United Auto Workers to spearhead labor ceasefire contingent in Netanyahu protests

Main photo: AP / Inset: UAW

WASHINGTON—The United Auto Workers said its members will join a “mass mobilization” protesting against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to Congress.

Netanyahu left for the U.S. on Monday and is scheduled to speak to Congress Wednesday, amid continuing global anger over Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A recent report from The Lancet said “It is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.” Such an estimate would account for 7-9% of Gaza’s population.

As part of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire, the UAW said it will join a “mass mobilization in Washington, D.C., to oppose Netanyahu’s visit, and call for an end to all U.S. military aid” to Israel.

“This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to come to Congress to ask our government to keep supporting this war,” the UAW said in a social media post. “We reject this insult to all those calling for peace and justice.”

The UAW’s post shared an online sign-up page for the demonstration, which can be accessed by clicking here.

“In its proudest moments, the labor movement has stood firmly on the side of the oppressed, and therefore on the side of justice,” reads a statement on the sign-up page. “We raise our voices today in the spirit of that proud tradition of the same movement that stood against South African apartheid and in solidarity with trade union resistance to Latin America dictatorships.”

“We raise our voices to demand that the U.S. government end its supply of aid and weapons to Israel and to demand the arrest of war criminal Netanyahu in accordance with the ICC ruling,” the statement continues.

In May, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan issued a statement seeking the arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes, including Netanyahu. Khan said Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yaov Gallant “bear criminal responsibility for…war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza. He also said Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh “bear criminal responsibility” for war crimes in Israel and Gaza.

UAW President Shawn Fain is currently under a sham investigation that is supposedly intended to stamp out corruption within the union, in the wake of a bribery and embezzlement scandal.

A recent article in People’s World notes documents have revealed that Neil Barofsky, the federally-appointed monitor for the UAW, has attempted to pressure the union to reconsider or soften its call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The UAW has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza since December 2023.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Brandon Chew

Brandon Chew is a journalist from northern Michigan.