Monthly Archives: April 2024

Official statements, resolutions, and referenda by UAW locals and chapters (UAW Labor for Palestine)

Original online here.

Official statements, resolutions, and referenda by UAW locals and chapters

  • 2003 GEO/UAW2322 resolution to divest from Israeli occupation (text not online)
  • 11/20/14 UAW 2865 Joint Council: Statement of Endorsement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
    • “Working people everywhere have a common interest in opposing oppression and exploitation wherever they are found. Working together as a global labor movement to oppose injustice around the world strengthens us all in our individual struggles against anti-labor employers and states and in our collective efforts to build the world that working people deserve. An Injury to One Is an Injury to All.”
  • 12/4/14 UAW 2865 referendum (text no longer online)
  • 12/10/14 Historic: UAW 2865 Becomes First Major US Labor Union to Support Divestment From Israel (UAW 2865)
    • “UAW 2865 joins several labor unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland, UNITE New Zealand, CUPE in Canada, COSATU in South Africa and many dockworker unions around the world. It also joins growing grassroots voices in the U.S. labor movement including rank and file members of the International Longshore Workers’ Union Local 10 that supported community pickets and successfully blocked Israeli ships from unloading goods similar to their historic involvement in the anti-South African apartheid movement, and hundreds of labor organizers who signed onto the Labor for Palestine statement. Within the UAW itself, Local 2865 follows the precedent of Arab-American auto workers in Detroit in 1973 who protested the union’s purchase of Israeli bonds financing the seizure of Palestinian lands. Just as black workers at Polaroid in the U.S. launched a boycott of their company for helping make apartheid passbooks for South Africans, we support workers in other UAW-unionized industries in pressuring their employers to commit to socially responsible business practices so that the illegal occupation of Palestinians comes to an end. The mostly graduate student worker union joins the undergraduate student governments of UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UCLA which have passed resolutions in support of divestment.”
  • 11/20/15 Response to Chancellor’s Message on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions from Statewide Executive Board UAW 2865 Academic Workers Union & UAW 2865 – Santa Cruz Unit
    • “In our view, the most threatening “chilling effect” of the BDS issue has come from university administrators who use their institutional power to discredit student voices as soon as they formulate an opinion. This is in addition to your apparent lack of concern for Palestinian students who, among other threats, have repeatedly been challenged by police while protesting nonviolently at UCSC―just like other dissident students on this campus, whose legacy your administration is nonetheless happy to invoke for fundraising.”
  • 1/25/16 Open Letter in Support of UAW Local 2865 & Union Democracy (GSOC-UAW 2110)
    • “We are writing to oppose your recent nullification of the BDS resolution passed by UAW 2865. We firmly believe our International should respect the decision making power of local unions and bargaining units. . . . We might point out that, in the case of divesting from South Africa, anti-apartheid activism unified and strengthened the American labor movement in the 1980s. At a time when the BDS demand is gaining traction on university campuses and more broadly among progressive forces in this country, why can’t the labor movement play a similar role?”
  • 2/11/16 UAW 4121 resolution
    • “UAW Local 4121 urges the UAW International to reverse its initial ruling against UAW Local 2865’s BDS resolution during the Public Review Board process.”
  • 3/14/16 UAW 2865 Letter of Solidarity with Teachers in Palestine
    • “Let it be resolved that, we, UAW Local 2865, the UC Student-Workers Union representing 14,000 teaching assistants, readers and tutors of 9 campuses of the University of California in the United States, stand in full solidarity with the striking teachers until their demands are met, and demand the Palestinian Authority to respect labor rights and accept all the demands of the union. Finally, we recognize that demands of dignity through social justice reforms can only be achieved so long as all Palestinians attain universal freedom including an end to occupation, dispossession and life as second-class citizens.”
  • 3/18/16 UAW LOCAL 2865 CALL TO ACTION
    • “This Wednesday, March 23rd, the UC Regents are set to vote on the latest draft of the “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance.” While the actual text of the Principles is relatively uncontroversial, it is preceded by a 7 page Report that conflates anti-Semitism (bigotry against Jews) with anti-Zionism (a political ideology embraced by many, including large numbers of Jews). As expressed in a letter circulated by Jewish Voice for Peace and signed by over 250 UC faculty members, this conflation will constitute a severe chilling effect on free speech that could negatively affect not only campus activism, but vital lines of scholarly research.”
  • 3/31/16 GEO/UAW2322 resolution to join the BDS movement
    • “GEO/UAW2322 should call on the University of Massachusetts (UMass) and the UAW International to divest their investments, including pension funds, from Israeli state institutions and international companies complicit in severe and ongoing human rights violations as part of the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people. GEO/UAW2322 should also call on UMass and the UAW International to decline to conduct business with said companies… [and] should call on affiliated bodies such as UAW Local 2322, the Coalition of Graduate Employee Organizations, The UAW international, Jobs with Justice, Massachusetts AFL­CIO to join the BDS movement.”
