tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29870599020701000642024-02-02T19:43:47.356+01:00social and political affairsabout what happens around the worldpetrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00532245601122405546noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-23790755940271341402016-04-22T19:08:00.000+02:002016-04-22T19:08:14.083+02:00THE CHALLENGES OF THE ECO-SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cWgN89OsaEd7CZguApiX5-ucD6Wi-o5JgI9pfu7jMX_7Y1OaBPUVjBuFLt5N-2vKI8v5ItPI6CzezoGuUFHA2g97Y6rQlksDcDf2CCfiLWMlTDwZemi5CN03sW8iB54lVgO5l9dBCbii/s1600/European+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cWgN89OsaEd7CZguApiX5-ucD6Wi-o5JgI9pfu7jMX_7Y1OaBPUVjBuFLt5N-2vKI8v5ItPI6CzezoGuUFHA2g97Y6rQlksDcDf2CCfiLWMlTDwZemi5CN03sW8iB54lVgO5l9dBCbii/s640/European+map.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">On the map you see the names of the European countries from which participants <br />came at the seminar in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia (19-21 of April)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Austrian trade union
federation FCG/GPA-djp and the Dutch trade union confederation CNV
organized together with the European Organization of Workers EO/WOW,
the Serbian Federation SS Bofos and the European Centre for Workers'
Questions EZA a European seminar especially for trade unions in
Central and Eastern Europe. The seminar had about 70 participants
coming from 20 different European countries. It was held in the city
of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, from Tuesday evening 19 until
noon of Thursday 21 of April. Excellent speakers from different
countries held introductions on the different aspects of the
Eco-Social Market Economy.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF8w8QARr1cULCKgKMtV8oaAG8Bp5TqpTgnC-CrrEzBk6RHIV7LVhOwIKDXX91qNq-lIuA44J4ir32JdzkvlE8V4KMVBB_hFjnjYb5IccSm9WSmPuR-oe7zHELalNim9XmLEXMkyX_kKf/s1600/belgrado+voorbereiding+opening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF8w8QARr1cULCKgKMtV8oaAG8Bp5TqpTgnC-CrrEzBk6RHIV7LVhOwIKDXX91qNq-lIuA44J4ir32JdzkvlE8V4KMVBB_hFjnjYb5IccSm9WSmPuR-oe7zHELalNim9XmLEXMkyX_kKf/s640/belgrado+voorbereiding+opening.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Preparing the opening of the seminar. On the left Günther Trausznitz, <br />General Secretary of the FCG/GPA-djp (Austria) and President of the EO/WOW. <br />In front of him Bartho Pronk, President of the EZA. <br />Between them Mara Erdelj, President of SS Bofos (Serbia) <br />and member of the board of the EO/WOW. <br />They together spoke on the official opening of the seminar.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The definition of social
market economy is: a form of market capitalism combined with a social
policy which favours social insurance and solidarity. The social
market economy forms the heart of our free and open national and,
increasingly more, European society, which is also characterised by
solidarity. It has proven itself as an economic system that allows
for prosperity and full employment whilst also providing welfare and
promoting a strong social fabric.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4z8m3oSyukSyqrjwC0RxzQDQ5e0N2oRt3bMU4b8bluHQb0HgRdtSGUrZkX8HdmDCJzVH6O7OrTmy3IhyH9lMN5zZ3-3SrPGz7i45mDeRQR-pct_Uy9Z7uyFt7VEKuRcYlkpp4LJglU_-/s1600/belgrado+opening+seminar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4z8m3oSyukSyqrjwC0RxzQDQ5e0N2oRt3bMU4b8bluHQb0HgRdtSGUrZkX8HdmDCJzVH6O7OrTmy3IhyH9lMN5zZ3-3SrPGz7i45mDeRQR-pct_Uy9Z7uyFt7VEKuRcYlkpp4LJglU_-/s640/belgrado+opening+seminar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Günther welcomes the participants of the seminar on the morning of the 20th of April.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The concept of an Eco-social
market economy was first developed in the 1980s by the Austrian
politician Josef Riegler, who, out of concern for the environment,
demanded that the social market economy should be further
complemented by the component "environmental responsibility".
It aims at balancing free market economics, the strive for social
fairness and the sustainable use and protection of the natural
resources. The eco-social market economy requires that the protection
of the environment and social fairness are vital criteria for all
economic activity.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PzJHFGPFsvjWj1s-7h_CKfoQoBFMrtpee-GGXsx-KGEhCmBHLIROHS3E_FcL0OY20SX6p84KIrzEVZJPQLQ-l8w-ZQ3fNamyTnXvQwyRwoHuMhz6GwHRd2IKKxQzmyabj5excAXVY2MF/s1600/belgrado+johannes+mindler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PzJHFGPFsvjWj1s-7h_CKfoQoBFMrtpee-GGXsx-KGEhCmBHLIROHS3E_FcL0OY20SX6p84KIrzEVZJPQLQ-l8w-ZQ3fNamyTnXvQwyRwoHuMhz6GwHRd2IKKxQzmyabj5excAXVY2MF/s640/belgrado+johannes+mindler.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Magister Johannes </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mindrer-Steiner , Executive Director of the Institut for <br />Umwelt, Friede und Entwicklung IUFE (Austria), spoke on <br />"The Eco-Social market Economy: Hype or the future?"</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In that sense the Eco-social
market economy can be considered a very Social-Christian principle.
