In today’s news and commentary: major unions demand an end to military aid for Israel, Teamsters and UAW withhold endorsements of Kamala Harris, and Pennsylvania judge declines to block FTC non-compete ban.

Yesterday, a group of major labor unions sent a letter to the White House demanding that the United States stop sending military aid to Israel. The letter asserts that “immediately cutting US military aid to the Israeli government is necessary to bring about a peaceful resolution” to the conflict. The letter’s signatories include the American Postal Workers Union, Association of Flight Attendants, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the National Education Association, Service Employees International Union, United Auto Workers and United Electrical Workers. In a press release, Mark Dimondstein, president of the postal workers’ union, said that the “unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues.” He continued: “Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a cease-fire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off U.S. military aid to Israel.” The letter comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins his visit to Washington this week.

As Otto wrote on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris has received endorsements from many of the nation’s largest labor unions since she announced her candidacy for president. A few powerful unions, however, have so far withheld their endorsements. Notably, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Auto Workers (UAW) – two unions with big presences in swing states – have yet to back Harris. Last week, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien broke from tradition to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. As John wrote, some are speculating that the Teamsters may not endorse any candidate. Meanwhile, Shawn Fain, president of UAW, has sent mixed signals since Biden withdrew from the race. On Monday, Fain said that his union was going to take its time before formally endorsing another candidate. In an interview on MSNBC, Fain mentioned that the union was looking at Harris’s potential vice presidential candidates, among other considerations.

Yesterday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania declined to block the FTC’s ban on noncompete agreements. The decision preserved the FTC’s new rule, which is set to take effect on September 4. ATS Tree Services, a tree-removal company, challenged the rule in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge ruled that ATS had not proved that it would suffer irreparable harm from the rule. Denying the company’s motion for a preliminary injunction, she said the lawsuit was unlikely to prevail on the merits. The Pacific Legal Foundation, the libertarian law group representing ATS, vowed to “continue to fight the FTC’s power grab,” but declined to say whether they would appeal. Regardless, employers remain in limbo as they await a decision from Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, who this month granted a preliminary injunction preventing application of the rule to the plaintiffs in that case. Judge Brown also said that the FTC lacked “substantive rule-making authority” with respect to unfair methods of competition and that the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits” of their challenge. She is expected to issue a final decision by the end of August.