What is BDS?
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.
Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.
More information about BDS is found at https://bdsmovement.net/
RAFFWU Motion
On 23 June 2024, the RAFFWU Committee unanimously carried the following motion:
RAFFWU endorses and will participate in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign as popularly and commonly identified at https://bdsmovement.net/ .
It is built into RAFFWU that our very purposes include to fight discrimination in all its forms.
This means we have always supported an end to apartheid in Israel and Palestine.
We encourage members to participate in action to end the genocide in Palestine. We understand some individuals have setup various groups called “RAFFWU 4 Palestine” and we reiterate RAFFWU was always against the discrimination of Palestinians. Those groups are not overseen or moderated by RAFFWU. That said, we continue to encourage members to be involved in their communities organising against genocide and apartheid in all its forms.
RAFFWU has been engaging with various communities in coming to its decision to endorse BDS and engage in action. In particular, we have engaged with Palestinian workers and unions representing Palestinian workers. Our approach will always be informed by workers and their unions, including our own members.
What Does BDS Mean in Retail and Fast Food Workplaces?
In Australia, workplace laws fundamentally undermine the political expression and voice of workers. Australia has among the most draconian anti-worker laws in the world. Our human rights to strike, organise and not be discriminated against are breached by pro-business anti-worker legislation supported by both sides of politics.
This means workplace action can be very difficult. That said, every boss must take reasonable steps to ensure every worker has a healthy and safe workplace.
This all means that it is not open to retail and fast food workers to ban certain types of work without repercussions unless the work causes us to have a reasonable concern that it poses an imminent threat to our safety. Refusing to work at or with BDS targets is not available to workers at work as a form of lawful protest. We do not encourage workers to engage in unlawful industrial action and, unfortunately, workers engaging in unlawful industrial action face sanctions from their employer and possibly government regulators. This could include fines from regulators and termination of employment by bosses.
Of course, workers have every right to raise concerns with their employer and to engage in action outside of work that doesn’t disparage their employer. For example, workers might run a workplace campaign petitioning their employer to stop supporting apartheid, or they might organise in RAFFWU to bargain for an Enterprise Agreement which prohibits disciplinary action against workers campaigning against genocide.
Targeting of Workers by Supporters of Apartheid
RAFFWU represents many workers who have been targeted in their workplaces by offenders masquerading as customers. This includes many workers who have been targeted for wearing a keffiyeh, a Palestinian flag badge or bracelet in support of Palestine. The attacks have included verbal and physical abuse, and threats of harm including threats against the employment of workers.
These attacks have been coordinated, including by social media accounts led by supporters of genocide and apartheid.
Workers at a number of employers including Bunnings, Aesop and Apple have been targeted. This has led to workplace discussions by the employer about wearing anti-genocide material.
So serious are the threats of physical harm that Apple has directed workers to remove badges for the safety of workers and customers. That is, Apple required workers to stop expressing visible support for Palestinians because the threats of harm by zionists were considered real and imminent. It was not because the badges themselves presented some threat (a claim by zionists) but rather that offenders were threatening to cause harm in stores.
Of course, by taking these steps Apple accedes to the threats of terror in our workplaces.
RAFFWU is not aware of a single prosecution for this outrageous conduct. RAFFWU is not aware of any police action to hold these offenders to account.
We know the only response is to organise our workplaces against attacks.
