By Eran Shayshon and Glenn M. Taubman
Antisemitism has a long history of existing in various parts of society. One area where it stands out is within trade unions, which are supposed to champion workers’ rights and social justice. In recent times, American labor unions have become a new battleground for anti-Israel campaigns and antisemitic behaviors. On the other hand, British trade unions have been actively involved in delegitimizing Israel and fostering antisemitism for a considerable amount of time. This British experience offers valuable insights into the challenges American Jewish communities are currently facing. Moreover, there are specific factors in America that make this trend even more concerning for educational institutions and democracy as a whole.
British Trade Unions and the Mainstreaming of Antisemitism
The relationship between British trade unions and Israel has evolved significantly over the years. In the 1960s and early 1970s, there was a notably positive phase in British trade union ties with Israel, to the extent that the British Foreign Office expressed worries about the strength of this relationship. During this period, many on the British left viewed Israel favorably, particularly due to the presence of Kibbutzim – which were socialist collective settlements seen as a symbol of a socialist-leaning democracy emerging from the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Support for the Palestinian cause started gaining traction after the Six-Day War in 1967. Initially, this sentiment was more prominent among Labour MPs and in Parliament rather than within the actual trade unions. A significant shift occurred in September 1982 when the Trades Union Congress (TUC) passed a crucial motion in support of Palestinian statehood. This event signaled the beginning of a noticeable change in union stances. The most significant alterations in union attitudes took place post-2005 when major British unions like Unite and UNISON started endorsing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Similarly, the predecessors of the University and College Union (UCU) – NATFHE and AUT – called for an academic boycott of Israel in 2005, with the UCU, formed by their merger, maintaining support for BDS since 2008.
The transformation within British trade unions reflects a broader trend within European radical left-wing politics, where antisemitism often masquerades as anti-imperialism or anti-Zionism. The Trade Union Congress (TUC), encompassing 58 affiliated unions representing nearly seven million members, has been instrumental in this shift. Resolutions passed at union conferences frequently focus on boycotting Israeli goods and severing ties with Israeli labor organizations.
An important catalyst to this trend is the ‘Red-Green Alliance.’ This informal alliance between far-left elements and fundamentalist Islamist groups has been serving as the hardcore ideological opposition to Israel in the UK since the 2003 Iraq War. As the number of blue-collar unionized Jews gradually decreased while the British Jewish community rose in affluence, the remaining Jewish voices within trade unions were marginalized. Meanwhile, Muslims are increasingly viewed as the new proletariat deserving solidarity.
Trade Unions in Britain have been instrumental in mainstreaming antisemitism into politics and institutions. The former head of the Labour Party who almost became Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn, is strongly identified as a leader against Israel within the Red-Green Alliance and British trade unions.
Parallels and Divergences
The process of normalizing antisemitism within British trade unions offers vital insights for understanding current developments in American organized labor, particularly because they are so similar: in the U.S. as in Britain, there is a clear ideological shift from solidarity with Israel to an anti-Israel stance. American trade unions are experiencing the impact of demographic changes as Jewish blue-collar membership has declined, while Muslim and radical student representation has increased. Traditionally, pro-American and pro-Israel private sector unions are on the decline, having been supplanted over recent decades by more radical public sector unions. Simultaneously, the rise of the progressive wing in the Democratic Party resembles the institutional integration of unions with left-wing party politics. While American unions have always skewed to the left, the current leadership is more radicalized than those of previous generations. As the Reut Institute noted, since 2014, the ‘Red-Green Alliance’ as a social phenomenon has been migrating to America.
There are some differences between these two cases, related to the structure of trade unions and their differing relationships with political institutions. But the most important common theme is that American trade unions are experiencing a profound shift towards ‘wokeism’ and “intersectionality.”
Antisemitism in American Trade Unions: The Influence of Identity Politics and DEI Frameworks
The early 20th century saw significant Jewish involvement in American labor movements, with unions promoting inclusive and anti-discriminatory practices. Jews such as Samuel Gompers, David Dubinsky, Louis Brandeis, and Arthur Goldberg were founders and leaders of the American labor movement. Nevertheless, many American unions exhibited prejudices against Jews, alongside other minority groups like Black people and women in the workforce. While some unions in the U.S. maintained a commitment to combating discrimination, not all did.
However, the surge of identity politics and the integration of DEI frameworks have introduced new complexities in the workplace. While DEI initiatives claim to promote diversity and equity within organizations, they have become an impediment to meritocracy as they pursue purist and unattainable goals such as quotas and “equality of outcomes.” Jews, who are framed as white and privileged within intersectional spaces, have been inadvertently or deliberately marginalized. This positioning has effectively recast antisemitism as a concern of privileged white people rather than a form of discrimination worthy of broader worker solidarity and collective action. No wonder, therefore, that pro-Palestinian stances adopted by unions have veered into antisemitism, with American trade unions participating in riots and “protests” supporting Hamas—a truly genocidal and antisemitic organization—while ignoring or ostracizing their own Jewish members.
