Why trade unionists are backing Stop the War’s international speaking tour

ALEX GORDON, former RMT president, calls on trade unionists to join the Stop the War international speaking tour, which kicks off today in Birmingham

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AT A time of growing international tension, escalating military spending and deepening inequality, trade unionists have every reason to support Stop the War’s international speaking tour starting today, Thursday October 22, in Birmingham and taking place in London, Bristol, Brighton, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow.

In addition to speakers such as Andrew Murray and Lindsey German, we will platform some of the leading voices from peace movements across Europe, including Ulrike Eifler (German Trade Unions Against War), Daniele Obono MP (La France Insoumise), Peter Mertens (Belgian Workers’ Party) and Giorgos Gogos (Piraeus Dockers’ Union from Greece).

British trade union leaders such as Fran Heathcote (PCS general secretary) and Micaela Tracey-Ramos (Unison vice-president) will join me and others demanding an end to the British government’s addiction to militarism and war.

For trade unionists, opposition to war isn’t a side issue. Our struggle for peace is rooted in our principles of solidarity, democracy and defence of working-class interests.

Trade unions exist to improve the lives of working people by using our collective power to improve wages, pensions and working conditions, as well as campaigning for better housing, public services and public ownership and investment in our infrastructure from transport to energy and utilities.

Throughout history, the working class has paid the price for wars, which enriched political elites, arms manufacturers and those with an economic interest in prolonging armed conflict.

Workers always and everywhere paid that price through loss of life, trauma and displacement, economic hardship and attacks on our democratic rights.

This pattern was seen in every disastrous war waged by the US and its Nato allies in the last 40 years since Operation Urgent Fury in 1983, when the US invaded the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada. From Panama to Somalia, Yugoslavia to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria and today with Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the only constant has been the West’s insatiable appetite for war.

Today, as governments across the West commit hundreds of billions of pounds to increased military expenditure, while workers face a cost-of-living crisis, underfunded public services, housing shortages and pressure on wages and conditions, trade unionists have a responsibility to ask why vast public resources are available for weapons, yet schools, hospitals, transport systems, water and energy supplies and social care struggle to meet the essential needs of our population.

The Stop the War speaking tour (“Welfare Not Warfare, Wages Not Weapons”) is an opportunity to discuss these issues publicly and democratically. By bringing together international peace campaigners, trade unionists, academics and politicians, the tour encourages informed debate about the causes and consequences of war.

In an era when public discussion is censored by states and oligarchs and distorted through the algorithm, creating spaces for dialogue is more important than ever.

International solidarity has always been the heart of the trade union movement. Workers in different countries have more in common with each other than with the capitalist class that profits from militarism.

“An injury to one is an injury to all” is a principle that doesn’t stop at national borders. Demanding a negotiated resolution to wars to reduce tensions, prevent escalation and promote peace is a trade union value.

The speaking tour will also highlight the real cost of conflict. Behind statistics and headlines are working people whose lives have been shattered by war. Families are separated, communities destroyed, and millions forced to flee their homes in the largest wave of dislocation and migration in human history on this planet.

Trade unions have always supported refugees, humanitarian assistance and international labour solidarity from the outbreak of the Spanish civil war in 1936 to refugees from Augusto Pinochet’s Chile in 1973. Listening directly to voices from conflict zones helps us strengthen understanding and reinforces the urgency of pursuing peace.

We must be sceptical of claims that ramping up military spending brings security. Real security depends on social and economic justice, and respect for international institutions.

Investing in good union jobs and public services does more to create security than endless cycles of militarisation.

Trade unionists have a responsibility to speak on matters that profoundly affect the lives of working people, including questions of war and peace.

Our movement has played a significant role in peace campaigns throughout our history. From opposition to colonial wars to campaigns against nuclear weapons proliferation and illegal wars, trade unionists have stood up to be counted.

The cause of peace is also the cause of social justice. Every pound spent on war is a tax on workers’ wages, pensions, public services, housing, education and healthcare, which all require investment in people, not forever wars.

Peace, solidarity and social justice are part of the same fight for a better future for working people across the world.

For more information about the speaking tour visit tinyurl.com/StopWarTour.

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