Having a balance between the various actors of the economy does also
imply that this is sustainable. The Biblical term for this is
‘custodianship’. Being responsible, in manner of acting, for
current and future generations. Natural resources are not endless and
should not easily be discarded. But one can easily translate this to
sustainable welfare and solidarity.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GwLh1zUKccPztrgg1AsMPiNTubnpIvSr6elzHFzg7GYZ9ZZ9eUm677GTy4CtSWSUSG3LLDIRnebssQhJ9WEWHINum2bXp0Nra7P_jusJfRdFdXP-fR1u59eacAD1FyMm412K_-uPXwHj/s1600/belgrado+marija+parun+kolin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GwLh1zUKccPztrgg1AsMPiNTubnpIvSr6elzHFzg7GYZ9ZZ9eUm677GTy4CtSWSUSG3LLDIRnebssQhJ9WEWHINum2bXp0Nra7P_jusJfRdFdXP-fR1u59eacAD1FyMm412K_-uPXwHj/s640/belgrado+marija+parun+kolin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Ms. Marija Parun Kolin, Senior Research Associate in the <br />Centre for Sociological Research, Institute of Social Sciences Belgrade (Serbia), <br />spoke about "Challenges for the Eco-Social Market Economy <br />in the new EU Member States."</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So the Eco-social market
economy aims at an enduring society in the respective cultural
context, which is sustainable on three levels: environmental, social,
and economical. This is in accordance to what is mentioned in the
Treaty of Lisbon under article 3.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OldaWY1LuJd9dzzarctg8Kb0wM02bXEppnKzvksTJIPxa5X7R1sqqJPqdg6um9eYlAJgDCH29x1IPF3iV3joBCTPXGfmxd14NxX31M43ulXOq0rPUHnhv3hDg8rSjdUBPcFxmKojpOZu/s1600/belgrado+jozef+riegler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OldaWY1LuJd9dzzarctg8Kb0wM02bXEppnKzvksTJIPxa5X7R1sqqJPqdg6um9eYlAJgDCH29x1IPF3iV3joBCTPXGfmxd14NxX31M43ulXOq0rPUHnhv3hDg8rSjdUBPcFxmKojpOZu/s640/belgrado+jozef+riegler.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. DI Josef Riegler, Vice-chancellor AD and Honorary President <br />Ökosozialen Forum (Austria), treated the "Eco-Social Market Economy: <br />a project for justice and peace."</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But how to put the above into
practice? The main issue is the compatibility of ecological and
social aims with the principles of a market economy. The crucial
question is: which framework conditions have to be created so that
the dynamics of a market economy move within borders that are imposed
by ecological and social aspects. Politics for the economy and for
the society needs a clear regulatory framework. This is now more
important than ever.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9foRwAOEz-lOsmv6ImmQa35iuR_NTcqOnHOu3Z-j8eDRYIP1FcwEZwVEC8itOTN2auVLaizyAa52t9JxpnSuhL5WZzLPm9KAjjC8nANXu1CVfkXonB2HXdhHj2t_i3Rtcg3oujpAfcpD/s1600/belgrado+petar+dukic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9foRwAOEz-lOsmv6ImmQa35iuR_NTcqOnHOu3Z-j8eDRYIP1FcwEZwVEC8itOTN2auVLaizyAa52t9JxpnSuhL5WZzLPm9KAjjC8nANXu1CVfkXonB2HXdhHj2t_i3Rtcg3oujpAfcpD/s640/belgrado+petar+dukic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">On the left Mara Erdelj, the chairperson on Thursday, and behind her <br />Mr. Dr. Petar Dukic, Professor Faculty of Technology and </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Metallurgy<br />speaking about "Are the principles of a market economy compatible <br />with ecological and social aims?</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-57142185014422428502016-03-12T13:30:00.001+01:002016-03-12T13:30:23.280+01:00THE FUTURE OF THE EURO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD65OEg4O8raj_4h6cPIgNmKIDCG-MDnqkV78KGf73E7lPMWRR_YHLlfn9D9ZE7Q1cex95BANNUtI8-c4GZos-aMgThyn2SK-fMS5r8nvo2fUwHi-yLEwSo6uSgWcbyaO7UZ0d8LFmSctS/s1600/convergence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD65OEg4O8raj_4h6cPIgNmKIDCG-MDnqkV78KGf73E7lPMWRR_YHLlfn9D9ZE7Q1cex95BANNUtI8-c4GZos-aMgThyn2SK-fMS5r8nvo2fUwHi-yLEwSo6uSgWcbyaO7UZ0d8LFmSctS/s640/convergence.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Bertelsmann Stiftung organized on the 10th of March a Brussels Briefing*, a meeting for Eurocrats, Europoliticians and Eurolobbyists , about <i>“The future of the Euro: more discipline or more solidarity?”</i> This is not an easy subject because of its complexity. The Euro is a single currency for countries with different economies, different economic rules, different systems of government, different social and tax systems and different histories.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As long as the Euro-economies were growing, which was the case before 2008, everybody was happy, no questions asked about the Euro except by those whose profession is to be skeptical, as for example monetary experts and economists. When a crisis starts to develop more people become skeptical and critical, especially those who never liked much the Euro and the European Union. People started to look for who should be blamed for the problems. But blaming does not give solutions. In such a situation, it takes a lot of political courage to continue the dialogue for searching a solution. In this sense, the Euro countries have proven, to have sufficient political will and solidarity to solve the crisis together.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">During the debt crisis of the last years have been developed new instruments and institutions to stabilize the Euro currency. But as professor Hendrik Enderlein explained on the Brussels Briefing <i>“the crisis is not over”</i>. It is his opinion that if there are no changes, the Euro will not be viable in the long run because of more divergence instead of convergence between the Euro-countries, unclear competences in EU economic governance and a waning EU legitimacy as for example shows the coming referendum on a possible Brexit.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Europe is still suffering of high debt levels and low investment rates, low economic growth ( a lost decennium since 2008), a reform gap and distrust between the EU members. Besides all this, the EU is confronted with another crisis; the massive influx of refugees from the Middle East what puts under pressure the Schengen agreement as one of the most practical and concrete results of the EU for Europeans. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0T4falE4WupAT9gn3Kl5T9b4N-D18HHyDcFXKLtt2jBpJ8r-tdA_z84tF-c88XuCTqaGduTeIihi-OyT8Ne6GUWakpodOqSzxtWs5VOvx9K9SoJ8_2kDr7B0J-JORiz3aetNIfEFq-zs/s1600/inflatie+divergentie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0T4falE4WupAT9gn3Kl5T9b4N-D18HHyDcFXKLtt2jBpJ8r-tdA_z84tF-c88XuCTqaGduTeIihi-OyT8Ne6GUWakpodOqSzxtWs5VOvx9K9SoJ8_2kDr7B0J-JORiz3aetNIfEFq-zs/s640/inflatie+divergentie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Enderlein therefore advocates a 'Repair and Prepare Strategy' based on the following principles:</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As much integration as necessary, as little as possible</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">EMU level as part of multi-level governance ( EMU: European Monetary Union)</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">More sovereignty sharing together with more risk sharing.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Although, it was expected as a result of the Euro that the European countries would converge, the opposite happened, the Euro did bring divergence.<i> “This divergence was not really surprising in view of the fact that the euro-area was a heterogenous economic space from the very beginning. Structural differences, such as labor market and product market structures, social security and welfare policies, and the banking and financial systems persisted. They reflect a history of different political choices and economic strategies."</i> (page 13, What kind of convergence does the euro need?, edited by the Jacques Delors Institut and the Bertelsmann Stiftung). </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How do you keep so many different economies in one Eurobasket to guarantee a minimum of Euro Stability? The solution should be more convergence in prices. For example today we are confronted with a single interest rate based on the average inflation rate. <i>“However, inflation rates diverse significantly within the euro area. Thus interest rates will be too low for countries with a high inflation rate, and vice versa. This means that the single interest rate destabilizes the euro. For this reason, inflation differentials should be as small as possible.”</i> (page 13) </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The second requirement for convergence in the euro-area is to make sure that they are on a par with other countries in competitiveness and therefore keep wage growth pace with productivity. <i>“Third, countries in the euro area ought to avoid permanent external imbalances. Both, excessive surpluses as well as excessive deficits, can cause problems for other member states.”