UNISON National Delegate Conference reaffirms solidarity with Ukraine

The 2026 National Delegate Conference (NDC) of public-sector trade union UNISON (16-19 June, Brighton) reaffirmed the union’s policy in solidarity with Ukraine.

NDC 2024 voted by a big margin for a strong solidarity and to affiliate to our campaign. The last year has seen a significant stepping up of both national and branch / grassroots solidarity, including a UNISON branches’ delegation taking aid to Ukraine – see the bulletin below, produced for NDC 2026 by the UNISON Members for Ukraine network, for more information. Hundreds of copies were distributed during the conference.

At this year’s conference, although a motion specifically on practical Ukraine solidarity was not reached, the National Executive Council motion on international solidarity, which was passed overwhelmingly, included the following wording:

“Conference reaffirms its condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the occupation of Ukrainian territory, in clear violation of the UN Charter and international law. We reiterate our solidarity with Ukrainian people and trade unions who are defending their country against Russian imperialism and call for the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.”

Stuart Graham, a UNISON Members for Ukraine supporter who is a member of the union’s NEC and its International Committee, proposed the motion and spoke specifically on Ukraine.

Ukraine Solidarity Campaign also ran a stall inside the conference centre during UNISON’s Local Government Conference, representing the largest sector-specific section of the union, which immediately precedes NDC – with lots of interest and sign ups.

We were also pleased that new UNISON General Secretary Andrea Egan, who has strongly supported Ukraine, told the NDC fringe meeting of Time for Real Change, the main left-wing network in UNISON:

“We need to campaign unashamedly for Gaza. We need to campaign when Trump threatens Cuba, says he wants to ‘take’ Cuba. And when Trump’s mate Putin wants to take Ukraine we have to stand unashamedly with them too.”