January 18, 2024
December 19, 2023
Adopted: Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers’ Political Speech (Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325)
Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine,
and Support for Workers’ Political Speech
by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325
November 2023
WHEREAS, Palestinian trade unions issued a statement calling for unionists worldwide to
pressure governments to stop all military funding for Israel, to take action against companies
involved in Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, and to pass motions in our unions to this effect;
WHEREAS, in recent weeks, working people around the world have shown public support for
Palestinian freedom;
WHEREAS, we are legal workers, including attorneys, paralegals, legal advocates, social
workers, interpreters, investigators, administrative staff, and more, serving and defending the
most demonized and oppressed communities in the United States–poor, criminalized,
immigrant, Black and Indigenous people–and we stand for human rights and against apartheid,
ethnic cleansing, and genocide;
WHEREAS, Israel has, since the violent tragedy on October 7, 2023, increasingly espoused
genocidal rhetoric against all Palestinians, including the Israeli Defense Minister calling all
Gazans “human animals,” and the President of Israel denying the existence of innocent civilians
in the Gaza Strip, and has taken actions to collectively punish civilians in Gaza, such as cutting
off food, water, aid, and electricity, and conducting a widespread bombing campaign;
WHEREAS, the United States has encouraged Israel’s escalation of violence against
Palestinians–for example, the House of Representatives recently passed $14.3 billion in US
military aid beyond the nearly $4 billion a year it provides to Israel annually–and it has otherwise
failed to express solidarity with the people of Palestine or taken any actions to do anything but
escalate the current violence;
WHEREAS, Israel has cut off internet and phone service in Gaza, further isolating Palestinians
in Gaza from the rest of the world and from one another;
WHEREAS, since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed over 11,100 people in Gaza, not counting
thousands of missing people and those who are dying from starvation, illness, or lack of
treatment;
WHEREAS, Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, places of worship, and refugee camps,
resulting in numerous deaths of civilians who are already displaced from their homes and are
seeking refuge at internationally recognized safe areas;
WHEREAS, on October 13, 2023, Israel gave 1.1 million Palestinians living in northern Gaza
only 24 hours to evacuate their homes;
WHEREAS, in recent weeks, the number of Palestinian arrests and Israeli attacks against
Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem have greatly escalated, including 133 Palestinians
killed in the West Bank since October 7, 2023;
WHEREAS, Israel is holding approximately 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons, many of them
under administrative detention without due process, and treatment of Palestinians in prison has
worsened in recent weeks;
WHEREAS, Israel has kept the Gaza Strip under a state of siege for decades, and according to
many international human rights organizations, maintains a colonial apartheid occupation
regime against the Palestinian people;
WHEREAS, the recent Israeli siege on Gaza deepens the ethnic cleansing and dispossession
of the Palestinian people that has been ongoing since the Nakba in 1948 and the Balfour
Declaration in 1917;
WHEREAS, Palestinians will now need humanitarian relief that reflects the assistance we
provide as legal service workers in New York, Detroit, and Texas, including relief to address
Palestinian homelessness, refugee displacement, prisoners rights, criminal defense, rights of
parents and children, and access to food, clean water, medical services, schools and essential
utilities.
WHEREAS, in 2022, this local passed a Resolution on Divestment from Israel Bonds, affirming
support for individual members and as a local collectively to take action in support of Palestinian
liberation from Israeli apartheid;
WHEREAS, many of our members, and the majority of our clients, have ancestors who are
survivors of colonization, apartheid, or genocide;
WHEREAS, our members denounce and are subjected to Islamophobic attacks and antisemitic
threats, and such attacks and threats are on the rise as Israel and the United States continue to
escalate the violence in Gaza;
WHEREAS, in the face of these ongoing horrors, members of the Association of Legal Aid
Attorneys reaffirm and deepen our connection to the Palestinian liberation struggle;
WHEREAS, organized workers at CAMBA Legal Services Workers United – UAW Local 2325,
The Bronx Defenders Union – UAW Local 2325,, Make the Road NY Union – UAW Local 2320,
workers at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America (UE), National Writers Union, the American Postal Workers Union, NYU
GSOC – UAW 2110, University of California Academic Workers – UAW 2865, Student Workers of
Columbia – UAW 2710, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and others have spoken out in solidarity
with the Palestinian people in recent weeks;
WHEREAS, workers, law students, and undergraduate student organizations are being doxxed
for expressing support for Palestinians and opposition to Israeli occupation, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide;
WHEREAS, New York County Defender Services pressured attorney Victoria Ruiz to quit after
the New York Post published an article containing a video that misrepresented her actions at a
vigil for Palestinians recently killed by Israel;
WHEREAS, the ALAA chapter at The Bronx Defenders is being threatened with organizational
defunding due to The Bronx Defenders Union – UAW Local 2325, October 20, 2023 statement in
support of Palestinians, which condemned the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians committed by Israel and the United States;
WHEREAS, such threats to defund The Bronx Defenders are threats against vital legal services
provided to 20,000 low-income Bronx residents, including Bronx parents facing family
separation by child protective services in family court as well as Bronx community members
facing displacement in Bronx housing court, deportation in immigration court, and prosecution
and incarceration in criminal court.
