2,824 Public Employees Helped Opt Out
18,000 Members
$323,875 Saved in Annual Union Dues
For University of Michigan & AFT Michigan members
An AFT-affiliated local at the University of Michigan has helped raise nearly $100,000 for the legal defense of eight activists federally indicted for conspiring to threaten university officials and their families. Here's what's documented — and what you can do.
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Federal prosecutors have indicted eight people connected to U-M, charging them with conspiring to threaten university officials and their families in a campaign to force the school to cut ties with Israel. According to the indictment, the defendants discussed how they would "kill," "torment," and "terrorize" their targets.
Charges reported by AP and JTA. Defendants are presumed innocent.The indictment describes fake bloody corpses left on a regent's lawn, anti-Israel messages spray-painted at the university president's home, and two jars of chemical substance thrown through the provost's window — with victims marked by symbols prosecutors link to Hamas.
Allegations in the federal indictment.An AFT-affiliated local at U-M is reportedly helping fund the legal defense of some of the accused. A public fundraiser tied to the effort has raised close to $100,000 — money that comes from a union ecosystem thousands of U-M workers help sustain.
Fundraiser publicly displayed online.It's about something simpler. Thousands of graduate employees, lecturers, staff, and healthcare workers are represented by AFT-affiliated locals at U-M — and many have no idea their union ecosystem is now entangled in this. You joined for better pay, benefits, and workplace protections, not to help underwrite a legal defense tied to allegations this serious. When leaders take positions in your name, you should get a say. And if you disagree, you have the right to say no and the freedom to walk away.
Who's behind this
Americans for Fair Treatment is a nonprofit that helps public-sector workers understand their rights — including the right to know where their dues go and the right to leave a union that no longer represents their values. We don't tell you what to think. We give you the facts and your options.
Enter your details and we'll send you a clear, sourced breakdown of what's documented and, if you want it, information on how opting out works for your local.
