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Bilal Malkawi explains what the ITF did to help civilians in Gaza earlier this year.

On December 27, 2008, Israeli forces launched a major air attack on Hamas, in response to Hamas rocket attacks. As of 20 January, United Nations officials as well as media outlets estimated that the Gaza war had seen more than 1,300 Palestinians killed and more than 5,000 injured. Most were civilians.

ITF-affiliated unions sprang into action to help civilians in Gaza. Transport unions in Jordan, led by the Air Transport and Tourism Union, organised a big fundraising campaign. The majority of Royal Jordanian workers, including cabin crew, pilots, traffic controllers, casual workers and even non-Jordanian employees contributed on a voluntary basis. The ITF contributed US$22,000 towards the flights, including US$19,000 towards chartering a plane for the second shipment of aid.

With the 150,000 Jordanian dinars raised as a result of this campaign, we were able to purchase essential medical supplies, three ambulances, and food for children.

Royal Jordanian Airlines donated a cargo Airbus A310 to deliver the humanitarian supplies. I was on board the aircraft and supervised the plane from Amman until it landed at Al-Areesh airport on 8 January at 11:30 GMT. This was the first shipment of trade union humanitarian aid.

The relief mission was successful, despite difficulties in offloading the cargo, due to inadequate facilities at Al-Aµreesh airport, I was responsible for procuring equipment to facilitate cargo offloading. I also rented lorries to transport supplies to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where they were received by Red Crescent personnel and in coordination with the International Red Cross.

The ambulances donated by the union were the first to enter Gaza after the military operations. They were successful in reaching their destination on time to provide help in transporting seriously injured civilians to Egypt where they received treatment in spite of the shortage of ambulances on site.

A subsequent relief mission was equally successful in providing relief aid to Gaza.

The cargo contents consisted of much needed medical supplies specified by the Jordanian team of volunteers working in Gaza.

This included baby milk, operations equipments, burn dressings and essential medicine. I worked with Jordanian trade unionists through the night to pack and load the plane, after receiving clearance from the Egyption authorities. Both flights were filled with different materials worth of US$450,000.

The second plane landed at Al-Areesh airport at 3:30am on 21 January 2009

Again, we faced difficulties in unloading the cargo shipment. A ceasefire was enforced on the ground, but handling, loading and transferring the shipment to the Rafah passage were difficult this time. Despite this, we were able to get the supplies through to help the people of Gaza.

This relief effort indicates how the trade union movement is playing its part in helping to alleviate the suffering of people in conflicts. The ITF was the first union federation to enter Iraq after the war and Lebanon after the July 2006 war, and finally Gaza during and after the war. The ITF is not only a global union federation supporting workers and campaigning for their rights, but it is also the federation that supports humans everywhere. Helping workers and their families is the right way to help spread peace across the globe. On a personal level, I felt proud of transport workers during both missions and hope that what we did made a difference. I am proud to work for the ITF.

The international trade union movement, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Metal Workers’ Federation, backed the call for trade unions to sponsor humanitarian relief aid to Gaza. The ITF would like to thank all the affiliates who contributed to the relief effort, including unions affiliated to the general federation of Jordan, Lebanese and Tunisian transport unions.

Other contributions came from:

• Lebanese Cabin Crew Association
• Lebanese Seamen’s Syndicate
• Seafarers’ Union of Croatia
• Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)
• Finnish Transport Workers’ Union (AKT)
• Jordanian Aircraft Maintenance Company Workers (Joramco)
• FIT/CISL Seafarers’ Section, Italy
• Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)
• AIG (Airport International Group).

The ITF would also like to thank Samer Majali, president and chief executive of Royal Jordanian Airlines, who donated the use of an Airbus A310 big enough to take an ambulance alongside the other aid.