U.S. labor leaders are denouncing British union support for a boycott of Israel.
Labor leaders in America are signing on to a statement being circulated by the Jewish Labor Committee, an alliance of Jewish union leaders and supporters, expressing staunch opposition to the British boycott efforts.
Several British unions, including the U.K. Transport and General Workers Union, are endorsing economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel to protest “treatment of the Palestinian people.”
“Their resolutions have no purpose other than demonizing Israel,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee.
Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee, praised the U.S. labor leaders for opposing the boycott.
Among those that have signed on to the Jewish Labor Committee’s statement are the presidents of the AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, American Federation of Teachers, United Food and Commercial Workers, Communications Workers of America. Masters, Mates and Pilots, American Postal Workers Union, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, UAW, American Federation of School Administrators, Office and Professional Employees International Union, American Federation of Government Employees, UNITE-HERE, United Mine Workers of America, Sheet Metal Workers International Association, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Transportation Communications Union, American Federation Musicians, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, according to the Jewish Labor Committee.
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