  • 4/22/16 GSOC-UAW 2110 referendum
    • “Should GSOC-UAW Local 2110 join the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), until Israel complies with international law and ends the military occupation, dismantles the wall, recognizes the rights of Palestinian citizens to full equality, and respects the right of return of Palestinian refugees and exiles?”
    • “The voluntary and non-binding individual commitment to participate in the academic boycott, which targets Israeli government and academic institutions complicit in Israeli violation of Palestinian rights.”
  • 5/2/16 UAW 2865 Condemns Horowitz Posters, Climate of Islamophobia and Racism
    • “Make no mistake, it is the repeated ignoring and delegitimization of Islamophobia, racism, and complicity in the routine suppression of pro-Palestine speech and activity on university campuses that allowed for the sort of escalation we have seen from David Horowitz and his followers, whose actions epitomize the often ignored intersection of Islamophobia, racism, and the demonization of pro-Palestine sentiment.”
  • 7/22/22 ALAA/UAW 2325 BDS resolution
    • “Whereas UAW’s International Executive Board has, without adequate justification, nullified democratic resolutions by locals which called for divestment from Israel…”
    • “Therefore be it resolved that ALAA 2325 supports taking action, both as individual members and as a chapter collectively, in support of Palestinian liberation from Israeli apartheid… calls on UAW International to divest itself from any and all Israel bonds…”
  • 10/9/23 GSOC-UAW 2110
    • “This past weekend’s events did not occur in a vacuum, nor were they unprovoked. . . . We call on NYU to immediately end its relationship with Tel Aviv University and withdraw its investments from Israeli state institutions and international companies complicit in the ongoing violation of Palestinian human and civil rights. We call on NYU to end its complicity in the ongoing occupation and its disregard for the well-being and rights of NYU Palestinian students. GSOC has proudly stood in solidarity with Palestine since our members first voted to support BDS in 2015, in response to a call from trade unions across Palestine. As a graduate student union committed to social justice, we will continue to support the freedom of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.”
  • 10/20/23 Bronx Defenders Union-UAW 2325
    • “We, The Bronx Defenders Union – UAW Local 2325 are the Union representing the workers of The Bronx Defenders. As people of conscience, we heed the urgent call by Palestinian trade unions for organized workers worldwide “to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes. . . . The Bronx Defenders Union – UAW Local 2325 supports Palestinian liberation and resistance under occupation.”
  • 10/29/23 Make the Road New York Union-UAW Local 2320
    • “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian trade unions who have called on workers of the world to end all complicity. . . . Ceasefire now. End US tax dollars used to fund apartheid. Stop the genocide.” 
  • 11/30/23 Resolution in Support of Palestinian Liberation and in Opposition to Israeli Apartheid, Occupation, and Genocide; Demanding a Permanent Ceasefire, Release of Political Prisoners, and UAW’s Divestment from any and all Israeli Bonds (ACLU Union-UAW Local 2110)
    • “RESOLVED, as U.S. laborers and employees of a premier national civil rights organization, we stand firm in our call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; an end to Israeli apartheid; an end to the violent occupation and blockade of Palestinian land, sea, and air; and the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland; and be it further RESOLVED, we oppose all existing and any future military aid to Israel and endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and the Not On Our Dime legislation, which prohibits NY-based nonprofit corporations from funding Israeli’s illegal settlements built on Palestinian land in the West Bank; and be it further RESOLVED, we demand the immediate release of all Palestinians imprisoned and detained by Israel for resisting its violent occupation; and in accordance with their release, we demand the release of all Israeli and foreign national hostages captured by Hamas; and be it further RESOLVED, we reject the notion that calls for Palestinian liberation and human rights are anti-semitic and vehemently denounce the rise of anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia in this country; and be it further RESOLVED, we stand in solidarity with the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys – UAW Local 2325, uplift the contents of their resolutions, and condemn the internal efforts to stifle the advancement of resolutions; and be it further RESOLVED, we join union shops in our call to UAW for the transparent disclosure of current and future investments of Israeli bonds funded by member dues and for the immediate divestment from any and all Israeli bonds.”
    • (Also references Hamas)
  • 12/4/23 The Mobilization for Justice Union–UAW Local 2320–Statement in Support of Palestine
    • “We, the unionized staff of Mobilization for Justice, a wall-to-wall union representing over 100 legal workers, attorneys, and non-managerial staff in New York City, stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, equality, dignity, and survival. We stand in solidarity with our union siblings of the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition and heed their call to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes. To that end, we call for an end to all US military support to Israel, for sustained and unhindered humanitarian aid, and for an end to the apartheid regime. A ceasefire is not enough.”
