW
2:45Local
2:462710 here’s our conversation which we
2:49recorded from the real news Studio here
2:51in Baltimore my name is shahen asgan I
2:54am with um UAW nor Eastern University um
3:00organizing and higher education I am a
3:02fourth year JD PhD student in
3:05criminology and criminal justice um and
3:08we just won our election back in
3:09September so we are new to the UAW yes
3:14um and hello my name is Nikki Thomas I
3:16am also at nor Eastern University with
3:19genu UAW as a higher ed organizer um I’m
3:22in the bioengineering Department if
3:24anybody
3:25cares I’m Johanna uh I am a fifth your
3:30PhD candidate and uh Teach as well at
3:33Columbia University I’m getting my
3:35degree in English English and
3:37comparative literature um and I’m a
3:39member of UAW Local 2710 awesome well
3:42again can’t thank y’all enough for uh
3:45making it on this call uh we are
3:48recording this on Wednesday literally
3:51one hour after uh you know the UAW
3:55president sha feain endorsed um
3:58President Joe Biden in the
4:002024 elections on behalf of the UAW and
4:04y’all were there at the event in
4:07Washington DC along with other union
4:10members um making a statement protesting
4:14demonstrating in the midst of this event
4:17uh calling for an immediate ceasefire
4:20demanding that the UAW you know uh
4:23continue to hold President Biden and his
4:25administration accountable for their
4:28complicity in continuing to support uh
4:32the the ongoing genocidal violence in
4:34Gaza I wanted to just ask uh since we
4:37are lucky enough to have the three of
4:38you on here if we could just go back
4:41around the table and and have y’all give
4:43our viewers and listeners a play byplay
4:46of what happened today from start to
4:49finish yes so um I want to give the
4:52broader context first that uh a group of
4:55us within the UAW has formed called
4:58Labor for Palestine UAW labor for
5:00Palestine UW labor for Palestine and we
5:03have been organizing um and particularly
5:07during this UAW conference the cap
5:09conference um around more actions
5:13related to pushing our elected officials
5:16to support a ceasefire so the UAW had
5:19already passed internal resolutions and
5:21we knew that the international executive
5:23board including president Shan feain
5:25supported a ceasefire in Palestine and
5:28now it was time for us to really show
5:32that we wanted to make sure that our
5:34political endorsements were going to
5:36align with that so that’s the context of
5:38the broader week we got about a thousand
5:41signatures um in the span of from Monday
5:45to now so three days um from our members
5:49uh 7:50 at this conference and then many
5:52members sent the link to the petition
5:54back to their own home units as well and
5:56we got signatures that way and
5:58throughout the conference we have been
6:00demonstrating every time that someone
6:03has gotten on the stage who doesn’t want
6:04to talk about the issue we’ve erupted en
6:07chance of ceasefire now we did this with
6:10Bernie we did this quite a bit we’re
6:13lobbying on the hill as well um to get
6:16our elected officials to support a
6:18permanent not just a temporary
6:20ceasefire um and we spoke to the
6:22international executive board because
6:24there was a lot of rumors going around
6:26that they were going to endorse Joe
6:28Biden even though he has still refused
6:30to align himself with the uaw’s position
6:33on a permanent ceasefire and we felt and
6:36the members who signed on to that
6:38petition felt that that was not okay
6:41that the UAW really need to to stick to
6:44our values and stick to the statements
6:46that we had made and that President Sean
6:48Fain had made that we weren’t going to
6:50just hand out endorsements to
6:52politicians they needed to get in line
6:55on the issues that labor cares about and
6:57ceasefire is an issue that labor cares
7:00about so we stood up today because the
7:03international executive board did not
7:05listen to us and did not listen to its
7:07membership and went ahead to endorse
7:09President Biden anyways um we stood up
7:13we had a Palestinian flag that said UAW
7:16labor for Palestine we started to chant
7:19ceasefire now while having our fists up
7:22with a solidarity Fist and we were
7:25immediately rushed by Secret Service
7:27agents um who who grabbed us um at some
7:32point anywhere from between half a dozen
7:34to a dozen were surrounding us um and
7:36dragged us out in a line um as we were
7:40still holding on to the flag trying to
7:41rip the flag out of our hands they
7:43knocked two of our members over they
7:45tried to knock me onto the two of them
7:48while they were on the floor you can see
7:49that in the video with me trying to like
7:52push back against the person who was
7:54holding me and who was trying to push me
7:56onto the other two that are sitting here
7:58next to me and we were ultimately
8:00dragged out of the conference Hall and
8:02removed from the um floor that it was
8:06happening on in the in the conference
8:10Hotel yeah um that was a pretty good
8:13summary of everything that happened uh
8:16there’s not much to add on though I will
8:17say you will probably see like maybe
8:20different statements about how other UAW
