Resolution for Irish Unity
Passed by the ALAA Joint Council on 11/12/2024
Authors: Caitríona Fox (CLS), Jeremy Bunyaner (CLS), Bridget McDonagh (LAS Queens)
WHEREAS, the partition of the island of Ireland has always been a divisive and violent colonial tactic, which has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives;
WHEREAS, the United States under the Clinton Administration had a prominent role in securing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (footnote 1) and helping to promote peace within the region,
WHEREAS, international support and pressure will be needed, now (footnote 2) and into the future to ensure the principles of the Good Friday Agreement are respected;
WHEREAS, Irish Labor has a long history of strong trade unions, which connect to United States history, most notably in union leader James Connolly and his time spent in New York promoting union strength in World War II;
WHEREAS, support for the unification of the island of Ireland has grown in recent years, and is now the preferred option of 31% of voters in the North of Ireland as of 2022 (footnote 3);
WHEREAS, the ‘Brexit’ decision of 2016 within the United Kingdom greatly altered the autonomy of the North of Ireland, wherein more than 55% of the North of Ireland population voted to remain within the EU (footnote 4).
WHEREAS, this world is often described as “post-colonial”, yet this is not an apt description, as many colonial structures remain in existence today, such as the North of Ireland, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Palestine, Kashmir, and many more;
WHEREAS, many of our own clients, as well as colleagues, lives and migration patterns have been affected by this history and the violence, displacement, and legal regimes arising from these colonial structures (footnote 5);
WHEREAS, Irish Unity would be the most just, most politically viable and culturally sustainable option for the future of the island, and with the understanding that constitutional change must be on the basis of the consent of citizens of the island of Ireland;
WHEREAS, ALAA and UAW are democratic institutions with an ongoing duty to support democracy and self-determination everywhere, with a keen understanding of our own struggles as global and interconnected;
THEREFORE, be it resolved that:
1. ALAA will not trade or otherwise organize with Great Britain if it takes any action which undermines the principles of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 or attempts to violate international law by reneging on such democratic and principled international law.
2. Chapter Bargaining Committees are encouraged to support the Good Friday Agreement and all its principles, especially with regard to the right of the citizens of the island of Ireland to determine their own future, and would withhold trade union organizing power in order to ensure the continued application of the democratic agreement.
3. ALAA shall support the democratically decided principles of self-determination, commitment to civil and political rights, indigenous language rights, and police reform within the Good Friday Agreement and support the processes laid out allowing the people of Ireland to democratically decide their future.
Footnotes
1 https://peacemaker.un.org/uk-ireland-good-friday98
2 https://www.politico.eu/article/nancy-pelosi-says-no-uk-us-trade-deal-if-brexit-risks-irish-peace/
3 https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/irish-reunification
4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results
5 https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154921