    • (But also blaming Hamas)
  • 12/18/23 LSSA-2320 Resolution in Support of Palestinian Liberation
    • “RESOLVED, we demand an immediate end to the bombing and siege of Gaza, all Israeli hostilities and military actions, and all forms of settler violence being perpetrated on the Palestinian people; and RESOLVED, that we endorse the October 16, 2023 call issued by a coalition of Palestinian trade unions to: 1. Refuse to build weapons destined for Israel. 2. Refuse to transport weapons to Israel. 3. Pass motions in their trade union to this effect. 4. Take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with such institutions. 5. Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the U.S., funding to it. RESOLVED, we pledge to uphold previous Palestinian trade union appeals for solidarity by divesting from Israel Bonds, and supporting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.”
  • 12/19/23 UAW 2325 BDS resolution
    • “We oppose all existing and any future military aid to Israel; We endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.”
  • 12/23 Bay Area Legal Aid Workers, UAW Local 2320 passes BDS resolution
    •  THEREFORE, be it resolved, that BALAW stands in solidarity with the Palestine Trade Unions and endorses their demands; and
    • THEREFORE, be it further resolved, that BALAW officially endorses the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), calls upon UAW Local 2320 (NOLSW) and the UAW International to do the same. In doing so, UAW Local 2320 proudly joins the ranks of other US labor organizations such as UAW Locals 2322 and 2865 and UE; and
  • 1/21/24 UAW 551 Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza & an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
    • “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for national liberation. We demand an immediate end to the bombing and siege of Gaza, all Israeli hostilities and military actions, and all forms of settler colonialism and violence being perpetrated on the Palestine people. We endorse the October 16, 2023, call issued by a coalition of Palestinian trade unions to: 1. Refuse to build weapons destined for Israel. 2. Refuse to transport weapons to Israel. 3. Pass motions in their trade union to this effect. 4. Take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with your institution. 5. Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the U.S., funding it. We call for a permanent ceasefire to end the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza and now we call on other labor unions to do the same. . . . From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
  • 1/31/24 UAW 2865 and 5810 Berkeley resolution
    • “THEREFORE let it be resolved: That, in the context of our local’s January 2024 membership approval vote on union efforts pursuing a ceasefire in Gaza passing by over 90%, UAW Local 2865 and 5810 at Berkeley reaffirm our local’s 2021 resolution and 2014 referendum to endorse and join the movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of Israel, and views this commitment as a necessary step towards the “just transition” called for by the IEB”
  • 2/2/24 UAW 2320 BDS resolution
  • 3/4/24 Labor Fights for Palestine: No Chemical Attacks in Our Workplace (SWC UAW 2710)
    • “Join us this Thursday, March 7 at 1pm in front of Studebaker Hall as we rally to demand a workplace free from chemical attacks and the tacit support for genocide that enables them!”
  • 3/25/24 UAW 2325 Amalgamated Council letter in response to congressional subpeona
    • “Just as we answered the urgent call of Palestinian trade unions to demand a stop to the U.S. government’s arming of Israel, to support Palestinian liberation, and speak out against the ongoing Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people, we call on congressional members and sibling unions to defend organized labor’s right to organize and engage in free speech and free association. Democracy and free speech should be encouraged, not stifled or repressed, least of all by Congress. UAW Local 2325 will continue to represent the interests of our membership and defend the union from demands that threaten union democracy and freedom of speech, including our constitutional right to join the call for a free Palestine. In solidarity with all workers.”
  • 4/3/24 UAW Local 4811 Berkeley and LBNL BDS resolution
    • “Let it further be resolved: That we in the UAW 4811 campus units at Berkeley/LBNL view these demands as an urgent, moral imperative, and therefore commit to an immediate program of systematic political education and disruptive escalatory tactics, preceding and building into the 2025 contract campaign…”
    • “…to this end, the UAW 4811 campus units at Berkeley/LBNL call on the Executive Board and Joint Council of UAW 4811 to ensure that these demands are specified in the forthcoming bargaining survey, so that we can formally express and ratify this commitment as a bargaining priority through our union’s democratic process…”
    • “…should these bargaining demands be ratified and should circumstances justify, we commit to organizing and calling for a strike, through our democratic Strike Authorization Vote process, as our most powerful tactic to win these demands and to ensure that the University of California complies with its moral and legal obligation to end its complicity in the genocide, ethnic cleansing, and colonization of the Palestinian people…”
    • “…the UAW 4811 campus units at Berkeley/LBNL call on our colleagues at other campuses to pass similar resolutions at their respective MMMs…”
  • 4/12/24 UNH GSU organizing committee
    • Ceasefire, anti-occupation, divest

