ATUC stands united with the people of Myanmar and in solidarity with all those resisting the military coup

On 10th April, president Graeme Farquhar on behalf of Aberdeen Trades Union Council, emailed the Myanmar Embassy in London in solidarity with trades unions and other civil and human rights organisations and demanding an end to the coup and a return to democracy and respect for trade union, civil and human rights in Myanmar.

The full text of the letter is below.

H.E. Mr Kyaw Zwar Minn
Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
19A Charles Street
London
W1J 5DX
10 April 2021
By email.

Your Excellency,

Aberdeen Trades Union Council Opposition to the Coup in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Aberdeen Trades Union Council at its meeting on Wednesday 7 April agreed to raise our concerns with you as we are opposed to the military coup and the resulting death and injury of innocent civilians who were peacefully protesting to demand that democracy is restored.

In solidarity with the trade unions and other civil and human rights organisations in Myanmar we demand an end to the military coup and a return to democracy and respect for trade union, civil and human rights in Myanmar.

ATUC are appalled at the seizure of power by the military in Myanmar and to inform you that our organisation will do all we can to act in solidarity with and support those resisting the military to stop the coup succeeding.

We will also work with other national and international organisations in a campaign to secure the release of all those detained and bring an end to the violence and harassment of the trade unions and their members and other citizens in Myanmar.

We stand united with the people of Myanmar to ensure that the people’s vote is respected and that all those who have been democratically elected can form a legitimate government.

Yours sincerely,

Graeme Farquhar
President
Aberdeen Trades Union Council

PUBLIC EVENT: STAND UP FOR THE HDP AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY

ATUC is supporting this important event and will be joining our SSK, STUC and Trades Council comrades on the night to hear from Fayik Yagizay of HDP. Join us!

STAND UP FOR THE HDP AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY

Wednesday 14th April at 7pm

To join the Zoom discussion register here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlcOyrrTopGtThLdbKkIAEQVgBF6vkMAl_ 

The meeting will also be livestreamed on:

www.facebook.com/ScottishSolidaritywithKurdistan

 

ATUC statement: Solidarity with Turkish and Kurdish sisters and brothers

Aberdeen Trades Union Council (ATUC) notes with concern the most recent attacks in Turkey on human rights protections and democratic processes. 

In recent weeks, the chief prosecutor of Turkey’s top court of appeal opened a case to close down the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), only hours after the Erdoğan-controlled parliament improperly expelled an HDP deputy. 

Then on March 19th, President Erdogan announced he was withdrawing Turkey from the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (known as the Istanbul Convention), describing it as contrary to ‘family values’. 

Aberdeen Trades Union Council condemns these recent events in the strongest possible terms. Human Rights Watch reports that ‘The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is dismantling human rights protections and democratic norms in Turkey on a scale unprecedented in the 18 years he has been in office’, and most governments around the world have so far failed to respond in any meaningful way. 

ATUC stands in solidarity with our Turkish and Kurdish sisters and brothers as they resist the actions of Erdoğan and his reactionary regime and we urge trade unionists everywhere to join us.

'SYSTEM CHANGE, not just SPARE CHANGE'

When 12yr old Zak Hijazi heard that Aberdeen Trades Union Council was taking part in Challenge Poverty Week, he set about designing a graphic to support it. What he produced - as you can see below -was a powerful image and message! His reason for doing it - in his own words, ”Poverty is a crime caused by our governments”. 

Throughout this week, ATUC has been posting information that demonstrates just how right Zak is in his assessment.

On Nov 16, 2018, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Prof Philip Alston commented in his investigation of poverty in the UK, “Poverty is a political choice. Austerity could easily have spared the poor, if the political will had existed to do so.” 

A damning statement to be made about the (at that time) world’s fifth largest economy. Rather than move swiftly to rectify the situation, the government dismissed the report as “barely believable” and ignored the findings.

Two years on, the Covid pandemic has tragically shown the result of that callous response, as the results of years of chronic underfunding of vital public sectors have been laid bare. This is what happens when looking after people - especially the vulnerable - is seen as less important than big business and shareholder dividends.

As we plan our economic recovery, we must redesign our economy to reflect the values of justice and compassion we all share.

Poverty is indeed a political choice; it's up to us to change the narrative, and make sure the right choices get made!

