General Council Meetings - The STUC

matter within their own networks, and to forward any
agreed policy positions to the STUC.
To-date, four affiliates have provided policy positions,
including two of our larger affiliates. Three of those
affiliates, expressing views at the time of writing, have
policy positions that recognise that to get Israel to change
its policies towards Palestine, and end its occupation of
Palestine territories, concerted pressure must be applied
to Israel which includes some aspects of BDS. Another
affiliate at UK level has sought advice on the legality of it,
calling for a boycott of Israeli universities and academic
institutions, concluding that to call for such a boycott
goes beyond the union’s powers.
The General Council has held discussions on BDS with a
range of different organisations, including the Scottish
Friends of Palestine, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
Trade Union Friends of Israel and the Scottish Council of
Jewish Communities. All of these discussions have been
very helpful in shaping our thinking. The Scottish Council
of Jewish Communities raised serious concerns of rising
anti-Semitism, and is concerned that the STUC discussion
on BDS has the potential to fuel anti-Semitism. This is an
issue the General Council takes very seriously, and wishes
to underline that the matter is under consideration as a
result of the actions of the Israeli State, and is in no way
connected with the wider Jewish community. The General
Council will continue its liaison with the Scottish Council
of Jewish Communities on this matter, and do what it can
to allay its concerns.
General Council representatives discussed the issue of
Palestine with colleagues form the TUC, the Wales TUC
and the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) at the
2007 Trade Union Council of the Isles meeting in Dublin
in November, and received a report of an ICTU delegation
to Palestine and Israel.
It is hoped to be able to facilitate an STUC delegation to
Palestine later in 2008, to enable Scottish trade unionists
to see the situation in Palestine and Israel, and to meet
with representatives of the PGFTU and the Histadrut. The
General Council is also aware of a planned Scottish
interfaith delegation to the region, and hopes also to gain
any views and information from this delegation. A further
report on this serious issue will be presented to Congress
2009, where it is hoped that conclusions can be reached.
DEVELOPING LINKS WITH THE MALAWIAN
CONGRESS OF TRADES UNION
In May 2007, the Secretariat met with officials of the then
Scottish Executive’s Scotland-Malawi Development Team.
The change in administration has meant that the STUC
has not been able to pursue the Scottish Government
funding route as yet, but the Secretariat continues to keep
in touch with officials on this matter.
In June 2007, the Secretariat welcomed Malawian
student, Sophie Mwanza, to Glasgow, who provided useful
briefing on Malawi and its trade union structures. The
GENERAL COUNCIL REPORT 2008
General Council has since been successful in putting
together a bid to the TUC/DFID small grants scheme, to
secure funding to cover the transport costs of two
delegates from the Malawian Congress of Trades Unions
to attend Congress 2008. The visit will facilitate
discussions on how the STUC can build further links and
provide development support to the Malawian Congress
of Trade Unions. It will also provide for exchanges of
information between Scottish and Malawian trade
unionists, and visits to Scottish workplaces. The General
Secretary of the MCTU, Austin Kilimanjira, and Denis
Kalekeni, General Secretary of the Malawian Teachers’
Union, are both due to travel to Scotland.
SUPPORTING SCOTTISH NGOS
IN THEIR WORK TO FIGHT POVERTY
AND INJUSTICE
The General Council continues to support a number of
Scottish-based, non-governmental organisations in their
work to provide solidarity to people in other parts of the
world. Liz Elkind and Anne Douglas represent the General
Council on the ACTSA Scotland Committee, and the
General Council continues to liaise closely with ACTSA.
Delegates to Congress 2007 showed practical solidarity to
the people of Southern Africa through the book and 10p
collection initiative, and a lorry laden with books
departed for South Africa from last year’s Congress. It is
intended that the opportunity will be taken at the 2008
Congress to mark Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, and
the General Council is liaising with ACTSA in this regard.
The General Council has worked with Amnesty
International on international trafficking issues, as
reported in the Equality and Social Justice Section of the
report, and with Oxfam on the Scottish Fair Trade Forum.
SUPPORTING THE FAIR
TRADE MOVEMENT
In September 2007, the General Council agreed to
become involved in the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. The
Secretariat and Unite T&G’s, Peter Welsh, have
participated in the Forum’s working group and activity,
continually emphasising the importance of decent labour
standards as central to Fair Trade. The Secretariat
participated in the Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s launch at
the Scottish Parliament in October 2007, and also
attended its first AGM at Glasgow City Chambers in
February 2008. Issues raised on Fair Trade and on the
Maritime Labour Convention 2006 were articulated to the
UK Government following Congress 2007.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION ISSUES
The STUC continues to develop relationships with trade
union centres at sub state levels. Young trade unionists
from Catalonia’s UGT were welcomed to STUC Youth
Conference at the end of June 2007, building on good
relations between the Youth Committee and UGT. The
65