Petitions, letters, etc. signed by UAW members, caucuses

  • 11/29/14 Statement In Support of the Resolution Submitted by the UAW2865 BDS Caucus
    • “Friends, it’s time to finally be counted on the right side of history! Vote YES on BDS!”
  • 12/2/14 Labor for Palestine Support for UAW 2865 BDS Resolution
    • “As trade unionists and anti-apartheid activists, we salute 13,000 University of California graduate student-workers who vote this Thursday, December 4 on UAW 2865’s resolution to join the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This historic moment is the first time that the membership of any major union body in the United States will have a chance to vote on more than six decades of complicity by their government, university and top labor officials in Israeli apartheid.”
  • 10/4/15 GSOC Membership Letter (Open BDS Letter to GSOC-UAW Local 2110)
    • “We echo NYU Out of Occupied Palestine’s call for NYU to divest from companies that profit from the violence and oppression of Palestinians and urge our representatives in GSOC-UAW 2110 to amplify this call and stand in solidarity with Palestinian workers by officially endorsing BDS.”
  • 12/20/15 UAW International Executive Board Upholds Integrity of UAW 2865’s Membership Vote to Divest from Corporations Complicit in Oppression of Palestinians, Decides to Nullify Vote Anyway (UAW 2865 BDS Caucus)
    • “The BDS Caucus of UAW 2865 reaffirms its commitment to fulfill the clear will of UAW 2865 membership and leadership, by standing in solidarity with Palestinian labor unions in their struggle for self­-determination, and continuing to promote boycott, divestment, and sanctions against corporations and institutions complicit in human rights violations in Palestine and beyond. UAW 2865 members’ overwhelming response to the call for solidarity issued by Palestinians and Palestinian unions will continue to inspire other workers. We are part of a growing movement for union solidarity with the people of Palestine and for a democratic and visionary U.S. labor movement. As workers, educators, and students, we know together we can prevail over these forms of repression and continue striving for justice for all peoples.”
  • 1/12/16 Letter of Support for UAW 2865 (Western Massachusetts Labor for Palestine and the GEO/UAW 2322 Palestine Solidarity Caucus)
    • “As rank and file union members, we support the call from Palestinian civil society, including all of its major trade unions, for BDS.”
  • 1/28/16 Open Letter to UAW Leadership: Respect Union Democracy, Solidarity, and the BDS Picket Line (Labor for Palestine)
    • “As workers, trade unionists, and anti-apartheid activists, we call on the United Auto Workers International Executive Board to rescind its undemocratic and arbitrary ‘nullification’ of UAW 2865’s respect for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) picket line, which was overwhelmingly adopted by the 13,000 teaching assistants and student-workers at the University of California in 2014. . . . [W]e stand shoulder-to-shoulder with UAW 2865 in respecting the BDS picket line.”
  • 2/24/16 Press Release: Locals Call on UAW IEB to Respect 2865 Vote (UAW 2865 BDS Caucus)
    • “It is clear that a member’s appeal of UAW 2865’s vote, itself part of the anti-Palestine backlash following UAW 2865’s resolution, has backfired. If the intention was to silence debate on this issue and foreclose solidarity with Palestinian workers as a viable activist concern for U.S. labor unions, the opposite has happened: The IEB’s nullification has emboldened labor activists from other locals within and outside of the UAW to step up and voice support for BDS and for Local unions’ rights to take independent democratic stands. Before the nullification, the IEB had only UAW 2865 to contend with in its disagreement on the issue of Palestine.”
  • 4/18/16 Academic Workers for a Democratic Union and GSOC for BDS: Union officials attempt to cancel elections and silence support for BDS
    • “GSOC-UAW 2110, a labor union representing over 2,000 teaching assistants, adjunct instructors, research assistants and other graduate workers at New York University, is the first graduate employee union at a private university to hold a membership vote on boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli occupation and for Palestinian self-determination. If passed, GSOC-UAW 2110 will join the University of California Student-Worker union UAW local 2865, as well as University of Massachusetts Amherst and CUNY’s doctoral students council, who voted to endorse BDS just last week.”
  • 5/26/16 Union Members Struggle for a Democratic Debate on Palestine: Statement from UAW 2865, GEO-UAW 2322, and GSOC-UAW 2110 Palestine Solidarity Caucuses on UAW 2865 BDS Vote Nullification
