The New York Legal Assistance Group’s union—a chapter of the United Autoworkers of America—has engaged in anti-Israel activism and allegedly fostered a ‘hostile’ environment against Jews
Union officials promoted an “anti-Semitic toxic environment” at a New York legal aid organization where employees adorned the office with posters defending Hamas terrorism and calling for “intifada,” according to a federal anti-discrimination complaint filed on Wednesday.
Jewish union members of A Better NYLAG (ABN)—the employee union of the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)—said the guild has forced them to work next to cubicles plastered with signs supporting the destruction of Israel and terrorist violence.
Slogans mentioned in the complaint include “ABOLISH THE SETTLER STATE,” “LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE!,” and “INTIFADA NOW.”
While the pro-terrorist signs violate NYLAG policies, the complaint states that ABN officials have fought against management in an effort to keep the images up. The union has been actively involved in anti-Israel advocacy, issuing a statement shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in which it accused the Jewish state of “war crimes against Palestinians.”
In response to Jewish employees’ concerns, NYLAG management banned those in the office from displaying images related to the Israel-Hamas war. ABN objected, filing an unfair labor practice allegation with the National Labor Relations Board. The union also staged a protest in the NYLAG office, posting on Instagram that members were “wearing their keffiyehs and flying flags in solidarity with Palestinians,” the complaint notes.
Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law chairman Kenneth L. Marcus, whose organization filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said ABN leadership’s behavior flies in the face of the purpose of organized labor.
“Jewish American union members, like all other working people, are entitled to union representation that supports them fairly and equally against toxic environments,” Marcus said. “In this case, the union actually made things worse, actively attempting to block management efforts to address a workplace that had been made inhospitable for Jewish workers. This is exactly the opposite of what unions should be doing.”
Jewish union members repeatedly raised concerns about the “inhospitable” environment Marcus referenced, the complaint notes. In one email to NYLAG management, a Jewish employee described the posters as “rallying cries for murdering Jews,” writing, “[a]s a Jew, I feel threatened when I see these and depressed that they surround my workplace.”
The email included pictures of flyers posted on an office wall reading: “From the U.S. to Palestine, Abolish the Settler State,” while other slogans include “Resisting colonialism is not terrorism” and “Respect existence or expect resistance.”
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