The event was held in central London to mark 75 years of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

amshid Ahmadi, CODIR’s Assistant General Secretary, provided one of the keynote addresses at the conference session titled ‘The importance of international solidarity in combatting the rise of authoritarianism and the far right’, and had a stand at the event kindly assisted by a CODIR volunteer.

This important day-long conference is now held annually by the National Education Union (NEU) bringing together experts, partners, and trade unionists from across the country, and indeed around the world, to discuss pressing and topical international events and mobilise appropriate and principled solidarity actions thereafter.

The event presented a valuable opportunity to meet, interact, and coordinate with solidarity officers and representatives of trade unions and struggles from a number of countries invited to the event by the NEU.  These representatives were able to provide attending delegates with authoritative and first-hand accounts and information regarding the particular situations and dynamics of the struggles in their respective countries.  Present with CODIR at this year’s event were representatives from France, Spain, Palestine, and Türkiye.  Mr. Ahmadi thanked the NEU for providing this unique opportunity to speak directly with hundreds of international solidarity officers from across the country about the reality of the lives and struggles of not only Iranian trade union activists by and large, but also the country’s teacher and educator advocates and representatives in particular.

The workshop titled ‘The importance of international solidarity of international solidarity in combatting the rise of authoritarianism and the far right’ was expertly chaired by Stephen Russell, Senior International Officer of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).  Following introductory remarks about the subject of the session, underscoring its importance and relevance to trade unions against the current backdrop, Mr. Russell called upon all four speakers to address the audience based on the unique context of the struggle in each of the countries they represent as well as the fundamental link between their international solidarity campaigns and initiatives in challenging authoritarianism and the far right.

The subjects covered in Mr. Ahmadi’s address to the conference session were; the workers movement in Iran, the impact of strikes across the country’s various industrial sectors, and the prominent role of Iranian women in challenging theocratic rule in Iran. He then moved on to talk about the profound impact of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, and the transformation of the social movement in Iran since those momentous days of the uprising, which took place from autumn 2022 through spring 2023.  He went on to analyse the potential of the protest movement as well as signs that the regime is seemingly beginning to lose its once iron grip on power in Iran.  His address finished with an appeal to NEU activists to engage and work with CODIR, to further familiarise themselves with the struggles being waged by their Iranian counterparts, and the country’s people more generally, and to learn how to focus their solidarity optimally and on a principled basis so as to progress towards the most positive outcome all round.  (The full text of the address will be published separately on the website in due course.)

The holding of the stand – stocked with the most recent editions of CODIR’s journal, ‘Iran Today’, and the ‘CODIR Bulletin’ handouts – at the event also enabled CODIR to interact and mix with delegates attending the conference throughout the day and provide them with up-to-date information from the trade union struggle on the ground in Iran, going beyond the spin and often misleading picture presented via some other channels and media, as well as answer the many pertinent questions they had regarding the situation inside the country…  Indeed, a valuable takeaway form the event for CODIR were the several invitations we received from trade union branches in attendance to address their own meetings in the near future.

CODIR would like to express and put on record its appreciation to the NEU for organising and facilitating such a successful event – and particularly to its International Team for delivering an enjoyable day covering a full yet focused agenda.  The NEU has done all us proud!