    • “Already, the clear will of the membership of three UAW locals is to support our Palestinian counterparts, including workers and broader society, in their struggle against racism, dispossession, and apartheid. Despite the attempts of top-down International Union officials to crush our union democracy, the tide of rank-and-file support is against them. We will work hard to implement the will of our members until Palestinians have won justice, freedom, and equality.”
  • 10/27/23 UAW BDS sign-on letter
    • “As members of the labor movement, we call on U.S. labor unions to cut all ties with Israeli unions. We call on the AFL-CIO to terminate its relationship with the Israeli Histadrut. We additionally call on U.S. unions and our employers to divest from Israeli bonds and from the military, extractive, and technological industries connected with the Israeli occupation and U.S. imperialism. Furthermore, we demand that the UAW International and AFL-CIO immediately convey to the United States government a demand to halt all aid and military support to Israel. Failure to do so amounts to organized labor’s complicity with, and support for, the ongoing genocide.”
    • “We further demand that the UAW and our locals protect workers who engage in pro-Palestine speech and advocacy—particularly Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab workers—from doxxing, surveillance, and repression within the workplace.”
    • “As unionists, we must always stand on the side of justice, both in word and in deed. In light of Israel’s recent intensification of attacks on Palestine as well as the past 75 years of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, we stand firmly in solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Already, UAW members have spoken out, joined marches, and walked out in support of Palestinian liberation. We will continue fighting for the liberation of the Palestinian people and we commit to taking direct action against the occupation in the coming weeks, including educating our colleagues on the occupation, disrupting the military industrial complex, standing with anyone in our workplaces facing retaliation for their activism around Palestinian liberation, and, if necessary, striking in our workplaces.”
    • Signatures from individual UAW members across various regions; endorsements from numerous UAW shops, caucuses, organizations, entire locals, and a national caucus
  • 11/12/23 A Statement by Brooklyn Museum Workers in Support of Palestine (UAW2110)
    • “We are writing in our capacity as workers at the Brooklyn Museum to unequivocally recognize Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza as genocide of the Palestinian people; to stand with Palestinians as they resist violent colonial occupation and apartheid; and to call on our colleagues in the cultural field, as well as our Brooklyn Museum community, to join this movement.”
  • 11/17/23 Judge Unconstitutionally Muzzles ALAA UAW Local 2325 Membership Vote on Resolution Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza and a Free Palestine (UAW 2325 Labor for Palestine)
    • “[I]t is our duty to heed the urgent call by Palestinian trade unions for organized workers worldwide ‘to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes.’ In response, the rank and file members of UAW 2325 drafted a resolution. The resolution was passed by a vote of 108-13-8 in the ALAA Joint Council, composed of delegates from local shops’ chapters, on November 14, 2023 to bring the resolution to a wider membership vote.”
  • 11/21/23 Article 31 Charges Against Diane T. Clarke, Ilana Kopmar, Isaac Altman, and David Rosenfeld for Conduct Unbecoming of a Union Member (UAW 2325)
    • “This Article 31 Proceeding charges Diane T. Clarke, Ilana Kopmar, Isaac Altman, and David Rosenfeld with conduct unbecoming of a union member. Specifically, by seeking judicial injunctive relief to interrupt a democratic process on an internal union matter and, in the process, baselessly and publicly smearing their fellow union siblings as antisemitic, these individuals violated core tenants of our union’s mission and behaved in ways that demand official consequences.”
  • 11/26/23 Digest of Select Statements and Positions on Matters of Public Concern by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys UAW 2325 (UAW 2325 Labor for Palestine)
  • 12/6/23 UAW Labor for Palestine Rank and File Welcomes Our Leadership’s Pro-Ceasefire Announcement, Demands that the International UAW Endorse Palestinian Trade Union Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
    • “Now, we reaffirm the October 27 rank-and-file UAW Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) sign-on letter endorsed by hundreds of union members, which calls on UAW leadership to honor the urgent appeal from Palestinian trade unions by taking ‘immediate action—wherever you are in the world—to prevent the arming of the Israeli state and the companies involved in the infrastructure of the blockade.’”
