An anonymous NHS worker argues that at a time of increasing despair over the genocide in Gaza, must build the Workplace Day of Action for Palestine in our unions

Everyone is aware of the horror in Gaza, West Bank and across the Middle East.

It is easy to feel powerless in the face of this and to feel we can’t do anything to change the system. Thousands of miles away from Gaza, we may feel we are too far away to do anything. But ‘the main enemy is at home,’ as Karl Liebknecht says. 

Britain has given over £489 million in military exports to Israel since 2015 and has provided diplomatic and political support, such as consistently asserting that Israel has a right to defend itself whilst remaining silent on the genocide of Palestinians unfolding before our eyes. This is where we can make a difference – by demanding an immediate ceasefire, a complete arms embargo, and for the UK to carry out the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant.

A key way we have always been able to exercise our political power is through workplaces and organised trade unions. During the boycott movement against Apartheid South Africa, it was organised workers and the trade union movement who organised strikes to stop the sale of South African products in Dublin, and blocked South African artists from playing on the BBC. Trade unions were pivotal in the biggest anti-war mobilisation the UK has ever seen in 2003. 

There is now a workplace day of action called by Stop the War for 28^th November, backed by Palestinian trade unions and the British Trades Union Congress, alongside UNISON, the UK’s biggest trade union. Workers are encouraged to organise resistance in whatever form they can at their own workplaces – such as meetings, rallies, banner drops and fundraisers.

At my workplace, a large NHS trust, we have been organising a meetup on the premises followed by a group walk outside the hospital entrance, where we will hear from speakers about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and encourage our trust to join calls for an immediate ceasefire. This follows on from the previous day of action where we organised a lunchtime meeting with a speaker from Stop the War Coalition. 

It has been heartening to receive support from a variety of colleagues including clinical and non-clinical staff, across several hospital sites and from many different backgrounds. However, we have struggled to publicise our events due to the Trust banning discussion of ‘political or controversial topics’ on the staff digital noticeboard. As the day of action has been supported by major trade unions, we felt empowered to protest this. Via our Staff Side forum, we have raised questions such as: why are elected union officials being stopped from sharing union-backed events? And why is this policy only being enforced over Palestine, when the Trust openly advocates solidarity with Ukraine?.

We will continue to organise such events during every day of action, building a movement in our workplace that we hope forms a small part of a swathe of action across the country, letting the ‘enemy at home’ know that we will not allow our government to continue funding, aiding and abetting a genocide before our eyes.