Trade unions should be neutral on delicate constitutional matters such as the border
![Last May in Belfast Jeremy Corbyn stated that the Labour Party would be neutral in the event of a border poll. "The trade unionis should be the same"](https://www.newsletter.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_112459596.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Last May in Belfast Jeremy Corbyn stated that the Labour Party would be neutral in the event of a border poll. "The trade unionis should be the same"](/img/placeholder.png)
The border question has been left to the individual union member.
In that context, the recent launch in Dublin and Belfast of the organisation ‘Trade Unionists For A New And United Ireland’ must be seen as a retrogressive step in Irish trade unionism.
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Hide AdThis initiative is not endorsed by ICTU but nevertheless has a destabilising , weakening and sectarianising potential .
![Letter to the editor](https://www.newsletter.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_77913089.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
![Letter to the editor](/img/placeholder.png)
What if there was to be a counter formation of say, ‘Trade Unionists for The UK’.
This would signal a fracture in Irish trade unionism that could do nothing but weaken the movement and maybe even lead to a major split along Orange and Green lines.
Last May in Belfast Jeremy Corbyn stated that the Labour Party would be neutral in the event of a border poll.
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Hide AdThat is the non-partisan position that the Irish trade union movement should maintain and I would appeal to all trade unionists to resist any attempts to divide them along ethno-nationalist and sectarian lines at a time when standing firmly together against the ravages of Tory policies North and South should be paramount.
Andrew Ward, Belfast BT6