UAW rank and file members from UAW 4811 and UAW 2035 are demanding that UAW Region 6 & UAW 4811 rescind their endorsement of San Francisco Zionist politician Scott Wiener. Wiener supports continued US funding of the Israeli genocidal regime and also supports gentrification, opposes single payer and opposes taxes on the billionaires. UCSF Dr. Rupa Marya who was targeted by Wiener and fired also spoke. The UAW 4811 without a vote of their members are supporting Wiener because they say that he supports a state bond that would fund UC research projects and also fund biotech companies. This press conference took place at UAW 4811 offices in Berkeley, California on June 1, 2026. The UAW 4811 shut their offices for the day. Production Of Labor Video Project www.labormedia.net Rank and file members of 4811 also issued a statement. UAW region 6 (of which our union, UAW 4811, is a part) continues to maintain its endorsement of state senator Scott Wiener in his run for CA-11 Congressional Representative. But Scott Wiener is not a labor candidate. He is not a progressive candidate. He is a politician whose career has been built on serving the interests of developers, policing student protest, and defending Zionist institutions. As California students established Gaza solidarity encampments and demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestine, Wiener emerged as one of the leading political figures pushing for repression. He championed SB 1287, legislation requiring universities to impose new restrictions on campus demonstrations and strengthen disciplinary mechanisms directed against protest activity. Wiener has repeatedly aligned himself against Palestine solidarity organizing. He condemned efforts to establish academic boycotts of Israeli institutions, opposed divestment initiatives, and used his office to pressure universities and public institutions confronting growing demands to break ties with Israel. He is a self-described Zionist, and his political record reflects that commitment. Wiener has played a similarly destructive role in battles over ethnic studies and public education. He has repeatedly aligned himself with efforts to police how Palestine, Zionism, and Israeli state violence are discussed in classrooms. Legislation such as AB 715 was promoted as a measure against antisemitism. In practice, educators, ethnic studies scholars, and civil liberties advocates warned that it was an attempt to stifle discussion of Palestine and place teachers under increased scrutiny for presenting Palestinian history and perspectives. Nor is Wiener’s economic record any better. He is the political architect of California’s YIMBY movement, a project built on the premise that deregulating private development will somehow solve a housing crisis created by the market itself. His legislation has consistently advanced the interests of developers and weakened local democratic control. This is not a labor vision of housing. It is a developer vision of housing. The labor movement should not be endorsing politicians whose political base is organized around developers, venture capital, and real estate interests. Supporters of the endorsement — which was announced without a vote or even a discussion in the membership — point to Wiener’s involvement in efforts to secure funding for scientific research and public higher education. For academic workers facing the consequences of federal cuts, that concern is real. But labor cannot build power by tying itself to politicians who offer limited concessions while remaining aligned with anti-labor forces. The answer to funding cuts is not dependence on Scott Wiener. It is a stronger labor movement. Academic workers are not the only workers under attack. Across the University of California, workers have faced layoffs, understaffing, contracting out, and austerity. AFSCME workers spent years fighting without a contract. The path forward is not endorsement politics. It is building durable solidarity across unions and developing the collective strength needed to force concessions from politicians of either party. Working people need representatives drawn from the labor movement itself and accountable to workers rather than donors, developers, and political insiders. Every endorsement of a politician like Wiener teaches union members to place their faith in political patrons rather than their own collective power. SEIU ultimately withdrew its endorsement of Wiener after his opposition to Proposition D, the “Overpaid CEO Tax.”UAW Region 6 and UAW 4811 should do the same. Members of UAW 4811 and Region 6 should email their local leaderships demanding that they rescind this endorsement. The labor movement will build its power not through business unionism, not through alliances with the political establishment, but through its own organization, its own solidarity, and its own independent political voice. Solidarity Forever, Rank & File for a Democratic Union UAW4811
0:03
3 seconds[music]
0:06
6 secondsThis is a letter that was sent to the UAW leadership by the rank and file members of the of the UAW legal services
0:14
14 secondsworkers local 2320. It’s a a letter signed by those members.
0:21
21 secondsWe the underside advocates for the low-income San Franciscans members in good standing of NL NOLSW UAW local 2320
0:31
31 secondsright to object to UAW’s endorsement of California state senator Senator Scott Weiner for representative for California
0:38
38 secondsCongressional District 11. We were not consulted about did not consent to and will not abide by this endorsement.
