A U.S. House Committee is demanding access to a union’s internal communications after it passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza—a move that threatens both the Palestine solidarity movement and the rights of organized labor.

　　The House Committee on Education and the Workforce sent the subpoena to the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA-UAW Local 2325) in March, after the union passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire, an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and support for workers’ political speech. 

　　The committee, chaired by Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), is the same congressional body that held hearings with the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the pretext of investigating antisemitism on college campuses. These hearings, and the ensuing criticisms from neoliberal and conservative voices, led to the resignations of the presidents of Penn and Harvard. Now the committee is using its wide latitude of discretionary powers along with antisemitism as a pretense to silence union criticism of Israel and infringe on workers’ constitutional rights.

　　The committee justifies its invasive legal inquiry in its cover letter under the pretext that “several of Local 2325’s members were forced to be associated with a union that had taken a critical position affecting their faith, the State of Israel, and Israel’s sovereignty.” Alarmingly, in the text of the cover letter to the subpoena, the committee indicates that it may also be using this investigation to look into “whether there is a need to make reforms to the NLRA [National Labor Relations Act] or LMRDA [Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act] to protect labor union members’ rights, to ensure that labor unions act in a manner that advances members’ interests, and to provide appropriate transparency to all members,” indicating that the Committee may have a larger agenda in play.

　　The Committee’s reasons for inquiry are dubious. After all, the first amendment of the Constitution protects political speech and the right to assembly in particular. The union’s resolution is clearly within the protections of the first amendment as a piece of political writing. Moreover, the union’s resolution was voted on by its members and passed by a considerable

　　Ask yourselves: what kind of precedent is set when Congress is able to police the speech of the working class? The dual threats of state repression and the rise of fascism are very real. To deny the importance of this legal battle would be to deny the importance of workers’ political speech and the just struggle of the Palestinian people. Every conflict with the state is a battle of principle. We can never lose, as a matter of principle, so long as we remain on the side of the people—and the people demand a FREE PALESTINE!

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  Liu Tingting

　　From:https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/union-solidarity-with-gaza-under-attack/（2024-4-19）