The Irish trade union movement and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have been unequivocal in our support for Ukraine since the brutal Russian invasion in February 2022 -Gregor Kerr
Trade Union Solidarity with Ukraine in Ireland
Gregor Kerr reports on the ICTU Global Solidarity School, Wexford, August 20 2026
On Thursday 20th August 2026, Irish Left With Ukraine hosted a session at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Global Solidarity Summer School entitled ‘Practical Solidarity – what should Irish trade unionists be doing to support our Ukrainian colleagues?’
The session was introduced by Gregor Kerr, Irish Left With Ukraine who thanked the organisers of the Summer School for facilitating the discussion. He asked delegates to “…put yourself in the shoes of Ukrainian workers and trade unionists – people who in the last months of 2021 and the early months of 2022 were grappling with exactly the same sort of struggles we face on a day to day basis – struggles with individual employers about wage rates and terms and conditions, struggles with the broader neo-liberal government agenda on issues of access to public health, housing, education etc etc.?” When their lives were turned upside down by the horrors of the invasion, he asked “How do any of us know how we would respond in such a situation? Our pre-ordained political theory might suddenly not fit the reality of the brutality of what is happening.”
Our challenge, he said, is to listen to the voice of Ukrainian trade unionists and leftists and ask them “What’s your experience? What do you want us to do? How can we show our solidarity with you?” By listening, we realise the importance of arguing for “…the right of Ukrainian people to resist the invasion by whatever means they feel necessary, for their right to get the weapons they need to mount that resistance from whatever source they can whether we like that source or not – which can obviously be a sticking point for many. But sticking point or not …. Our job is not to say what we think Ukrainians should say or do. Our job is to listen, to provide a platform, to amplify their voices.”
Gregor argued that “…there is a huge difference between saying We should remain militarily neutral and should not join any military bloc, should have nothing to do with NATO and also being able to say at the same time that in any instance of conflict we are on the side of the oppressed against the oppressor…..we must defend Solidarity as well as Neutrality – We stand with the Palestinians in their struggle against the oppression of apartheid Israel, We stand with the people of Ukraine in their struggle against the oppression of the invading Russian forces.”
He praised the Irish trade union movement for being unequivocal in our support for Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, through motions passed, statements issued and practical fundraising and solidarity donations. “…the importance of all pledges and concrete actions of solidarity cannot be over-stated,” he concluded. “And, indeed, the importance of providing a space and a platform for the amplification of the voices of Ukrainian trade unionists and workers is possibly the singular most important thing any of us can do in terms of supporting Ukrainian resistance to the invasion of their country by Putin’s imperialist forces.”
The Irish trade union movement and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have been unequivocal in our support for Ukraine since the brutal Russian invasion in February 2022.
In March 2022, ICTU organised a well-attended demonstration outside the Russian embassy to mark the one-month anniversary of the invasion.
The 2023 Biennial Delegate Conference passed a comprehensive motion proposed by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions which, among other things, condemned the invasion, called for an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces, sent solidarity to the trade union movement and workers of Ukraine and to all peace, anti-war, trade union and workers activists in the Russian Federation and condemned imperialist war, expansion and aggression anywhere in the world from any big power or their clients, or from any military alliance.
In February of this year, in a statement to mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion ICTU reaffirmed its support for the Ukrainian people in their fight for sovereignty and self-determination and stated
“Trade unions have always stood proudly against imperialism. As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, that commitment remains as strong as ever. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, with their trade unions, and with all those who resist imperialist and authoritarian regimes. A just and lasting peace, one based on respect for Ukrainian sovereignty, is what they deserve, and it is what we will continue to advocate for.”
Over the past 4 and a half years, ICTU and many unions have run fundraising efforts and moneys raised have gone to the Irish Red Cross and to the International Trade Union Confederation fund to support Ukrainian unions.
