Cornell grad students join forces with far-left, anti-Israel union
In November, Cornell graduate students voted overwhelmingly to unionize and will be represented by the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE).
UE is a staunch supporter of progressive public policies and supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Graduate students at Cornell University will now unionize through a leading left-wing, anti-Israel union.
The student election was held between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, with the pro-unionization side winning in a landslide, 1,873-80, forming Cornell Graduate Students United.
The newly formed union will be affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), a union that has endorsed positions such as supporting the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, favoring Medicare for all, backing the Green New Deal, promoting the LGBT agenda, opposing military aid to Israel, and called President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem “reckless and wrong.”
[RELATED: How the rise of unionization on campus impacts undergraduate students]
Considered a deeply anti-Semitic cause by the Anti-Defamation League, the BDS movement “aims to end international support for Israeli violations of international law by forcing companies, institutions and governments to change their policies.” It also claims that “Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes.”
William Jacobson, a professor at the Cornell School of Law, considers the participation of graduate students in UE to be problematic.
”The BDS movement’s gross dehumanization of Israeli Jews is a prime vehicle giving rise to antisemitism,” he told Fox News. “We cannot allow the union to bring these noxious BDS policies onto campus.”
The Department of Education recently launched an investigation into Cornell over various instances of anti-Semitism on campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 deadly attacks on Israel.
[RELATED: BDS movement is the ‘brainchild of the progressive left…and academia’]
The university nonetheless appears to have taken a neutral stance on the graduate students’ decision to federate with UE.
“[Unionization] is a choice for every individual. We do encourage everyone to consider the question of unionization thoughtfully and carefully and [to] ask questions,” Cornell President Martha Pollack told the Student Assembly in September. “The University is committed to engaging in a process that is respectful of the rights of all involved and is consistent with the requirements of the National Labor Relations Act.”
Campus Reform has contacted Cornell University, Cornell Graduate Students United, and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
