Carpenters hammer fellow unions on Israel

The Canadian Jewish News: The Canada Council of Carpenters last week unanimously endorsed an “historic” resolution that rejected descriptions of Israel as an apartheid state while calling for an end to threats of boycott and divestment.

The union, which represents 60,000 workers nationwide, also explicitly criticized other labour organizations that have attempted “to undermine the legitimacy of Israel’s democracy.”

The resolution, headed “Support for Israel and peace in the Middle East,” was passed by approximately 200 delegates in Victoria last week at the union’s biennial convention. It was drafted by the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario and was consistent with the union’s history of adopting “progressive” positions on public issues, said Steven Del Duca, director of public affairs for the Carpenters.

“We felt it was important for the union to take a balanced and progressive stand, both with regards Israel and the peace process,” he said.

The one-page resolution states that the Carpenters’ union “supports Israel in its struggle to maintain peace and democracy,” and urges “an immediate and peaceful resolution between Israel and the Palestinians resulting in a two-state solution.”

It also calls for “a recognition that Israel has the right to exist and to defend itself and its people, an immediate end of hostilities towards Israel by various groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah… Iran and Syria.”

It parts company with other labour groups in urging “an immediate end to the mislabelling of Israel as as apartheid state and a cessation of threats to boycott and divest from the state of Israel.”

In recent years, other unions, particularly those representing public service workers, have employed strong language in attacking Israel. In 2006, the Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) labelled Israel’s security barrier an “apartheid wall” and voted to boycott the state.

Last year, a regional conference of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) passed a resolution supporting the boycott of Israel and pledging an educational campaign about “the apartheid nature of the Israel [sic] state.”

The Canadian Labour Congress, a three-million-strong umbrella organization, has also passed a resolution that critics said was unbalanced, while accusing Israel of state terrorism.

In distancing itself from other labour groups, the Carpenter’s union states in the preamble to the resolution that “some trade unions in Canada are attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Israel’s democracy.”

The preamble also notes Israel is under continuous terrorist threat and “as a democratic society, has an active trade union movement that participates in all areas of Israeli society.”

“Unlike many neighbouring countries, Israel has an active trade union movement that participates freely in Israeli society,” said Ucal Powell, president of the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario. “Supporting a boycott or sanctions against Israel risks reinforcing terrorist groups and does little to encourage the well-being of workers in the region.”

Del Duca called the Carpenters’ resolution “balanced, fair and progressive. We recognize that Israel has a flourishing trade union movement and that underlines the things we have in common with Israel. We see a lot of commonality there.”

In the days immediately following the resolution, Del Duca said he had received about 100 e-mails, of which 98 per cent were supportive of the union’s position.

Del Duca said the conference was addressed following passage of the resolution by Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Benlolo called passage of the resolution “historic” and perhaps a “template for what other unions can do.”

 He said the Carpenters and Friends enjoy a “tight connection… We have a very close relationship with them,” and the Friends had a role in developing the resolution. Three senior union leaders will visit Israel on an educational mission in October, Benlolo added.

In thanking the union for adopting the resolution, Benlolo said he pointed out that “Israel is a democratic country that deserves the right to act as it sees fit, that it wants a resolution with the Palestinians and should not be labelled apartheid and [there should be] no divestment or sanctions.

“Unions, like CUPE Ontario and CUPW, are motivated by extremists lobbying from within and pushing them in that direction. This union [the Carpenters] does not suffer from that. The leaders themselves have a strong attachment to Israel. They just get it.”

Benlolo suggested the union may have developed a different perspective on the Middle East as a result of its close relationships with Jewish builders.

According to the State of Israel Bonds Canada’s website, more than 1,700 labour unions and numerous union pension funds in North America have invested in Israel Bonds.

Former Bonds Canada executive vice-president Lawrence Waller said this number represents private sector unions across Canada and the United States.

“[These unions] are mainly in the construction industry,” he said.

With files from Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf