Solidarity is not a slogan
In his latest column for the Black members' digest, Mohammed reflects on a busy autumn period, from Black History Month to Islamophobia Awareness Month, and reaffirms PCS’s commitment to eradicating all forms of racism from our workplaces and communities.
I am pleased to report that the national Black members’ committee (NBMC) has been very busy since my last chair’s column. This autumn has, once again, shown why PCS’s anti-racism work remains absolutely central to everything we do as a movement.
October’s Black History Month was one of the strongest we have ever delivered. A series of excellent online lunchtime sessions closed off with a well-attended Facebook Live event on tackling the far-right.
Many of our speakers spoke powerfully about the Windrush scandal, the ongoing fight against racial pay gaps in the civil service, and the proud history of resistance by Black workers, all the way from the Grunwick dispute to the present day.
The message was clear: Black history is trade union history, and PCS will never stop demanding race equality at work.
Our union was also very visible and vocal for Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM). We distributed hundreds of the new IAM posters, shared materials for branches to arrange workplace meetings, and encouraged branches to support their Muslim members.
One thing the NBMC wants to see is more training for reps to enable them to challenge Islamophobic comments in the workplace and support members through the hate crime reporting process.
Both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have soared since October 2023. The recent terrorist attack on a Jewish synagogue in Manchester is a chilling reminder that Jewish communities remain under direct threat.
At the same time, mosques across the country – from Peacehaven to Middlesbrough, Southport to Leicester – have been attacked, firebombed, daubed with racist graffiti or surrounded by far-right mobs shouting anti-Muslim abuse.
Muslim women have been spat at, hijabs torn off, and ordinary Muslim workers have faced a daily barrage of hostility simply for existing. Nasrin, one of our Muslim reps, has written a very powerful blog about her and her family’s life-long experiences of Islamophobia.
PCS condemns every racist attack without hesitation or equivocation. Antisemitism is racism. Islamophobia is racism. Anti-Black racism is racism. We reject any attempt to pit one community’s pain against another’s.
We will keep organising, keep educating, keep supporting members who face hatred, and keep demanding that employers and the government take real action. Because solidarity is not a slogan – it is the only weapon working people have ever had.
As ever, if you need help, support, or just want a chat, please email me [email protected]