No. 101/15 April 2000
DOAWTU: Trade Action
TopThe ad hoc Trade Action Committee of the DOAWTU (Lomé) met on 22-24 March 2000. It was convened by A. Akouete, deputy general secretary of the DOAWTU and chairman of the ad hoc Committee, on the occasion of the revitalisation of the DOAWTU trade action. The meeting was attended by the general secretaries of the pan-African federations, the executive secretary of the DOAWTU trade action department, the representative of the CNV-AKO (Cotonou office) and DOAWTU deputy general secretary Adrien Akouete. The agenda included the Plan of Action 2000, the trade action policy in Africa and the three-year programme 2001-2003. After having adopted the Plan of Action 2000, the participants proceeded to a thorough analysis of the trade action policy in Africa; they formulated concrete proposals, taking into account the realities of this continent. Trade action in Africa is the spearhead of the general trade union action of the DOAWTU; it has to strengthen the trade union action by tackling the many problems confronting the African workers as a result of the globalisation. The three-year programme is intended to strengthen the basis of the national trade federations and to obtain a better-structured action at the service of the African workers that way.
TopThe European Section assembled in Lisbon (Portugal) on 19-20 March 2000. The agenda included a meeting with the organisations from Central and Eastern Europe; moreover, each organisation gave a survey of the current trade union affairs in the respective countries. The Section members discussed, further, the expansion of the European Union, the matter of the European Social Charter and the constitution of a workshop in charge of the European Union/Latin America relations. Olga Nicolae, head of the liaison office for Central and Eastern Europe, presented the plan of action aimed to strengthen the WCL affiliates in the region and to improve the mutual communication. Each organisation then formulated its expectations such as the training needs of trade union leaders, the entry into the European Union, the request to organise seminars and the improvement of the regional co-operation. The Section also discussed the matter of the observer's status of the Macedonian WCL affiliate, the UIASM, at the ETUC. This matter will figure on the agenda of the next ETUC Executive Committee meeting. The Section thereupon accepted the proposal to constitute a workshop in charge of following up the relations between Europe and Latin America and to implement a specific training programme for Europe. In conclusion, the Portuguese brothers (BASE-FUT, CGTP) were thanked very cordially for the exemplary way they assisted the WCL in organising the Section meeting and receiving the members.
TopThe WCL Executive Committee met in Bucharest (Romania) on 6-8 March 2000. It started the first preparations for the Congress of 2001, which will normally assemble in the same city in mid October. The Board worked out a first proposal which will be presented to the Confederal Board at its session in October 2000. It got an overall survey of the situation in the continents and examined the working of the secretariat since the latest Confederal Board session. In accordance with the mandate it had received from the Confederal Board, the Committee accepted the membership of the African confederation Confédération libre des Travailleurs de Mauritanie (CLTM). The Committee also approved a training programme for the second half of the year 2000 and for the year 2001. Furthermore, it took stock of the relations with the ETUC and the ICFTU. In conclusion, it had a discussion in depth on the International Solidarity Foundation (ISF) which, in its opinion, has to extend its action.
TopOn 3 April, general secretary Willy Thys was in Durban (South Africa) at the invitation of the ICFTU, in order to attend the opening session of the latter's Congress. He reaffirmed that the WCL "wants to arrive at a greater unity of action in the world of labour". The Congress theme was Globalising Social Justice, which some people interpret as a call to merge the two large international confederations, the WCL and the ICFTU. According to Willy Thys, "it is dangerous to infer rashly the expediency of a single trade union structure at the international level". He added that pluralism of opinions and sensitivities does exist in the trade union world. You can find integral text of the general secretary's address on the Web site of our organisation (www.cmt-wcl.org).
TopThe World Board and the sections (rail, air, water, road) of FIOST met in Paris (France) on 3-5 April 2000. The proceedings resulted in the approval of an plan of action for the years to come. There was also a discussion between FIOST and the general secretaries in charge of trade action in the continents with a view to drawing up regional plans of actions and setting up regional actions in the transport sector. In conclusion, the Board discussed with Mrs Dofo Zincke, the new general secretary of the European Transport Federation (ETF), the future co-operation between the ETF and FIOST.
