PCS reasserts support for anti-war movement at conference

Moving motion A62 on behalf of the national executive committee (NEC), PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote reaffirmed PCS’s internationalism and its leading role in the anti-war movement. 

“What we are witnessing in the Middle East,” she said, “is both the US and Israel acting with complete impunity, attacking nations, killing innocents and destabilising infrastructure across the region, impacting millions of lives.” 

Fran noted that the UK Government has supported the US by allowing its bases to be used to attack the Strait of Hormuz – in a war on that has already caused soaring oil prices and rising food costs across the world. 

She called on the trade union movement to “step up its efforts” for global peace and diplomacy because the UK “cannot afford to be drawn into another illegal conflict". 

“We will continue to stand alongside the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the Stop the War Coalition (StW) and others who fight for peace, justice and diplomacy in the face of an increasingly hostile world,” she vowed. “Increased tensions and threats across the globe are not beneficial to the working classes and it is only through peace that we can invest in our nations.”

Fran also urged PCS members to get involved in local branches of CND and StW to “further demonstrate our support and reaffirm our position as an internationalist trade union who supports world wide workforce calls for peace”. 

PCS members rising

Speaking in support of the motion, Faika from HMRC Stratford explained that, despite claims to the contrary, international solidarity is “definitely a union matter and we need to mobilise and get down to these marches”. 

A rep in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Katie praised PCS members who are resisting war and genocide – both inside and outside their workplaces. 

“PCS members are rising,” she said. “Many are formally refusing to do work that would aid and abet a genocide, or provide diplomatic cover to an apartheid state.”

Closing the debate, DWP rep Nasrin expressed her “heartfelt thanks” to Fran and Martin Cavanagh, the outgoing PCS national president, for their continued attendance at – and support for – anti-war demonstrations, commending them for their “powerful speeches”. 

“We are trade unionists,” she added. “We believe working class people should never suffer the consequences of war.” 

Read a report of an ADC fringe about the cost of war in the Middle East and Latin America. You can also read more conference updates on our dedicated web page. Follow #PCSADC