Amicus/Unite reaffirms support for the Venezuelan Revolution and affiliates to Hands Off Venezuela

Monday was a red letter day for the Hands Off Venezuela campaign. Amicus/Unity, the second biggest union in Britain, voted practically unanimously to affiliate to the HOV campaign. This represents a great step forward for the campaign in the trade union field.

The resolution (173) was moved by Sherell Martin, from the North West region of the union. Sherell spoke about the great achievements of the Venezuelan revolution and praised the work of Hands Off Venezuela, especially its solidarity with the workers of Sanitarios Maracay. Sherell concluded her speech by calling on delegates to support both resolutions (173 and 174) welcoming the Venezuelan Revolution and urging the union to affiliate to HOV.

Espe Espigares seconded the motion and also moved resolution 174. Espe also urged support for both resolutions and explained that the Venezuelan Revolution is moving forward by the Venezuelan people taking their destinies into their own hands. They have started the task of reconstructing society along socialist lines. She also explained that the Venezuelan people have stood up to the USA, telling them "we won't be your back yard any longer, you won't bleed our natural resources any more".

Espe explained that since our 2005 conference, when 97% of delegates voted in favour of supporting Hands Off Venezuela, several branches of Amicus have invited campaign speakers and have affiliated to HOV, including the North West region, the biggest region of the union. Conference warmly applauded this solidarity work.

For reasons best known to the NEC, they recommended opposition to resolution 173. This was linked to the idea that the union was now affiliated to the Venezuelan Information Centre and therefore affiliation to HOV would "confuse" things. This argument did not hold water as other unions were affiliated to both unions and this did not interfere with their solidarity work.

Following this, Sherell was asked to reply. She explained briefly that there was no contradiction in supporting both motions, 173 and 174, and thanked conference for its warm support.

The vote was then taken on both resolutions, which were passed almost unanimously, with only two votes against.

The decision to affiliate to HOV is a massive step forward for the campaign. After last week's vote at the GMB Conference to affiliate to the campaign, together with support from Unison and the T&G, means that the Hands Off Venezuela campaign now has the support from the four largest trade unions in Britain, comprising some four million workers.

See also the resolution of Hands Off Venezuela