British university teachers' union votes for boycott of Israeli academics

The resolution called on the union, recently formed by a merger of the Association of University Teachers and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, to circulate the boycott proposal to all union branches for “information and discussion.” The head of the UCU, Sally Hunt, who had opposed the measure, said she could not “at this time” call for a vote of the membership, but would hold such a vote at some point in the future.

The boycott recommendation is the culmination of five years of agitation for a boycott of Israeli academics within the British university lecturers’ unions. At various points similar resolutions were passed in the two unions that merged to form the UCU.

A similar boycott resolution is under consideration by the National Union of Journalists and Britain’s largest union, UNISON, a public service union with over 1.3 million members. Boycott initiatives have also been taken by the Irish Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union; the Ontario region of the Canadian Union of Public Employees; and the Congress of South African Unions (COSATU).

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