WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) served a subpoena for a deposition to Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325 (Local 2325) President Lisa Ohta. The subpoena compelling Ohta to participate in a deposition on May 29, 2024, comes as Local 2325 continues to obstruct the Committee’s investigation into the contentious vote and subsequent adoption of the “Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers’ Political Speech” (Resolution). Concerns of potential retaliation against dissenting union members led the Committee to probe potential violations of Local 2325 member rights guaranteed by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The Resolution has been the source of significant controversy within the union. Some aggrieved Local 2325 members have been forced to resort to litigation in the wake of the Resolution.
In the cover letter accompanying the subpoena, Foxx writes:“The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is continuing its investigation of alleged infringements on the rights of union members by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325 (Local 2325) through its consideration of a resolution on Gaza. Despite the Committee’s attempts to receive responsive information through voluntary and compulsory means, Local 2325 has impeded this investigation. Accordingly, the Committee now compels your attendance for a deposition.”
The letter continues: “This letter follows numerous attempts by the Committee to receive information about Local 2325’s alleged interference with its members’ rights under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act related to the consideration and adoption of the ‘Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers’ Political Speech.’”
Foxx concludes:“Following Local 2325’s lack of cooperation and despite the Committee’s attempts to provide reasonable accommodations, the Committee invoked compulsory process to continue its investigation. … Local 2325 has continued to impede this investigation deliberately.”
January 29, 2024: The Committee sent a letter to Local 2325 requesting information on the union’s vote and adoption of the Resolution by February 12.
February 8, 2024: Local 2325’s attorney contacted the Committee via email requesting additional time to respond to the Committee’s inquiry, which the Committee granted during a call with the attorney by extending the deadline to produce materials to February 19.
February 19, 2024: Local 2325’s attorney contacted the Committee via email and stated that Local 2325 would not be cooperating with the Committee’s inquiry “at this time.”
February 20, 2024: Committee staff replied to Local 2325’s attorney offering an additional two days to reconsider and to produce materials by February 26, 2024.
March 11, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a subpoena requiring Local 2325 to produce documents and communications related to the vote and adoption of the Resolution by March 25, 2024.
March 13, 2024: The Free Press posted leaked internal group chat messages from Local 2325 showing union members calling their Jewish colleagues “fascist,” “deranged,” and “mentally disturbed” for supporting Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
April 8, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a letter to Local 2325 President Ohta after the union failed to comply in full with the Committee’s subpoena demands. The letter dismissed Local 2325’s meritless objections to the subpoena. The letter also stated that additional enforcement actions would be taken if Local 2325 failed to produce the remaining subpoenaed documents.
