UK’s TUC to vote on Gaza solidarity motion

The union, which campaigns for a fair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad, will decide by voting on the proposal, including calls from international charities and UN Agencies to end the Israeli regime’s blockade on Gaza.

The motion, which is tabled by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and formally supported by Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), is formed on the TUC’s policy of boycotting companies which profit from Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) will hold a meeting with key trade union figures on Tuesday September 11 in order to discuss the ways they can contribute to the end of the regime’s illegal blockade.

“The message from Gaza to the international community is clear: they want an end to Israel’s brutal siege, and they want to be able to live with dignity and hope in a Free Palestine,” said Hugh Lanning, deputy general secretary of PCS union and PSC chairman.

“80 per cent of the population are aid-dependent, and sending a trade union delegation to Gaza is an important step in breaking the isolation that has been enforced upon the 1.6 million Palestinians living there.”

Moves to tighten a boycott grip on the Israeli regime have gained momentum in the UK since April, when Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer, the Co-operative Group, extended a boycott of goods from illegal settlements that have been produced on occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

After that, Unison, Britain's largest trade union, representing 1.3 million public service workers, blocked the participation of an Israeli expert at an NHS-sponsored workshop on negotiation and conflict management in Manchester on May 8.

Furthermore, in a Parliamentary briefing on June 19, Christian Aid and Quakers called on the Tory-led government to introduce legislation against the import of products from illegal Israeli settlements.