Trade unions have a long, proud history of supporting struggles of workers and oppressed people around the world. The campaign to free Abdullah Öcalan is a continuation of this activism, says Clare Baker.
Trade Union Congress (TUC)
Bernard Regan reports that Britain's peak union body adopted a motion at its annual conference, reaffirming its solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle against Israeli apartheid.
Trade unions across the globe mobilised on April 23 to demand the immediate release from prison of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Just days before he was set to speak at the 2013 Trade Union Congress (TUC) Conference in Britain, Colombian union leader Huber Ballesteros was arrested and imprisoned in his home country on trumped-up charges of rebellion and financing terrorism.
Following a prolonged international campaign – in which Britain’s peak trade union body played a key role - Ballesteros was finally released in January after 40 months in jail.
In September, he attended this year’s TUC conference.