    • “Specifically, in this moment we call on the International UAW to endorse and implement BDS against all institutions complicit in Israeli settler colonialism by taking the following concrete steps: Terminate UAW’s ties with the Histadrut, Israel’s racist labor federation Divest our unions and employers from Israel Bonds and from the military, extractive, and technological industries connected with the Israeli occupation and U.S. imperialism Demand that the United States government immediately halt all aid and military support to Israel Protect UAW members who engage in pro-Palestine speech and advocacy—particularly Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab workers—from doxxing, surveillance, and repression within and beyond the workplace, including the blatantly unconstitutional and union-busting Temporary Restraining Order that blocks UAW 2325 membership from democratically voting on a proposed Palestine solidarity resolution Vacate the UAW’s anti-democratic nullification of previous Palestinian solidarity resolutions adopted by UAW 2865, UAW 2322, and GSOC-UAW 2110 Involve rank-and-file members, including those building solidarity with Palestinian workers, in the newly announced UAW Divestment and Just Transition Working Group We call on fellow UAW members to bring our BDS sign-on letter to their local unions, to pass BDS resolutions, and to educate coworkers on the links between Palestinian liberation and our own workplaces and futures. We urge our fellow trade unionists across the labor movement to adopt our statement and pressure their union leadership to support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions from Israel, and to finally end the labor movement’s complicity with the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Union members who want to connect with us can reach us at uawlaborforpalestine@gmail.com”
  • 12/10/23 Resolution for UAWD to Educate & Organize for BDS & Palestinian Liberation as an official position of the UAW
    • “Be it resolved that UAWD shall commit to organizing support for Palestinian liberation and BDS (the non-violent movement to remove complicity with Palestinian oppression) among rank-and-file UAW members, and to making BDS the official position of the UAW International. ● Be it further resolved that UAWD will organize a thorough popular education effort for UAW members and leaders, which shall include one or more educational events covering BDS, Palestinian liberation, the UAW’s history of anti-apartheid activity, and the long history of Arab and Black worker resistance to International UAW executive leadership complicity. The series will be advertised using email, Slack, and text/phone banking. ● Be it further resolved that, through outreach for our educational events and other organizing, UAWD will assess interest amongst manufacturing workers, especially impacted workers at weapons manufacturers, to further organize around BDS and Palestinian liberation on the shop floor. Be it resolved that UAWD supports the UAW International’s call for the creation of a Divestment and Just Transition Working Group, and UAWD calls for the International leadership to invite rank-and-file members, including those working on building solidarity with Palestinian workers, to participate in the working group. Be it further resolved that the UAWD membership affirms the Steering Committee’s adoption of the UAW BDS Sign-On Letter.”
  • 12/19/23 FROM ALAA UAW 2325 LABOR FOR PALESTINE RANK AND FILE
    • “We urge you to please vote YES on today’s resolution, ‘Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, and End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers’ Political Speech’. . . . Palestinian liberation is inherently intertwined with our own, and Palestinian resilience and steadfastness are virtues which we should aim to embody individually and collectively to build a better world for us all. To that end, voting yes is an act of resilience and steadfastness.”
  • 1/5/24 Demand that Shawn Fain meet with Palestinian UAW members (UAW Labor for Palestine)
    • “It’s been over a month since Arab and Palestinians UAW members requested to meet with union president Shawn Fain to discuss what more the UAW can do to stop the ongoing genocide against Palestinians. They have received no reply. It’s about time that changes. Please sign this letter and help apply pressure on UAW leadership to do the right thing!”
  • 1/19/24 CAP for Ceasefire – UAW Members Petition
