I was approached by an NGO to help build queer solidarity with workers and support a workers strike (which we did). At first glance they seem legit but on looking into them a bit more some things seem a bit odd, or am I being overly paranoid about being manipulated into serving imperial interests?

1.) They are funded by The Ford Foundation. I don’t know if they have other funders as they don’t disclose funding on their website at all - I found it through searching.

2.) They tried to register a union but the court rejected it because they had no structure for accountability (a legal requirement for a union). I feel like a legal workers’ advice office should know better?

3.) They seem to directly oppose anything done by the main workers’ union in my country and are extremely critical of our communist party (in all fairness some critisism is well deserved because they are a bit useless).

4.) They say they are opposed to labour brokers but also offer free advice to them and advertise it on their website. I misread a badly written sentence

5.) They are campaigning to scrap a new labour bill - I get some of their critisisms but I find it weird the campaign is to scrap it completely rather than amend it or encourage public participation when there are actually also some really good wins for workers in it. Scrapping it completely would be a net loss IMO

Do any of you have NGOs doing this kind of thing in your country? Have there been any investigations on these advice office type NGOs or any info you could share? I am going to ask the NGO about all of this - any other good questions I should consider? Thanks!