0:46
46 secondsPlease consider this letter a formal request that you withdraw your endorsement of Senator Scott Weiner and make no endorsement for the California Congressional District 11
0:55
55 secondsRepresentative. We have lived and worked in legislative district governed by Senator Weiner for 15 years. During his
1:03
1 minute, 3 secondstenure as county supervisor and now state senator, Senator Weiner has advocated and passed legislation that
1:10
1 minute, 10 secondsfavored the development of market rate housing over affordable housing in San Francisco in the interests of making the
1:17
1 minute, 17 secondscity a paradise for dealers in expensive housing and extremely highincome employees of major tech corporations,
1:25
1 minute, 25 secondsincluding those behind artificial intelligence, which is estimated to eliminate or quote unquote quote reshape up to 40% of jobs in the United States.
1:37
1 minute, 37 secondsIn particular, Senator Weiner’s opposition to San Francisco’s overpaid CEO tax on the ballot for June prompted
1:46
1 minute, 46 secondsSEIU Local 1021 representing San Francisco city employees to withdraw their endorsement. The measure,
1:54
1 minute, 54 secondsProposition D, on the San Francisco ballot this June would tax companies where the CEO is paid more than 100
2:02
2 minutes, 2 secondstimes the salary of their median employee to fill the city’s $650 million deficit to save services and prevent
2:10
2 minutes, 10 secondslayoffs. By way of explanation, SEIU 1021 President Terresa Rutherford opined
2:18
2 minutes, 18 secondsthat supporting Proposition D should be an easy choice for San Francisco’s Congress member when it means saving the
2:26
2 minutes, 26 secondscity’s mental health programs, public hospitals, and emergency response services. In addition to his non-sup
2:33
2 minutes, 33 secondssupport of Proposition D, Senator Weiner’s legislative record is a record of direct attacks on the low-income San
2:40
2 minutes, 40 secondsFranciscans whom we are dedicated to supporting. He has led campaigns that diminish our clients access to housing.
2:48
2 minutes, 48 secondsHe has championed increased policing of San Francisco’s unhoused population, people who are already subject to every kind of abuse. We will not vote for him.
2:59
2 minutes, 59 secondsGiven Senator Weiner’s record, we are surprised that endorsing him was even considered. Endorsements like this that make our jobs are are what makes our
3:07
3 minutes, 7 secondsjobs more difficult and less secure and result from undemocratic processes. It’s clear that our union is in need of
3:15
3 minutes, 15 secondssubstantial reform of its method of endorsing candidates and spending our dues money. In view of the foregoing, we
3:22
3 minutes, 22 secondsthe undersigned advocates for the San Francisco San Francisco’s remarkably diverse low-income population formally
3:30
3 minutes, 30 secondsrequest that UAW withdraw their endorsement to Senator Weiner and make no endorsement in that in the primary.
3:36
3 minutes, 36 secondssincerely legal assistance to the elderly staff association. Thank you.
3:43
3 minutes, 43 secondsSo also another trade unit who’s here and has been organizing in support of the Palestinians against the genocide is
3:50
3 minutes, 50 secondsCedric Oannon. Uh he’s a member of the National Writers Union which has taken a strong stand uh against US support for
3:57
3 minutes, 57 secondsthe aparthide regime. And also we had a workshop in the Bay Area on the role of the histadrude uh which there is a resolution coming before the UAW
4:05
4 minutes, 5 secondsconvention calling for the UAW to break relations with the Histadrude. Uh the Histadrude is a Zionist trading federation in Israel. It’s a corporate
4:14
4 minutes, 14 secondstrading federation. The Histadrude is involved in supporting aparthide in South Africa. The Histadrude uh is actually funding the IDF in uh in the
4:24
4 minutes, 24 secondsgenocide and they call themselves a union. And it’s a corporate union actually. And the let’s talk about Israel because Israel has been
4:31
4 minutes, 31 secondsinternationally involved in Guatemala supporting right-wing fascist forces. Um they’re key tool of the US uh regime US
4:39
4 minutes, 39 secondsand and they’ve killed thousands and thousands of people and we have to the unions have to take a stand with breaking with the history. So welcome Cedric.
4:47
4 minutes, 47 secondsI’m not a public speaker, but sometimes you got to get in front of the camera to speak about things you believe in. And I
4:55
4 minutes, 55 secondsbelieve that money, workers money should not be going to support billionaire Zionist campaigns in San Francisco or
5:03
5 minutes, 3 secondsanywhere in this country or anywhere in the world.
5:08
5 minutes, 8 secondsAs was mentioned before, we see from our communities, you know, in Oakland, San
5:15
5 minutes, 15 secondsFrancisco, we see that the Zionist influence is everywhere from the police
5:21
5 minutes, 21 secondsdepartment to the schools to education to healthcare.
