EXCLUSIVE: Jewish physician wins religious exemption from union membership and fees over Israel stances
A Jewish doctor has been granted an exemption from union membership and fees after he challenged a requirement to financially support a union that he said violated his religious beliefs.
Dr. Jacob Agronin, a physician at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, secured the accommodation after America First Legal (AFL) brought the matter to the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1957, demanding that the union exempt the doctor from membership and fees.
AFL cited the union's stances on Israel, including endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and genocide.
CIR’s collective bargaining agreement with Temple University Hospital required employees covered by the agreement to join the union or pay agency fees, according to AFL.
"[Agronin] wasn't objecting to the union's right to political speech," Megan Redshaw, counsel for AFL, told Fox News Digital. "The union can have whatever views it wants to have. However, when the union imposes its views in the workplace and that affects the people that work at that organization, that institution, or that hospital, this becomes a Title VII issue."
Redshaw said Agronin believed financially supporting the union in any capacity would violate his religious beliefs, even if payments supporting political activities were excluded.
The union confirmed in an Oct. 9 letter that it had granted the accommodation and that Agronin had neither signed a membership card nor paid dues.
"No fees will be taken out of his paycheck, his employer will honor that and he does not have to be a member of the union at all," Redshaw told Fox News Digital. She also explained that Agronin’s request cited "Jewish law and Jewish beliefs" to explain why supporting the union conflicted with his faith.
CIR says it represents "over 40,000 resident physicians and fellows who are dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care and expanding healthcare access for our communities."
Redshaw accused CIR of using members’ dues to advance political and ideological causes that "nobody knows they're signing up for when they agree to join this union," while the union promotes its ability to improve pay and working conditions.
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In May 2024, CIR adopted two resolutions regarding Israel: "Housestaff for Human Rights" and "Housestaff Against Apartheid."
The union stated that the first resolution "set standards to ensure CIR will not endorse candidates who accept donations from the Israel lobby or who otherwise support genocide and apartheid" and the second resolution called for a permanent ceasefire and the end of military aid to Israel. Additionally, according to the union, the "Housestaff Against Apartheid" resolution also "uplifted" the BDS movement.
On Nov. 7, 2023, one month after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, CIR released a statement saying it was "appalled and shocked by the recent violence in Israel and Palestine." The union said it mourned the lives lost in the Oct. 7 attacks and those lost in the subsequent violence.
In its statement, CIR called on the Biden administration and Congress to help restore access to food, water, electricity, housing and healthcare in Gaza and ensure the release of the hostages and "Palestinians detained in Israel without due process." It also urged the administration and Congress to "call for an immediate ceasefire."
In May 2026, as part of his written testimony to the House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing titled "Bad Medicine: Politics, Unions, and Antisemitism in Health Care," Agronin referenced the November 2023 statement.
Agronin acknowledged the parts of the statement that "mourned Israeli and Palestinian casualties, called for hostage release and condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia," while also objecting to other parts of the statement. The physician noted that Hamas was not named in the statement, said the "Palestinian casualty figures are uncritically cited" and called the antisemitism condemnation "subordinated."
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The physician also objected to the statement's presentation of Israeli and Palestinian casualties "in morally equivalent terms," adding that doing so "implicitly treats the perpetrators and victims of October 7th as equivalent parties."
Redshaw said physicians with similar religious objections may be able to secure full exemptions from union membership and fees.
"Most people believe that in requesting religious accommodation, you're just going to get an accommodation from the fees that are taken out for these political or ideological causes, or they think that that fee that's taken out has to go to a charity, usually of CIR's choosing," she told Fox News Digital.
"Which is nefarious in and of itself, because the union can just choose a charity that perpetuates its causes that it believes in and transfer your money there," Redshaw added.
"But the reality of this situation is that, depending on the state that you're in, you can request a full religious accommodation. You can object to being a member of the union as a whole."
CIR and Temple University Hospital did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.