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) provides financial solidarity for an underground Pre-School in Pisoschyh (Kharkiv)
Many individual unions have made contact and pledged solidarity with their sister Ukrainian unions. In 2023, 2 representatives of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine received a standing ovation following a very powerful speech to the annual Congress of my own union – the Irish National Teachers Organisation, and I am glad to say that we will hear from Kateryna from that union in a few minutes to tell us about the realities on the ground for Ukrainians – in particular Ukrainian trade unionists – and some ideas about what can be done from Ireland to support and show solidarity – ideas such as the recent decision by the INTO to provide a solidarity grant of €4422 for a pre-school in Pisoschyn in Kharkiv where they have set up a pre-school in an underground shelter – funds that will go towards IT equipment, laptops, projector to help with teaching and a refrigerator for food storage. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge INTO’s Global Solidarity Officer Sandra Corrigan, general secretary John Boyle and the Central Executive Committee of the INTO for this ongoing support and solidarity for Ukraine. I know that other unions have also carried out acts of solidarity but want to give a shout-out to my own ….
British trade unionists deliver pick-up trucks to the mining city of Pavlohrad
We’ll also hear in a few minutes from Chris Ford who is secretary and one of the founders of the UK-based Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC), which works to mobilise left-wing and trade union movements in the UK in support of Ukraine. In February and March of this year, five USC volunteers undertook a 2,500 km drive from London to the mining city of Pavlohrad, delivering two Mitsubishi LS200 pick-up trucks and a substantial consignment of vital aid. Chris has plenty of ideas to share with us about practical steps we can take as Irish trade unionists to support our Ukrainian colleagues.
Some would say – and indeed I would agree – that more should be done. But nonetheless the importance of those pledges and concrete actions of solidarity cannot be over-stated. And, indeed, the importance of providing a space and a platform for the amplification of the voices of Ukrainian trade unionists and workers is possibly the singular most important thing any of us can do in terms of supporting Ukrainian resistance to the invasion of their country by Putin’s imperialist forces.
Amplify the voices of Ukrainian workers and trade unionists
One of the things that each of us can do is to amplify the voices of Ukrainian workers and trade unionists – people who in the last months of 2021 and the early months of 2022 were grappling with exactly the same sort of struggles we face on a day to day basis – struggles with individual employers about wage rates and terms and conditions, struggles with the broader neo-liberal government agenda on issues of access to public health, housing, education etc etc.?
But, suddenly, their lives were turned upside down by a brutal invasion of their country. They found themselves facing the sort of horrors we really can’t envisage and they found themselves grappling with how to respond.
How do any of us know how we would respond in such a situation? Our pre-ordained political theory might suddenly not fit the reality of the brutality of what is happening.
So the challenge for each of us as Irish trade unionists and as Irish left political activists is to be able to step outside our political theory and to listen to the voices of Ukrainian trade unionists, feminists, LGBTQ+ activists, socialists, anarchists.. to listen to their reality, to respond to their requests, to empathise with the horrific situation in which they find themselves…
That has to be our starting point, we have to ask “What’s your experience? What do you want us to do? How can we show our solidarity with you?” By asking and by listening we very quickly arrive at the importance of arguing for Ukraine’s rights, for their self-determination, for the right of Ukrainian people to resist the invasion by whatever means they feel necessary, for their right to get the weapons they need to mount that resistance from whatever source they can whether we like that source or not – which can obviously be a sticking point for many. But sticking point or not – by listening we arrive at the importance of making those arguments because that is what Ukrainian trade unionists, socialists and left activists are arguing. Our job is not to say what we think Ukrainians should say or do. Our job is to listen, to provide a platform, to amplify their voices.
the decision to oppose the Russian occupation was not made by Joe Biden, nor by Zelenskiy, but by the Ukrainian people who rose en masse in the first days of the invasion and lined up for weapons.’
Taras Bilous
In an essay in this book – Ukraine – Voices of Resistance and Solidarity, published by the UK-based Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, and of which Chris is one of the editors – in an essay entitled ‘I’m a Ukrainian Socialist: Here’s why I resist the Russian Invasion’, Taras Bilous says ‘the decision to oppose the Russian occupation was not made by Joe Biden, nor by Zelenskiy, but by the Ukrainian people who rose en masse in the first days of the invasion and lined up for weapons.’
In the Irish context, I think it is crucial that we are able to distinguish between defence of Ireland’s military neutrality – although all of us know of course that the neutrality of the State has been compromised and honoured more in the breach than in the respect by successive governments – but there is a huge difference between saying We should remain militarily neutral and should not join any military bloc, should have nothing to do with NATO and also being able to say at the same time that in any instance of conflict we are on the side of the oppressed against the oppressor. As trade unionists and as left activists we must defend Solidarity as well as Neutrality – We stand with the Palestinians in their struggle against the oppression of apartheid Israel, We stand with the people of Ukraine in their struggle against the oppression of the invading Russian forces.
