GCIU:UNI Congress strengthens global union solidarity

Photos by Aris Papadopoulos

UNI General Secy. Philip Jennings, third from left, and UNI Pres. Kurt Van Haaren, fourth from left, deliver a petition to the South Korean embassy in Berlin. The "Freedom Roll" demanded the release from prison of South Korean finance workers leader Lee Yong-Deuk.

UNI Congress strengthens
global union solidarity

By Susan Zachem

Skills and services unions went global at the 1st World Congress of the Union Network International (UNI) in Berlin.

During the first week of September, some 2,000 delegates and guests from the GCIU and some 450 other unions in about 100 countries devised strategies to organize. They also developed plans to fight the erosion of worker and human rights as corporations and banks increasingly operate on a supranational level under the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other corporate and capital-dominated organizations.

Hosting the UNI Congress was ver.di, the German Unified Services Union. Ver.di is the newly formed union created through the merger of five unions in Germany, including IG Medien representing workers in the printing and publishing industries.

Held in conjunction with the UNI Congress was the first UNI World Women's Conference. Some 350 women from unions worldwide worked toward women's equality and participation in society at large and within unions.

UNI was launched on Jan. 1, 2000, with the merger of the International Graphical Federation (IGF), Communications International, Media and Entertainment International, and the Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees. The new federation includes nearly 1,000 affiliated unions representing more than 15 million members in 140 countries.

Kurt van Haaren, UNI's first president, told delegates at the opening session that "UNI is our response to the profound transformations in the information, services, and knowledge society brought about by the worldwide networking of work." He said the Internet is the driving force of change affecting all business processes in the "old" and "new" economies alike, which, linked to "merciless shareholder capitalism," has led to a "gigantic program of reorganization with massive rationalization."

GCIU Vice Pres. Leonard E. Adams, who was re-elected to UNI's world executive committee, noted that Article XXIX of the GCIU constitution requires affiliation with the IGF. So when the IGF merged into UNI, the GCIU affiliated with the new global federation.

Adams, who with GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau and GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan K. Brown served as delegates to the UNI Congress, said the meeting provided the opportunity "to get together globally and talk about problems. Hopefully, at some point, we'll be able to form committees and try to solve some of these problems and increase the solidarity unions need to deal with multinationals."

Deneau said UNI provides the GCIU with "a method of networking worldwide with all labor organizations involved in printing, publishing, papermaking, ink and chemical manufacturing, and communications." He said the UNI "graphical sector meetings strengthened coordination toward common action on the modern problems brought on by the free movement of capital which makes multinationals, such as Quebecor, R.R. Donnelley, and Gannett, increasingly dominant. GCIU delegates joined with other graphical union delegates in developing a common tracking of data on multinationals using the same criteria and measurements. That's a very good start."

Brown said that "putting together the merger with the founding members was a major task for UNI's first year. But also in a short time, UNI was able to negotiate the first global agreement with a multinational that covered anti-discrimination standards, working conditions, and other issues."

Brown said "workers need a voice at the WTO," which was primarily developed to serve corporations and which unions have charged threatens to erode worker and environmental standards won at national levels. "We have to have a big organization like UNI to do it," he said. "Capital has to serve the needs of people, not the other way around. The people running the WTO and similar organizations don't believe this. So, if we're going to have a voice, we have to have a global union to bring it together."

UNI delegates approved a blueprint for strengthening unions' response to corporate economic globalization. They also adopted an action program to demand that investments of workers' capital in pension plans are ethical and socially defensible.

Delegates laid out a policy plan to protect the rights of workers in the changing global economy, especially in information technology industries.

Delegates expressed solidarity with workers in Burma, Columbia, South Korea, and Zimbabwe, where trade unions are struggling against repressive governments. A UNI delegation carried a seven-meter long "Freedom Roll" to the South Korean embassy in Berlin. The petition demanded the release of imprisoned South Korean trade unionists.

Other highlights of the congress included a presentation by youth delegates on organizing and other issues and addresses by German Pres. Johannes Rau, Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings, ver.di Pres. Frank Bsirske, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions General Secretary Bill Jordan, and German Labor Minister Walter Riester.

UNI elected Maj-Len Remahl of Finland's PAM services union as the second UNI president. Joe Hansen of the United Food and Commercial Workers was chosen to serve as UNI president from 2003-2005.

UNI women target equality, violence

Barbara Easterling, secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America, chairs UNI's 1st World Women's Conference in Berlin.

Delegates at UNI's 1st World Women's Conference adopted an action plan to "make women winners" in the new global economy.

The key position paper of the conference noted: "The possibilities for women to expand their access to knowledge and information through the Internet are enormous, but in most countries, this potential is not being realized. Instead, the digital divide is compounded by the gender divide."

Delegates called for action to achieve equal pay for work of equal value; an end to job segregation; better access for women to education and training; improved preventive health programs at work; respect for the dignity of women; and increased sharing of family tasks between men and women. The conference also called for unions to work to increase women's participation in union activities and their leadership opportunities.

Communications Workers of America Secy.-Treas. Barbara Easterling, who chaired the women's conference and was elected president of the UNI World Women's Committee, called on UNI affiliates to "take the lead in stopping economic violence against women. Women are the first to be harassed, the first to be denied education and training, the first to be fired – and the last to be promoted."

Easterling called for global organizing of women into unions to campaign for an equal place in Internet technology, e-commerce, telecommunications, software development, high tech manufacturing, and other growing fields of employment.

UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings noted that 1.2 billion people survive on less than a dollar a day. Some 70 percent of these workers are women, he said, adding: "Unequal wealth between nations. Unequal wealth within nations. The biggest number of victims are women."

Jennings urged delegates to fight to ensure education for girls and women, better quality employment for women, and a place at the table for women. "We will not defeat global poverty without specific action targeted at women," he said. "Indeed, it's time that the running of the IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organization are put in the hands of women."

Martha Heredia from Mexico said women are increasingly becoming the breadwinners in developing countries and working long hours to provide for their families. "More and more women are working 10 to 12 hours a day, then have to go home to do the housework and do any training after that," she said. "Women want to get out of this situation."

The ILO Fundamental Conventions
The United Nations' International Labor Organization, which is made up of government, employer and labor representatives, considers eight conventions as fundamental to guaranteeing human rights related to work. These include bans on forced labor, discrimination and child labor, and the guaranteed right of freedom of association, including the right to organize and join unions. Of the ILO member nations, one state has ratified no conventions. Two states ratified one. Five states – including the United States – ratified two. Seven states ratified three. Eleven states ratified four. Sixteen states – including Canada – ratified five. Twenty-five states ratified six. Forty-eight states ratified seven. Sixty states – including most of Western Europe – have ratified all of the conventions. The table below lists the fundamental conventions and indicates which have been ratified by the United States and Canada.
*Convention*	*United States*	*Canada*

Forced labor C. 29 C.105	†	†

Freedom of association and right to organize C. 87 C. 98		†

Discrimination C. 100 C. 111		† †

Child labor C. 138 C. 182	†	†

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