The Latest Iterations of American Union Antisemitism
Like their current British counterparts, many American labor union leaders have strayed far from their ostensible role as protectors of employees’ workplace rights. Partisan politics and foreign policy escapades are simply more exciting and interesting than filing workplace grievances or negotiating workplace protections. Internal union democracy is weak, and workers are largely passive or apathetic about the management of their unions. Thus, most unions are susceptible to being taken over from within by their most vocal and radicalized activists. These unions become run by, and are beholden to, their own extremists: people more interested in the ideological and “intersectional” causes fashionable at the fringes of the political spectrum than the well-being of the workers they purport to represent. These unions are not our fathers’ or grandfathers’ labor unions, many of which were founded by Jews and were once staunchly pro-Israel and pro-American. In many workplaces, such as college campuses, teaching hospitals, government offices, and K-12 schools, unions have campaigned for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, taking pro-Hamas and anti-American positions because BDS has become the siren song of the progressive left.
For example, in July 2024, leaders of a coalition of unions representing millions of employees signed an open letter to President Biden demanding a cessation of all military aid to Israel, without which, the letter contended, “the Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response” to the October 7th attacks. The signers included some of the largest American unions: the National Education Association (NEA), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Such delegitimization of Israel has crept into the healing professions as well. SEIU’s offshoot in many of the nation’s teaching hospitals, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU), has put out statements accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid, and calling for boycotts, divestment, and cutoffs of military aid. One statement notes that the CIR-SEIU resolves to provide “legal and logistical support” to its members who face discipline for the anti-Israel actions they take (which presumably includes rioting, campus takeovers, harassment of Jews, etc.).
One example of this is the United Electrical (UE) union filing unfair labor practice charges against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) because the university suspended some of the pro-Hamas rioters who blocked access to campus buildings and threatened Israeli and Jewish students. Instead of siding with the victims of Hamas’ terror and the crude antisemitism of the “protesters,” the UE is using compulsory union dues and union lawyers to support the perpetrators of these hateful actions.
Finally, teachers’ unions and their members actively promote anti-Israel curriculum in K-12 public schools. A group of member-activists in the Oakland, CA, teachers’ union distributed sample lesson plans advocating for the “liberation of the Palestinian people,” with titles such as “Gaza Fights for Freedom” and “Art as Resistance,” while stating, “We reject the majority of the lessons shared by Oakland Unified School District.” Can any student learn to think freely and critically about a century-old conflict with this sort of skewed pedagogy?
Undermining American Values and Interests
The infiltration of antisemitism within American trade unions poses significant challenges to the foundational values and interests of the United States. Trade unions are often thought to embody principles of equality, justice, and solidarity, advocating for the rights and well-being of all workers. When antisemitic sentiments take control of these organizations, they undermine these core values, harm individuals, and weaken the solidarity unions rely upon to negotiate better wages, working conditions, and benefits for all members.
Trade unions have become arenas where antisemitic sentiments can thrive, under the guise of political activism and solidarity with other marginalized groups.
This development shouldn’t be perceived as merely a Jewish problem, as antisemitism is only a symptom of a larger phenomenon undermining America. The erosion of the social fabric through biased curricula and dogmatic, anti-pluralistic ideologies has fostered a generation increasingly alienated from American patriotic values, as evidenced by the indifference to flag burning, defacing public memorials, and anti-American rhetoric on campuses following the October 7th massacre. The challenge to meritocracy in workplaces, universities, and corporations—where decisions are increasingly based on ideological conformity rather than merit—threatens America’s fundamental principles of excellence and innovation that drive its success.
The promotion of institutional chaos, exemplified by calls to “defund the police” without viable alternatives, weakens the basic structures that maintain social order and stability. Most alarming is the direct assault on scientific inquiry and objective truth, where ideological considerations are increasingly privileged over factual evidence, threatening America’s position as a global leader in research and innovation. Addressing the contemporary blend of antisemitism is not only a Jewish interest, nor solely important for the integrity and effectiveness of the labor movement, but it is primarily important for American democracy and self-governance.
Eran Shayshon is the Founder of Atchalta, a think and do tank, established with the goal of strengthening national resilience and security, as well as social cohesion in Israel and the Jewish world. Eran specializes in combating antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel.
Glenn M. Taubman is a staff attorney at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, dedicated to protecting employees’ rights against compulsory unionism. With over 40 years of experience, Glenn has litigated numerous cases under federal and state labor laws, focusing on employees’ rights to refrain from paying union dues and decertify unpopular unions.
