Irish Congress of Trade Unions Workplace Day of Actions in solidarity with the people of Palestine
When: Friday November 28th November
Materials can be downloaded below:
Workplace Poster
Social media graphic
If you are holding an event, please let us know at [email protected] in advance.
Context
On Friday 28th November, trade unions on the island of Ireland will answer the call of Palestinian trade unionists by taking action in our workplaces. Trade unions in Palestine need our solidarity now more than ever following the recent violent Israeli raid on the offices of the PGFTU in Nablus, Occupied West Bank.
The fragile ceasefire agreement is bringing some desperately needed respite for people in Gaza. However, we know all too well that only continued pressure and serious accountability measures, including lawful sanctions, will help stop Israel’s genocide and end its 77-year regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid.
Thousands of trade unionists in Ireland have joined and will continue to join national and local protests throughout the island and have been leading an array of solidarity actions. In July, the Congress BDC passed a wide-ranging composite motion (link) urging leadership in the Palestine solidarity campaign, including coordinated workplace and community action aimed at ending Irish, UK and EU complicity in the genocide in Gaza, and calling on affiliates, through their respective collective bargaining mechanisms to secure ethical procurement and to challenge public procurement contracts with companies complicit in genocide, illegal occupation and other breaches of international law, including through the supply chain. Workers on this island should not be placed in “unconscionable situations” of facilitating trade with Israel or handling Israeli goods. While Ireland has made diplomatic efforts within the EU, the failure to implement real sanctions means some trade union members fear being complicit in Israel’s violence. We would not be surprised if some of these develop into flashpoints of conscientious objection by some workers. As a movement, we are clear: we will not be found wanting in protecting our members where an employer seeks to discipline or dismiss a worker in such circumstances.
Palestinian workers, remaining steadfast in pursuing their struggle for freedom and justice, have called on workers around the world to stand in solidarity with them by campaigning to end the complicity of their governments, corporations and institutions in Israel’s system of oppression.
On 28th November, join in the day of action to call for an end to government and corporate complicity in Israel’s atrocities, and mobilise for greater workplace actions in solidarity with the people and workers of Palestine.
Discuss with your colleagues in your branch about what kind of action is best suited to your workplace and its circumstances. Below is a number of suggestions but you may have your own ideas that suit your workplace too.
Some options for taking action include:
- Stand in your workplaces at 1pm in a joint moment of solidarity before proceeding for a photo.
- Taking a photo outside your workplace at lunchtime with banners and signs and sharing personal statements of solidarity. These could be combined into a collage or video montage for social media. We would ask Affiliates to share photos on their social media channels. These could be joint union action in workplaces with more than one union present.
- Lunch-and-Learn Sessions: Organise workplace discussions or virtual lunch-and-learn sessions about Palestine and how we can make our support for BDS more effective / increase the number of trade union members attending national and local protests. Trade Union Friends of Palestine have developed a fantastic set of BDS educational materials. Why not explore them during a session and seek to organise a training of trainers session? Materials available here.
- Email the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the Tánaiste Simon Harris, members of the cabinet and in particular your local Ministers and TDs (from either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil) demanding that they pass the Occupied Territories Bill without delay. You can find them at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/ . And don’t forget that independents who are supporting the government also have considerable influence. You don’t need to go into much detail but the most important message to get across is that you, a constituent and voter, need to see this government take decisive action NOW and PASSTHEOTB. We need a clear statement from the Tánaiste on the timeline for the Bill and to press him to ensure services is included. Despite a “ceasefire” in Gaza, the genocide continues while the illegal occupation intensifies its annexation of the West Bank. There is an increasing sense, certainly on the part of the EU, and also possibly in the Government, that any action such as passing the OTB, might be counter-productive. We must ensure this does not happen!
- Procurement? Does your employer have a procurement policy? Why not write to your employer seeking information in relation to the policy asking if it contains anything in relation to Palestine and companies with business links, such as:
- companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing occupation, apartheid and genocide against Palestinians,
- companies listed in the UN Human Rights Office database of businesses involved in Israeli settlements in occupied West Ban, or
- companies identified in the report of UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese – Forever-Occupation, genocide, and profit.
- Consider becoming an apartheid free zone - https://apartheidfree.ie/become-an-apartheid-free-zone/#contact