5:27
5 minutes, 27 secondsIt’s all around us and we see what’s happening. The game’s over. It’s time for a change now. And I think the world is starting to see it. But we got to get out there and have people ask the
5:36
5 minutes, 36 secondsquestions like Steve said. Why? It don’t make no sense. Why is a union supposed to support workers supporting Zionist
5:44
5 minutes, 44 secondsbillionaire interest? It doesn’t make any sense. Why is our money going to support a genocide in Palestine? Why is
5:52
5 minutes, 52 secondsour money going to support a genocide in Sudan? These are the question we must ask. Why? Why is that money coming here
6:00
6 minutesto pull me over when I’m driving down the street in Oakland? We all see the effects. We know what’s going on. But the question becomes, what are we going
6:08
6 minutes, 8 secondsto do? Are we going [snorts] to allow the unions that are supposed to represent us sell out to big corporate billionaire interests? Are we going to
6:18
6 minutes, 18 secondschange something and have these unions work in the interest of workers and our community? And it it’s really simple. my 12-year-old daughter understands.
6:29
6 minutes, 29 secondsSo, the question becomes, how are we going to organize? And I think we just got to start with asking the question, why? Let people ask the question why.
6:38
6 minutes, 38 secondsAnd what’s their answer going to be?
6:40
6 minutes, 40 seconds[laughter]
6:41
6 minutes, 41 secondsThey don’t have an answer. So, the the corruption’s got to stop. And that’s why we’re here.
6:49
6 minutes, 49 secondsDr. group of Myra organized together with these medical interns uh white coats for black lives
6:56
6 minutes, 56 secondsand they also protested in front at the San Francisco City Board of Supervisors and declared
7:04
7 minutes, 4 secondsum they declared police brutality as a public health emergency.
7:14
7 minutes, 14 secondsAnd this is before George Floyd. This was 2015. So the team of doctors and
7:21
7 minutes, 21 secondsmedical students and medical interns that were or organized under the do no harm coalition and white coat for black
7:28
7 minutes, 28 secondslives attended to the hunger strikers uh to fight against police brutality in San Francisco.
7:35
7 minutes, 35 secondsThen um in 2016
7:42
7 minutes, 42 secondsum she went to uh Standing Rock. I had been I I I had gone to Standing Rock in uh late October and she went there as a
7:51
7 minutes, 51 secondsdoctor and uh supported the um thousands of people in the encampment at at the um
7:58
7 minutes, 58 secondsOeti Sakoan camp in the Dakotas [snorts] and the tribe, the Lakota tribe
8:07
8 minutes, 7 secondsto fight against uh the Dakota Access Pipeline.
8:12
8 minutes, 12 secondsShe stayed there and actually also attended to the people who were attacked
8:17
8 minutes, 17 secondsby um these pipeline thugs who were part of the uh police of the
8:27
8 minutes, 27 secondsthe Dakota Police Department as well as the highway police as well as the uh Nevada police that were sent over there
8:35
8 minutes, 35 secondsand of course the the um private uh police of these pipeline companies as well.
8:44
8 minutes, 44 secondsand she attended to them during one of the major mass casualty events that happened um in November, late November,
8:53
8 minutes, 53 secondswhere there was more than 300 activists who had to suffer through mass casualty
9:01
9 minutes, 1 secondevent, hypothermia, severe hypothermia, because they were being attacked in the middle of winter in the Dakotas by
9:09
9 minutes, 9 secondsthe water cannons while they were praying on the bridge.
9:14
9 minutes, 14 secondswhen they were praying and and trying to stop Dakota Access Pipeline from being able to fulfill this contract
9:22
9 minutes, 22 secondsuh with um with the oil companies, which they had to fulfill the contract by January 1st, otherwise they would lose a lot of money.
9:31
9 minutes, 31 secondsLuckily, uh they were they weren’t able to fulfill the contract thanks to more than 800 people putting their lives on the line and their bodies on the line
9:40
9 minutes, 40 secondsand being attacked. And Dr. Dr. Rupa Myra was in the in the thick of this when she came back here. She continued
9:48
9 minutes, 48 secondsworking. Um, and she’s been always also a follower and and a uh a leader in the
9:56
9 minutes, 56 secondsclimate, not only in the climate justice movement, environmental justice, but also in the land back uh movement and also um in farming in organic farming.
10:08
10 minutes, 8 secondsand she published a book called inflamed which directly uh related to the neoc colonial the fight against neoc
10:15
10 minutes, 15 secondscolonialism uh and the basically the pharmaceutical industries
10:23
10 minutes, 23 secondsyou know that have been attacking health care the health care of all of us throughout the country and the world um
10:30
10 minutes, 30 secondsthe book covers a lot more than that I recommend people look at it and uh Dr.
