How Labor Unions Feed Campus Antisemitism
At UC Berkeley, Karin Yaniv arrived from Israel in 2022 to pursue postdoctoral work in microbiology. Shortly after Oct. 7, the union that represents Ms. Yaniv and 48,000 other UC workers—United Auto Workers Local 4811—condemned Israel and later established a 'Union Village' within UC Berkeley's encampment. Ms. Yaniv chose to join the union so she could discuss with union officials how its actions harmed Jews and Israelis on campus.
Ms. Yaniv says she was barred from union working groups, excluded from union communications, and targeted for harassment during union meetings. So were other Israelis, including those whose relatives had been taken hostage by Hamas. She discovered that the union planned to push the university to adopt boycott, divestment and sanctions policies against the Jewish state and found on the union's Google Drive a list of members of the UC Board of Regents with Jewish or Israeli ties. Ms. Yaniv and another Israeli colleague attended the union's BDS exploratory committee meetings. After they left one meeting, a witness who stayed behind reported hearing union officials lament that the two Israelis would 'just mess up' the committee's work.
In January 2025, Ms. Yaniv sued the UAW for employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. She is represented by my organization, the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm that helps those harmed by public-sector unions. Ms. Yaniv alleges that the union failed to condemn violence on campus and helped create a hostile work environment for Israelis and Jews.
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