THEREFORE, be it resolved, that the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, Local 2325 of the
United Auto Workers, takes the following positions:
● We call on Israel and the United States to implement an immediate ceasefire; restore
water, electricity, gas, and internet; permit international humanitarian assistance, and
retract any evacuation orders in Gaza;
● We call for an end to Israeli apartheid and the occupation and blockade of Palestinian
land, sea, and air by Israeli military forces;
● We oppose all existing and any future military aid to Israel;
● We endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement;
● We endorse Not On Our Dime legislation, which prohibits not-for-profit corporations in
New York from aiding or abetting activity in support of illegal Israeli settlements in
violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949; and
● We support the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland; and
THEREFORE, be it further resolved, that we reject all attempts to intimidate workers for their
political speech, and we will organize against any attempts by our employers to procure funds
denied to other legal services providers due to their union’s political activism in support of
Palestinians and in opposition to the Israeli apartheid regime and occupation; and
THEREFORE, be it further resolved, that we call on our elected officials, UAW International,
labor councils of which we are members, other unions, and our employers to use all available
resources to take the actions listed above.
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325
December 13, 2023
Union Response to Legal Aid Society Attack on Palestine Free Speech at the Workplace
In response to a proposed resolution to be voted on by The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA-UAW local 2325), the Legal Aid Society (LAS) released a public statement condemning the resolution and encouraging ALAA members to vote against this resolution. LAS management then held a town hall to influence voting on the resolution by informing members that several law firms threatened to pull funding should the union approve this resolution.
The Legal Aid Society chapter of ALAA (LAS – ALAA) denounces LAS management’s interference with union democracy.
Membership is our union’s highest authority. Each member has a voice and a vote in our democratic process. LAS management sought to interfere with that process in unprecedented ways by using intimidation and fear to influence the union vote. LAS management maligned our membership with baseless claims of antisemitism, an accusation that is especially offensive to the many Jewish members who support this resolution. We reject a zero-sum game mentality that states we cannot condemn violence against Palestinians without being inherently antisemitic.
Our union has a long tradition of taking a stand on important civil and human rights issues facing our communities at home and abroad. Injustice has no borders. From opposing fascism in WWII to mobilizing against apartheid in South Africa, the UAW has stood for justice. We proudly continue in this tradition and rank and file members answered a call from trade unionists in Palestine for solidarity.
For fifty-four years, ALAA has fought to improve our working conditions so that our clients have quality representation. When employers move to weaken our workplace protections and drain our ranks of talented, experienced lawyers, and funders threaten to withdraw financial support, it is our clients, mostly Black and brown New Yorkers who suffer. If the firms attempting to silence the union’s political speech truly had our clients’ best interests at heart, they would do better to ensure Legal Aid’s funding remain intact and support us in dismantling the systems that continue to oppress them.
Despite attempts to interfere with our democratic process and regardless of the outcome of our union vote, our members will continue to defend our right to express ourselves on issues of public concern. We remain undeterred by these outrageous attacks, and demand that LAS focus its energy in fighting for the communities we serve and not attacking the workers who represent them.
–The Executive Board of the Legal Aid Society chapter of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys
December 6, 2023
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)
For Immediate Release: December 6, 2023
Contact: uawlaborforpalestine@gmail.com
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)
Palestinian trade unions have urged immediate action to stop the flow of weapons to Israel
Detroit, Michigan—UAW Labor for Palestine, a working group composed of rank-and-file members formed in opposition to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and throughout Palestine, welcomes the International UAW’s call for a ceasefire, announced by Region 9A director Brandon Mancilla on December 1.
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.”
In the last month, rank-and-file UAW members across the country have sent hundreds of letters urging the International Executive Board to call for a ceasefire, to stand in “solidarity with Palestine,” and to endorse the BDS call. We are encouraged to learn the UAW will be forming a working group to investigate economic ties to Israel and to militarism more broadly, which was formed as the result of our rank-and-file organizing. We plan on participating actively in that group—and continuing to pressure our union leadership to stand in solidarity for a free Palestine.
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
About UAW Labor for Palestine: UAW Labor for Palestine–formally a working group created through the UAW Region 9A Rank-and-File Assembly–is a collective of rank-and-file members organizing across the UAW to demand an immediate end to Israel’s apartheid regime, occupation, and ongoing genocide in Palestine, to embrace the recent urgent call from Palestinian trade unions to stop arming Israel, and to act upon the UAW Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) sign-on letter by advancing Palestine solidarity priorities. We organize at the individual, shop, local, and regional levels, and we work towards ending the International UAW’s complicity in Israeli apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people.
