HEARING RECAP: Owens Slams Antisemitic Union Leaders

<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> — Education and Workforce Vice Chair Burgess Owens (UT-04) participated in a Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/XJI76UUDOSM?feature=share">hearing</a> titled “Unmasking Union Antisemitism.”</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-4051" height="576" src="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/owens.house.gov/uploads/2025/09/Committee-SC-1-03.11.25-1-1024x576.png" width="1024" /></figure>

<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>Click </em><a href="https://x.com/RepBurgessOwens/status/1965451105925845178"><em>here</em></a><em> or above to watch.</em></p>

<p>Rep. Owens opened his remarks by condemning union leaders for prioritizing antisemitic and anti-Israel agendas instead of representing their members’ real needs.</p>

<p><strong>Rep. Owens:</strong> <em>“It is really disgusting that some unions are spending their time advancing antisemitic and anti-Israel priorities instead of addressing immediate needs of their members. … Do your job, stop the antisemitic activity among your ranks. You&#8217;re paid a very good salary to protect your members against hate. You&#8217;re failing to do so now and your cowardly silence is deafening.”</em></p>

<p>Rep. Owens<strong> </strong>asked <strong>Mr. Glenn Taubman, Staff Attorney at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation</strong>, if workers in forced-union states could be compelled to pay dues to organizations that promote hate, even something as extreme as a union run by KKK supporters. </p>

<p><strong>Mr. Taubman:</strong> <em>“If you are in the 25 or so states that have forced unionism and you have a KKK union, you&#8217;ll pay them or you&#8217;ll be fired. … The bottom line is, the default position is pay that union or you will be fired.”</em></p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-4052" height="576" src="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/owens.house.gov/uploads/2025/09/Committee-SC-2-03.11.25-1-1024x576.png" width="1024" /></figure>

<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>Click </em><a href="https://x.com/RepBurgessOwens/status/1965451105925845178"><em>here</em></a><em> or above to watch</em>.</p>

<p class="has-text-align-left">Rep. Owens also highlighted testimony from <strong>Mr. David Rubinstein, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University</strong>, who described the barriers he faced in seeking a religious accommodation from his union.</p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Mr. Rubinstein:</strong><em> “Cornell University promised that I could religiously object by doing no more than tick a box on a form. And yet that form never materialized. … Even after I complied with invasive demands, they pushed for further intrusive information. At that point, I had no choice but to file legal charges.”</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left">The full hearing is available to watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/XJI76UUDOSM?feature=share">here</a>.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://owens.house.gov/posts/hearing-recap-owens-slams-antisemitic-union-leaders">HEARING RECAP: Owens Slams Antisemitic Union Leaders</a> appeared first on <a href="https://owens.house.gov">Burgess Owens</a>.</p>