The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement welcomes a historic vote in June by delegates at the 39th United Auto Workers (UAW) Constitutional Convention to divest from Israel bonds as a powerful act of principled solidarity with the Palestinian people. Meaningful solidarity that has never been more urgent as the Israeli-U.S. axis continues its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, intensified ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and wars of aggression against the peoples of Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen, and beyond.
On June 18th, the UAW joined the growing list of progressive labor unions and institutions heeding the Palestinian civil society call — that people of conscience must act to end complicity in Israel’s ongoing occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians. Delegates voted for full divestment from Israel bonds by adding language in Article 7, Section 2 of their constitution that states: “No UAW funds shall be invested in Israel bonds.” We salute every worker and organizer who made this possible.
Israel bonds directly feed the coffers of Israel’s regime of genocide, apartheid and settler-colonialism against Indigenous Palestinians.
This vote is rooted in a long heritage of international solidarity in UAW. For over fifty years, UAW members have fought to ensure that workers’ dues are not used to fund occupation and apartheid. In the 1970s, thousands of workers of the UAW Arab-American Workers Caucus picketed UAW events, organized strikes, and brought demands for divestment to the 1974 UAW Constitutional Convention. Decades later, their legacy was not forgotten as workers’ perseverance achieved a landmark victory.
This year, when UAW’s leadership attempted to exclude divestment from the Convention’s agenda entirely, rank-and-file delegates — led by members of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) — took the floor and forced the amendment to a vote. 147 delegates rose in support, clearing the threshold required to bring the amendment forward. The Convention then adopted the divestment measure on Wednesday June 18th, 2026. This is the democratic will of the rank and file made manifest.
The UAW vote is part of a broader national trend rather than an isolated action, with a growing divestment movement making itself heard across the country. The Maryland Break the Bonds Campaign recently announced a major victory after the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System divested approximately 85% of the Israeli bonds it held less than a year ago — cutting holdings by more than $62 million, the largest known state-level divestment from Israeli bonds to date. That campaign is now demanding Maryland uphold its commitment and fully divest the remaining holdings. From state pension funds to university endowments to labor unions, the moral, legal, and financial case for divestment is gaining undeniable ground.
No union, pension fund, university, or institution can claim neutrality while continuing to invest in Israel bonds or other complicit investments – the time to divest is now. The UAW membership has demonstrated that workers refuse to be silent partners in injustice — and the BDS movement, which includes almost all Palestinian trade union bodies, will continue to call on workers and unions around the world to:
- Uphold and defend the inalienable rights of the Indigenous people of Palestine as stipulated in international law, particularly the right of our refugees to return home and receive reparations, and;
- Escalate BDS pressure to end all state, corporate and institutional complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.
Until freedom, justice, and equality are realized for the Palestinian people, the call to divest remains. This historic UAW vote is a testament to what is possible when the labor movement takes seriously its commitment to international solidarity, along with its moral, legal, and financial obligation to end complicity. We call on unions across North America to follow the UAW's lead, and to join forces with workers across the country and world who refuse to be complicit in atrocity crimes and grave human rights violations.