A night for the history books
July 7, 2026
By Gazette Staff
The May 26 General Meeting was the best attended in the history of the Coop, with nearly 6,700 participants when it was called to order at 7:30 p.m., half an hour after its scheduled start. Of those participants, 800 said it was their first meeting. It was also an all-virtual meeting, a decision that was made due to safety concerns. In the weeks before a vote on a divisive proposal to boycott Israeli goods, tensions flared inside, outside, and around the Coop.
General Manager Joe Szladek presented the 2026 Q1 financial report, which showed $3 million in gross income and $2.7 million in costs, equaling a net income of $351,000. Szladek highlighted that the Coop’s financial viability depends on its high rate of inventory turnover, and its ability to function with a paid staff of 80 and member work shifts.
“The only way we can do this is through this incredible model that we’re a part of,” Szladek said.
Produce Buyer Cecelia Rembert gave a report on the local spring season. She advised members to look out for local strawberries, head lettuce, peas, asparagus, and plants.
The first of the two major agenda items was a vote to remove the 75 percent supermajority requirements for votes to enact boycotts. Presenters John Caramichael and Abdi-Hakin Dirie argued in favor of returning to a simple majority model, noting that other weighty proposals had passed with less than 75 percent support. These included the votes to sell beer and red meat, and the 2016 vote to implement a 75 percent supermajority requirement for boycotts.
Produce buyer Cecelia Rembert advised members to look out for local strawberries, head lettuce, peas, and asparagus.
During the question-and-answer period, Caramichael said that voting live in the general meeting rather than in an online referendum over several days was a better option. In the May 5 Linewaiters’ Gazette, 80 percent of full-time Coop employees signed a letter arguing for a referendum on a boycott of Israeli goods, rather than an in-meeting vote.
The employees argued that a referendum, “offers the clearest way to understand how the entire membership feels about this issue” and “allows all members to be heard, regardless of work or life schedules.” Caramichael disagreed. “This is a superior format because you can actually listen to debate and get an informed perspective,” he said.
At 8:46 p.m., a member brought a motion to require that all boycotts be voted on by referendum, rather than an in-meeting vote. The Chair Committee, which was running the meeting, announced that the meeting would vote on whether or not this motion was in order.
The initial poll recorded about 7,000 responses, with a difference of 363 between the two sides, and about 600 participants who did not vote. Since the number of non-voters was greater than the margin between the two sides, the Chair Committee discarded the results of that poll, and attempted to have members vote by using the “raise hand” feature on Zoom.
When the hands proved too difficult to track, the Chair Committee returned to the poll method, resulting in a landslide 72 percent to 28 percent vote that the motion to delay the vote was not germane. About 6,400 members voted.
Throughout this process, technical difficulties appeared to overwhelm the Chair Committee. “I’m trying to read everyone’s point of order requests, but I’m also getting flooded with a lot of commentary in the chat, and it’s sort of like The Matrix, and things are just scrolling in front of my eyes,” Chair Committee member Genevieve Yue said during the vote. It was becoming clear that the meeting was not going to wrap by 9:00 p.m.
Following a successful motion to extend the meeting to 11:00 p.m., the vote to enact a simple majority for boycotts passed a little after 9:30 p.m. 61 percent of voters were in favor.
The meeting proceeded to a vote on whether to boycott Israeli products. The presenters —Alyce Barr, Jasper Nathaniel, Naomi Brussel, Rachel James and Gabriel Young—highlighted the Coop’s history of boycotts in support of anti-Apartheid efforts, farm worker organizing, and LGBT rights, and said that boycotting Israeli goods would be in line with that legacy. At the time of the vote, the Coop did not boycott products from any countries.
‘It’s sort of like The Matrix, and things are just scrolling in front of my eyes,’ Chair Committee member Genevieve Yue said during the vote.
“A boycott is how ordinary people, with no army, and no lobby, register a moral objection,” Young said, quoting an open letter on the boycott effort from pro-boycott rabbis and rabbinical students.
When the floor opened for questions and discussion after the presentation, a member moved to end discussion and move directly to a vote. That motion was seconded and passed by 73 percent to 27. “In the 15 years I’ve chaired meetings, no one has ever voted to end discussion before discussion began,” Chair Committee member Maribeth Batcha said immediately after the vote.
The motion to boycott Israeli goods then passed by 67 percent to 31 percent, with 2 percent abstaining.
The board voted 6-0 to approve the motion to remove the supermajority requirement for boycotts, and 4-1-1 to approve the motion to boycott Israeli goods, with General Manager Joe Szladek abstaining and Lynn Husum voting no.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair Committee issued a call for new members, since two members recently resigned due to criticism from members of the Committee’s handling of the boycott controversy. “If you see what we’re doing here, and you think it would be fun to join us, please email us,” said Chair Committee member Lisa Pacenza.