No. 95/15 January 2000
WCL Mission to Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka
TopFrom 1 to 16 December 1999, the WCL general secretary undertook a mission to Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh Willy Thys attended with 1400 other participants the congress of the BSSF (1-3 December). The Congress went into the matter of trade union work against the background of the globalised economy. Mukhlesur Rahman remains BSSF president, which has developed into the largest trade union organisation in Bangladesh. Only recently two important unions (civil servants and building workers) affiliated to the BSSF. The WCL delegation visited the free trade zone in Dhaka, in which chiefly textile companies are established. The whole are makes one think of a fortified army camp. There is no way you get in without permission. Even a company visit proved to be impossible.
In Delhi, India (4-10 December), Willy Thys met the Executive Committee of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of India (CFTUI). He discussed with the Committee members the problem of union registration with the Ministry of Labour and with the CFTUI itself. In Bihar, for example, the organisations are registered, but this is not the case in Uttar Pradesh. The delegation helped seek a solution for the problem. Another subject was the expansion of the CFTUI, which is tied up with this special situation. The WCL was given a very warm welcome during its visit of the "Global March Against Child Labour" organisation.
After a day in Lucknown the delegation visited Kanpur, an old industrial area confronted with restructuring operations and close-downs. The textile, footwear and jute workers are confronted with countless difficulties. The delegation had several contacts with them. Besides an expression of solidarity, a speech and several contacts, the WCL could participate directly in negotiations between unions and management, which resulted in an collective agreement at a shoe factory. Fourteen unions representing in all around 700 workers answered the WCL's call for unity. It became clear during the mission that the huge country has to contend with numerous difficulties. Poverty is omnipresent, and nowhere else there is a stronger ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. In order to take up the many challenges, the CFTUI needs support and in particular the reinforcement of its logistic capacity. Trade action can play an important part in this, for the Indian system is based on company unions.
In Sri Lanka (11-16 December) the WCL delegation visited a centre for
workers, a services centre for migrant workers, vocational training centres,
fishery areas, tea plantations, the informal sector, the Ministry of Labour, ...
. The most impressive visits were no doubt the ones of the "private
hotels", which provide accommodation for young girls between 16 and 25. The
situation is beyond description: total lack of hygiene, no beds, no sewer
systems. The delegation noted the sound structure of the National Workers
Congress (NWC), which has a membership of around 80,000. Its structure requires
further development at sectoral level. To date, the industrial activity has been
concentrated in the three free trade zones.
Agriculture is the only structured sector. 35% of the population lives below the
poverty line (66% in India). So, besides on the socio-cultural action, the focus
must be on the action in the companies in the free trade zones, which employ
92,000 people.
Besides our affiliate NWC there is the AFFTU. This union unites eight
independent federations not affiliated to an international union.
TopOn 26-28 November 1999, Casablanca was the venue of the 8th Congress of the Union Générale des Travailleurs du Maroc (UGTM), which is affiliated to the WCL. The congress theme was "Participative Trade Unionism: Our Way To Sustainable Growth And Development For Everyone". WCL president Fernand Kikongi took part in the proceedings. In his address he pointed out the strength and presence of the UGTM in many trade sectors. Its members, he went on to say, were determined to develop their union into a strong and dynamic organisation. He explained that until in the 1990s the African unions had had some painful experiences with participative trade unionism because they confused development co-operation with party politics. According to the WCL president, time has come for "pluralism and independent unions", even if some of them are still running up against quite some opposition.
TopFernand Kikongi represented the WCL also at the 10th Congress of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), which assembled in Damascus (Syria) from 29 November to 2 December 1999. Both organisations have maintained good relations for quite a long time already and they defend the same position in a number of issues of consequence to the international trade union movement. ICATU general secretary Hacène Djemann presented to the Congress an overall report in which he stressed the hazards of wild liberalism for the workers. He advocated a more extensive inter-union co-operation worldwide, with the WCL and the ICFTU, and at the level of the regions, with the ETUC and the Organisation for African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), so as to protect the workers' rights in the best possible circumstances. The ICATU also intends to restore its historical bonds with the unions from Central and Eastern Europe and to examine the possibility of co-operation and concerted action. It appeared from the proceedings that the ICATU is determined to act as a pioneer in the struggle for freedom, human dignity and social justice in the Arab countries.
TopThe ILO conducted its 9th African regional meeting in Abidjan (Côte
d'Ivoire) on 8-11 December 1999. The participants discussed the report of ILO
director-general Juan Somavia, entitled "Decent Work And Social Protection
For Everybody In Africa". In the margin of the regional meeting there was a
special session on child labour. Moreover, there were four panel discussions on
ways and means to advance and strengthen the basic labour principles and rights,
to give women and men more guarantees of a decent job and income, to extend the
range and effectiveness of social protection for everybody and to invigorate
tripartism and the social dialogue. Furthermore, there was a thorough discussion
on the HIV and AIDS in the world of labour.