10:35
10 minutes, 35 secondsRupamra when she started speaking up about Palestine and also directly
10:44
10 minutes, 44 secondsshowing the link between the
10:50
10 minutes, 50 secondsthe police systems and Israel which the Jewish voices for peace had already put out a report back in 2018 about
11:01
11 minutes, 1 secondthe called the deadly exchange report which shows how police are directly linked to Israel. They get training by Israel including ICE.
11:10
11 minutes, 10 secondsShe started creating linkages in terms of the health care because of the the abominable deaths of of of healthcare
11:18
11 minutes, 18 secondsworkers and doctors uh in Palestine. So she started defending them. Here is Dr. Ruba calling
11:25
11 minutes, 25 secondsin cuz she remotely calling from Ireland right now where I am working after having been fired from
11:33
11 minutes, 33 secondsmy 23-year professorship at UCSF for speaking out about the genocides the
11:39
11 minutes, 39 secondsongoing Israeli US genocide in Gaza when I start speaking piece on the
11:47
11 minutes, 47 secondshealth impacts of colonialism in medicine specifically naming the supremacist ideology ology, the
11:55
11 minutes, 55 secondssupremacist political ideology of Zionism. Scott Weiner targeted me personally and harassed me online,
12:04
12 minutes, 4 secondstagging my name, tagging my employer, and also getting me listed on the Canary
12:11
12 minutes, 11 secondsMission. Scott Weiner is supported by the billionaire elites that are driving
12:18
12 minutes, 18 secondsthe genocide in Gaza, that are building the data centers that run the ICE raids
12:26
12 minutes, 26 secondsthat run the programs for the AI assisted genocide in Gaza, which has now spread to Lebanon and Iran.
12:35
12 minutes, 35 secondsScott Weiner does not want to tax these people. He does not want to cause any inconvenience to the billionaire elites
12:44
12 minutes, 44 secondsthat are working to dismantle the protections and the labor securities of
12:51
12 minutes, 51 secondsworkingclass people from our housing to our healthcare to our jobs. Scott Weiner is an enemy of free speech.
13:00
13 minutesThat’s right. He he came after me again when I spoke about the urgent public
13:06
13 minutes, 6 secondshealth importance of UC system admitting medical students directly from Israel into our medical schools.
13:17
13 minutes, 17 secondsUC admits students from Israel every year after their service in the IDF.
13:24
13 minutes, 24 secondsStudents who are coming to the UC system now from the IDF are war criminals. They should have no place in our hospitals.
13:34
13 minutes, 34 secondsUnfortunately, our hospitals across the United States, but especially the UC system, are letting these people in
13:41
13 minutes, 41 secondswithout any accountability or transparency. These people need to go to the Hague. They should be nowhere near
13:49
13 minutes, 49 secondsour patients. They should be nowhere near our staff. And they should be nowhere near our faculty. So if we look at who UCSF protects, they protect Dr.
14:01
14 minutes, 1 secondHoward Maybach. Dr. Howard Maybach injected 2600 prisoners with organo
14:09
14 minutes, 9 secondsphosphate pesticides and other industrial chemicals in the 60s and 70s while he was a professor at UCSF.
14:18
14 minutes, 18 secondsWhen I spoke out about Dr. Maybach’s horrific ethical experiments that were
14:25
14 minutes, 25 secondsdone after the Nuremberg trials that were done after the doctor trials. He had no informed consent from these prisoners he was exposing to poisons.
14:36
14 minutes, 36 secondsWhen I spoke out about that, it was Israel’s lawyer, Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer, Howard Maybach’s lawyer, Alan
14:44
14 minutes, 44 secondsDersuitz, who personally targeted me at UCSF and tried to get me to shut up. So,
14:52
14 minutes, 52 secondsScott Weiner is an associate with all of these kinds of people who want to leave the some of the worst ethical um
15:01
15 minutes, 1 secondviolators of our era off the hook. He wants to protect the billionaire class and continue to injure the working
15:10
15 minutes, 10 secondspeople of San Francisco and beyond. He is complicit in the genocide of Gaza from how he has worked deliberately to
15:18
15 minutes, 18 secondssilence not only me as a professor but all academics in any discussion of the genocide in public schools across
15:27
15 minutes, 27 secondsCalifornia trying to label this as anti-semitic speech. It is not anti-Semitic to speak out against
15:34
15 minutes, 34 secondsgenocide. In fact, it is anti-Semitic to remain silent as the state of Israel
15:40
15 minutes, 40 secondsuses the Jew Jewish faith to enact a genocide in their name. So, I urge
15:47
15 minutes, 47 secondspeople to work and organize to resend this horrific endorsement of a
15:54
15 minutes, 54 secondsbillionaire class peddler who is no friend to the workingclass people. [ __ ] Scott Weiner. [ __ ] Israel. Free Palestine. Thank you.
