Every level of the trade union movement can become an Apartheid Free Zone: national offices, trades councils, and individual branches.
An Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) does not require a physical, brick-and-mortar building. Many exist as conceptual spaces including trade union branches.
An AFZ declaration is simply a principled public commitment to uphold the guidelines of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
For many years, trade union members across Ireland have stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people. At successive ICTU Congresses, delegates have consistently supported calls for BDS against the genocidal apartheid state of Israel. In 2025, Congress strengthened this position by declaring “that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is an Apartheid Free Zone”, and called “on all affiliates, where they have not yet done so, to declare themselves Apartheid Free Zones and to enact the BDS guidance”.
ICTU further implemented an Ethical Procurement Policy (EPP) and called “on affiliates, through their respective collective bargaining mechanisms to secure ethical procurement and to challenge public procurement contracts with companies complicit in genocide, illegal occupation and other breaches of international law, including through the supply chain.”
The recognition that Israel operates as an apartheid state has long been established within the movement. The question now is what action should follow. Declaring an AFZ offers a clear and practical way to translate long-standing union policy into meaningful action.
We should all take this step in solidarity with Palestinian workers. As well as ICTU, several trade unions, branches and trades councils have already signed up to become AFZs.
Nobody is asked to throw their functioning Dell laptop or HP printer in the skip! Or anything else for that matter. It means implementing a practical Ethical Procurement Policy, so that when the time comes to restock or upgrade, or renew something, a conscious decision will be made not to purchase from any Israeli company, or from any enterprise that the leadership of the Palestinian BDS Movement prioritises as complicit, in other words, a multinational company that is profiting from the occupation and colonisation of Palestine.
We recognise that ending complicity with systems of oppression is a process. It requires time, awareness, and sustained commitment. Becoming an AFZ is a meaningful step on that journey.
It is not about achieving perfection overnight. Instead, it represents a commitment to progressively align practice with targeted BDS principles; principles grounded in international law.
This is a modest but significant step. It aligns with long-standing union policy, demonstrating practical solidarity with Palestinian workers.
Move a motion at your next meeting!
Model Motion: Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ)
This Branch/Council/District/Region/Committee/Other*
- Notes the decision of ICTU Congress 2025 to support the declaration of all ICTU affiliates to be encouraged to do likewise
- Agrees to declare itself an Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ).
- Agrees to:
- (i) Publicise this decision to all relevant members
- (ii) Encourage members to support the BDS movement in line with ICTU policy
- (iii) To campaign for wider action within our union including by encouraging other Branches/Districts/Regions/Committees/Other to make the same commitment
*Amend as appropriate