This afternoon's session at Congress has kicked off with debates on international issues, including a motion of solidarity with Haiti from the TUC Black Workers Conference. We are also debating Vietnam, and trade union support for international development.
As ever in recent years the main debate has been on Palestine, where UNISON is supporting a Composite which builds upon policy agreed last year to develop a boycott of goods originated in unlawful settlements and to promote divestment from companies profiting from the occupation or participating in building the separation wall.
GMB General Secretary, Paul Kenny has said that the TUC will expect suppliers and retailers to provide documentary evidence that goods are not sourced in the occupied territories - otherwise they will be subject to boycott.
Brendan Barber says that we will review our boycott policy at the next TUC and acknowledges that many trade unionists would like to go further than this limited boycott.
For now we need to build the boycott we have agreed - and get the message across to six million trade unionists and their families about the products we don't want them to buy (http://www.palestinecampaign.org/Index5b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=107).
We must step up pressure on the criminal Israeli state and build solidarity with the Palestinians.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
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