16:05
16 minutes, 5 secondsThank you, Dr. Rupa. Thank you so much.
16:07
16 minutes, 7 secondsUh, Rupa, could I could I ask you a question regarding your case? If you have Yes.
16:12
16 minutes, 12 secondsOkay. You have a case against UCSF for their illegal firing where they didn’t even give you the chance to to appeal uh
16:19
16 minutes, 19 secondsin front of the Senate uh faculty faculty senate, right?
16:23
16 minutes, 23 secondsYes. I was fired without a um academic senate hearing that I was due. They put a 10-year censure letter in my file so
16:31
16 minutes, 31 secondsthat I could not get a job in an academic setting um likely in the United States for the next 10 years of my career, which is I’m in Ireland for a
16:40
16 minutes, 40 secondsreason. Um and then so I’m suing them in federal court um in federal court for free speech and I’m suing them in state
16:50
16 minutes, 50 secondscourt for civil rights and um breach of contract. So I you know, we’ll see how those cases go. UCSF has made their
16:58
16 minutes, 58 secondsefforts to dismiss the cases several times and we keep coming back. Um, so if people want to donate, my lawyers are working totally pro bono. [laughter] They’re incredible, but they’re tired.
17:08
17 minutes, 8 secondsUm, we need to raise about 50,000 for all the court deposition fees and all the court fees. Um, but everyone’s doing this for the movement of the people. If
17:16
17 minutes, 16 secondswe can get past the motions to dismiss, we will get to discovery. And once we get to discovery, we can look at the tentacles of power that are within the
17:25
17 minutes, 25 secondsUC system that lead them to do horrific things like sell kadaavvers to the University of Southern California where
17:33
17 minutes, 33 secondsthey are inviting the IDF IDF soldiers into LA General Hospital to shoot these cadaavvers in the face, reanimate their
17:41
17 minutes, 41 secondsbodies, and then practice battleground medicine. So, this is the kind of sick thing people should look up and learn about what’s happening. um because
17:50
17 minutes, 50 seconds[laughter] it needs to stop. The the dynamics of money and power in Western medicine in the United States that is
17:58
17 minutes, 58 secondscontrolled by Israel and Israel’s interests is alarming. So when I say if we want to understand why black people
18:05
18 minutes, 5 secondsdo not get the same care as white people in the US, we just have to look deeply at why they won’t let us say free Palestine. And when we understand that,
18:15
18 minutes, 15 secondswe will understand exactly the racist structural dynamics that are causing our health to suffer in the United States.
18:24
18 minutes, 24 secondsUm that is why we are pursuing these uh lawsuits. If we can win enough funds to open up a children’s hospital in Gaza,
18:31
18 minutes, 31 secondswe will. Um so let’s keep pushing together. Thank you so much everybody.
18:37
18 minutes, 37 secondsPlease resend this horrific endorsement of Scott Weiner. He is not a friend of the people. Why do you think that the United Auto Workers uh the local of the
18:45
18 minutes, 45 secondsresearch grads of use of University of California uh the leadership of that union 4811 endorsed Scott Weiner. Why
18:53
18 minutes, 53 secondsthere? I don’t know. I I think you’re probably aware that they’re working together with Scott Weiner on this bill to create a California Institute of
19:01
19 minutes, 1 secondHealth because of the cut uh the funding and cuts of the National Institute of Health. But isn’t there some kind of connection with these pharmaceutical companies that are privatizing
19:09
19 minutes, 9 secondseverything? Um, why do you think that was a misstep? That was a misstep on the site of uh the leadership of
19:17
19 minutes, 17 secondsthese grad students. I don’t know where they’re getting their political education, but they need to get a little sharper about what kind of health funds
19:25
19 minutes, 25 secondswe should and should not accept. It is time to build California care for all.
19:30
19 minutes, 30 secondsIt is time to build singlepayer health and an agenda of research in California that is not beholdened to the
19:39
19 minutes, 39 secondsbillionaire class and their lackey like Scott Weiner. [laughter] Anything coming out of that man will be twisted and will ultimately benefit Israel more than the
19:48
19 minutes, 48 secondsstate of California. So they better wake up and resin this endorsement.
19:55
19 minutes, 55 secondsOkay. Thank you. I’m I’m wondering if Steve has any questions. Do you have any questions for her?
19:59
19 minutes, 59 secondsYeah. Maybe you can talk about uh how you were fired. I mean the because other people have been fired as students.
