4 April - picket in support of Zimbabwean trade unionists

Zimbabwe has joined the shameful roll call of nations in which it simply isn’t safe to be a trade unionist (although I guess Colombia will take a lot of shifting from the top spot on that list…)

I shan’t be in London next Wednesday (4 April) so won’t be able to join the picket of the Zimbabwe Embassy that lunchtime supported by the TUC – check out the details here and get along if you can!

The TUC are also asking us to cut and paste the following message;

I am outraged by the violent assault on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) offices and workers. The opportunity to peacefully demonstrate, associate and campaign is a fundamental human right and the raid on the offices, in which literature was seized, is a basic infringement of this right. The people of Zimbabwe are entitled to demonstrate for workers rights and democracy and therefore such a blatant attempt by the Zimbabwean government to quash a member-based organisation like the ZCTU is deplorable. Workers should not be treated or intimidated in this way. The international community that supports democracy and human rights stands firmly alongside all the innocent victims of this struggle and all who have suffered at the hands of the Mugabe regime. Please pass on my deep disgust with the present treatment of workers and activists to the Zimbabwean government. We demand that they start adhering to these basic rights.

Then send it to the link you get by clicking here (which comes from the Zimbabwe Embassy home page).

Trade Unions and conflict with Iran

I apologise once more for a lack of recent posts due to other commitments. I normally restrict myself to reporting on local and national issues, but we are part of an international movement, so I was pleased to find intelligent comment on the issues thrown up by the Iranian seizure of British service personnel.

UNISON and the trade union movement generally have been pretty much united in opposition to the Iraq war. We must keep up the pressure against the threat of war with Iran. The terrible consequences of US and UK military imperialism are not separate from the day to day problems our members face in this country.

War uses resources that are not available for peaceful purposes. War justifies attacks upon our civil liberties. War widens divisions between groups and communities and nurtures racism and Islamophobia.

I don’t know what others think about this, but I can’t see any motions on the Preliminary Agenda for UNISON Conference which could properly be amended to express opposition to military action against Iran. I only hope we don’t need to prepare an Emergency Motion for debate – because the threat recedes.

We have a duty to develop and campaign for policies around pressing international issues because these matter to our members, and because we are part of an international trade union movement.