Labor unions have a long history in the United States of advocating for workers’ rights. But in recent years, some unions, particularly those representing graduate students, have drifted away from that mission and, under the guise of “Palestinian activism,” have turned into hubs of hostility toward Jewish members. Moreover, when Jewish union members raise concerns about feeling targeted, the union response is – double down.
The most recent example is from the Cornell University Graduate Student Union. As Jewish Insider reported, a BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) resolution advancing through the union accuses Jewish students of “weaponizing antisemitism” and claims labor disputes stem from “Zionist interests.” The draft resolution, shared in November, states that “the dismantling of unions in higher education based on Zionist interests is not only to the detriment of graduate worker unions – it threatens the working class and labor unions nationwide.”
First and foremost, “Zionist interests” are not inherently anti-union. Rather, Jews have a long history of supporting the labor movement. And, Zionism itself has an offshoot, labor Zionism, which sought to combine Zionism with socialism. Reasonable people can disagree over Zionism’s origins and various frameworks, but it is simply inaccurate to suggest Zionism is, in and of itself, at odds with labor unions.
The Cornell resolution goes on to claim that a recent U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on antisemitism in unions “crystallizes how autocrats are weaponizing antisemitism charges against unions in higher education to undermine labor unions nationwide.”
A labor union’s core responsibility is representing all members regardless of religion, race or ethnicity. BDS resolutions, which call for academic and economic boycotts of Israel – a global leader in science and technology – would jeopardize cross-campus research partnerships and alienate Jewish members who rely on their unions for workplace support. And alienating Jewish members is exactly what happened with the Cornell Graduate Student Union. When Jewish graduate students at Cornell objected, the union’s response was to proceed with the BDS resolution, signaling that a grievance group’s ideological agenda matters more than ensuring all workers are protected and represented.
To understand how this escalated, it helps to look at the shift within the labor movement away from traditional workplace concerns including safe conditions, fair pay, and disability protections and toward ideological activism and obsession with Israel.
Cornell’s graduate student union is part of UE Local 300, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. According to its website, “UE members are also rail crew drivers, hospital workers, co-op workers, federal contract workers, teachers, paraeducators, clerical workers, graduate workers, scientists and librarians.” And, increasingly, unions include more and more graduate students.
According to Jacobin (named after the violent political movement that followed the French Revolution), UE has 35,000 total members, and the Cornell Graduate Student Union has 3,000 members, meaning that Cornell University alone makes up just shy of 10% of all of UE’s membership – hardly the laboring electricians and train operators we may think of. And it isn’t isolated to UE. According to an October 2023 article from the Columbia Journalism School, roughly 25% of a different union, the United Auto Workers (UAW) membership consists of “academic workers.” In other words, unions increasingly represent white collar workers – including graduate students studying biomedical engineering or poetry– not auto workers. And with that expansion has come a surge of members steeped in grievance politics, many of whom appear more focused on condemning Israel than on negotiating better pay for hotel maids.
So what is to be done? The first step is ensuring that all union members know their rights. If you are a union member facing antisemitism, please contact my organization – the Gevura Fund. Second, and this is the most important – those concerned with rising antisemitism in labor unions must acknowledge that despite unions claiming to be democratic, they ignore the concerns of their Jewish members. In fact, UE’s website says, “In UE, we use the term ‘rank-and-file unionism’ to describe how our union operates: it simply means it’s the members who run our union – in a democratic and collective manner.”
But ignoring the legitimate concerns of Jewish members to play left-wing progressive politics is hardly democratic or pro-worker – it is radicalism and antisemitism wearing a workers’ rights skin suit.
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