8:22members chanted over us um while we were
8:26while we were chanting and um I
8:28definitely think we’ve talked to a lot
8:31of people actually at this conference
8:33over the last few days who have come up
8:35to us and have been supportive on a
8:38personal level but when it comes to this
8:41they seem not ready to publicly come out
8:44and support in the way that we did um
8:47today and I think a lot of it has to do
8:50I’m sure we’ll get into this later but I
8:52think a lot of it has to do with fear
8:54like our politics these days are all
8:57about fear uh the Republic Republican
8:59party runs on fear the Democratic party
9:01runs on fear and there’s a big there’s a
9:04lot of talk within the UAW about fear of
9:07losing their jobs fear of what’s coming
9:09next um and so I think this is a
9:12reflection of that um but I am extremely
9:15disappointed especially since uh it’s
9:18coming off of multiple speeches by
9:20President Shan feain that seem to say
9:22the exact opposite of what happened
9:24today and what President Biden was
9:26saying today and uh if I’m being quite
9:29Frank very disappointing considering
9:31this morning rashita T came and spoke
9:34with us as well um and spoke to our
9:36membership about what it meant to her so
9:40uh that’s all I have to add on that
9:43anyway I think it’s it’s hard
9:46because being here we just walk around
9:49with the CFA and people come up to us
9:52and say like thank you for doing this
9:55like so many people here are behind the
9:58ceasefire and it’s like it’s it’s a
10:01really warm amazing atmosphere and
10:04people are like fired up about this and
10:09I think uh you know it’s true there’s a
10:11kind of UAW members are known for being
10:14Fearless but there’s a there’s in
10:17moments a culture of fear that we
10:19haven’t gotten rid of yet and so I think
10:22I mean I I don’t want to speak for all
10:23three of us you guys can chime in but I
10:25think that we’re trying to show that you
10:27don’t need to be afraid to stand up to
10:30power and kind of present another
10:32positive option A positive Vision that
10:34isn’t rooted in just like being afraid
10:36of consequences and letting that
10:38determine everything of course you have
10:40to make a political calculus but it
10:42doesn’t have to be rooted only in fear
10:44it can also be rooted in a promise of a
10:46better world and that’s what we’re
10:47trying to create
10:50yes right I mean you know as as we
10:52mentioned in the introduction to this
10:54segment I mean at the time that the
10:57United Auto Workers uh uh formally
11:00signed on to the call for a ceasefire in
11:04Palestine um they were the largest Union
11:07to do so um only replaced this week by
11:10the Service international employees uh
11:13uh Union SEIU service employees
11:16International Union uh who have also um
11:19put out a call for permanent ceasefire
11:22uh and as y’all mentioned like Shan Fain
11:24himself uh you know has been um you know
11:27really at the Forefront of of the labor
11:29movement speaking out against the
11:31violence in Gaza us support of it uh and
11:35yeah how could it not uh undercut that
11:38message to then kind of turn around and
11:40endorse Joe Biden the the
11:42self-proclaimed Zionist president of the
11:44United States of America who has shown
11:47uh no signs really at all of um ending
11:50the US the continual us support for the
11:53very genocidal violence that the union
11:56was calling uh to end so I wanted to
11:59sort of um ask about that right because
12:01I think one question folks will have and
12:03especially given the fact that the
12:04United Auto Workers is not only you know
12:08representing uh workers in the Auto
12:10industry but as you three are are living
12:12proof of UAW has expanded to a number of
12:14other Industries including higher
12:16education uh where it has a a strong
12:19foothold in a number of universities
12:21around the country um and that’s an
12:23important part of the Union’s membership
12:25as well and I canit Envision folks
12:28watching this in trying to sort of pit
12:30that side of the UAW against you know
12:32the traditional Blue Collar you know
12:34rough neck sort of industrial worker
12:37side and the auto manufacturing side of
12:39the Union so I wanted to ask if you
12:41could comment on that if the folks who
12:42signed the petition who have been coming
12:45up to you represent the other sides of
12:47the UAW and if you wanted to to mention
12:50that for viewers and listeners and also
12:53if we could just go back around the
12:54table one more time and and sort of um
12:57yeah talk about about why this was so
13:00important to you all as union members as
13:04workers um and what your message is to
13:06to folks out there uh who are in a union
13:09or you know who are not about why they
13:12should get involved uh in this fight and
13:14what they can do to push for a ceasefire
13:17and to end this madness in
13:21Gaza well I think my answer will
13:23hopefully respond to both of your
13:25questions I think to start off um we
13:27want to really fundamentally reject the
13:29idea that this is some sort of highered
13:31workers versus blue collar workers or
13:34versus Auto Workers type of dynamic the