20:07
20 minutes, 7 secondsThere was an encampment at UCLA and the police the Zionist attacked it and instead of prosecuting the Zionist who
20:14
20 minutes, 14 secondsattack physically attack the uh the encampment they they’re attacking the students and uh the staff and UAW 2811
20:22
20 minutes, 22 secondsmembers were attacked. Um what’s going on? Is is there a a witch hunt organized by the UC regions and the managers to
20:31
20 minutes, 31 secondsbasically uh d sanitize the university and kick out people who are critical of uh genocide uh in in Gaza and the West Bank.
20:40
20 minutes, 40 secondsThe largest donor to the UC system is the Diller family. The Diller family are real estate moguls in um across
20:48
20 minutes, 48 secondsCalifornia, but specifically largely in the Bay Area. They’re one of the largest uh corporate residential
20:56
20 minutes, 56 secondsuh landlords. Uh they their work um they support lobbying groups. They’re part of lobbying groups and real estate
21:03
21 minutes, 3 secondsassociations that support Scott Weiner’s uh political activities. The dealers are massive Zionists. They take the money
21:12
21 minutes, 12 secondsthey make off of making workingclass people unhoused in the bay and send it over to the West Bank to make
21:19
21 minutes, 19 secondsPalestinians unhoused over there so that you know settlers who are largely from Britain and the US can go in and take
21:26
21 minutes, 26 secondsover their homes. So this is a kind of a violent racist ideology that underpins the money that is backing the UC system.
21:36
21 minutes, 36 secondsSo, anyone who wants to speak out about that is going to get fired, is going to get targeted, is going to get is going to have a very inconvenient time. That
21:45
21 minutes, 45 secondsdoesn’t mean we should be quiet. This is a time where the power of fascist pigs is being consolidated around the world.
21:53
21 minutes, 53 secondsWorkingass people working together in unions and in wildcat strikes. We are the only thing that can stop this wave.
22:01
22 minutes, 1 secondSo, we must grow the courage. We must have political understanding. We must have clarity. If we have to lose our jobs, we’ll lose it. But hopefully what
22:09
22 minutes, 9 secondswe have is radical solidarity and union activity to push back on these fascists.
22:16
22 minutes, 16 secondsThat’s what we are facing right now is the fascist takeover of the US Academy.
22:21
22 minutes, 21 secondsPeople cannot teach what they want to teach. People cannot say what they want to say. There is no free speech in the United States. People are getting
22:29
22 minutes, 29 secondsdisappeared by ICE. People are getting shot in the face for standing up against ICE. So we need to organize
22:36
22 minutes, 36 secondscollectively. The only thing that can stop this kind of consolidation of authoritarian power is a general strike.
22:45
22 minutes, 45 secondsWe need everybody on board starting to prepare mutual aid so that workers across the world can step off the
22:53
22 minutes, 53 secondstreadmill and say we don’t want any part in this future. We don’t want a future where data centers are using the mass of
23:00
23 minutesthe most of our energy. We don’t want a future where those data centers are poisoning our water. We don’t want a future where our communities are
23:07
23 minutes, 7 secondsconsidered sacrifice zones. We don’t want a future where kids have no education and healthcare in the US so that other kids can go get murdered in
23:15
23 minutes, 15 secondsGaza and Lebanon and Iran. We don’t want a future of war and militarism. We want a future of a good life for all of us and all of our families. We want a
23:24
23 minutes, 24 secondsfuture with good work that’s honored with dignified wages and dignified security in our lives. We don’t have
23:31
23 minutes, 31 secondsthat. So, we must organize and fight and strike for that. And so, it is time. It is time. Thank you so much.
23:38
23 minutes, 38 secondsAnd you spoke at the Mayday 2025 at San Francisco General Hospital and called for a general strike uh against these
23:46
23 minutes, 46 secondsracist attacks, fascist attacks. Um the question is the UAW nationally has said they’re going to they support a general
23:53
23 minutes, 53 secondsstrike in 2028. You think anything’s going to be left by 2028 at the rate that Trump is going? And the other thing is the question of why the UAW and the
24:02
24 minutes, 2 secondsuh US unions are silent about the war in Iran. Uh they’re silent about the trillions of dollars. They’re silent about the potential massive attack on
24:11
24 minutes, 11 secondsCuba which is imminent. Um are you concerned that the labor leadership of these unions like the UAW uh region 6
24:19
24 minutes, 19 secondsand UAW 4811, they really are closing their eyes to the reality of imperialist war, the the the destruction of the world.
24:27
24 minutes, 27 secondsI’ve been very disappointed by most union leadership. Um I think most of them are bought off um liberal capitalists. Um I think that union leadership needs a whole um overhaul.
