The resolution was approved near the end of the council’s March 11 meeting with a “fairly close vote” among the 45 to 50 delegates remaining to the end of the proceedings, according to Walter Johnson, the council’s secretary-treasurer.
The labor council represents 75,000 San Francisco city and county union members ranging from teachers to sailors to teamsters to office employees. The council is composed of roughly 400 delegates hailing from around 135 unions.
The passage of the resolution, which also named the United States as “the main culprit” for providing weapons to Israel, elicited shock and disappointment from members of the Jewish community.
“If, in fact, this is the official position of the San Francisco Labor Council, then I believe it is a shockingly one-sided and mean-spirited resolution,” said Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
“Given the Jewish community’s close and longstanding relationship with the labor movement in San Francisco, and, specifically, the labor council leadership, if this is official policy I think it is a very hurtful statement.”
The “Resolution on Mid-East Conflict,” which was submitted by Charles Minster, a landscape gardener at the Presidio and labor council delegate for Local 1141, also accuses Israel of “oppressing and dividing the Jewish and Arab worker for the benefit of national and international capital” and charges the Israelis with bombing the Palestinian trade union offices in Nablus on Feb. 17.
“I believe there is not a ghetto in this country that can compare with Palestinian refugee areas as far as the horrors those people have to live through,” said Minster. The blame “rests on everyone responsible for the situation, including the U.S. and Britain, who continue to supply arms to a buffer state in the Mideast. That’s what it was created for in the first place. Britain and the U.S. could care less about Jewish rights and privileges. They wanted a buffer state among the oil-rich Arab countries.”
Minster said he did not object to nations such as Iran providing the Palestinians with arms because “I’m not a pacifist, brother.”
Johnson, who said he “isn’t exactly thrilled” about the resolution, maintained that he had no option but to sign and submit it, as it had been “taken care of in a democratic manner.”
“I’m going to still see about bringing things together,” he said. “I’m going to try to personally see if we can build a bridge within the labor council on this subject. I’m optimistic we can do so.”
Johnson added that he plans to invite pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian supporters within the labor council to speak at a future executive committee meeting.
Earl Raab, the executive director emeritus of the JCRC, regarded the resolution as “a case of kidnapping.”
“It’s an old trick to wait until people leave the room to pass a vote like that among ideological die-hards,” he said.
“This is not the traditional relationship of labor in San Francisco or the nation to Jews and Israel. The AFL-CIO has been one of the strongest friends of Israel among organized communities in the country.”
This is “a new twist for the San Francisco Labor Council,” Raab added. “Given the fact that the only labor-friendly government in the Mideast is Israel, this is very unfortunate.”
Dennis Kelly, a teacher at Lowell High School and secretary of the United Educators of San Francisco union, said labor council meetings are vulnerable to surprise resolutions, as “new business” is brought up toward the end, when many delegates have already left.
“This kind of thing should only come off the floor as an emergency,” said Kelly, who is Jewish. “To bring this up as new business — it clearly wasn’t. The fighting back and forth is ancient.”
Kelly’s wife, Hene, is incensed by the resolution.
“It’s just outrageous. Israel wasn’t bombing a labor office. Israel isn’t anti-labor,” said Hene Kelly, a teacher who is also Jewish.
One labor council official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this resolution — and others of similarly far-reaching political scope — can only hurt the council. In the past, the council passed resolutions regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland and the fate of convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
“My own view of it is we shouldn’t pass motions like this,” said the official. “What good does it do to the council to p— off every Jewish person — no, not just Jews — every person concerned about Israeli affairs in the city, state and rest of the country?”
According to labor council bylaws, a two-thirds majority of delegates must vote to rescind a resolution. Politically, however, Dennis Kelly said he’s “not sure that’s possible” at this point.
Kahn hopes it is.
“Clearly, what seems to have happened here is some more extreme voices have organized within the labor council,” he said. “What we want to be sure of is a quick restoration of a moderate and more balanced perspective. In the weeks to come, we will be engaged in extensive discussions with the leaders of the labor council to see what steps we can take to undo [the resolution].”