A tribute to Bob Fulton and the East Kilbride workers

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign mourns the passing recently of a giant of the Trade Union movement. The great Bob Fulton having passed away at the age of 101.

A Trade Unionist and anti-fascist, it was at Rolls Royce in East Kilbride back in 1974 that Bob and his comrades' defiant and principled refusal to work on Pinochet’s aircraft engines led to the grounding of much of Chile’s Air Force. 

A remarkable man, yet in many ways, ordinary - a hard grafting Scottish worker with a firm grasp of what a commitment to social justice looks like. We should all be like Bob.

At this time, as Israel continues a genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip, the actions of the East Kilbride workers continue to resonate, providing important lessons for us today. 

Lessons on interconnectedness - helping illustrate how our struggles against injustice are linked, and must be challenged through common action.

But also the way such action can be undermined when the collective support of the full movement is not mobilised. Whilst the East Kilbride workers were solidly supportive, without the backing of the entire labour movement, such international solidarity could only achieve so much, and Pinochet remained in power for several more years of repression.

Despite this, the Rolls Royce workers illustrated clearly the impact the actions of a handful of workers can have on events on the other side of the world. The organised working class deploying Internationalist instincts and actions and having a real, and significant impact.

In the spirit of East Kilbride, Scottish Trade unionists must deploy the same solidarity and commitment, and do everything in our power to bring about justice for the Palestinian people.

This must include organising and supporting workers to refuse to build, handle and transport weaponry bound for Israel.

Weakened by the defeats of the Thatcher era, withdrawal from the radical political sphere has hampered the ability of unions to be effective. But now is not the time for timidity, hesitation and caution, we need to be bold, brave and to believe in our ability to effect change even in the most desperate of situations - just as Bob did.

Hussein Ezzedine
SPSC Trade Union Officer
09/09/24

SPSC is proud to have made a contribution, along with many others, so that Nae Pasaran could be made to tell the inspirational story of the East Kilbride workers.  You can watch it here: