The largest trade union in Canada rejected a resolution to promote the BDS movement against Israel at its recent national convention, reported the Canadian publication The Suburban.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) represents 700,000 workers around the country. Its members voted on several resolutions during the convention; on Nov. 25, they voted against one that endorses the BDS movement and supports “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and their demands to end Israel’s military occupation and colonization.”
A total of 68 percent voted against the motion while 32 percent voted in support of the BDS campaign.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) applauded those who voted for “peace over division.”
Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, said “CUPE members should be praised for standing up to the lies and intimidation of the BDS movement.”
He added that “the passage of this motion would have inflicted great harm not only on Jewish and Israeli members of CUPE, but on all workers who benefit from trade between Canada and Israel.”
The Ontario-based union CUPE Local 1281—representing employees in small, nonprofit and social-justice workspaces—sponsored the resolution. After the vote last Thursday, the union tweeted that it will “keep organizing for a free Palestine.”