ATUC delegates support #ChallengePovertyWeek

 
Aberdeen Trades Union Council, at its delegate meeting on 7th October, reaffirmed our commitment to Challenge Poverty Week. Delegates brought along posters and placards for this photo opportunity to say #TogetherWeCan end poverty.

Challenge Poverty Week runs from 5-11 October. It aims to highlight the growing problem of poverty in Scotland and showcase the solutions we can all get behind to solve it.  

With that in mind, ATUC has been sharing articles about how poverty manifests itself in our communities across Scotland and what we need to do to tackle it.

See more on our Facebook page. 

We are particularly concerned about the growing numbers of children growing up in poverty - one in six children in the North East of Scotland. 65% of those children are in a household with one or both parents in work. 

Growing up in poverty has a significant effect on our children, affecting their development, their confidence, their access to opportunities and their health.

Delegates also supported an emergency motion proposed by Gerry McCabe calling for an
Emergency Programme for Jobs, Services and Safety (see motion below)

Join the ATUC and raise your voice against poverty in the world’s sixth richest country

#ChallengePoverty This is Challenge Poverty Week. Aberdeen Trades Union Council is raising our voice against poverty in the sixth richest country in the world. The money is there – it’s just in the wrong hands.

The key messages of Challenge Poverty Week are:

 ·       Too many people in Scotland are living with the constant pressure of living in poverty.

·       As we plan our economic recovery, we must redesign our economy to reflect the values of justice and compassion we all share.

·       By boosting people’s incomes and reducing the cost of living we can solve poverty.

They have also highlighted the importance of affordable and accessible public services – especially council services - critically important to the poorest in our society to ensure opportunities for families and children.

We all want to do right by each other. And yet, we live in a society where one in five people live with the constant pressure of living in poverty. And in the North East of Scotland almost one in six of our children live below the poverty line. Across Scotland it is one in four of our children and 65% of these children live in a household where one or both parents are in work.

Even before the pandemic, poverty was already too high and rising. However, these last few months have created a storm, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. It has caused exceptional damage to people’s livelihoods, income and wellbeing - and is pulling even more families under.

Please read on to find out what you can do....

Take One Action 2020 Film Festival

This year's Take One Action film festival runs from 16th-27th September, with tickets on sale on a "pay what you can" basis.

Take One Action nurtures communal exploration of the stories, ideas and questions at the heart of positive social change. Through film screenings, conversation and enquiry, we bring people together to inspire a fairer, more sustainable and more fulfilling world, in Scotland and beyond our borders.

From freedom of the press to prison reform, from labour rights in the garment industry to indigenous rights and climate justice our programme offers a much-needed opportunity to connect with some of our planets most pressing issues - and to (re-)connect with our power to be the change.

See the trailer here, or go direct to their website for more information at https://www.takeoneaction.org.uk/events/

Free showing of the film WitchHunt and panel discussion

Please come along to a showing of the film, WitchHunt and a panel discussion on Tuesday 25th February 7-9pm at the Belmont Filmhouse, 49 Belmont Street, AB10 1JS Aberdeen.

The controversial IHRA working definition of antisemitism with its examples is increasingly being misused to silence and/or criminalise critics of Israeli government policies that clearly violate Palestinian human rights.

To raise awareness and encourage debate on the subject, ATUC is hosting a screening of the 2019 documentary film and a panel discussion featuring John Pullman (Director), Sarah Glynn (Scottish Jews Against Zionism), and Barney Crockett (Aberdeen Lord Provost (invited)).

Human ‘statue’ of Kurdish symbol of resistance unveiled in Dundee

ATUC Secretary, Fiona Napier joined activists in Dundee on Saturday 24 March as they demonstrated solidarity with the Kurdish people in Northern Syria by unveiling a human ‘statue’ of Kawa the Blacksmith, a symbol of resistance.

Fiona was featured in the Evening Telegraph as she took a message of solidarity to campaigners from Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan (SSK) and Dundee Trades Union Council as they came together to oppose ongoing Turkish aggression in the region.

Following Turkey’s invasion of Afrin – one of three cantons which make up the Rojava region - in January, Afrin city fell to the invaders last week.

In a symbolic demonstration of the seizure of power, the soldiers pulled down the statue of Kawa the Blacksmith, a mythic Kurdish figure who represents the triumph of ordinary people over tyrannical rule.

In defiance of this move, Scottish campaigners produced their own statue of Kawa, in the form of a person covered in silver paint, holding his famed Blacksmith’s hammer in one hand, a Kurdish YPG (People’s Defence Units) flag in the other.

