Ukraine Solidarity Campaign

Last updated

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC) is a political organisation in Great Britain which works to build solidarity with socialists and trade unionists in Ukraine. Founded in 2014 in the aftermath of the Maidan Revolution, it grew significantly following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, organising material support for Ukrainian trade unionists on the frontline. [1] [2]

Contents

History

USC was founded in 2014 during the Euromaidan movement to campaign in defence of Ukraine's right to self-determination against Russian imperialism in the British trade union movement and wider left. Its founding meeting in London was supported by Labour MP John McDonnell and Ukrainian diaspora socialists including Marko Bojcun and Labour MS Mick Antoniw. [3]

Following the Russian invasion in 2022, USC worked with British and Ukrainian unions to organise solidarity demonstrations [4] and raise funds for Ukrainian workers on the frontline. In contrast to some other organisations on the left, USC explicitly called on the UK and other western governments to arm Ukraine. USC has been credited by officials of Ukrainian left organisation Sotsialnyi Rukh for having "pushed many British trade unions from pacifist or pro-Russian to pro-Ukrainian positions". [5]

USC Scotland was established in 2022 and later formally constituted as a sister organisation to USC. [6]

In October 2022, USC and Resistance Books, a publisher linked to Socialist Resistance, co-published Ukraine: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity , a collection of essays on the war by Ukrainians and socialists around the world.

Supporters

Trade unions affiliated to USC include ASLEF, [7] PCS and the NUM at a national level, branches of Unite and the NEU, and various trades councils. [8] Demonstrations organised by USC have also been addressed by members of the CWU, UCU, BFAWU and TSSA. [9]

Socialist organisations affiliated to USC include Chartist , Anticapitalist Resistance, the Alliance for Workers' Liberty, The Real Democracy Movement, the Republican Socialist Platform, the International Marxist-Humanist Organization and Independent Socialists in Wellingborough. [8]

Elected politicians associated with USC include Labour MPs John McDonnell, [10] Nadia Whittome, Clive Lewis, Rachael Maskell, Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Ian Lavery, MS Mick Antoniw [11] and MSP Paul Sweeney. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McDonnell</span> British Labour politician

John Martin McDonnell is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' Socialist Federation</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

The Workers' Socialist Federation was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. Under many different names, it gradually broadened its politics from a focus on women's suffrage to eventually become a left communist grouping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Ireland</span> Far-left political party in Ireland

The Communist Party of Ireland is an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist communist party, founded in 1933 and re-founded in 1970. It rarely contests elections and has never had electoral success. The party is a member of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties.

The Cairo Conference against U.S. hegemony and war on Iraq and in solidarity with Palestine, generally known simply as Cairo Anti-war Conference, is an anti-war and anti-neo-liberalism conference held regularly since 2002 in Cairo, Egypt. The Cairo Conference set up the International Campaign Against Aggression on Iraq which helped to coordinate the worldwide demonstrations on 15 February 2003. In 2009, the Conference was banned by the government of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Party Scotland</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

Socialist Party Scotland is the Scottish affiliate of the worldwide Marxist and Trotskyist organisation the Committee for a Workers' International. Socialist Party Scotland is the sister party of the Socialist Party in England and Wales. Socialist Party Scotland plays a leading role in the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which stood ten candidates in Scotland at the 2015 general election and the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Four of the ten Scottish TUSC candidates in 2015 were members of Socialist Party Scotland. TUSC did not stand candidates in the 2017 UK General Election or the 2019 UK General Election as it supported Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the UK Labour Party. TUSC stood in the 2017 council elections in Scotland alongside Dundee Against Cuts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People Before Profit</span> Irish political party

People Before Profit is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005, active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The British left can refer to multiple concepts. It is sometimes used a shorthand for groups aligned with the Labour Party. It can also refer to other individuals, groups and political parties that have sought egalitarian changes in the economic, political, and cultural institutions of the United Kingdom. Various subgroups with a national scope are active. Liberals and progressives believe that equality can be accommodated into existing capitalist structures, but they differ in their criticism of capitalism and on the extent of reform and the welfare state. Anarchists, communists, socialists, and social democrats, among others, with international imperatives are also present within this macro-movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No2EU</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

