Paul Nowak Column: ‘solidarity doesn’t stop at the border. It never has’

At the end of last year, LabourList asked me for my one wish for 2026. I didn’t hesitate: peace.

From Palestine to Ukraine, Sudan to Yemen, that hope is shared by millions of working people and trade unionists who wanted this year to be safer and more hopeful than the one we left behind.

Yet less than a month into 2026, the world already feels more dangerous and more lawless.

Just days into the new year, the United States launched a widely condemned military attack in Venezuela – abducting its president, Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

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Explicit threats have followed against other countries in Latin America, including Cuba and Colombia. And now we have the extraordinary spectacle of President Trump attempting to seize Greenland, having brandished tariffs that would wallop economies and working people far beyond the Arctic – only to drop them a few days later after a supposed ‘framework’ for negotiation over Greenland was agreed.

Let’s be clear. These actions are, on the face of it, egregious breaches of international law and the UN Charter.

It shouldn’t need saying. But the future of any country must be determined by its own people through peaceful and democratic means – free from external interference and coercion, and with respect for sovereignty.

That principle is not optional. It is the foundation of a stable world.

For the trade union movement, this matters deeply. We are, and always have been, an internationalist movement. Unions have played a crucial role in peace processes around the world, from Northern Ireland to Colombia.

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We believe in democracy, human rights, workers’ rights and peace with social justice – not as abstract ideals but as lived realities that every worker should enjoy at home and abroad.

But this isn’t just a moral argument. It’s about jobs and living standards here in Britain too. The last thing working people need is a global race to the bottom or an economic crisis that risks jobs and wages triggered by reckless trade wars.

Once again, the US threatened to take a wrecking ball to key British manufacturing sectors and the livelihoods they support with arbitrary tariffs. And while that immediate threat of additional tariffs may have gone for now, UK steel and cars are still saddled with US tariffs.

That’s why Keir Starmer was right this week to say that a Labour government will pull every lever to protect working people.

The fact remains that the US’ erratic behaviour makes it an unreliable trading partner, constant tariff threats are destabilising by design. They make long-term economic planning impossible and deter the investment our economy desperately needs.

Which is exactly why we must also get serious about rebuilding our trading and political relationship with the European Union.

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In an increasingly volatile and unpredictable global economy forging stronger ties with our closest neighbours is a no-brainer. That means being ambitious in our reset with the EU and exploring common-sense options. No red lines. No predetermined outcomes. Just a clear focus on getting a better, closer deal – something supported by two-thirds of the public and by workers on both sides of the Channel.

Some ask why the TUC speaks out on global issues. The answer is simple: solidarity doesn’t stop at the border. It never has. After all, the issues that affect workers are global.

All working people deserve a future built on stability and peace – not fear and chaos. That’s the future the UK trade union movement will keep fighting for – in 2026 and beyond.

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