The WCL was represented by confederal secretary Toolsyraj Benydin and a number
of affiliates: the NTUC from Mauritius, the UGTM from Morocco, the USLC from
Cameroon, Dignité from Côte d'Ivoire and the CNT from Niger. During the
general discussion Toolsyraj Benydin insisted on the DOAWTU being mentioned in
the report of the director-general as an organisations with which the ILO will
co-operate more closely.
TopEduardo Estévez represented the WCL at the 9th congress of the Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (CGTP-IN), which assembled in Lisbon on 10-11 December 1999 to discuss the theme "Enhance The Value Of Work, Restore The Dignity Of The Workers". The congress was preceded by a conference on "Employment Policy In A Globalised Economy". The purpose was to analyse the employment policy, the distribution of income and the dynamics of the productive machinery within various contexts. Another subject for discussion was the Portuguese presidency of the European Union and the plan for an extraordinary European council on employment. Around two hundred people, among whom sixty trade unionists from the five continents, attended the conference. In his address Eduardo Estévez stressed the fact that the WCL and its Portuguese affiliate, the BASE-FUT, had contributed to the constitution of the CGTP-IN. He went on to say that the WCL had maintained a constructive dialogue with that organisation, despite a few occasional disputes. In any case, the focus had always been on the unconditional joint struggle for the workers' rights. Eduardo Estévez enumerated the problems confronting the CGTP-IN and the Portuguese society: lack of jobs, wage decreases, cuts in public expenditure, privatisation, ..., problems the workers from Europe and the rest of the world have to contend with as well. At the end of the Congress, CGTP-IN co-ordinator Manuel Carvalho da Silva was elected general secretary.
TopThe WCL answered the CLAT's call for solidarity on the occasion of the natural disaster of last December in Venezuela, the main victims of which were the poorest sections of the population in the slums. According to reports, the disaster affected lots of trade union activists, unions and social organisations. In the federal state Miranda, where our regional organisation is established, the ravages were absolutely huge. There is no official death toll yet, but the catastrophe was definitely the worst one the country has ever known. The WCL has launched a campaign in support of the Venezuelan sisters and brothers by means of solidarity messages and financial aid. The WCL International Solidarity Foundation will collect funds which will be transferred to the ILACDE/CLAT.
TopOur Togolese affiliate, the CSTT, has informed us that on 8 December an unprecedented demonstration took place by way of prelude to the summit of heads of state and government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Children, for the largest part pupils from Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, came to present their plea called the APPEAL OF LOME. They demand that ILO Convention 182 be ratified, that the struggle against child trafficking be stepped up and that the ECOWAS meeting be opened for the civil society. They call on the Community member states to take up the "Children First" principle in their policies nationwide and at Community level.
TopAt the end of November, forty delegates of the FLATI and four delegates of
the WFIW took part in a seminar in Mexico, at which they discussed the effects
of new technologies on the industrial relations, the development of industrial
relations in Latin America and the development of a long-term strategy for
collective bargaining in industry sectors. It appeared from the debates that the
trade union struggle for recognition as a social partner by the private sector
and the government is not over yet. The participants arrived at the conclusion
that the unions had to develop a long-term strategy for collective bargaining
and that collective agreements had to be the centre of trade union action, for
this would strengthen the civil society and democracy.
The FLATI Council agreed with the conclusions of the seminar and with the trade
action policy which the WCL Confederal Board defined at its session in
Washington. The Council also agreed with the activities programme and the plan
of action of the FLATI for the coming years.
TopThe peasants' federation FEDECAMPO, affiliated to the Central General de Trabajadores de Guatemala (CGTD), informed us of the dismissal of 120 workers at the companies San lázaro and El Carmen Metzabal in the municipality of Santiago de Atitlán. On 21 October, the managers of both companies threatened two union leaders with death. Despite a court order to re-employ the 120 dismissed workers, the managers filed a complaint when the workers wanted to resume work. They accused them of having threatened, tied and locked up members of the executive staff.
Top13/1 visit of ACLI to WCL
13/1 visit of A. Gourmelon to WCL
14/1 "ETUC social protection", Brussels (Belgium)
17-18/1 visit of a CSD delegation in Brussels (Belgium) and Utrecht (Holland)
21/1 First symposium of the International Social Observatory, Rome (Italy)
23-29/1 DOAWTU conference on standards, Windhoek (Namibia)
27-30/1 WFCW sectors and Council, Ostend (Belgium)
26-30/1 CNTB Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
30/1-2/2 Visit SAWSF, South Africa
3-5/2 "Public Security Act", Mauritius
7-8/2 ETUC: WTO, Brussels (Belgium)
7-11/2 DOAWTU Executive Committee, Fès (Morocco)
21/2 WFIW Executive Committee, Brussels (Belgium)
22/2 WFIW-WFBW-IFTC meeting FLATI, Brussels (Belgium)
24-26/2 CEE countries, Nicosia (Cyprus)
28-29/2 visit of ITF presidents to ILO, Geneva (Switzerland)
CMT - WCL - WVA - TELE FLASH is a two-weekly information bulletin
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Responsible Editor: Willy Thys (e-mail: Willy.Thys@cmt-wcl.org)
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