</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqXTp869xBZlevsjAST2NjgpwI9IaPHZ-dHTjUuj6Oecx4m_-sDCC1yXH7_kNSVqvNIrIjlHdjJnYho2PMKof_QfSOAPJjOHrwsHA-P_hs0QgAy5nQyPT5dF7vgGsD2TkbO8DROpeSZHC/s1600/loon+divergentie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqXTp869xBZlevsjAST2NjgpwI9IaPHZ-dHTjUuj6Oecx4m_-sDCC1yXH7_kNSVqvNIrIjlHdjJnYho2PMKof_QfSOAPJjOHrwsHA-P_hs0QgAy5nQyPT5dF7vgGsD2TkbO8DROpeSZHC/s640/loon+divergentie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Professor Enderlein prescribes another set of measures to strengthen the single market as to stabilize more the euro: complete the single market for services (in the past strong contested by the European trade unions), improve labor mobility, portability of pension rights, recognition of professional qualifications, cooperation across employment agencies, domestic reforms facilitating price and wage adjustments. It is easy to see that all these measures will lead to much political debate on all levels, including the European trade unions.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another proposal is to create an European Monetary Fund and the function of European Finance Minister. Both proposals suppose a transfer of national sovereignty to Brussels and as we know, on this point more people feel very uncomfortable and are even opposed to loss of more national sovereignty to Brussels. Britain is preparing a referendum on a possible Brexit, in the Netherlands a referendum will be held on the Association Treaty between Ukraine and the EU, in France the nationalist and anti Europe party Front National is becoming stronger and so on.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The 4th proposal is to complete the Banking Union. Although a lot has been done since the debt crisis much remains to be done. An important step would be the creation of a deposit insurance scheme and to organize macro prudential supervision.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In summary, Europe needs more convergence to improve monetary transmission, more risk-sharing to fight fragmentation and sovereignty-sharing to fight moral hazard. This should be based on the basic principle of <i>“as much integration as needed, but as little as possible.”</i> Therefore there is no need for a European super state and room for subsidiarity, in other words <i>“Europe as part of multi-level governance.”</i> Will this be enough to convince the anti Europeans, as well as the international financial markets and the political powers on world level? The answers are hidden in the future.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
* Brussels Briefing of Prof. Dr. Hendrik Underlain, Jacques Delors Institut-Berlin & Hertie School of Governance and Dr. Katharina Gnath, Bertelsmann Stiftung, Brussels 10 March 2016</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-54687516890525573732016-01-29T14:20:00.003+01:002016-01-29T14:20:54.727+01:00CNV SERVICES TRADE UNION MERGES WITH CNV TRADE UNION OF CRAFTSMEN<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjTLysanKvTbeXUjtRoEGfCXEGX0PifsxwDcp_GBIEgA6hVMeB-fEqR9BwNsCVX4C1Rf-ZvjFK2X9VHTif-0IpYKnwSldUr5Ld69UlfE2MZHSEiqGdYSqFqMKiMV5xWfIgetjEZpM0Gy-/s1600/cnv-dienstenbond-en-cnv-vakmensen-gaan-fuseren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjTLysanKvTbeXUjtRoEGfCXEGX0PifsxwDcp_GBIEgA6hVMeB-fEqR9BwNsCVX4C1Rf-ZvjFK2X9VHTif-0IpYKnwSldUr5Ld69UlfE2MZHSEiqGdYSqFqMKiMV5xWfIgetjEZpM0Gy-/s640/cnv-dienstenbond-en-cnv-vakmensen-gaan-fuseren.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The flag of the merged trade union "CNV Craftsmen"</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">From January 1, the CNV Services Trade Union merged with CNV Trade Union of Craftsmen. With this merger the CNV Trade Union Craftsmen has become 160 000 members, all working in the private/market sector.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">About hundred negotiators of this new trade union will play an important role in the creation of approximately 500 collective agreements in the Netherlands. In the magazine Akkoord of the former CNV Services Trade union, the current president Dirk Zwagerman and his predecessor Jaap Kos (1973-1995) look back at the rich history of their trafe union, which has reached the age of 112.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1894</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1894 was founded the predecessor of the CNV Services Trade union, the Dutch Association of Christian Clerical and Commercial Employees (NVCK & H). The NVCK & H is one of the oldest national trade unions in the Netherlands. Industrialization led to increase in scale. The larger working places created a need for advocacy for workers. Swagerman: <i>"I have often thought about how it must have been during that time. I have deep respect for the people who did their trade union work alongside their normal work without any legal protection. To say something wrong could have immediately serious consequence at your workplace. These people took great risks. “</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhMQhUoDYvosQcuU4NuXyk1Ew56iXd94X8_-QCZu6Utt6DQFbMnEP4w5KOBEHw_b-_UPU_jOr_3vslfJfFvNk9xYUOI3DwqTvwh6_XWlRACObkldYyc02wZaFGHNA6cSL6_W0bGbDh3OA/s1600/dirk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhMQhUoDYvosQcuU4NuXyk1Ew56iXd94X8_-QCZu6Utt6DQFbMnEP4w5KOBEHw_b-_UPU_jOr_3vslfJfFvNk9xYUOI3DwqTvwh6_XWlRACObkldYyc02wZaFGHNA6cSL6_W0bGbDh3OA/s640/dirk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The last President of the CNV Services trade union who retired after the merger with <br />CNV Craftsmen</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1909 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1909, the NVC K & H (about 500 members) and other unions founded the Trade Union Confederation CNV. Swagerman: <i>"There is often a misunderstanding about the role of the trade union confederation. People often think that the confederation decides about trade union policies, but it is the other way around. At that time so many different national trade unions were founded, that together they decided to found a confederation, with the aim to do as much as possible together but at the same time to continue as independent trade unions. "</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1940</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The beginning of the five year occupation of the the Netherlands by Hitler and the German Army. The leadership of CNV was taken over by the Dutch political party of Nazi’s (NSB). Within a few weeks 90% of the members left the confederation.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfVYm65mRFhuGoPqnXZ6wv8T0Ut92jNokt37gF2exGxL9yQiRBi_EKuDM1qQGplVuLRyXSpF7MYAOg7_3BpD95RExfi691tR_trd7LCoSzcPNoYxSJdIttLkrbnfcuFPR2fNDCcZ2y5Cu/s1600/wvb+europees+bestuur+zurich+21+aug+92+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfVYm65mRFhuGoPqnXZ6wv8T0Ut92jNokt37gF2exGxL9yQiRBi_EKuDM1qQGplVuLRyXSpF7MYAOg7_3BpD95RExfi691tR_trd7LCoSzcPNoYxSJdIttLkrbnfcuFPR2fNDCcZ2y5Cu/s640/wvb+europees+bestuur+zurich+21+aug+92+blog.jpg" width="574" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The former President of the CNV Services trade union Jaap Kos (left) was also President of the World Federation of Clerical Workers WFCW, the predecessor of WOW. The photograph was made at a meeting of the European Board of the WFCW held in </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Zürich, Swiss (August 27, 1992). From left to right: Jaap Kos (President of WCFW coming from the Dutch CNV Services trade union), Richard Paiha (Board member and Secretary General of the Austrian FCG-GPA), Charles Steck (Treasurer of the WFCW coming from the Swiss trade union Syna), Ivo Penner (President of the European Organization of the WFCW and coming from the Austrian trade union FCG-GPA), Piet Nelissen (executive secretary WFCW and confederal secretary World Confederation of Labour)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1952</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Merger of the NVCK & H with the Trade Union of Technicians (NVCT) and the Trade Union of Craftsmen (NCWB), both also members of the CNV Confederation, into the Dutch Christian Trade Union of Employees (NCBB)</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1965 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The name NCBB is changed into HBV (Commerce, Banking and Insurance) with 12 949 members.