Every last thing about Gary Spedding’s argument in favour of boycotting Histadrut, Israel’s free and democratic Israeli trade union movement, is wrong. Speeding does not so much put a left foot forward as trip over his own feet.
It’s become increasingly clear in recent weeks that the Conservative Party is looking for anything it can with which to smear the Labour Party link with the trade unions.
Trade unions are about solidarity. The very name of our movement is symbolic of the fact that we are bound together by ties that go beyond nationality or location.
The idea of nations and peoples cooperating instead of fixating on individual respective national interests is popular in trade union movements due to the strongly held principles of solidarity that come with trade unionism.
At a recent conference in Toronto of Workers Uniting, the global union created by Unite in the UK and Ireland and the US and Canadian union, the United Steelworkers, I heard a new term, which has now spread widely across the union movement in the USA.
President Obama has announced the suspension of ‘trade privileges’ for Bangladesh following the recent tragedies in the garment industry, notably at Rana Plaza and Tarzeen Fashions, where over 1,300 workers have died in building collapses and fires.
In a long standing tradition, internationalism has been about campaigning for peace, cooperation, economic development and education.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most complex and difficult in modern history, with two competing narratives attempting to describe an extraordinary shared history. With polarisation on the issue endemic, there is limited space for moderates in the center to advocate a resolution that delivers justice for Palestinians, security for Israelis and peaceful co-existence for both.
Since the demonstrations broke out in Turkey last week, an unprecedented number of articles have been published highlighting the deeper causes of people’s grievances.
Ahead of this week’s European TUC mid-term conference in Dublin, European Union leaders have called for a new European Recovery Plan to kick-start economic growth.
