History of trade unions in the United Kingdom TUC General Council. He focused on racial issues. British unions collaborated with the AFL–CIO in the United States on international projects. In the 1980s, worldwide union attention focused on the Solidarity union movement in Poland, which finally succeeded in breaking the communist control of that country. Norman Willis, the general secretary of the TUC, vigorously promoted union support for Solidarity. The nuclear disarmament movement, which played a major role in Labour Party internal politics in the 1980s, was primarily a middle-class movement that had little support in the labour movement. Major strike action by British unions during the 1978–1979 Winter
Solidarity – The Union for British Workers all forms of institutional union corruption"; "promote freedom within and without the Trades Union movement, protecting and promoting freedom of belief, thought and speech, irrespective of political and religious affiliation or creed". The documents make no mention of race, but Solidarity's General Secretary has repeatedly stated that membership is open to people of all ethnic, religious and political backgrounds. A statement on the Solidarity website backs this view: "Our aim in Solidarity is to unite all workers, from all racial, religious and political backgrounds". The Union has distributed material aimed at recruiting from ethnic minority communities. Solidarity recruits from all