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jaap Kos: <i>"Until the name changed into Services Trade union (Dienstenbond CNV) in 1978, the HBV was a bit of a dusty club. I thought it was even a bit of a dowdy club, housed in a stately mansion in Amsterdam. There were old-fashioned furniture and an old typewriter. The HBV had a bit of a bureaucratic appearance, what we call in the Netherlands men-brothers ambiance. “</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1977 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1977 is the year of the the first strikes. Jaap Kos: <i>"As Christian trade union we were involved in strikes only from 1977. It was very special because we had no history of strikes,. I remember particularly the strike at the broadcasting stations. TV newsman Charles Groenhuijsen wanted to make a news item about the strike until I reminded him that he himself was part of the strike. At one point I myself was threatened by viewers when television and radio went on black. “</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1989</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Launch of growth models by borrowing millions at other CNV trade unions. Swagerman: <i>"The services sector became more important for the Dutch economy. Employment was growing enormously. We as Services Trade union had not enough financial resources to deal with the growth in an optimal way. In order not to be blown away at the negotiating tables - especially with large employers - we must grow: both in terms of membership and organization as well as in terms of professionalism. By borrowing money from other CNV trade unions, we could for instance attract more lawyers and negotiators and professionalize on other areas. “</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1994 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">100 th anniversary of the CNV Services Trade union. The growth models proved to be successful: 21 250 members.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">2004 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mass Demonstration on the Museumplein against government plans regarding early retirement, pension and disability insurance (300,000 demonstrators).</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">2016 </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The merger with CNV Trade union of Craftsmen (160,000 members). Swagerman: <i>"I will soon become one of the leaving chairmen. I am confident that we will pass in good way our wonderful history to the new organization." </i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvaopkPDaC7mxiOoQ2HGOU410KtQBahhy5vSdm5fB8y0zW4g02rQKLnsRSAncJFSdg0FlAYQX00Th-saus2KjcD0JvGUIMU6flOfCs-YK_dlEIKFUqA1ChGgUGKCc3xbSgwVfrt8PLJiu/s1600/piet+fortuin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvaopkPDaC7mxiOoQ2HGOU410KtQBahhy5vSdm5fB8y0zW4g02rQKLnsRSAncJFSdg0FlAYQX00Th-saus2KjcD0JvGUIMU6flOfCs-YK_dlEIKFUqA1ChGgUGKCc3xbSgwVfrt8PLJiu/s640/piet+fortuin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Piet Fortuin, the new President of the merged CNV Craftsmen trade union.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">New Approach</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Piet Fortuin is the new President of the CNV Craftsmen. <i>"We want to be very emphatically a reliable partner for workers which they can consult throughout their careers." He adds: "We are not a trade union of different menus and six persons are waiting before you."</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Therefore our trade union launches soon the digital platform "Your Supporters". This platform is set up for each sector and provides both members and non-members a place to engage with each other and with trade union professionals. Workers can discuss on the platform about irregularities that occur in their industry or business so that colleagues and trade union professionals can respond. Thanks to the many interactions that will follow, the support and representation of collective agreements will be increased."</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kees van Kortenhof</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-3564846775588174562015-12-07T16:29:00.000+01:002015-12-07T16:29:40.681+01:007 GOOD REASONS FOR A WORK-FREE SUNDAY<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jBq7I-s7iSTJM8dBVy0Xgd70ijOACcOZ5JszBZv8scwZ0RQMSVUrbbf8B4gaJTPPKJQ29q8NvhJ45sayEPus3zT9necSHQumkivKviLKIrhKjDRY56a43egBVViEEtLN00SeAfgOSI3X/s1600/zondag+vrij.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jBq7I-s7iSTJM8dBVy0Xgd70ijOACcOZ5JszBZv8scwZ0RQMSVUrbbf8B4gaJTPPKJQ29q8NvhJ45sayEPus3zT9necSHQumkivKviLKIrhKjDRY56a43egBVViEEtLN00SeAfgOSI3X/s640/zondag+vrij.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">FREE SUNDAY</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Austrian Christian
Fraction of Trade Unionists (FCG), part of the Austrian Trade Union
Confederation (ÖGB), campaigns for respect and maintaining the
work-free Sunday. For this campaign the FCG has formulated 7 good
reasons for a work-free Sunday.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1. Sunday gives the week its
rhythm. Without a regular recurring process and interruption, people
become ill. Sunday makes the week working like a clock.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">2. Sunday is a free day.
People do not only live for work. They also must get the time for
celebrating life.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">3.Sunday is a free day for the
whole society. We are thankfull for all those who have to work on
that day, but one ensures that this work on Sunday remains an
exception and that work on Sunday does not become the rule.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">4.The free Sunday represents a
boundary between outside and self-determined time and counteracts the
trend that all time of living becomes work and consumption time.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">5. Sunday is a family and
relations day. In times of increasing workload and more flexible
working hours, Sunday gets more importance as a day for being
together. This possibility should be maintained, also for employees
in the retail sector.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">6.The free Sunday guarantees
time prosperity and quality of life for the whole society. This time
of togetherness with others or for themselves need not be negotiated
each time.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">7. A free Sunday has to be
obtained (again) at national and at EU level. Likewise, the public
holidays of the individual Member States must be respected as an
expression of cultural and religious identity.</span></span>petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-10924257397181638922015-11-09T10:33:00.000+01:002015-11-09T10:33:25.504+01:00EUROPEAN SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM39VnIgc9KT_Gysrnh_Kws4EHc30NfRyOGiQIot9VZ18kk2TDke65zEkotdf5RjMBtTyJqb5FvfczspdmhoS3zID1YALf47qUXbw2PuikIqv5gRhRe_sFJfF-K783Lw6Ng8JUWJHg0fz/s1600/focus+foundation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEM39VnIgc9KT_Gysrnh_Kws4EHc30NfRyOGiQIot9VZ18kk2TDke65zEkotdf5RjMBtTyJqb5FvfczspdmhoS3zID1YALf47qUXbw2PuikIqv5gRhRe_sFJfF-K783Lw6Ng8JUWJHg0fz/s640/focus+foundation.jpg" width="496" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">At the start
of his mandate (November 2014), the Christian Democratic oriented EU
President Jean Claude Juncker from Luxembourg, decided to relaunch
the European Social Dialogue. On 5 March, a high-level summit in
Brussels brought together the EU-level cross-industry and sectoral
social partners together with the European Commission to discuss ways
to strengthen social dialogue. On 19 March, the Tripartite Social
Summit looked at the contribution of the social partners to investing
in growth and creating jobs. And on 21–22 April in Riga, an
informal meeting of EU Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs
held as part of the Latvian Presidency examined the role and future
development of social dialogue. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">The
European magazine <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef1537en.pdf">“Foundation Focus” number 17 of September 2015</a>
gives special attention to the state of the European Social Dialogue.
There is a common feeling that the European Social Dialogue is in
crisis. <i>“Collective industrial relations, including social
dialogue, have undergone dramatic change over recent decades, with a
shift to predominantly service or knowledge economies, greater
individualisation in society at large, and the growth of female
employment and changing gender roles bringing issues of work–life
balance, care arrangements and working-time patterns to the table.
And economic change is a key driver of the role of social dialogue.