Top"The ILO has to support the search of original strategies to improve the situation of women workers in the little or non-structured sectors", stated the WCL during the symposium that was conducted on 24 March in Geneva in the margin of the ILO Governing Body meeting. Béatrice Fauchère, who had focused her address on the so-called "informal" sector, asked the ILO to make this sector a priority in its activities. People employed in this sector (generally women) must be socially protected, be in a position to assert their labour rights and benefit from the application of the ILO conventions, so that they do not have the price of an additional exclusion.
TopThe WCL secretariat was deeply moved at the news of the decease, on 29 March in Lomé (Togo), of Gnangba Bëlëma Badjale of the Fédération syndicale des Travailleurs des Transports (FESYTRAT), affiliated to the CSTT (Togo). Mr Badjale was deputy general secretary of FESYTRAT, former general secretary of SYNADOCKTO and confederal secretary of the CSTT in charge of demands and disputes. He was buried on 8 April in his native town Tchitchao (KOZAH), in the centre of the country.
TopCosta Rica : In Costa Rica the trade unions and the representative organisations of the civil society have rejected since 17 March the bill on "the improvement of the public services in the electricity and telecommunications sectors and of state participation", which is aimed to liberalise these sectors. The Legislative Assembly adopted the bill on 20 March. During the demonstration against this act the government deployed the riot police. They used firearms, batons and tear gas and they proceeded to arbitrary arrests. Several people got injured, others were locked up. Four youths went on hunger strike, risking so their lives
Colombia : Social Alert has informed us of the recent disappearance of Oscar Dario Zapata Muñoz, activist of Sinaltradihitexco and the CGTD. Mr Muñoz, 30, is employed at ENKA DE COLOMBIA. On its way to the factory the company bus was blocked by a van. Several men in plain clothes, armed with guns, forced the passengers to show their identity papers. At that moment Mr Muñoz was abducted. Rumour has it that the trade union's governing committee is the target of a resistance group called COMANDO INDUSTRIAL DEL ELN.
Paraguay : The Syndicato de Trabajadores de la Administración Nacional de la Electricidad (SITRANDE), which unites 3,000 workers employed in the Paraguayan electricity sector, is developing a strategy that will be of crucial importance to the trade union movement in that country. The union is opposed to the neo-liberal plan the government of president Luis Gonzalez Macchi intends to force through. The government measures comprise the enactment of an unconstitutional and arbitrary ban on strikes, a bill on privatisation "by decree" and the systematic violation of the collective agreement.
TopFrom 20 March to 7 April 2000, twenty representatives of WCL affiliates from all continents attended at Ter Nood (Overijse, Belgium) a seminar on "The role of the trade union movement in the globalised society of the 21st century: challenges, role and tasks of the trade unions". The purpose was to draw up a basic document in preparation for the WCL Congress in October 2001. The document will be sent to the affiliates, which can introduce amendments and formulate proposals. A meeting of the editorial team is scheduled for early in 2001. Moreover, national and regional seminars are planned in order to take jointly care of the final editing.
TopOn 23-26 March 2000, Rome (Italy) hosted an international conference on the Agenda 2000 and European and international agriculture. The conference was an initiative of the Italian agricultural federation FISBA and was held at the head office of the national economic and labour council (CNEL). Representatives of social organisations and trade unions from Italy, Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal, Argentina, Lithuania, Romania and Bangladesh discussed the world trade in agricultural and agro-food produce. For the introductions the conference could count on Patrizia Toia, Italian minister of Community Policy, Dr Matrio Gerbino, director-general of Community Policy, Dr Philippe Tabary of the European Agricultural Commission, several Italian and European Union officials, and trade union leaders. Panel chairmen were Albino Gorini, general secretary of the FISBA, and Giorgio Alessandrini of the CNEL. The WFAFW was represented by president Adrian Cojocaru and general secretary José Gómez Cerda.
Top1/5 Workers' Jubilee Pontifical Council Rome (Italy)
1/5 IYCW Congress Brussels (Belgium)
4-31/5 International training trade union officials
5-12/5 Mission Beijing (China)
8-10/5 67th meeting CLAT Executive Committee Caracas (Venezuela)
11-12/ International Conference "jubilee 2000- foreign debt" Caracas
(Venezuela)
13-20/5 Congress Wood and Building Namibia
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