The trade union movement has been at the heart of Stop the War’s work since its foundation in 2001 in response to George W Bush’s declared “war on terror”. We have worked with trade unions ever since, in recognition that war and peace are class issues and that internationalism is the very essence of trade unionism. It is through the power of organised working people that we have the capacity to change society.
This is why it’s vitally important that trade unionists engage in politics and political campaigns that are not directly related to saving jobs or increasing wages, and why Stop the War is holding a fringe meeting at this year’s TUC Congress to debate these issues.
Let’s not forget that trade unionists were deeply involved in the protests against the Vietnam war, in the campaign against apartheid in South Africa and the civil rights movement in America. And thousands of trade unionists were murdered by General Pinochet’s henchmen in Chile.
As we watch the genocide in Gaza play out on our screens in real time, we see how war, peace and Palestine are trade union issues. British-made bombs and components are raining down on ordinary working people and on children.
And not just in Gaza. In Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of people have paid with their lives as endless wars and needless slaughter continue.
Palestinian trade unions have called on unions internationally to do everything in their power to end complicity with Israel’s war crimes and we’ve seen many acts of solidarity in workplace days of action for Palestine and union banners aplenty on the national Palestine marches. Hundreds of workers and trade unionists blockaded the Foreign Office to demand the new Labour government ends its complicity in the genocide and immediately suspend all arms to Israel.
Labour has pledged to raise military spending by 2.5 per cent, in line with Tory plans. There’s always more money for bombs, while the rest of us face austerity. Every pound spent on militarisation is a pound less for tackling the cost of living and housing crises, rebuilding our crumbling schools and hospitals and reducing NHS waiting lists. Working people need welfare not warfare.
Stop the War has drafted two model resolutions for trade union activists to take to their branches – on Gaza and on Ukraine. The war in Ukraine can only be brought to an end through ceasefire and peace negotiations, not by the UK pumping another £3 billion worth of weaponry into the country. The resolution urges that the billions of taxpayers’ money being used to arm Ukraine are only serving to escalate and prolong the war and should be used instead on improving the lives of people here who are living in poverty and deprivation.
On Palestine, the resolution calls on union executive bodies to add the union’s name to those calling for an immediate ceasefire and support the call from Palestinian trade unions to coordinate solidarity efforts with other unions in the UK and internationally. It also calls on them to support the national Palestine marches and affiliate to Stop the War and Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to help us build the movement needed to force Keir Starmer to back peace and justice around the world.
Source: Labour Outlook