13:37people that have that are at this
13:39conference and that have been coming up
13:40to us and supporting us have covered all
13:43the industries that the UAW represents
13:46including people who are on the assembly
13:49lines for defense companies and are
13:52making some of the Weaponry that the US
13:55is sending to Palestine currently um or
13:59to Israel actually to sending sending to
14:02Israel to use on
14:04Palestinian unforunately and even those
14:08workers are extremely interested and
14:11have been talking to us about ways that
14:14we can figure out a just transition for
14:17the defense industry in this country so
14:19that we can keep those good union jobs
14:21but stop using the US defense industry
14:25as a way to oppress and colonize other
14:28countries or in this case to help
14:30another country colonize another country
14:33so I want to say that it’s all parts of
14:35the UAW membership that are on board
14:38with this and this is not a higher Edon
14:41issue I’d also say that um a big part of
14:45why this is a labor issue is not just
14:47because of international solidarity
14:49we’ve had calls from trade unionists in
14:51Palestine to stand up in solidarity with
14:53them and I think people have heard that
14:55but also because here in the US workers
14:59not just us other Industries as well
15:02have been facing a lot of push back from
15:05their
15:06employers um when they try to speak out
15:09even the most sort of mild level of
15:11support of Palestine any even vaguely
15:15anti-israel statement is being used by
15:18employers at this point to suspend
15:21people to fire people in various ways um
15:24not just at our campuses where we’re
15:26employed but in different Industries as
15:28well and so I think that part of that
15:31fear as my comrades were saying is what
15:35is motivating people to really be
15:37concerned about voicing the support that
15:40they’ve privately shared with us out
15:42into the world I’d also want to name
15:45respectability Politics as one of the
15:47things that maybe have contributed to
15:50people shouting UAW UAW in response to
15:53our calls for ceasefire now because
15:55every other time we did it at this
15:57conference people were in extreme
16:00amounts of support and we coming up and
16:02congratulating us afterwards but after
16:04this particular instance we had the UA
16:06wuaw chance and then we had people
16:09coming up and say did you know you just
16:11disrupted the president did you just
16:13know that you disrespected the president
16:15I think this idea even though we live in
16:18a democracy even though we have free
16:20speech some people still hold on to this
16:22idea of treating our politicians like
16:26they’re almost Kings like royalty that
16:28we have to show this particular amount
16:31of Defence to and we’re rejecting that
16:33we’re saying the UAW has power right Joe
16:36Biden would not have come to the UAW
16:38looking for an endorsement if workers
16:40did not have power in this country we do
16:42not need to cow down in fear we need to
16:47stand up together and show that workers
16:49across this country support a free
16:51Palestine and support a permanent
16:53ceasefire right um I I I definitely
16:57agree with everything uh that China has
16:59just said and just to add on to that
17:01because I know you also asked about like
17:03what can we do um a lot of these
17:06conversations that we’ve been having
17:08actually all boil down to just awareness
17:12and education like a lot of the
17:14conversations I’ve been having with
17:15people they don’t know all the
17:16information maybe that we know about
17:18what’s H happening um in in Palestine or
17:21even the history of the conflict and so
17:24a lot of the conversation that we’ve
17:25been having have just been going over
17:27some of that basic information every
17:29single person I’ve talked to once I’ve
17:31done that like go wow I didn’t realize I
17:36didn’t know and so I think when it comes
17:38to other unionists trying to do similar
17:41kinds of movements in their unions
17:43getting their unions call for a
17:44ceasefire I think people really have to
17:46spend a good amount of time on speaking
17:49with their fellow union members and and
17:52and educating them on the truth because
17:55the only thing that they get to see is
17:57what American media shows them and as we
18:00all know at this current time it’s full
18:03of propaganda and lies um and they’ve
18:06never even heard the other side of this
18:08story so I think that’s going to be
18:11really important for us even moving
18:12forward um that educational aspect of it
18:16um because I think once people realize
18:19what’s actually going on that’s when
18:21they really start standing behind us
18:23like there were people I talked to over
18:24multiple days who on this last day came
18:27up and said hey we just signed I just
18:29signed your petition um and just to
18:32clarify the petition that we have
18:34specifically is asking for UAW cap to
18:37not endorse or fund candidates who have
18:40not called for a ceasefire so while what
18:42we saw there was like people chanting
18:45over us in the background we are still