After the financial crisis of 2008, the issue of European social
dialogue slipped down the policy agenda in the face of more immediate
economic concerns. Strengthening social dialogue to enable social
partners to address socioeconomic issues in Europe more effectively
has, from its outset, been a declared key task of the new Juncker
Commission.”</i> (the editorial)</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafe28EaLskaOaRdxUeYZ0lLlN5Dl0qH7OTVO5zV8HyOvIze1X6hMHrKn8f-LxwWRlMUR5xl0I7-tt8S96gqJ66ROhAAVNWh6vuPCUWhFPUpg-Ar4p67__ibZUaxYItAHuShyphenhyphen5n5D8Lokq/s1600/eurofound+collective+bargaining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafe28EaLskaOaRdxUeYZ0lLlN5Dl0qH7OTVO5zV8HyOvIze1X6hMHrKn8f-LxwWRlMUR5xl0I7-tt8S96gqJ66ROhAAVNWh6vuPCUWhFPUpg-Ar4p67__ibZUaxYItAHuShyphenhyphen5n5D8Lokq/s640/eurofound+collective+bargaining.jpg" width="452" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">As
part of this relaunch of the European Social Dialogue a special
report on <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2015/industrial-relations/collective-bargaining-in-europe-in-the-21st-century">“Collective bargaining in Europe in the 21st century”</a>
was recently (4 November) published by Eurofound, Publications office
of the European Union, Luxembourg. Authors: Eckhard Voss, Katharina
Schöneberg and Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is a very
thorough academic report with much detailed evaluation of the
Collective Bargaining Systems and nature of the Social Dialogues in
the different countries of the EU. It is clear that the 2008 crisis
has hit the different European countries in a different way. Changes
are related to the existing organizational capabilities and strength
of the employers organizations and trade unions, the nature of the
Governments, the actual economic situation etc.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The executive
summary of the report ends with a paragraph on the need to find a new
balance in the collective Bargaining Process. The impression is that
the report stresses the importance of a collective bargaining process
that is much wider oriented than setting wages and working conditions
on company level. Social Dialogue and Collective Bargaining processes
should be on national level and also contain wider macro economic
goals like reduction of income inequalities, settling labor disputes,
job creation, fiscal policies etc.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This study
has shown that, with few exceptions, most EU countries since the late
1990s have been reporting accelerated change in their collective
bargaining practices and systems. </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">All EU
countries have faced globalization and increased pressure on costs
and productivity; continuous economic and financial uncertainties; an
unprecedented level of unemployment; technological change;
demographic, employment and social changes and risks; increasing
income inequalities; skills gaps; and the need to adjust training
systems. These challenges are changing the role of, the problems to
be addressed by, and the actors involved in collective bargaining. As
a result, existing regulations and standard collective agreements are
being challenged by the combined pressures of flexible work
organization, costs, outsourcing and shareholder value, especially
where regulations and agreements cover entire sectors or national
economies in a standard way. This, in turn, has created pressure for
organized as well as more disorganized and fragmented
decentralization in all EU countries, accompanied by major strains
and a weakening of the regulatory power of employer organizations and
trade unions at national level. </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRkjh6qFsET0LTcoVFiqLPrbfvjaP_0wXFum_wB3g5vjWomh-RrGUgXV_hot_Kt-I4WKOG60RxeXctZkAO9gkPPti1XF5ZQ7V0UrVG9yZ6AnJwPdAXiO6Z9zy1fWUJ1EflQN9bDZHP3Xo/s1600/map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRkjh6qFsET0LTcoVFiqLPrbfvjaP_0wXFum_wB3g5vjWomh-RrGUgXV_hot_Kt-I4WKOG60RxeXctZkAO9gkPPti1XF5ZQ7V0UrVG9yZ6AnJwPdAXiO6Z9zy1fWUJ1EflQN9bDZHP3Xo/s640/map.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The map shows
“The intensity of change in collective bargaining since 1997</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><i>"A major result
of this study in this context is that since 2008 the gap has
broadened between countries that are characterized by a comparatively
high organizational strength of social partner organizations, stable
and influential practices and institutions of various forms of
tripartism, and a broad collective bargaining agenda, on the one
hand, and countries where industrial relations actors, processes and
outcomes are weaker, on the other hand. For example, in terms of the
membership density of trade union and employer organizations, all the
countries that have experienced the strongest decline in density
since the end of the 1990s are located in central and eastern Europe,
whereas all the countries that report relative stability are in
western Europe. But not only is there a growing gap; in terms of the
influence of tripartism and tripartite practices on public policies,
the shrinking group of countries where influence is reported to be
significant and goes beyond symbolic action or mere dialogue,
consultation and information are also located in western Europe.
Similar features emerge with regard to the influence of social
partners and concertation on anti-crisis programmes or social policy
packages in response to labour market problems. A further clear
result is that there is a stark contrast between those (few)
countries that report a stable situation and a broadening collective
bargaining agenda that covers not only core items but also
contributes to coping with major economic, social and other
challenges and those countries that have experienced a significant
narrowing of bargaining agendas during the past decade. The latter
group consists of many countries in central and eastern,
north-western and southern Europe." </i>(pages 54 and 55 of the Report)</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Taking account
of all these developments and often contradictory trends
(polarization or asymmetric convergence in terms of more flexible
procedures, but also divergence in terms of national dynamics and the
effects of the crisis), along with changes in the regulatory
influence and orientations of national governments and European
institutions, the following questions in regard to the current and
future role of collective bargaining arise, based on two approaches: </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">- Will
collective bargaining at company level keep on reducing its core
functions as a mechanism for setting wages and incomes within a
corridor that is mainly determined by firm performance,
competitiveness and productivity? </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">- Or will there
also be above that level a wider dimension of collective bargaining
in regard to social integration, equality, avoiding unfair
competition, and influencing employment and working conditions as
well as income and wealth distribution more broadly, and not only
limited to employees covered directly by bargaining agreements? </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This research
suggests that the evolution of these narrow and wider dimensions of
collective bargaining since the late 1990s has been characterized by
a growing imbalance, to the detriment of the wider and more
solidarity-oriented dimension. At the same time, it has become clear
that there are still examples throughout Europe where this more
normative role of collective bargaining is alive and has even been
revitalized in response to social and labour market challenges. </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Accordingly,
it is acknowledged that collective bargaining provides a solid
foundation for progress and growth in the EU Member States, not only
by setting wages and working conditions as core functions, but also
by supporting the reduction of income inequalities. In addition, it
comprises an intangible asset for industrial relations, building up
mutual trust between actors, easing the settlement of labour and
industrial disputes, and contributing to the general macroeconomic
development at national level and better company performance.” </i></span>
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-7013412826626332842015-10-24T10:44:00.000+02:002015-10-25T09:56:15.899+01:00THE ENDANGERED WELFARE STATE<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejWpva_eHbMNI0HqnoeKacx1ydCMxYp0LedEWIvmVBmfovaKfNH33hB_q83k6VRCAGW9LDviFvlaHybFFr185ZBAUY9oGTCyN-WahrZPQ4bZW2uFtnjvsD_Hgx2dpezKMdM0U9CAkH4UX/s1600/conferentie+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejWpva_eHbMNI0HqnoeKacx1ydCMxYp0LedEWIvmVBmfovaKfNH33hB_q83k6VRCAGW9LDviFvlaHybFFr185ZBAUY9oGTCyN-WahrZPQ4bZW2uFtnjvsD_Hgx2dpezKMdM0U9CAkH4UX/s640/conferentie+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Former President of the European </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Council Mr. Herman van Rompuy (X) and the President <br />of the Christian Workers Organization 'beweging.net' Patrick Develtere (Y) <br />posing together with the speakers at the Conference<br />coming from 26 European Countries, members of the European Union.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Since the
financial crisis, inmediately followed by an economic crisis, a debate
is going on in Europe about how the crisis should be resolved. At
stake is the preservation of the welfare state. According to many,
the welfarestate threatens to collapse by the European wide austerity
policies, the reforms of the pensionsystem and retrenchment of the
social protection system, in particular the care for the chronically
ill and the elderly.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Both left and
right-wing governments join this policy, such as in the Netherlands
with its coalition government of the conservative liberal VVD party
and the classic social democratic party PvdA. Under strong protest of
the trade unions, the coalition has raised the age for the state
pension to 67 years. To reduce the costs of healthcare and social
protection, the Netherlands should become a so called participatory
society, where tasks are transferred to local authorities and social
care again becomes a task of family, friends and neighbors. Another
example is Greece, where an election victory of the far left Syriza
party could not avoid a strict austerity and reform programme imposed
by the EU. The German Christian Democratic Chancellor Merkel and
French Socialist President Hollande demanded strong state budget cuts
and radical reforms in the tax system, social protection system and
others.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">During the
recently held Fifth European Conference on 'The State of the Welfare
State in the EU in the year 1992 and 20 years later' in the city of
Leuven (19-20 October 2015), Belgium, an overview was given of the
state of the welfare state by as much as 26 academic speakers from as
many countries. There was also a fascinating lecture by Herman van
Rompuy, who told his chronicle about the five years he was the first
President of the European Council (2010-2014) and Jo Vandeurzen,
Flemish Minister of social policy, health and family, who explained
the radical Reforms of the Flemish social protection system.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The first
conference on this topic was held in 1992. The Congress document "Aim
of the Conference" provides a brief review. The year 1992 was
<i>"an important moment in the European integration process as
major steps had to be taken with a view to completing the internal
market. Efforts to attain this goal, however, were leading to growing
concern about the creation of a 'Social Europe', which in several
aspects was developing at a slower pace. In this context,
implementing EMU (European Monetary Union) and attaining convergence
were imposing new constraints on national social protection systems.