    • “[W]e call on our CAP representatives to only endorse and allocate our dues and V-CAP contributions to candidates who publicly call for a ceasefire and vote accordingly on any relevant bills (e.g. Cori Bush’s resolution 786). . . . Labor shall stand for Palestine.”
  • 1/23/24 UAW Labor for Palestine Demands that UAW Leadership Withhold Endorsement of President Joe Biden
    • “We urge our fellow unionists to stand with us against any UAW International’s endorsement of President Biden’s re-election campaign and organize to end the labor movement’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza and throughout the state of Palestine.”
  • 1/31/24 Honor the Palestinian Trade Union Picket Line by Rescinding the Undemocratic UAW Endorsement of Genocide Joe Biden (UAW Labor for Palestine)
    • “To stop violating the UAW ceasefire statement and the Palestinian trade union picket line, we demand that UAW leadership: Rescind its endorsement of Joe Biden’s re-election until he calls for a permanent ceasefire and stops sending weapons to Israel, and, in the interim, commit to withholding any union resources or time (e.g., sending out mailers for re-election or hosting any campaign events) for his campaign. Endorse and allocate our dues and V-CAP contributions only to those candidates who publicly call for a permanent ceasefire and vote against any weapons for Israel. Support UAW members in refusing to provide weapons, research, and technology to Israel. Support the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) by ending all UAW complicity with Israel.”
  • 2/8/24 NOT IN OUR NAME: NEVER AGAIN IS NOW, A Statement by Jewish Members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys-UAW Local 2325
    • “[W]e demand: That Congress overturn House Resolution 894, which states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. An immediate permanent ceasefire. An end to all military, economic, and diplomatic aid to Israel. One democratic Palestine, from the river to the sea, with freedom and equal rights for all. Right of return for all Palestinian refugees.”
  • 2/14/24 UAW Arab Caucus: UAW must move from ceasefire declaration to stopping weapons for Israel
    • “We need you to meet with us now – you must take action to translate the UAW’s ceasefire declaration to practical interruption of the weapons which our UAW siblings are making, sending to Israel, and which are being used to kill our families.”
  • 2/15/24 A Statement by Museum of Modern Art Employees Regarding the Ongoing Crisis in Palestine (UAW2110)
    • “As museum and cultural workers, many of whom are members of the United Auto Workers Local 2110, we applaud the International UAW’s call for a ceasefire. Furthermore, we want to amplify the urgent appeal from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza calling on trade unions in relevant industries to stop arming Israel.”
  • 2/21/24 UAW Labor for Palestine Endorses Michigan’s “Uncommitted” Voting Strategy
    • “As rank-and-file members of the UAW, we refuse to shore up the political power of officials who do not show accountability to their bases, let alone adhere to social justice imperatives to end war and genocide. With our union headquarters based in Michigan, we urge voters to support Listen to Michigan’s “Uncommitted” primary strategy to build critical pressure on Joe Biden to stop enabling and arming Israel until a permanent ceasefire can actually be realized, and indeed, until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.”
  • 3/3/24 UAW  2325 Labor for Palestine Demands that the NY State Bar Association  Cancel Its Event Hosting the Israel Bar Association and Former IOF and Israeli Government Officials
    • “​Legal professionals in New York must heed the call of our Palestinian siblings and refuse to be complicit in genocide and apartheid. We must call out this event for what it is—an attempt at normalizing oppression and welcoming people who have engaged in and defended genocide and apartheid through their positions of power, in the Israeli courts, military, and private sector. As such, UAW 2325 Labor for Palestine calls on NYSBA to cancel this event, and we call on all legal professionals in New York and beyond to demand that NYSBA do so.”

Relevant L4P site tags:

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/uaw

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/gsoc-uaw-2110

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/uaw-2322-geo

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/alaauaw-2325

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/uaw2865

https://laborforpalestine.net/category/uaw-4121

UAWL4P site:

https://www.uawlaborforpalestine.com/#resources

Most recent UAWL4P public statement:

Not all UAW locals, but locals in the Bay Area:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BGqBlEZqI7-fsSEL25jgN0xuuEqbYHfAip33nCoDnKU/edit