UAW Local 2865, the union of TAs, GAs, tutors, Readers and student workers in the University of California system, released the results of its December 4 BDS vote on December 10: a landslide victory for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel for its violation of Palestinian human rights! The vote carried, 65% YES to 35% NO. In addition, 52% of respondents opted in to a voluntary academic boycott pledge as part of the vote. This makes UAW 2865 the first labor union in the United States to consider and adopt BDS in support of Palestinian rights – a major breakthrough.

Vote results from UAW 2865:

2014 BDS Vote

On December 4, 2014, our Local voted on a resolution concerning participation in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Results

A majority of those voting voted to ratify the proposed resolution. Out of a total of 2168 votes cast, the total vote counts were:

Yes: 1411 (65%)
No: 749 (35%)

In addition, 1136 members pledged to personally adhere to the academic boycott. The vote totals broken down by campus are:

Berkeley ballots cast: 721
Yes: 506
No: 214
Personal Pledge: 397

Davis ballots cast: 203
Yes: 167
No: 36
Personal Pledge: 127

Irvine ballots cast: 141
Yes: 55
No: 86
Personal Pledge: 46

Los Angeles ballots cast: 525
Yes: 305
No: 218
Personal Pledge: 238

Merced ballots cast: 1
This ballot was counted with the Riverside ballots to respect the anonymity of the Merced voter.

Riverside ballots cast: 127
Yes: 91
No: 36
Personal Pledge: 75

San Diego ballots cast: 149
Yes: 121
No: 27
Personal Pledge: 110

Santa Barbara ballots cast: 180
Yes: 84
No: 95
Personal Pledge: 70

Santa Cruz ballots cast: 121
Yes: 82
No: 37
Personal Pledge: 73

Also see the informative article by Nora Barrows-Friedman at Electronic Intifada on this breakthrough in labor: