香港勞權監察總幹事蒙兆達在九月八日獲邀以網上方式參加愛爾蘭總工會(Irish Congress Trade Unions)舉行的「全球團結夏日學園」（Global Solidarity Summer School)活動，負責主講以香港工運為主題的工作坊。
夏日學園是愛爾蘭總工會每年重點活動，今年約70名來自不同行業的工會人士參加，討論議題包括如全球暖化、後疫症年代的工作轉變等工運最迫切的挑戰，並以集思廣益方式訂出工會未來的工作優次及策略。同時，愛爾蘭總工會亦一直維持傳統，在活動中引入國際視野，以擴闊工運跨地域團結的想像。今年大會便以烏克蘭戰爭、庫爾德斯坦和平運動等作為探討主題，而今年香港自主工運的前景亦成為他們關注重點之一。
在工作坊上，蒙兆達講解了香港在引入國安法後，工會領袖和工運團體遭受打壓、大量工會被迫解散的狀況，同時亦分享東歐民主化經驗對香港抗爭運動的啟示。報告後參加者踴躍提問，他們對於中國政府會否在香港實施網絡控制、工人上街爭取日常權益會否同樣被捕等，表示關注。蒙兆達總結時表示，未來的路不知還要走多遠，但盼望國際工運持續關注和聲援香港，令香港的抗爭者不會被孤立。
Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor’s Executive Director Christopher Mung was invited to join the Global Solidarity Summer School organised by the Irish Congress Trade Union (ICTU) on 8 September 2022. Mung hosted an online workshop about the Hong Kong labour rights movement.
The summer school this year attracted 70 labour unionists from different sectors. The summer school discussed pressing issues faced by labour movements around the world, for example, global warming and workplace transformation post-COVID. The summer school also collectively formulated future work priorities and strategies. The ICTU followed their tradition and introduced an international perspective into their event and broadened the imagination of cross-regional solidarity. This year, the ICTU highlighted the Ukrainian war and the Kurdistan peace movement as their key themes, and the future of the Hong Kong independent labour movement was also one of the thematic workshops.
In the workshop, Mung explained the crackdown on union leaders and organisations since the implementation of the National Security Law; a large number of trade unions were thus forced to disband. He also shared his take on how the Hong Kong protest movement can learn from Eastern Europe’s democratisation.
The participants raised various follow-up questions, including whether the Chinese government would tighten its control over Hong Kong’s online space. They were also concerned about whether Hong Kong workers protesting for basic labour rights would face arrest and prosecution.
In the concluding part, Mung said that he did not know how far the road ahead would go, but he hoped that the international labour movement would continue to pay attention to and support Hong Kong so that the protesters in Hong Kong would not be alone.