Ukraine – Voices of Resistance
Ukraine – Voices of Resistance – Dublin Book Launch
As trade unionists and as left activists we must defend Solidarity as well as Neutrality – We stand with the Palestinians in their struggle against the oppression of apartheid Israel, We stand with the people of Ukraine in their struggle against the oppression of the invading Russian forces.
Gregor Kerr
I’d like now to hand over to Chris Ford of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign to talk to us about some of the practical solidarity initiatives that he personally and the wider campaign and UK trade union movement have been involved in in recent times.
Gregor then handed over to Chris Ford, secretary and one of the founders of the British-based Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC), which works to mobilise left-wing and trade union movements in Britain in support of Ukraine. In February and March of this year, five USC volunteers undertook a 2,500 km drive from London to the mining city of Pavlohrad, delivering two Mitsubishi LS200 pick-up trucks and a substantial consignment of vital aid.
Chris Ford : Historically Ukraine was seen as Russia’s Ireland
Chris stated that it was his own Irish heritage and family that made him appreciate the importance of the Ukrainian national question and the Ukrainian struggle… “historically, Ukraine was seen as Russia’s Ireland, and the founders of the Ukrainian labour movement, …. took great inspiration from the Irish movement…..many Ukrainian social democrats took inspiration from the 1916 Easter uprising to begin to launch the struggle for national liberation in February 1917…. That link was there, and it was a link that I would invite you to recognise also, because it didn’t matter to me, or it shouldn’t matter to any, what the political nature of the government was in Dublin at any given time, or of the leadership of that movement. But Ireland had a right to self-determination, and it doesn’t matter what the leadership is of the government in Kyiv. Ukraine has a right to self-determination, and decided that decisively time and again, and most importantly in 1991, in a referendum of the whole country, and by overwhelming majorities, including in Donbas and in Crimea, that voted for a united and independent Ukrainian state.”
Chris and others established the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign in 2014. “We did so,” he said, “because we knew the truth on the ground through our links with the Ukrainian trade unions….What we said was the truth then, and some said we were lying, has been long proven to be the truth…There was no civil war in Ukraine. There was no coup. There was an external military intervention from the beginning, and that continued and is escalated with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.”
Chris explained that the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign began with two trade unions and now has seven national trade unions affiliated to it, “…to the credit to many who saw the reality of what is happening and responded accordingly to provide support and solidarity to fellow trade unionists in Ukraine.” He went on to state that the USC undertake two aspects of work – direct aid and political campaigning. “We receive letters and appeals on the ground from national unions as to what is needed…We particularly have supplied a lot of assistance to mine rescue workers in Donbas. We’ve supported teachers on the front line… We’ve supported assistance for air raid shelters where classrooms or classes are held…”
Occupation and giving up your own land is unacceptable
He told us that it is an everyday reality for workers in more than one region of Ukraine to be hunted down more and more by drones. “All the reality I see on the ground …. is destruction and killing of the local population. I hear over and over two points made consistently: one, that people desperately want peace; two, that occupation and giving up of their land is completely unacceptable. And this is something we’ve been making clear as a campaign.”
He particularly highlighted the treatment of children. “Vladimir Putin is wanted for war crimes, not for the widespread massacres and killings that have taken place. He’s wanted for war crimes for the abuse of children on an industrial scale, and to me this is particularly heinous….in the first months of the war, Ukraine was able to identify 20,000 children that they had abducted in that short period of time..”
Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova (Trade Union of Education and Science Workers in Ukraine) – “Today we had another sleepless night in Kyiv”
At this point in the meeting Chris’s online connection as lost so the meeting heard from Kateryna Maliuta-Osaulova of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine. Kateryna began by expressing her “huge gratitude for your solidarity with Ukrainians and for your solidarity with our country and for your help to Ukrainians who had to flee from Ukraine to your country to look for a safer place…..What I wanted to tell is that four and a half years of full-scale invasion in Ukraine is not just about the front line; it is about the daily reality of each of us, of all Ukrainians, and about our nation. Today we had …. another sleepless night in Kyiv and some other cities, because Russia attacked several cities … with 50 missiles and more than 100 drones, and the attack lasted about nine hours. Nobody could sleep because the explosions were loud, and that was really horrible. And we will be with this almost every night, especially in Kyiv and on the frontline areas….as usual, they attacked critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, residential buildings and storages. And as for now, it is reported about 15 people killed and 40 people injured. But the rescue operations continue….nobody knows how many people will be found dead….. This is what we live with every day, and the worst thing is that this constant stream of tragedies and such news leads to total exhaustion of Ukrainian people, not only physical but moral.”
