British trade union leaders support Venezuelan revolution

The Hands Off Venezuela campaign has been present at this year’s meeting of the Trades Union Congress in Manchester explaining the achievements of the Venezuelan revolution and the need to step up solidarity in the run up to the National Assembly elections.

Hundreds of copies of the latest HOV Newsletter were distributed to delegates and visitors who showed a keen interest in the latest developments of the Bolivarian revolution. The newsletter contains articles about the experiences of workers’ control, the communal councils as well as a message from Venezuelan Ambassador to the UK Samuel Moncada.

The British trade union movement has already expressed its support for the Venezuelan revolution in 2005 through a unanimous resolution which was ratified in 2007.

This time, as the TUC discussed coordinated action against the cuts introduced by the Conservative-Liberal coalition government, there was a lot of interest about the progress of the Bolivarian revolution. Leading figures in the most important unions in Britain added their names to the Hands Off Venezuela statement in solidarity with the Venezuelan revolution and in support of the PSUV candidates to the National Assembly elections. The statement has already gathered more than 1000 signatures from 59 different countries around the world. 

Amongst those signing were:

• Jeremy Corbyn, MP
• John McDonnell, MP
• Derek Simpson, joint General Secretary UNITE
• Tony Woodley, joint General Secretary UNITE
• Paul Kenny, General Secretary GMB
• Mark Serwotka, General Secretary PCS
• Chris Baugh, Assistant General Secretary PCS
• Hugh Lanning, Deputy General Secretary PCS
• Matt Wrack, President FBU
• Mick Shaw, General Secretary FBU
• Bob Crow, General Secretary RMT
• Alex Gordon, President RMT
• Billy Hayes, General Secretary CWU
• Tony Kearns, Deputy General Secretary CWU
• David Ward, Deputy General Secretary CWU
• Sally Hunt, General Secretary UCU
• Jeremy Dear, General Secretary NUJ
• Peter Murray, President NUJ
• Joe Marino, General Secretary BAFWU
• Colin Moses, National Chair POA

Text of the statement:

Faced with the elections to the national assembly in Venezuela on September 26, we the undersigned would like to show our internationalist support and solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution:

because it has courageously stood up to imperialism

• because it has invested the money from the oil revenue in the eradication of illiteracy and the extension of education at all levels
• because it has made a gigantic effort in extending health care to the poorest sections of society with the Mision Barrio Adentro
• because it has started a process of expropriation of the latifundia and the redistribution of land
• because it has faced the monopoly of the mass media and moved towards the democratisation of access to the media
• because it has reverted the process of privatisation of state owned companies and utilities and has renationalised some of those which had been privatised
• because it has dared to occupy abandoned factories and put them to work under workers' control
• because it has started to introduce workers' control in the basic industries
• because it has raised the banner of socialism in the 21st century
• because a defeat of the revolution would mean an advance of imperialism, the oligarchy, the land owners and capitalists, of those who organised the coup in April 2002
• because the revolution has not yet been completed

for these and many more reasons, we support the Bolivarian revolution and the candidates of PSUV in September 26 and we remain alert to counter the campaign of lies and provocations on the part of imperialism and the counter-revolution.

See LIST OF SIGNATURES - ADD YOUR NAME TO THE APPEAL