Thousands of striking workers and activists fighting the rising cost of living in Britain heard a strong message of solidarity from Sudan for their struggles on the “Enough is Enough” day of action on 1 October. Mick Lynch, general secretary of the rail and port workers’ union RMT received a message of support from TAM, the Alliance of Demand-based Campaigns in Sudan and told the cheering crowd of thousands at Kings Cross station: 

I’ve got a message here, been handed to me. We are part of an international movement. We start off a national movement, we want an international movement. We’re sending solidarity to the women in Iran right now, struggling. I’ve got a message from Sudan. Working people in Sudan sent a message to us, wishing us well in our struggle.” 

Mick Lynch, RMT

Workers need to stand together, across different industries and sectors and between different nationalities and religions, Lynch said. 

What this movement is about is giving a voice to workers. And let’s be clear about what we mean. All of the workers. And what we’ve been very careful about in these campaigns with People’s Assembly and Enough is Enough, is that it’s the whole working class community. We refuse to be divided. We refuse to pitch rail workers against nurses. We refuse to pitch care workers against private sector workers. We refuse to pitch black versus white, Muslim versus Hindu, whatever it is, we will take this campaign into every town and village. Every temple, every synagogue, every gurdwara, every church. The whole working class, no division. No worker is illegal in this country, we will stand together as one united working class.

Mick Lynch, RMT

There was a warm welcome for the message of international solidarity among trade unionists in the crowd too. MENA Solidarity gathered dozens of signatures from activists from rail, post, local government, teachers and university and college unions on a giant postcard with the demands of the Enough is Enough campaign in English and Arabic to share with workers and activists in Sudan. 

MENA Solidarity activists also handed out copies of the message of solidarity sent by Sudanese women’s organisation No to the Oppression of Women to women in Iran and leaflets from Egypt Solidarity Initiative supporting protests for climate justice and against the Egyptian regime’s “greenwashing” initiative at the COP27 UN climate talks.

The message of support from Sudan was also heard loud and clear in Portsmouth, where hundreds took to the streets. Khaled Mohamed told the crowd:

In the revolution in Sudan, the people are fighting for the same reasons we are fighting now here. The people have had enough, the people have come into the streets, fighting through demonstrations and strikes. There are a huge amount of strikes going on at the moment, some of them in different cities and villages with people closing shops and protesting. These are the means we have to fight this rotten system. This rotten system is not just here in this country, it is everywhere.” 

Khaled Mohamed, Sudanese activist and Unite member

TAM’s message of support was circulated by MENA Solidarity to trade unionists across the country as part of our campaign to build solidarity between workers in Britain and Sudan.

What you can do:

• Download, print and share this statement as a leaflet for picket lines and rallies: [TAM solidarity message]
• Join the Sudan Solidarity Conference on 6 November and ask your union branch to support
• Send a message of solidarity to striking workers in Sudan and to other campaigns for refugee rights and climate justice through TAM email us at action@menasolidaritynetwork.net