In a landmark decision yesterday, United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union granted an appeal filed by a member of the University of California student group Informed Grads, thereby striking down a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolution adopted by UAW Local 2865 last year. UAW 2865 represents graduate student workers at all of the University of California campuses. UAW International, the body that oversees all UAW locals in the United States, set national precedent by denying the local organization the right to adopt such a divisive and alienating measure.

Over the past year, certain members of UAW 2865 championed a one-sided, counterproductive BDS referendum that limits academic freedom and promotes discrimination based on national origin. Rather than focusing on the needs of the student workers they were elected to represent, these activists promoted an effort that seeks to undermine peaceful dialogue and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

“All workers represented by UAW International can now rest assured that their union will not support BDS tactics or endorse an extreme political agenda that is discriminatory, alienating, and stifles academic freedom,” said Informed Grads member Karra Greenberg, who testified at the appeal hearing. “The anti-Semitism and active promotion of hate that ran rampant throughout this BDS campaign cannot and must not be tolerated. We applaud UAW International for taking a firm position against BDS and discrimination based on religion or national origin.”

“We are very pleased by United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union’s forceful rejection of BDS, which sets a powerful precedent for other labor unions and national organizations” said Scott Edelman, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the international law firm that represented Informed Grads in its appeal. “This result was due to a real team effort between our firm and Informed Grads, and I want to pay tribute to my colleagues Jesse Gabriel, Lauren Eber, Neta Levanon and Will Brien for their dedication and hard work.”

The union has pushed for membership but not representation.

The repercussions may be significant, because without member support, the union can't exist.

An academic boycott of Israel has divided the graduate student union for the University of California System since last year, when members voted to join the movement over the objections of many of their cohorts. But earlier this week, United Auto Workers International, with which the graduate student union is affiliated, granted an appeal filed by a group of antiboycott union members called Informed Grads. The decision effectively strikes down the union’s earlier, controversial resolution in support of the boycott, on the grounds that it inevitably implicates the international union, hurts members and violates elements of the UAW constitution (though the international union rejected related claims that the election was not fair). The decision was largely unsurprising, since the regional UAW last year reaffirmed the union's formal 2007 opposition to sanctions against Israel.


“All workers represented by UAW can now rest assured that their union will not support [boycott, divestment and sanctions] tactics or endorse an extreme political agenda that is discriminatory, alienating and stifles academic freedom,” said Karra Greenberg, a member of Informed Grads who testified at the appeal hearing, and a sociology student at the University of California at Los Angeles. “The anti-Semitism and active promotion of hate that ran rampant throughout this BDS campaign cannot and must not be tolerated. We applaud [the union] for taking a firm position against BDS and discrimination based on religion or national origin.”

oes of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel got a big boost Wednesday when a national union told a local chapter it couldn’t adopt a BDS resolution.

United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union, which oversees U.S. chapters, granted an appeal from a member of the University of California student-worker group Informed Grads, the student group said in a release yesterday.

The student had complained to UAW International that the UC chapter (Local 2865), which represents all grad student workers in the UC system, did not have authority to speak on the issue for its members. The union agreed.

According to pro-Israel activist group StandWithUs, the union’s executive board said it was “unanimous” in finding that the BDS resolution “can easily be construed as academic and cultural discrimination against union members on the basis of their national origin and religion.”

The resolution promotes “vilification” against both Israelis and Jews of other nationalities, the board said, and would harm other union members by boycotting their employers, creating “direct economic deprivation.”

The BDS campaign at UC was full of “anti-Semitism and active promotion of hate,” said Informed Grads member Karra Greenberg. The group linked to video of a “BDS Caucus event” from UC-Berkeley last fall showing speakers saying things such as “bringing down Israel really will benefit everyone in the world.”

StandWithUs thanks the United Auto Workers (UAW) International Union for striking down a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolution against Israel, which had been adopted in 2014 by the University of California Student Workers Union (UAW Local 2865). This landmark decision came in response to an appeal filed by a member of Informed Grads, a University of California graduate student group that opposes BDS. In their press release, Informed Grads stated that, “UAW International, the body that oversees all UAW locals in the United States, set national precedent by denying the local organization the right to adopt such a divisive and alienating measure.”

In its official decision released on December 15, 2015, the UAW International Executive Board stated its “unanimous belief” that BDS “espouses discrimination and vilification against Israelis and UAW members who are of Jewish lineage.” They found that, “the provisions of the BDS Resolution, despite semantical claims to the contrary by the local union, can easily be construed as academic and cultural discrimination against union members on the basis of their national origin and religion.”

Furthermore, the Executive Board determined that the UAW Local 2865 BDS resolution, “is a clear and convincing breach” of the union’s constitution, and “would harm UAW-represented workers and other union members” by boycotting companies that employ these individuals, leading to “direct economic deprivation”.

According to Informed Grads member Karra Greenberg, “All workers represented by UAW International can now rest assured that their union will not support BDS tactics or endorse an extreme political agenda that is discriminatory, alienating, and stifles academic freedom”.

“BDS seeks the elimination of Israel and the violation of Jewish rights to self-determination, and ultimately harms Israelis and Palestinians alike. UAW International should be applauded for taking a principled stand against anti-Israel bigotry, and refusing to be co-opted into a fundamentally unjust cause,” said StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein.

StandWithUs congratulates Informed Grads for this groundbreaking victory in the fight against racism, extremism, and censorship on campus. We hope their resilience, tenacity, and successful struggle for the rights of graduate students and workers will inspire similar activist efforts across the country.