UK Trade Union Congress votes to endorse BDS and end arms sales to Israel - Middle East Eye
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella organisation representing five million British workers, voted for the first time in its history to back the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
During the TUC’s annual congress on Wednesday, delegates voted to back a motion proposed by Artists' Union England (AUE) and seconded by Unison, Britain’s largest trade union.
The motion marks a major shift in the British labour movement’s approach to Palestine, and mandates the federation to actively campaign for an immediate end to all UK military cooperation and arms sales to Israel.
It is also the first time the TUC has explicitly adopted support for the broader, Palestinian-led BDS movement.
Peter Leary, deputy director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, described Wednesday’s historic vote as a recognition of the British government falling short of meeting its legal obligation to “not assist Israel’s ongoing genocide, apartheid, illegal occupation and other violations of international law”.
“Trade unions are right to call for continued political pressure and action in the workplace to end the complicity of companies, institutions and the government in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people,” Leary said in a statement.
Leary said the successful motion will be followed by a national event on 26 November when union members take part in the TUC-backed workplace day of action in solidarity with Palestine.
The motion itself stated that the TUC has a moral obligation to "answer the call of Palestinian workers for solidarity". It described the global BDS campaign as "an effective strategy to pressure Israel to end its ongoing genocide, system of apartheid, occupation and denial of the right of return for refugees".
The sweeping policy reflects a growing, unified consensus across the British union movement.
Delegates from several of the country's most powerful unions took to the floor to speak in favour of the motion, including Unison, Unite, the National Education Union, the Communication Workers Union, and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).
The vote mounts fresh pressure on the UK government, coming just a week after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a comprehensive sanctions regime banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Government sources have since confirmed to MEE that the new measures will also cover settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
Addressing the TUC conference in Brighton on Tuesday, senior Cabinet minister Louise Haigh said the trade ban marked the British government "changing course" [and] "increasing pressure on the Israeli government".
"The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government, so we are purposefully targeting the illegal settlements," Haigh told delegates. "We will stand against injustice... We will build a coalition of international partners to speak with one voice and remind the world who we are."
Eleven other countries - Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - joined the UK in supporting or considering sanctions on trade in goods with settlements.