18:48actively working to make some kind of
18:50essentially BDS happen within our
18:53Union yeah um I think that was all great
18:57and I guess I
18:58I want to add
19:00like anybody who came here to this
19:04conference will know that there is no
19:08division in UAW between the different
19:11Industries this is such a space of
19:13warmth and solidarity yeah and people
19:16know what our views are because we’ve
19:17been walking around with the cfas the
19:19entire time we all have ceasefire badges
19:22on our stickers there we gave out
19:24stickers people are wearing these all
19:25over the place by the way like all
19:27people are just it’s like you just walk
19:30around and you hit five people with a
19:32ceasefire sticker it’s everywhere right
19:34and we’ve been chanting getting up it’s
19:36speeches like there are a million
19:38opportunities and people people know
19:40that we’re in higher red too uh there
19:43are a million opportunities for people
19:46to you know say something unored about
19:50us or to us doesn’t happen we’re only
19:52getting thank you thank you for doing
19:55that like how can I be part of it we
19:57handed out flyers we literally ran out
20:00like three or four times of people
20:02asking for links to the petition or our
20:04website to join the movement like this
20:06is a big Grassroots movement and people
20:08here are interested and excited about it
20:11the only thing is you know convincing
20:13people to move past this initial anxiety
20:16that they’re still working through of
20:19like what can I do when I’m in a room
20:22with the president of the United States
20:24and he stands for something different
20:26you know we have to show people no it’s
20:28safe to do this you can you can take
20:30action to fulfill your vision for a
20:32better world but they share that vision
20:34and I really I see our movement growing
20:37every single day the fact that we
20:38managed to get like nearly a thousand
20:41signatures in the space of a couple days
20:43when we’re like all sleep deprived and
20:45barely coherent when we’re writing a
20:47petition that’s like that’s incredible
20:50that’s a sign of people being like fired
20:52up and I know there’s going to be some
20:55some change in UAW as long as the
20:57leadership follows through with their
20:59values and listens to their members
21:01right if I could add on really really
21:03quickly to that even because we’ve been
21:06chanting actually for the entire
21:07conference even right before President
21:10Biden came out people knew we were gonna
21:12like our members knew we were gonna do
21:15everybody knew and we had like I want to
21:17say at least like seven different people
21:19approach us before to like thank us
21:23offer us support they knew they were
21:25like if you get arrested we’re here for
21:27you like that all happened right before
21:31so even though like it may seem like we
21:33have Division I really don’t think I
21:36don’t perceive it that way we’re holding
21:38up the solidarity fist I don’t know hard
21:41because it got BL bled by secret service
21:43we were we were not alone there was
21:45solidarity in the room even if it was
21:47difficult to hear our table was full of
21:49people from other Industries it was like
21:51I’m goingon to say like 75% 25% of like
21:54these more conventional like Factory
21:57type jobs jobs manufacturing jobs and
21:59then the higher ed books we’re all
22:00sitting at the same table it’s like they
22:02took a p they asked for a picture
22:04together with us before CU they knew
22:06this would happen up their fists like
22:08we’re all on the same team here yeah
22:11just everyone offering can we call a
22:12lawyer for you can we do anything like
22:14are you concerned about getting arrested
22:15are you concerned about anything
22:16happening can we raise funds jail bond
22:19like jail funds people were expecting us
22:22to do this because we done it I mean we
22:24started chanting ceasefire now in the
22:27middle of one of Sean f speeches and he
22:29smiled and I have it on my Twitter and
22:31on the UAW Twitter actually so like
22:34people knew and they were happy for us
22:36and they were supportive going into it
22:39and I really just do want to highlight
22:40that I don’t think that there is
22:42division between higher ed and the rest
22:44of the UAW Industries what we did was in
22:47the very Spirit of the UAW and in the
22:49spirit of of unionists in general that’s
22:52right yes that’s right and we’ll be
22:53doing it again until President Biden
22:55calls for a ceas that’s correct that’s
22:56right free Palestine fre paltin hell
22:59yeah so that was shahinaz ganed Nikki
23:03Thomas and Johanna King three
23:05union members and organizers with UAW
23:08Local
23:092710 I want to thank our guests again
23:12for joining us and I want to thank you
23:14all for watching this segment with
23:15breaking points and be sure to subscribe
23:18to my news Outlet the real news network
23:20with links in the description of this
23:22video see you soon for the next edition
23:25of The Art of class war take care of
23:28yourselves take care of each other
23:30solidarity forever hey guys if you like
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