THE TUC Congress in Brighton yesterday voted unanimously for Composite Motion 16: Palestine, which calls ‘on the British government to maintain all funding to the Palestinian Authority and calls for the restoration of all EU and other international aid to the Palestinian Authority.’
It also calls on the TUC General Council to ‘pressurise the government of Israel to restore the revenues collected by them to their rightful owners, the Palestinian Authority.’
Moving the motion, FBU President Ruth Winters condemned Blair’s support for Israel.
Seconding the motion, Linzi Moore said: ‘We must support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
‘In Gaza teachers have not been paid after the election, children are starved and traumatised by the demolition of buildings and cluster bombs.
‘Their alienation can only be exacerbated when the Israelis arrest the elected representatives of the Palestinian parliament.’
Keith Sonnet, UNISON, condemned Blair’s hypocrisy.
He said: ‘There is no more important thing than to bring peace to the Palestinian people and support their right to self-determination.
‘Israel has not carried out UN resolutions and it ignores international law by refusing to demolish the Apartheid Wall.
‘We should be applying sanctions, we should boycott Israel, stop selling arms and end their favoured trading position.
‘If democracy is important, then we should recognise the right of the Palestinian people to elect the government that they want.
‘It’s disgraceful to arrest Palestinian politicians.’
Steve Sinnott, NUT general secretary, continued: ‘I bring a message from trade unionists who are teachers in Palestine.
‘They are now on strike because they have not been paid for months.
‘They ask for your support,’ he told Congress.
Thabitha Khumalo, third vice-president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, called on the TUC to support workers and trade unionists in Zimbabwe.
She said: ‘The ZCTU and workers in Zimbabwe are going on a general strike today and the government has advised the army will be used against it.
‘I hope none of my comrades will die tonight.
‘I call for your support to stop them brutalising workers.
‘All they are asking for is a decent living wage.’
She said there was enormous poverty and massive inflation in Zimbabwe.
She said: ‘Now we have 80 per cent unemployment and a 1,200 per cent inflation rate.
‘Getting sick in our country is now a luxury.’
She added: ‘I hear you talk about the NHS: fight for the NHS and fight really hard.
‘If you don’t fight for the NHS, only god knows what’s going to happen to you.’
On the issue of Trident the TUC looked both ways.
Delegates voted for Motion 65, which ‘calls upon the government not to replace Trident’.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow moving the motion, demanded: ‘No replacement of Trident, no nuclear weapons.’
But the TUC General Council put out a statement to Congress on Trident, which took a ‘multilateral’ position.
Delegates voted overwhelmingly both for the motion and for the statement.