Read more here.

ATUC Special Meeting - Learning the lessons of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy

Aberdeen TUC  has called a special meeting with a speaker from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)  to help us start to learn some of the lessons from the Grenfell Tower disaster.

This will take place at the UNITE office 44 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5TJ at 6.45pm on Tuesday 27th June.

All delegates are invited.

In view of the importance of the issue some key residents organisations are also to be invited.

Kevin Hutchens, Joint President, who has organised the meeting had previously sent a message of condolence, support and solidarity to all those affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Kevin had said, "Aberdeen TUC sends its sympathy and support to all affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.For those killed in the tragedy we grieve, to the relatives and friends we send our condolences, to those injured we send our best wishes for recovery, to the rescue workers we send our admiration and gratitude for their bravery and to the community we send our solidarity.

"While recognising investigations have to be completed we call for justice to be done and for every effort to be made to ensure this never happens again."

Kevin added, "The meeting will start with a minutes silence as a mark of respect for all those who lost their lives in this appalling tragedy.

"I look forward to seeing you there."

St Andrew's Day March and Rally - celebrating the multicultural voices of the North East - Report of Rally

Hundreds of people from many different ethnic backgrounds - trade unionists, activists, politicians and citizens - came together at this year’s St Andrews Day March and Rally in Aberdeen in a celebration of diversity in the North East of Scotland and to give a clear message that racism and intolerance is not welcome here.

The event was organised once again by Aberdeen Trades Union Council, this year in partnership with #WeAreAberdeen, a group which has been set up to combat growing racism and intolerance in the wake of the Brexit campaign.

Carrying colourful banners and placards, the marchers were upbeat and joyful as they strode along the aptly named Union Street behind the stirring music of the Granite City Pipes and Drums Youth Band.

The rally at the Castlgate heard uplifting stories from a number of speakers, many of whom had come from different countries to make their homes in the North East of Scotland. All paid tribute to the warmth of the welcome they had received from the people in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.

 However some had also experienced intolerance and racism reminding us that we must always be vigilant and challenge such behaviour wherever we see it.

  To see more photos from the event go to our Facebook Album.

St Andrew's Day March and Rally - celebrating the multicultural voices of the North East

Hundreds of people from many different ethnic backgrounds - trade unionists, activists, politicians and citizens - came together at this year’s St Andrews Day March and Rally in Aberdeen in a celebration of diversity in the North East of Scotland and to give a clear message that racism and intolerance is not welcome here.

The event was organised once again by Aberdeen Trades Union Council, this year in partnership with #WeAreAberdeen, a group which has been set up to combat growing racism and intolerance in the wake of the Brexit campaign.

Carrying colourful banners and placards, the marchers were upbeat and joyful as they strode along the aptly named Union Street behind the stirring music of the Granite City Pipes and Drums Youth Band.

The rally at the Gallowgate heard uplifting stories from a number of speakers, many of whom had come from different countries to make their homes in the North East of Scotland. All paid tribute to the warmth of the welcome they had received from the people in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.  However some had also experienced intolerance and racism reminding us that we must always be vigilant and challenge such behaviour wherever we see it.

STUC 2016 - Congress backs ATUC call to welcome refugees

Congress supported a call from Aberdeen Trades Union Council amongst others to support refugees and those seeking asylum is Scotland, and called for the UK and Scottish Government to welcome more refugees than currently planned.

Speaking on behalf of the ATUC, Kevin Hutchens focussed on the plight of refugees stranded on the borders of Europe. He told delegates that what is shown on TV is only a small part of the human tragedy that is taking place daily. Systems for receiving and dealing with people needing international protection are not working or absent.

Vigil on International Human Rights Day 10th Dec for survivors of gender based violence around the world

All are invited to attend the Candlelit Vigil on 10th December 2015 at 5pm in St Nicholas Square, Aberdeen.

Falling on International Human Rights Day and the final day of the 16 Days of Action campaign, Aberdeen Violence Against Women Partnership is holding the vigil to bring people together to honour and remember survivors of gender-based violence.

The vigil will include speakers from Grampian Women’s Aid, Sacro, Aberdeen City Youth Council and other members of the Aberdeen Violence Against Women Partnership.

Come and join us to light a candle and show solidarity in honouring and remembering those who have suffered due to gender-based violence.