“As a Zionist Jewish professor and department chair at the City University of New York, I have witnessed and been a victim of the pervasive anti-Semitism on CUNY’s campuses. In 2021, the EEOC substantiated my claim that CUNY and its faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress, discriminated against me and other Jewish professors because of my religion. So, I applauded when Gov. Kathy Hochul commissioned a report to expose and correct the hatred I had been fighting for years. I should have known better.”

“But Shapiro is the kind of leader who “lean[s]” on his “faith” and doesn’t take “no” for an answer – especially when he knows he’s in the right. How do I know? When he was just six, he launched a years-long campaign that helped my family escape Soviet antisemitism. Now, I’m facing antisemitism in America, and by supporting my cause again, Shapiro can double down on his advocacy for victims of hate – and steer others in his party to do the same.”

“I have spent years struggling to convince both organizations to treat students and staff as individuals irrespective of race. But when my own union racially disqualified me from elected office, I felt compelled to take legal action. To run for a union board position, I had to check a box on a Google Form self-identify[ing]” as a person of color.”

“I joined the union, which represents over 200,000 New York employees, as a dues-paying member in 2011. On its website, the union lists values like ‘full participation,’ ‘open communications,’ and ‘accountability’—values that I also subscribe to. But after a few years, I noticed some things that didn’t sit right with me.”

“To do our jobs as corrections officers well, we have to trust that our colleagues will be there when we need backup…Likewise, for years, we trusted our union to have our backs…But…state police arrested five former officials on felony theft charges. For many, this was a shocking betrayal of trust. But for us, it was no surprise.”

“As a single mother, I’ve built my life around my daughter and her evolving needs […] I’ve become accustomed to overcoming obstacles at work and at home. My latest challenge involves both—defending myself from a union that made me choose between my daughter’s medical needs and my job.”

“[U]nion officials—who speak for me under state law—issued a resolution I, and many of my colleagues, view as anti-Semitic. Now I have a choice: Disrupt my life and damage my career again or rely on the constitutional protections that set America apart from most other countries on earth. I’m done running.”

“I’ve represented union members fighting to defend their rights against some of the largest public-sector unions in the country. Now, I’m seeing a new trend: union officials in historically private unions across the Northeast outright denying that Janus applies to the public employees they represent.”

“[T]he same people who referred to Israel as an ‘apartheid’ state are negotiating the salary and working conditions of Jewish professors at CUNY. Absurd? I thought so, too, and several professors joined me in suing the union, CUNY, and the state of New York to escape the union for good.”

“Backing down from a bully is not in my nature, nor would it have set a good example for my students. […] Teachers, firefighters, police officers and other Pennsylvania public employees now have a definitive judgment that says Pennsylvania’s ‘fair share’ fee law is illegal if unions ever try to enforce these unconstitutional fees.”