"</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The second
conference in 2000 was an update of the state of the welfare state in
the 15 EU members. <i>"Eleven of them already Entered the Monetary
Union.The welfare states had stabilized at a relatively high level.
The creation of the Eurozone did not jeopardize this. Social
protection was not considered counterproductive for economic
development. In the third European Conference in 2005 we observed
them ( the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe) lagging
behind the old Member States, while at the same time catching up at
an incredibly fast speed and inventing new ways of social protection
or rediscovering older ways . "</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The timing
of the conference in April 2010 allowed us to compare the welfare
state with the situation just before the crisis (the financial and
economic crisis that struck the world economy in 2008) and made us
wonder whether the crisis was already over. The question here was no
longer whether and why the welfare state was in danger. Quite the
contrary, in fact, as the welfare state had played an important role
in absorbing the crisis. However, the question arose as to whether it
also had been a source that helped solve the crisis.Since that time a
new financial and broader budgetary crisis has ocurred, affecting the
very core of the welfare state, and we have witnessed a deepening and
espacially greater entrenchment of the economic crisis.How the
Welfare States can survive this turmoil... is the question.”</span></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Since the
beginning of the crisis in 2008, the European trade union movement
struggles for the preservation of the welfare state. In his opening
speech entitled <i>"Maintaining and Improving social protection in
Europe: a robust system against a persisting crisis" </i>Patrick
Develtere of the Belgian Christian Social Organization gives an overview
of the main views of the trade union movement in this debate.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Without social
protection of the welfare state, the economy would have further
collapsed and poverty have been much greater. Social protection such
as unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and pensions have ensured
that the purchasing power of the common people remained more or less
stable. One can therefore argue that social services have been "a
cushion" to absorb the shock of the economic crisis and to protect the
economy from further collapse.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Thanks to
these social services the government functions also as a sort of
"automatic stabilizer". The system ensures that the
national economy continues to operate at a reasonable level. But the
government can do more. By investing for example in the modernization
of education and expansion of care the government can give the
economy a new boost. Like the European trade union movement Develtere
advocates a classic Keynesian policy in which the government will
invest anti-cyclically by spending more money in stead of cutting
budgets. With such a policy the state therefore can not avoid to
having to raise taxes. Especially the so-called rich should pay more
through taxation of equity (capital). Such a policy would also bring
about a better distribution of wealth. So far it is not yet.
Meanwhile, tax evasion is tackled more vigorously.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the
chronicle of Herman van Rompuy, we read other views on the nature and
solution of the crisis. Although he agrees that the ultimate goal of
European policy is a social Europe, but this had to wait until the
Euro crisis had been solved: <i>"the disintegration of the euro
zone would have jeopardized the survival of the EU. It would also
have led to a depression in most countries and have increased
inequalities between the member states. "</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">According to
Van Rompuy the most problems already existed before the
beginning of the crisis. The crisis brought the underlying problems
only to the surface: lack of competitiveness, unsustainable public
finances and a lack of supervision of the budgetary -, macroeconomic
- and banking situation. <i>"Divergence in economic growth and
employment between members of the Eurozone after 2007 was already
there but was hidden by borrowing. The growth in some countries was
artificial ... So the structural unemployment rate in the eurozone at
the end of 2007 was already 8.8% (10% in 2014) and the number of
people at risk of poverty already 16.6% (as in 2013). "</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Van Rompuy
concludes that <i>"the structural economic growth, the economic
potential for many years was too low, even in the strongest
economies. Sure to keep our social model financially viable and to
play a role in the world. Weak demographics (the aging of the
population) , lack of innovation and business investments were among
others some of the causes. The 'common' market was too' fragmented
'in the sectors of energy, Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) and Research & Development (R&D) "</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In summary,
the debts were too high (thanks to the euro which made the initial
debt financing of all European countries with low interest rates
possible) while the economies underperformed. There are still
additional problems like the aging population, higher government
costs for pensions, more care for the elderly and the globalization
that requires more and better competitiveness. It is clear that only
a Keynesian policiy will not be enough to strengthen the European
economies so that social security and social protection can be
maintained at the same level as before. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Europe therefore is
looking for a fair balance between debt reduction and (public and
private) investments to get economic growth, to create jobs and to
make more sustainable the social welfare state for the next future.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">The
conference was organized by The research Institute for Work and
Society (HIVA) of the Catholic University of Leuven for and in
collaboration with the European Centre of Workers' Questions EZA with
the financial support of the Belgian Federal Public Service Security
