Tomás Ó Flatharta

The Ukrainian people are foremost on our minds as they suffer under and resist the Russian invasion. Anyone who considers themselves an opponent of imperialism should be in support of their resistance.   

We in the ILWU — socialists, anarchists, feminists, trade unionists, anti-imperialists — have watched with dismay, however, as many on the Western left who have campaigned vigorously against US imperialism have failed to recognise the need to do the same with respect to Russian imperialism. If Ukraine has the right to self-determination and to resist the dismemberment and partition of their state then Irish socialists should expend their energy on seeking out practical means of supporting the Ukrainian people’s struggle. This struggle echoes the same fight Ireland undertook over a century ago.

Indeed some left-wing organisations oppose deliveries of weapons to Ukraine. They are fast becoming isolated in the international labour movement. Trade unions, social movements, and organised left-wing parties across the European continent are mobilising in support of the Ukrainian right to self determination.

Support Irish State Mine Clearance in Ukraine

The ILWU makes this statement to publicly register our support for Irish assistance, by the Irish Defence Forces, with mine clearance in Ukraine. Mine clearance is humanitarian work that will save lives, will clear land to enable farming, and will make towns and villages habitable once again. Defence Forces personnel will use their specialist demining skills to train Ukrainians in this activity.

Mine clearance is as much humanitarian work as was the rescue work performed by the Irish Naval Service in the Mediterranean Sea, when they rescued more than 18,000 people. Anyone on the left who is opposed to training in life-saving mine clearing skills is posturing: trying to depict a humanitarian act as a pro-NATO military intervention in order to be able to shout, ‘look, I told you Ireland was lining up with NATO’. Just how unreal such claims are can be shown with a very simple test. Ask what Ukrainian people – especially working class communities and trade unionists – think of Ireland’s offer to help by offering expertise in mine clearance.

We in the ILWU are further dismayed by those on the left in Ireland who would refuse solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and instead issue calls for peace and negotiation. Of course, everyone on the left wants a peaceful world, a world without invasions. But at the current time the call for peace is, in effect, a call for the capitulation of Ukraine and for millions of Ukrainians to be left under Putin’s rule. A recent example of such a ‘peace and negotiations’ call is that of Ireland’s People Before Profit (PBP) party. As with most such calls PBP ignores — indeed is silent about  — the views of the Ukrainian people and their year-long military and popular resistance.

Among the Ukrainian resistance are the 300,000 volunteers who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), including 50,000 women. Millions more constitute the popular resistance that includes urban and rural networks, feminists, anarchists, solidarity collectives, environmentalists, LGBTIQ+ and  Roma people. Workers in the transport, food supply, and hospitals system are very much part of this resistance.

The ILWU continues to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and their resistance both military and popular. It is for the Ukrainian people to make their own choices as to the future of their country.

Over the coming days we will be out in support of, and in other cases, hosting events to demonstrate our solidarity.

These events are on our Twitter page at @ilw_ukraine

See also :

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2023/02/13/ireland-fought-for-freedom-against-an-empire-now-we-on-the-irish-left-support-ukraines-fight-for-freedom-global-week-of-action-events-in-ireland-february-21-26-2023/