New York Post: Professors have slammed the school’s union as “anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel” in a lawsuit

CUNY professors sue ‘anti-Semitic and anti-Israel’ union

The teachers are forced to pay dues to the Professional Staff Congress [union] and say they soured on the group in June, after it issued a resolution of support for the Palestinian people, according to their Manhattan Federal Court filing.

“Since the resolution, PSC has continued to advocate positions and take actions [the professors] believe to be anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel,” they claim in court papers.

New York Post

The lawsuit filed by CUNY professors demonstrates the injustice of compulsory union representation

A veteran lecturer at the City University of New York (CUNY) requires full-time protection on campus because his Jewish faith and pro-Israel sympathies have made him the subject of vicious attacks.

Vandals damaged a photo of his late father outside his office accompanied by anti-Semitic graffiti, including the phrases “Kill the Zionist Entity.” In an apparently connected incident, his department head, colleague professor had nails placed into the tires of his car on the day of a college council meeting pertaining to escalating tensions on campus.

CUNY administrators did little to stop the harassment campaign, even the Professional Staff Council union, which claims to “represent” the harassed teachers, openly sided with their oppressors.

A group of CUNY professors is now fighting back. They launched a civil rights claim against PSC union officials, the University, and the State of New York for requiring them to accept PSC as their “representative.”

NYC professors sue over forced representation by ‘antisemitic’ union

All of the educators resigned from PSC last summer after the union issued a resolution in support of the Palestinian people and condemning Israel. Five of the six plaintiffs are Jewish.

FOX News

The Wall Street Journal: I’m stuck with an anti-Semitic

An official PSC resolution condemned the State of Israel using words like “occupation” and “apartheid.” Many Jewish CUNY professors and supporters of Israel believe such rhetoric provokes anti-Semitism.

As part of a sustained campaign against the professor, vandals defaced a photo of Goldstein’s late father outside his office with anti-Semitic graffiti, including the words “F–k Trump Goldstein, Kill the Zionist Entity.” In an apparently related incident, fellow professor Jeffrey Lax, the head of Goldstein’s department, had nails inserted into the tires of his car on the day of a college council meeting about the rising tensions on campus.

Obviously, such attacks should be condemned. Yet, not only did CUNY officials do little to stop the harassment campaign, but the Professional Staff Council union that purports to “represent” the targeted professors publicly sided with their oppressors.

It is time for federal courts to recognize that union monopoly bargaining is an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of employees. Union officials should have to earn the voluntary support of those for whom they purport to speak, not rely on a government granted monopoly to force workers under their so-called representation.

Mark Mix, The Journal News (Opinion)

CUNY Professors’ Lawsuit Challenging Forced Association with Antisemitism-Linked Union Continues at Second Circuit

“If the First Amendment prohibits anything, it prohibits the government from dictating who speaks for citizens in their relations with the government,” reads the brief. “The State Appellees and CUNY thus necessarily infringe on the Professors’ speech and associational rights by forcing them to accept a hostile political group, which they view as anti-Semitic, as their exclusive agent for speaking and contracting with their government employer.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

The lawsuit questions the legitimacy of government-mandated union monopoly bargaining, which gives union leaders monopoly influence over every employee in a unionized workplace, including those who aren’t union members and object to what the union is doing in their name.

The professors’ lawsuit claims that this arrangement violates workers’ First Amendment rights to free expression and free association since the State of New York has allowed PSC, a private group, the legal ability to advocate for professors who completely disagree with its mission.

This requires the professors to associate with an organization that has a proven track record of acting against their best interests, as well as with others in the workplace who endorse the union’s divisive statements, which the plaintiffs find insulting.

The constitutional concerns with one-size-fits-all monopoly bargaining are especially visible in the public sector, as government-designated unions are able to speak even over individual employee objections.

Everything that government unions bargain for is political and constitutes a shift in government policy. Government unions are little more than purposefully placed advocacy groups with a political objective, which makes it especially offensive to the First Amendment when public employees, such as CUNY professors, are obliged to cooperate with the union’s intention simply to work for a government employer.

It is past time for federal courts to acknowledge that union monopoly bargaining is an unconstitutional violation of employees’ rights. Union leaders should have to earn the voluntary support of people they claim to represent, rather than depending on government-granted monopolies in order to force employees to submit to their so-called representation.

Mark Mix, National Right to Work Foundation president

Visit the National Right to Work Legal Foundation for more information about these cases or to see if they can help you fight off an unwanted union.