Kateryna shared a presentation to show figures and to tell us about how they are responding to the situation as a trade union in Ukraine. And those figures were stark – over 13,000 missiles, 88,000 communicators drones, 120,000 piloted aerial bombs launched against Ukraine over the past 4 and a half years. In relation to educational losses, she referred to 4650 educational institutions damaged by bombing, with more than 400 of them completely destroyed. “…after the end of the war, a lot of costs will be needed for reconstruction…estimated cost of losses is $13.9 billion, and the cost of reconstruction is estimated at 33.5 billion.”
“More that 20,000 Ukrainian Children Were Forcibly Transferred” – More that 180,000 War Crimes Registered in Ukraine
Her figures on the human and environmental costs were even more stark – “More than 180,000 war crimes have been registered in Ukraine from the beginning of the war. More than 16,000 civilians were killed, including children….according to official numbers of UN more than 20,000 Ukrainian children were forcibly transferred, according to Russian officials, 744,000 Ukrainian children were deported and were so-called evacuated to Russia. We have a lot of consequences, damages, and destructions in Ukraine, and at the same time, a lot of environmental damage. The air in Kyiv is horrible, frankly speaking, because of their constant attacks, attacks on storages, and after every attack the warehouses smoulder for two or three weeks. We cannot open the window because the air is horrible. It even hurts the throat when we breathe.”
Kateryna then spoke about the solidarity that had been received. “From the very beginning of the war, we received a lot of support from organisations of other countries… Education International created a Solidarity Fund, and a lot of organisations all around the world contributed money to this fund, and we had the opportunity to provide financial assistance to those members whose houses were damaged, or whose members of their families were killed or injured.”
She spoke about the effects of power outages and pointed out that in the Kyiv region in February there was only power for about four or five hours per day “…thanks to international solidarity, we succeeded to buy generators for our headquarters and regional organisations, and we could continue to work during winters.”
She went on to detail specific initiatives that her union had been able to fund through support from Italian colleagues, from the British National Education Union, the American Federation of Teachers, Polish teacher unions, Danish teacher unions, the German Education Union and the Irish National Teachers Organisation who recently provided a solidarity grant for a pre-school in Pisoschyn in Kharkiv where they have set up a pre-school in an underground shelter – funds that will go towards IT equipment, laptops, projector to help with teaching and a refrigerator for food storage.
Finishing her contribution, Kateryna stated “We know that without international solidarity, without your support, support of other countries, we couldn’t keep standing. We couldn’t continue fighting. Thank you very much for all these things that you are doing for us.”
Show Trials – Sentences of up to 25 years in Russian penal colonies – Need for an Interational Campaign
Chris was able to re-join the meeting and spoke about the case of the Zaporizhzhia 15 – trade union organisers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which was occupied by the Russians who, in order to force the workers to cooperate, instituted a regime of terror against the workforce, which involved 15 members of the trade union, including trade union representatives, being put on show trials and given sentences of up to 25 years in Russian penal colonies for their alleged activities. “We are calling for an international campaign because this is illustrative of the nature of the occupation, and for the trade union movement in particular, what the Russians have been doing from the beginning, and this goes all the way back to 2014 when they banned independent Ukrainian trade unions in the occupied areas.”
International Solidarity Convoy to Ukraine – November 2026
Chris finished his contribution by talking about the International Solidarity Convoy to Ukraine which is being organised for later this year. “The winter last year was very, very harsh, and it looks like it’s going to be very, very harsh again, made worse by attacks on the energy infrastructure. So every effort we can make to help people would be really much appreciated because Kateryna has outlined just how crucial that support and solidarity is.”
Gregor’s full contribution can be read here
Kateryna’s presentation is here
Tomás Ó Flatharta 
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