MAKING COMMON CAUSE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2018 :: RMTnews 26 Amnesty International counts on more than seven million supporters around the world and we have national sections in almost seventy countries. The Amnesty UK section, in the country where our movement was founded, is amongst the largest and unions are crucial part of our community. In the UK we are proud of this unique partnership with unions, who are affiliate members, nationally regionally and locally, playing an active part in the life of our movement and making common cause with us. Next year Amnesty International UK will be marking the fortieth anniversary of our trade union network. Trade unions are, of course, primarily human rights organisations: defending workers’ rights and rights at work. But the mandate and the vision of unions has always been much wider; encompassing social justice goals and defending the weak against the powerful in your communities. Over these years our union partnerships have led to considerable progress on human rights; it is thanks to unions in the UK that the Labour Party supported an Arms Trade Treaty when in government and built momentum until the UN adopted the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), regulating the international trade in conventional arms. Thanks to the support of British unions, including RMT, we were able to secure government funding to underpin a hugely ambitious programme of human rights education to tackle Female Genital Mutilation and early and forced marriage in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Senegal by empowering women and girls in their communities. Unions, of course, have been human rights champions since long before Amnesty was formed. You led the way in tackling LGBT discrimination not only in the workplace but in our communities too. It is true to say that, today, unions are the strongest voices for LGBT rights at home, and champions of LGBT rights abroad. We live in challenging times for human rights. All over the world we are seeing a growing push back against human rights and a rising tide nationalistic populism, amid growing economic and social inequality. We are witnessing callous and dangerous policies from the government which have bequeathed us a Windrush generation scarred by a hostile environment immigration policy, and a deregulatory culture which can only have aided and abetted the scandal which was the Grenfell Tower calamity. That is why we need more than ever to come together. We need to come together to tackle the global refugee crisis. We need to mobilise together to ensure that British arms aren’t used to bomb civilians in Yemen, we need to organise in our communities to welcome refugees and to confront racism and xenophobia. In all this important work we stand shoulder to shoulder with our trade union friends. And, of course, we need to redouble our efforts to ensure workers’ rights are respected. Let there be no doubt: the right to form and join trade unions, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike are all universal human rights. These are contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose 70th anniversary is this year. Workers’ rights are ever more critical as economic and social inequality grows. That is why Amnesty UK objected to the Trade Union Bill and gave evidence in parliament about its pernicious effects. That is why we are standing alongside trade unionists at risk wherever in the world they are under threat. This year we have launched a major campaign in defence of the brave trade unionist of the Tehran bus workers’ union, who alongside the teacher trade unionists of Iran are under threat. In this major campaign we are working closely alongside the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Education International, to ensure that the widest possible impact That is what making common cause looks like: we hope you will join us. And it is not only action for individuals where Amnesty's campaigning has made a difference. Over the past year your support and the tireless efforts of activists around the world have changed laws and protected communities across the world. Of course, the struggle for human rights is a story of successes as well as setbacks, it is activists and supporters like you that are making the difference. Amnesty's actions helped to release more than 650 wrongly imprisoned people last year. Last year we witnessed the release of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, jailed for organising a teachers' strike in Bahrain, and he remains free today, undoubtedly because we have kept the spotlight firmly on his plight. And at last we received overdue news at the start of the year that, after 40 months of preventive detention, Colombian trade union leader Huber Ballesteros is also finally free. The challenges of today are pressing. We need to stand up to US President Trump’s refugee travel ban. We need to respond to racism and xenophobia by declaring that we are “against hate”. The task list is long: We need to be on the frontlines with the brave human rights defenders who are risking their freedom and security to assert our universal values of tolerance and respect for the rights of all human beings. We need to defend workers’ rights at home and abroad. We hope that you will join with us to make common cause for human rights. You can find out more at www.amnesty.org.uk/tradeunions MAKING COMMON CAUSE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Amnesty International UK’s trade union campaigner Shane Enright explains the work of the organision