About the UAW Region 9A Rank-and-File Assembly: The Region 9A Rank-and-File Assembly (RFA) is the only regional organizing space of its kind in the UAW. In it, rank-and-file members across all industries develop cross-sector strategies to strengthen our solidarity within our union and to build a stronger UAW. In addition to UAW Labor for Palestine, RFA working groups currently exist for reproductive justice, higher education, union recognition and inclusive units, cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), and organizing in the social services sector. All regional initiatives launched by the RFA—from working group creation to campaigns and direct action—are developed and led by our union’s rank and file.
November 26, 2023
November 17, 2023
October 25, 2023
October 20, 2023
July 22, 2022
Press Release: UAW 2325 (Association of Legal Aid Attorneys) Votes to Divest From Israel Bonds
PRESS RELEASE
UAW 2325 (ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL AID ATTORNEYS) VOTES TO DIVEST FROM ISRAEL BONDS
New York City, July 26, 2022. On Friday, July 22nd, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA/UAW 2325) passed a resolution calling for the divestment of UAW member dues from Israel bonds. The resolution was adopted by a wide margin in a membership-wide vote, with 75% of those who participated voting in favor.
The resolution sets itself out as a direct response to the May 2021 call by Palestinian labor organizations, made during a historic general strike, for union workers around the world to join in the anti-apartheid movement for Palestinian liberation by supporting the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), which calls for an end to an end to Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
The resolution comes nearly half a century after Detroit autoworkers held a 1973 wildcat strike to demand that UAW divest from Israel bonds, which fund dispossession of the Palestinian people. A similar call was adopted in an overwhelming vote by the 13,000 teaching assistant and student-worker members of UAW 2865 at the University of California in 2014, before being undemocratically “nullified” by UAW’s International Executive Board.
The ALAA/UAW 2325 resolution endorses collective action in support of Palestinian liberation and calls on UAW to divest from its holdings in Israel bonds. The resolution also calls on UAW to practice transparency in its holdings funded by member dues, and to develop democratic processes for members to control further investments.
“As legal aid workers, we should ask whether our union dues are being used to promote justice or inhibit it,” said Ihab Mikati, one of the members who proposed the resolution. “How can we build a legitimate movement while materially supporting exploitation, or occupation, or apartheid? Labor is stronger when we recognize that solidarity extends beyond the walls of our offices.”
“By this landslide membership vote, we join the growing ranks in labor who honor the BDS picket line,” said Michael Letwin, former president of UAW 2325, co-convener of Labor for Palestine, and co-founder of Jews for Palestinian Right of Return. “Solidarity with Palestine is natural given our work as public defenders and indigent legal services workers, and intersects with our union’s tradition of support for labor, Black Lives, immigrants, reproductive rights, and countless other justice movements.”
Contact:
Ihab Mikati – ihab.mikati@gmail.com
Michael Letwin – info@laborforpalestine.net
May 11, 2021
Endorsement of the Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA)[ALAA Delegate Council Resolution]
Justice in Motion Union | Joint Council Proposal
May 11, 2021
As union delegates from Justice in Motion, our mission is driven by international solidarity
because we know that the movement towards a fairer world does not stop at the borders of the
country we live in. To that end, we make the following motion:
WHEREAS, The Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA) proposes that the US government cut
funding to the Philippine government, which uses state terror to target activists, union leaders,
and lawyers doing the same kind of work that members of ALAA do and;
WHEREAS, under President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been in power since 2016, more lawyers
have been assassinated than in the previous 44 years combined in an attempt to stifle the
progressive movement, and;
WHEREAS, Since 2016, the US has provided $550 million in military aid to the Duterte regime,
funded by American taxpayers. It is urgent that this funding cease so that we do not continue to
fund state-sponsored terrorism with our money, and so that the US government can move
forward away from its imperial legacy in the region by refusing to collaborate with despotic
leaders, and;
WHEREAS, there are far more pressing causes domestically that this amount of money could
fund: causes that would uplift communities rather than terrorize them, and;
WHEREAS, as lawyers and advocates, we know how crucial our work is in confronting deeply
unequal and oppressive systems. Even if we are rooted in our communities, we must
acknowledge that our fight is universal and that we can only work towards a fairer world if we
show solidarity with others in the struggle, no matter where they may be and;
WHEREAS, as we just marked International Workers’ Day, we would like to take this concrete
step towards showing our solidarity with fellow workers in the Philippines as they risk their lives
fighting for our shared cause.
NOW, THEREFORE, ALAA will show solidarity with unionists and progressive lawyers in the
Philippines by:
1) Endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA).
2) Donating $200 to the PHRA campaign movement.
3) Becoming a member of the NY4PHRA Alliance (www.tinyurl.com/joinNY4PHRA).
4) Appointing a representative to serve as liaison with the NY4PHRA Alliance.
We additionally direct the officers of the Local Union to communicate this position to UAW
Region 9A, other UAW locals within our Region, and the UAW International and to encourage
them to become national endorsers of the PHRA along with unions such as the Communication
Workers of America and the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers Union.
ALAA Roots -- An Unofficial Site 