24:38
24 minutes, 38 secondsThe labor movement in the US needs a whole overhaul from the bottom up. Um and I don’t think we should just leave those spaces uncontested. We should keep
24:46
24 minutes, 46 secondspushing um and Lisa, you’ve been a great inspiration to me for that. We must keep pushing and contesting the liberal takeover of unions, the overhaul of
24:55
24 minutes, 55 secondsunions to allow the kind of stances that unions never have historically in the US. So this is a project of the right
25:02
25 minutes, 2 secondswing. It’s been there since, you know, for 70 years now, which is to eviscerate the working class and our ability to
25:10
25 minutes, 10 secondsorganize, whether it’s through their, you know, psychological operations, whether it’s through infiltration or um
25:17
25 minutes, 17 secondsascending into the ranks of these unions and taking it over with a very liberal capitalist individualist agenda. Thank you, Dr.
25:25
25 minutes, 25 secondsThank you, Dr. Rupa. And we think that this is great because the workers in this country, the UAW, all UC workers,
25:33
25 minutes, 33 secondsit’s not just about UAW, UPD, ASME, uh, all workers are AFT. All workers face the same attack. And the idea that you
25:41
25 minutes, 41 secondscan defend yourself by supporting somebody like Scott Weiner, uh, is No, it’s bizarre. Bizarre to me. What?
25:50
25 minutes, 50 secondsYeah. What’s bizarre to me? What’s bizarre to me is how can u anybody support someone who is against a tax on
25:59
25 minutes, 59 secondsbillionaires like those those grad students should be thrown out of their positions. If you are working with someone who is not going to tax
26:06
26 minutes, 6 secondsbillionaires right now you don’t you need to go read a basic labor book and just go back to square one. You are
26:14
26 minutes, 14 secondsillegitimate in a position of leadership in a union. So step down. When we win my case, when we win the case, we will we
26:22
26 minutes, 22 secondswill open up a hospital um in the name um of Dr. Abu Sofia and Dr. Aan Alber.
26:28
26 minutes, 28 secondsAnd my name is Steve Zeltzer and I’m with the United Front Committee for a Labor Party. I also produce a program called Work Week in San Francisco. And
26:36
26 minutes, 36 secondswe’re here today in front of UAW 4811 offices in Berkeley. The reason we’re here today is that uh this union
26:44
26 minutes, 44 secondsleadership without a vote of the membership, without a discussion of the membership, have supported Scott Weiner
26:51
26 minutes, 51 secondsfor Congress in San Francisco. And Scott Weiner is a supporter of Israel. He is a
26:58
26 minutes, 58 secondssupporter of developers in San Francisco. He supported gentrification in San Francisco. He represents the tech billionaires. and he’s getting a massive
27:07
27 minutes, 7 secondsamount of money from the Zionist uh for his campaign. We have to really face suspension and yet UAW leadership of
27:15
27 minutes, 15 seconds4811 and also Sean Feain were at a rally in Sacramento with the president of UC
27:22
27 minutes, 22 secondsthe with Scott Weiner to say let’s have a let’s have a a joint effort together. Who are they having an agreement with?
27:30
27 minutes, 30 secondsWho are these people? the president of the University of California represents the corporate interest and what Rupa was talking about the role of
27:39
27 minutes, 39 secondscorporatization of UC that you that private companies private owners the oil
27:45
27 minutes, 45 secondscompanies and the biotech companies run UC medical departments and yet these people don’t say a word about that in
27:54
27 minutes, 54 secondsfact they want to they want to support a bond measure that’s going to give money to private companies for biotech Heck,
28:01
28 minutes, 1 secondwho are they talking about? Who do these people represent that they want to give public money, our tax dollars to to
28:08
28 minutes, 8 secondscompanies that are using their biotechnology? It’s not for public healthare. And the fact that this union, its own members are suffering because
28:17
28 minutes, 17 secondsthey can’t get health care and yet they’re supporting Scott Weiner who’s against singlepayer. They’re supporting Scott Weiner who’s against a taxation of
28:24
28 minutes, 24 secondsthe billionaires. How reactionary can you get? And they’re supporting this guy. You have to ask why would they support somebody who’s against the billionaire’s tax? Why would they
28:33
28 minutes, 33 secondssupport somebody who is against singlepayer? Why would they support somebody who supports the developers, the technofascist? This is the question
28:40
28 minutes, 40 secondswe have to ask. Another uh incident that’s going on is what happened uh with Lisa Milos because she was harassed and
28:48
28 minutes, 48 secondsattacked at UC and they told her to take off a kafia. Uh that it’s illegal at the University of California to wear a CAFA.
28:55
28 minutes, 55 secondsThese people, what have they done to stop the harassment of UC workers? UAW members, UPD members, AFT members. It’s an attack on our democratic rights.