and in association with the Athenian Policy Forum APF.</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-71943932850465549592015-09-28T09:47:00.000+02:002015-09-29T09:40:09.424+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 56 (The End)<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUU29RT69qMpIaM2JHjluEy2WunhPJaVcrEnI-jrsYjySI3sP6sxo8JicosLnK113NJyysBYOHe6lvYlG3T7trgc0L0AAOhxw_1H3ss9PjBgNgBU0Z2jw70HQDil0Tdcq8QUvUK8ghxXD2/s1600/wva+sprekers+op+ituc+congres+2006+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUU29RT69qMpIaM2JHjluEy2WunhPJaVcrEnI-jrsYjySI3sP6sxo8JicosLnK113NJyysBYOHe6lvYlG3T7trgc0L0AAOhxw_1H3ss9PjBgNgBU0Z2jw70HQDil0Tdcq8QUvUK8ghxXD2/s640/wva+sprekers+op+ituc+congres+2006+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WCL members present at the foundation congress of the ITUC, Vienna 2006. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">From left to right starting left above: WCL Secretary General Willy Thys (ACV Belgium), </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Andrzej Adamcsyk (Solidarnosc Poland), Laura Gonzales Txabarri (ELA Spain), </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Bogdan Hossu (cartel Alfa Romania) </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">On the 27th WCL Congress, held on October 31, 2006 in Vienna, an overwhelming majority voted for the abolishment of the WCL. The only organisation present at the meeting that voted against the abolition of the WCL was the WFCW, which at its congress in Medan, Indonesia had decided to oppose the merger and to remain independent as WFCW. A brave decision considering the pressure exerted to agree to the abolishment of the WCL and the creation of the new global trade union confederation ITUC. Moreover, the pressure kept going even after the foundation of the ITUC. </span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Due to the WFCW I could be present on this last WCL Congress. With a view to the future the WFCW board had invited me to become a member of the World Board of WFCW and the European Board. I felt honored by this request and I was glad that I could still contribute to the strengthening of the WFCW and thus still keep alive the spirit of the WCL.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0L2K4YvBqrcvGocXyZgeG8Sc9CHl5js-5qpzD3XbQdX1sTEoKT6eGKhcmLfW5X8cda_N0qm7emJT8HnWG3QJlc3fb48sZS8a4XJs78Ra39Afsb-fffKJrVRmK2ViSLWRmso_K0hlXm8t/s1600/wva+sprekers+ituc+congres+2+2006+wenen+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0L2K4YvBqrcvGocXyZgeG8Sc9CHl5js-5qpzD3XbQdX1sTEoKT6eGKhcmLfW5X8cda_N0qm7emJT8HnWG3QJlc3fb48sZS8a4XJs78Ra39Afsb-fffKJrVRmK2ViSLWRmso_K0hlXm8t/s640/wva+sprekers+ituc+congres+2+2006+wenen+BLOG.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WCL adffiliates at the ITUC foundation Congress in Vienna, 2006.<br />From left to right starting left above: Julio Roberto Gomez (CGT Colombia),<br />José Pinzon (CGTG Guatemala), Mariano Mena (CGTP Panama),<br />Mamounata Cissé (ITUC Deputy Secretary General) talking to Eduardo Estevez<br />(WCL Confederal Secretary).</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, I considered the abolition of the WCL also as a personal defeat. Since 1992 I had worked enthusiastically, under the leadership of General Secretary Carlos Custer, for the strengthening of the WCL. My field was especially Central and Eastern Europe and some International Trade Union Federations ITF's including WFCW. During that time I learned to know the power politics of the ICFTU. While the WCL mainly supported the newly created unions that arose from the dissident non-communist workers after the fall of communism, the ICFTU looked for mostly the old communist trade union leaders. Only the North American AFL-CIO made efforts to support newly created trade unions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5kV5j09a9TI9dvHeIZKjjO-HP2kYYWEo8Gdpkp-hJtgWQPHQ_OoVqbXDzfr5QWpFPJAmv-myxPhOt9P2wo92LDYXv9NzkI4bF24NcbXcoO766Z2cPzeDhyqvywyhQRLbHxruSooh_izq/s1600/eo+wow+2+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5kV5j09a9TI9dvHeIZKjjO-HP2kYYWEo8Gdpkp-hJtgWQPHQ_OoVqbXDzfr5QWpFPJAmv-myxPhOt9P2wo92LDYXv9NzkI4bF24NcbXcoO766Z2cPzeDhyqvywyhQRLbHxruSooh_izq/s640/eo+wow+2+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">European WOW Board meeting at the WOW office in Brussels in February 2007.<br />From left to right: Toni Liedlbauer, Roel Rotshuizen, Bjorn van Heusden,<br />Günther Trausznitz, Valère Jung and Rolf Weber.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, also had to be tried to stop the loss of Western European members of the International Trade Union Federations (ITF's). The departure of ACV and CNV trade unions from the ITF's was a serious financial and organizational loss. European trade unions dropped out because they claimed not to get enough support for their international trade union action. The unions in the Third World were organisationally and financially to weak and lacked a financially independent trade union culture. They leaned too much on their national and international trade union federations and the regional organizations. Decentralization of power, finances, accountability and responsibility remained problematic in the existing regional structures.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now, 14 years later, I had to
conclude that the WCL had not come out of the doldrums. Apparently, I
had been unable to convince enough people to maintain the WCL against
the trends of the times. One of those trends is of course the
secularization, with one of the consequences that the social
christian principles on which the WCL was built, were not so obvious
anymore as foundation for a broad-based trade union movement. However
these social christian values had not lost nothing of there
significance for the society. On the contrary, many of the social
christian principles had become commonplace in the trade union
movement such as the social dialogue instead of class struggle, and
the insight that private companies are an important source of
employment and investment.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqUpXdcDTGVrM47JFYai9ABghWFcYgDOUrY4TkD_FXXNMLKB5xphz3aGEWzEQ0OoRyzIjBZDaxper-SwnI_pNQh3L2q8DZ0SXKZwjvV7g2DJh5FVX10CRV1NpwddgBoE2p82AFKCkdhYc/s1600/ilo+2008+dan+cunia+%2526+roel+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqUpXdcDTGVrM47JFYai9ABghWFcYgDOUrY4TkD_FXXNMLKB5xphz3aGEWzEQ0OoRyzIjBZDaxper-SwnI_pNQh3L2q8DZ0SXKZwjvV7g2DJh5FVX10CRV1NpwddgBoE2p82AFKCkdhYc/s640/ilo+2008+dan+cunia+%2526+roel+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WOW president Roel Rotshuizen meets Dan Cunia from the ILO Actrav Department during<br />the ILO Conference in July 2008.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Simultaneously
neoliberal capitalism and the consumer society triumphed, both built
on market fundamentalism and capitalism with the walfare state as an
outcome. Mass consumption became the highest ideal of society, also
for the trade unions. Therefore, a lot of social christian oriented
trade unions ended up as part of this capitalist materialism. In
short, the struggle for wages meant more members, spiritual values
were out of time. Spiritual life henceforth was a private matter for
which you have to go to church. Anyway, for spiritual values, you had
not to look for in the trade unions. The result was that solidarity
was stripped of its spiritual dimensions, it became a marketing
concept based mainly on the principle of redistribution of income and
capital. An exclusive materialistic concept.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There
were also internal causes for the decline of the WCL as for example
the inability to reconcile organization and priorities with the
financial revenues. Self-restraint would have been a good thing, as
well as decentralization and delegation of responsibilities towards
the continents. Now, each continent wanted to have its “own man”
in Brussels with everything that goes with it. A smaller organization
with fewer staff could have been equally effective at international
level, provided that there would be a clear prioritization and
