Union leaders visit Palestine

Leaders of eight global union federations and the ITUC international trade union confederation recently travelled to Ramallah to convey their solidarity to unions in the West Bank and Gaza. The solidarity mission marked the first time such a large and high-level group of union leaders have convened in Palestine.

A joint statement called for a permanent ceasefire and end to the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip; the involvement of the PSI public services global union national coordination committee in Gaza in any action or relief plan; increased pressure on developed countries that suspended their support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to retract their decision; and medical and humanitarian aid in the Gaza strip and urgent protection for medical teams.

UNISON public services union general secretary Christian McAnea was part of the delegation and said: “The relentless bombardment of Gaza over the last eight months has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced most, and reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble.”

She added: “Everything I saw and heard in the West Bank reinforced the need for an immediate end to the current hostilities and the 57-year occupation, which has denied Palestinians access to decent work, public services and other fundamental rights.”