29:04
29 minutes, 4 secondsVery proud of Dr. Rupa for fighting it, uh, fighting her firing and and and going through what she’s been going through. It’s very, very hard to do
29:12
29 minutes, 12 secondsthat. Um, during that period of time, UC had also suspended and fired two other people. One of them was a nurse midwife.
29:22
29 minutes, 22 secondsOne was a nurse midwife who had been to Gaza and the other was a a um a director of um of services.
29:33
29 minutes, 33 secondsSo there had already been some level of attacks against people in in UC.
29:40
29 minutes, 40 secondsThat’s not counting the attacks that happened by these thugs
29:47
29 minutes, 47 secondsat UCLA, these Zionist thugs at UCLA.
29:52
29 minutes, 52 secondsthat the University of California Police Department allowed to attack the student encampments at UCLA,
30:01
30 minutes, 1 secondcausing the injuries of multiple people as well as in UC Santa Cruz where there
30:07
30 minutes, 7 secondswas social workers and people who were attacked and who suffered severe blows
30:15
30 minutes, 15 secondsto the head by these police, UC police and by the police departments of those respective country. uh counties
30:24
30 minutes, 24 secondsand the UAW 4811 at one point they did a lawsuit against UC for the violation of civil
30:33
30 minutes, 33 secondsrights and unfortunately the
30:40
30 minutes, 40 secondsUC went uh venue shopping and got a judge from Orange County to dismiss the
30:46
30 minutes, 46 secondscase. But then all of a sudden we find out that the UAW4811
30:54
30 minutes, 54 secondsis actively working together with Scott Weiner in trying to push a bill for California Institute of Health.
31:02
31 minutes, 2 secondsAnd Scott Weiner is of course trying to present himself as a friend of the immigrants even though and he knows this
31:09
31 minutes, 9 secondsbut he’s not saying it. Even though Israel has been training ICE and despite all this, the UAW endorsed
31:19
31 minutes, 19 secondshim for 4811 endorsed him. So my union unfortunately uh has not stepped up to
31:28
31 minutes, 28 secondsthe plate. Upd now the contract negotiations are gone.
31:32
31 minutes, 32 secondsThey’ve already uh voted in their contract.
31:36
31 minutes, 36 secondsUm but still no mention of uh of any kind of denounce denunciation of UC’s
31:44
31 minutes, 44 secondsinvolvement and US’s involvement and in in in the support of the genocide. No
31:51
31 minutes, 51 secondsmention of our previous resolution which demanded that we break ties with history. But the tide is turning because
31:58
31 minutes, 58 secondsthe can Canadian Labor Council, I’m sorry, the Canadian Labor Congress,
32:05
32 minutes, 5 secondsthey recently passed an really important resolution to break ties with history.
32:11
32 minutes, 11 secondsThose are hundreds of thousands of workers in Canada. That is a historic win and that uh is going to be an
32:19
32 minutes, 19 secondsexample to us all, especially US labor, and that’s what we have to fight for. Thank you.
32:27
32 minutes, 27 secondsThank you, Lisa. Uh, before we end this this press conference, I want to talk about the threat of fascism because the the Zionist regime is a fascist regime.
32:37
32 minutes, 37 secondsThey’re committing genocide. They’re raping prisoners. They even raped uh people who came from the uh the Gaza uh
32:46
32 minutes, 46 secondsSumata. They raped them. They terrorized them. Uh this is a criminal fascist regime. And it’s not just in uh Israel
32:55
32 minutes, 55 secondsthat we have a fascist regime. We have a fascist government here in the United States. These ICE raids, the terrorism, the mass fascist thugs that are roaming
33:04
33 minutes, 4 secondsthe streets. And you’re not going to stop fascism with the likes of Scott Weiner. Scott Weiner supports what this
33:12
33 minutes, 12 secondsgovernment is doing. Scott Weiner says that he wants to continue to fund ICE.
33:17
33 minutes, 17 secondsWhere is Scott Weiner? What is this union doing supporting a politician who wants to continue to support the military wars abroad? Why? Because that
33:26
33 minutes, 26 secondsmoney should be going to UC workers, all workers and students. In fact, the University of California should be free for the students. CSU should be free.
33:34
33 minutes, 34 secondsThis is what the union should be demanding. And they should say that the billionaires in California nationally should pay for it. Silence. Silence.
33:43
33 minutes, 43 secondsWhy? Because they support capitalism.
33:45
33 minutes, 45 secondsThey don’t want to fight the capitalists. That’s why they’re silent.
33:48
33 minutes, 48 secondsThey’re business unionists and that’s why they’re supporting this war criminal, this war supporter, Scott Weiner, who wants to continue the US
33:56
33 minutes, 56 secondssupport for this genocide. So speak up, organize in your union, all unions, and let’s build a movement in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the workers in this country. Thank you.