No2EU is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. It was first founded in 2009 when it campaigned under the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Democracy; it was led by Bob Crow and backed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), who provided most of its funding, the Communist Party of Britain and Solidarity (Scotland) among others. It participated in the 2009 European Parliament elections and the European elections in 2014 with the party name "No2EU" and the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Workers' Rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance in Britain. It was originally launched for the 2010 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mick Antoniw</span> Welsh Labour politician and Member of the Senedd for Pontypridd

Mick Antoniw is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician, serving as Counsel General for Wales since 2021, and previously from 2016 to 2017, and Minister for the Constitution since 2021. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Pontypridd since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Socialist Group (Scotland)</span> Political party in Scotland

The International Socialist Group was a revolutionary socialist organisation based in Scotland which was formed in April 2011 by former members of the Socialist Workers Party. The group produced a free monthly broadsheet and online blog, Communiqué. The ISG participated in a number of campaigns, such as the Coalition of Resistance, Stop the War Coalition and the Radical Independence Campaign. In 2015 the ISG formally dissolved with its members participating in the Scottish Left Project, the organisational process which led to the RISE electoral alliance to contest the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections alongside Scottish Socialist Party, individuals from the Radical Independence Campaign and other activists and trade unionists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan</span> Communist political organisation in Kazakhstan

The Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, previously known as the Socialist Resistance of Kazakhstan from 2006 to 2011, is a banned communist political organisation in Kazakhstan. It is active in a number of cities but operates primarily in Almaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Party (England and Wales)</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist political party in England and Wales. Founded in 1997, it had formerly been Militant, an entryist group in the Labour Party from 1964 to 1991, which became Militant Labour from 1991 until 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Workers Party (UK)</span> Far-left political party in the United Kingdom

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a far-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Socialist Review Group by supporters of Tony Cliff in 1950, it became the International Socialists in 1962 and the SWP in 1977. The party considers itself to be Trotskyist. Cliff and his followers criticised the Soviet Union and its satellites, calling them state capitalist rather than socialist countries.

Left Unity is a left-wing political party in the United Kingdom founded in 2013 when film director and social campaigner Ken Loach appealed for a new party to replace the Labour Party. More than 10,000 people supported Loach's appeal.

The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyist group in Britain and Australia, which has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It publishes the newspaper Solidarity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop the War Coalition</span> British anti-war group

The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group that campaigns against the United Kingdom's involvement in military conflicts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Movement (Ukraine)</span> Political movement in Ukraine

The Social Movement is a Ukrainian left-wing community organization founded in 2015, which stands on the principles of democratic socialism, opposing capitalism and xenophobia. It operates in the largest cities of Ukraine. The group is aspiring to become a grassroots political party and came to some prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine when it called upon the international left to support the Ukrainian resistance to Russian imperialism and campaigned against wartime curtailing of certain labour rights by the Ukrainian government.

References

  1. ↑ "Labour Movement Aid Delivered to Ukrainian Resistance". 22 December 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Support Ukrainian workers at the front!". Ukraine Solidarity Campaign. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "International solidarity. How foreign leftists are helping Ukraine in the war". Commons. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "The labour movement must stand by Ukraine: join our historic demonstration". LabourList. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  5. ↑ "Ukrainian workers fight on the front – and suffer from lack of political power". Cross-Border Talks. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  6. ↑ Colin Turbett (September 2023). "Ukraine's popular resistance". Scottish Left Review . Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Train drivers' union boss hits out over criticism of strike on eve of Eurovision". Evening Standard. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 "About". Ukraine Solidarity Campaign. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Trade unions will stage a protest march and rally in Whitehall in solidarity with Ukraine". Morning Star. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "The Ukrainian Question for Socialists". 21 February 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Welsh unions are supporting Ukrainian workers. We need more of this solidarity". openDemocracy. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Letter calling for arms to Ukraine is dangerous, say peace campaigners". Morning Star. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.