by Maximillian Alvarez | Jun 26, 2026 | Gaza, Israel, labor, Palestine, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Working People
At the 39th Constitutional Convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, union delegates debated and affirmed the aggressive direction the UAW has taken under current President Shawn Fain, supporting pushes to increase shop-floor militancy, support new organizing efforts, and take stronger stances on the political crises working people face today. Among the major developments to come out of the UAW Constitutional Convention was a historic vote to divest the union from Israel bonds, which provide financial support to Israel’s government as it continues to wage a US-backed campaign of genocidal violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. In this episode, we break down this historic vote and what it means for union members with a panel of rank-and-file workers and members of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a left-wing caucus within the UAW.
Panelists include: Andrew Bergman, a worker at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, a member of UAW Local 22, and co-chair of UAWD; Navruz Baum, a paralegal in New York, a member of UAW Local 2325, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; Margie Thornton, an attorney in Colorado, a member of UAW Local 2320, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; and Mike Davis, an auto parts worker in Ohio, a member of UAW Local 2021, and a member of UAWD.
Additional links/info:
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) website, member platform, and donation page
Navruz Baum, Daily Struggle, “UAW divests from Israel bonds”
Dan DiMaggio & Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, “Auto worker delegates back union’s fighting direction at UAW Convention”
Shireen Akram-Boshar, Truthout, “United Auto Workers vote to divest from Israel in historic victory”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working
by Sam Rosenthal | Jun 25, 2026 | AIPAC, Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Democratic Socialism, Democratic Socialists, Democratic Socialists of America, DSA, elections, Gaza, Israel, New York, New York City, News Analysis, Palestine, Zohran Mamdani
The establishment wing of the Democratic Party is reeling in the wake of the stunning democratic socialist victories in New York City this week, as races won by progressive challengers exposed different facets of the establishment’s increasingly tenuous hold on its voters. And the drama is not over yet: The next test of democratic socialism’s appeal will come on June 30…
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by Maximillian Alvarez | Jun 24, 2026 | FBI, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Working People
On June 10, early in the morning, FBI agents raided the homes of individuals involved in Palestine solidarity activism at the University of Michigan. As Yarden Katz and Stephen M. Ward report in Mondoweiss, “with help from local and state police departments, including the University of Michigan Police, the raids unfolded simultaneously in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin…The case is now known as the Michigan Eight. The Justice Department indicted the eight defendants—five of whom are current or former students at the University of Michigan, and one of whom was a University employee—on multiple counts of severe charges, including “Conspiracy to Transmit Threats in Interstate and Foreign Commerce.” The defendants, all in their twenties, now potentially face decades in prison.”
In this installment of our ongoing series “Police State University,” we speak with Kevin Zheng, a member-organizer and secretary of the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Michigan, and Grace Viscito, a restaurant worker and former graduate student at the University of Michigan.
Additional links/info:
Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Legal Fund of Michigan Students for Palestine
Yarden Katz & Stephen M. Ward, Mondoweiss, “Inside the case against the ‘Michigan 8’: Palestine activism recast as antisemitic terror”
Alexa Cheaney, The Michigan Daily, “The Daily breaks down the indictment against eight pro-Palestine activists”
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: ‘There’s so many cops everywhere’”
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday’: FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript
by Stephen Prager | Jun 23, 2026 | Air Strike, Children, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, News, Occupied Territories, Palestine, UN, west bank
About 30% of those killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, have been children, according to a United Nations inquiry on Tuesday, which found the “deliberate” targeting of kids to have furthered a genocide against Palestinians. The report, authored by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, follows a previous finding in September…
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by Shireen Akram-Boshar | Jun 22, 2026 | Austerity, Gaza, Keir Starmer, Labour Party, News, Palestine Action, UK
U.K. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, after just 23 months as prime minister and a rapid decline in popularity. Under Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party suffered repeated and record defeats in local elections to the right-wing Reform Party. Starmer’s rapid unpopularity rested on his austerity policies and, among the left, his repression of Palestine…
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by Shireen Akram-Boshar | Jun 22, 2026 | Arab Americans, BDS, Gaza, Israel, Israel Bonds, News, Palestine, UAW, United Auto Workers
The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union with some 400,000 active members across the U.S., has voted to divest its estimated $400,000 from Israel bonds. The divestment vote makes the UAW the first major national union to vote to divest from Israel. On Thursday, UAW members voted at the union’s 39th Constitutional Convention in Detroit, where some 1,000 delegates from UAW locals around the…
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