WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released a report detailing how unions put politics over members while pursuing antisemitic activism. The report includes a thorough accounting of rampant antisemitic activity within the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), a United Auto Workers local union, following ALAA’s passage of an anti-Israel resolution in December of 2023. Following the resolution’s adoption, it was revealed that the statutory rights of union members were violated through retaliatory actions related to the resolution.
“Antisemitism has no place in any civil society, and unions that engage in divisive, anti-Israel politics must be held accountable,”said Chairwoman Foxx. “This report pinpoints the caustic, antisemitic ideology that has consumed many unions, ALAA in particular, while providing commonsense legislative prescriptions that will aid in properly educating union members across the nation on their statutory rights—one of them being the right to free speech. The time for accountability is now.”
Below are key findings from the report:
Unions have failed to be responsive to their Jewish members and their supporters who face antisemitic attacks and harassment since the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Not only did ALAA allow antisemitic and general harassment to go unchecked, but it also attempted to conceal its toxic environment from Congress.
Unions are overreaching in political advocacy. Unions—such as ALAA and the MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) of the United Electrical Workers—put political messaging over addressing core workplace issues.
Nearly 35 percent of ALAA members and nearly 30 percent of MIT GSU members rejected political resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, demonstrating how union leadership is needlessly diverging from the primary interests of members.
Rank-and-file union members are not well informed of their statutory rights under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Supreme Court decision in Communications Workers of America v. Beck. Worse, labor unions frequently fail to comply with these minimal requirements that protect union members’ free speech rights and the right not to pay dues or fees to a union because of religious beliefs.
Background:
January 29, 2024: The Committee sent a letter to ALAA requesting information on the union’s vote 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” (Resolution) by February 12.
February 8, 2024: ALAA’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: ALAA’s attorney contacted the Committee via email and stated that ALAA would not be cooperating with the Committee’s inquiry “at this time.”
February 20, 2024: Committee staff replied to ALAA’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 ALAA 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 ALAA 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 ALAA President Lisa Ohta after the union failed to comply in full with the Committee’s subpoena demands. The letter dismissed ALAA’s meritless objections to the subpoena. The letter also stated that additional enforcement actions would be taken if ALAA failed to produce the remaining subpoenaed documents.
May 14, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx served a subpoena for a deposition to ALAA President Ohta. The subpoena compelling Ohta to participate in a deposition came as ALAA continued to obstruct the Committee’s investigation into the contentious vote and subsequent adoption of the Resolution. Concerns of potential retaliation against dissenting union members led the Committee to probe potential violations of ALAA member rights guaranteed by the LMRDA.
May 28, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx introduced H.R. 8573, the Union Members Right to Know Act, which requires labor unions to inform union members of their free speech rights and the right not to pay dues or fees to the union based on religious beliefs and practices.