effective division of roles between the member organizations.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugqsreRoE85YI8G599as1ivgIxBqzCHMyRqpzAu9dfxQKr_IAxXJH8x2VVbw_BiHUZGkZHvyadIxuS6Vi95mEg9AZs33uqUuA3DVt3pYudkXF2857vABLrM1sDKT4-ny4ibXQqda1TO6i/s1600/wowcongres+5+overzicht+sept+2012+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugqsreRoE85YI8G599as1ivgIxBqzCHMyRqpzAu9dfxQKr_IAxXJH8x2VVbw_BiHUZGkZHvyadIxuS6Vi95mEg9AZs33uqUuA3DVt3pYudkXF2857vABLrM1sDKT4-ny4ibXQqda1TO6i/s640/wowcongres+5+overzicht+sept+2012+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">View of the WOW World Congres in September 2012, Vancouver Canada.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">One of the biggest obstacles
to the membership growth of the WCL was the fact that new memberships
practically spoken stood under the guardianship of the ETUC and in
fact of the ICFTU. ETUC members repeatedly vetoed new WCL members,
such as the Danish Confederation Krifa and the German CGB. Especially
at the ACV this was a sensitive issue because of its position in the
ETUC and its national rival, the socialist FGTB. The practical effect
was that the WCL had already lost its autonomy and independence even
before it was formally dissolved.</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">That the Dutch CNV bowed for
the pressure of the ACV, to accept the abolishment of the WCL might
be explained by the fact that Europe already has its own established
social model based on the social dialogue and clear rules that apply
to the government, employers and trade unions. The European "social
economic game" is played by the ETUC. The ITUC has little or no
influence. Quite the opposite, the European trade union movement is
one of the game setters in the ITUC.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6HUOCylvxg1zW3S62j9mVzU9Bmmo66bjH6cYfbbqu9OTybEL0H0G69uvsJKx7XNQFOZjjjQlWZs7gZ9itAeyHpZffHt6NbrwoMwtBeqVCxnCpj6DWjc9nAgy_S0LbKmkzhEP_hYaH_pn/s1600/koffi+met+mototaxistas+2+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6HUOCylvxg1zW3S62j9mVzU9Bmmo66bjH6cYfbbqu9OTybEL0H0G69uvsJKx7XNQFOZjjjQlWZs7gZ9itAeyHpZffHt6NbrwoMwtBeqVCxnCpj6DWjc9nAgy_S0LbKmkzhEP_hYaH_pn/s640/koffi+met+mototaxistas+2+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">FPE Secretary General Koffi Zounnadjala, also vice president of the WOW,<br />with moto-taxistas, a project to support young people to have their own taxi motor,<br />Togo 2012</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In Latin America, the role of
trade unions in state and society is by no means defined. The social
dialogue hardly exists and regulations are inadequate or sometimes
even anti- trade union. In some countries there is not even freedom
of trade union movement. Based on social Christian values, CLAT
always fought for democracy and social dialogue like for example
exists in the European Union. CLAT had nothing to do with state
oriented socialism as for example in Cuba. CLAT also did not want the
North American model of capitalism without social dialogue. North
American trade unions are in fact a kind of “labor organized
company” within an enterprise or economic sector. Therefore, it is
curious that CLAT merged into the Inter-American organization
TUCA-CSA (Trade Union of the Americas) in which the North American
AFL-CIO is one of the major social-economic game setters. The
question now will be what kind of social-economic model the TUCA-CSA
will promote for Latin America.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YqzvIEPlqRMOkaWLsuFy-VmX6jI5LSeJNxc1yNHEixRNl671JlwXgNHsX6-EFRslHzf7YvuT3iynHMEteFv5DssYemvasXd6aUC2ZRwENzJk5mojboYeCV6yWhcUo37X8E7Cbe6lh3AM/s1600/congres+anp+peru+sept+2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YqzvIEPlqRMOkaWLsuFy-VmX6jI5LSeJNxc1yNHEixRNl671JlwXgNHsX6-EFRslHzf7YvuT3iynHMEteFv5DssYemvasXd6aUC2ZRwENzJk5mojboYeCV6yWhcUo37X8E7Cbe6lh3AM/s640/congres+anp+peru+sept+2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Participants of the XXV Ordinary National Congress of the National Association of Journalists of Cusco, Peru, September 2015. The reelected ANP President Roberto Mejia is also Vice-President of WOW and President of the regional federation FELATRACCS.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-29882326339954424032015-09-19T16:53:00.000+02:002015-09-19T16:53:06.797+02:00HAPPINESS AT WORK<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMF8aC3peTyDHk9xOwQ43JSZTp5Q-dUKGHqClb7UT8WhVYTCQILAApgyQou1QCyZyfgZIAC2ON3FFLF_PblxWbwnTrS9OhBfEXGCfDIZAK7wFHrw6VO04bF78PsvZhyvA_jX2D8-Eq9Sm9/s1600/ranking+job+satisfaction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMF8aC3peTyDHk9xOwQ43JSZTp5Q-dUKGHqClb7UT8WhVYTCQILAApgyQou1QCyZyfgZIAC2ON3FFLF_PblxWbwnTrS9OhBfEXGCfDIZAK7wFHrw6VO04bF78PsvZhyvA_jX2D8-Eq9Sm9/s640/ranking+job+satisfaction.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Ms.Arletta Bentzen, Chief Happiness Officer, speaking to the seminar audience.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Who thinks of trade unions,
does not immediately think of happiness at work. Instead, unions are
often in the news with discontent like protests, demonstrations and
strikes for higher wages or pensions. Trade unions are quite
materialistic oriented on salary and wage increase and only after
this of course on the secondary employment conditions like work
environment, safety and health as a basis for employee satisfaction.
About happiness at work trade unions speak seldom or never.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Yet there was last week a
European seminar in Copenhagen, Denmark with the theme "Happiness
at work". The seminar was sponsored by the European Commission
through <a href="http://www.eza.org/en/">EZA</a> and organized and sponsored by the <a href="https://www.krifa.dk/">Danish Confederationof Trade Krifa</a> and the <a href="http://www.wownetwork.be/home/">international trade union federation WOW</a>. The
program featured a variety of speakers from different European
countries that shed light on the topic from different angles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51c39bfBHf8BcSH8Y-c2OinelOcTxShvRRYw6OjCrX382VtncGQ3ooOwOD0HHVkUz72MUYKQfz9ZYv26vfP95lwZMfMEQyLPbRd7-1hroAj1CrKqqvUGtoyN34v1_IlWBgDu-6IGsYT2V/s1600/kopenhagen+1+de+professor+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51c39bfBHf8BcSH8Y-c2OinelOcTxShvRRYw6OjCrX382VtncGQ3ooOwOD0HHVkUz72MUYKQfz9ZYv26vfP95lwZMfMEQyLPbRd7-1hroAj1CrKqqvUGtoyN34v1_IlWBgDu-6IGsYT2V/s640/kopenhagen+1+de+professor+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr.Prof. Ir. Jan Van Peteghem (left) and Rolf Weber, treasurer of WOW</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Professor Jan van Peteghem of
the University of Leuven, Belgium laid a solid foundation
for the seminar with his review of literature and research on job
satisfaction. A for trade unions interesting note was the conclusion
that there is but to some extent a direct link between wage and job
satisfaction. Once a certain wage level has been reached than the
happiness curve flattens rapidly. More wage contributes not
necessarily to more job satisfaction. Apparently, there are also
important other factors that determine job satisfaction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietPdfYQsIZbkh9F5wGxmXq06ekii81b5Mzdmr1DthDFsv5txofoSHdD9U0tPnciPxFhM3JyF_SlOLKf3XwHEWMN1URhY_D2ItWM365hZG9aJGLcBWo5ongjkYM-vvp0vDItQKqmnyy5fd/s1600/kopenhagen+2+Willem+Jelle+Berg+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietPdfYQsIZbkh9F5wGxmXq06ekii81b5Mzdmr1DthDFsv5txofoSHdD9U0tPnciPxFhM3JyF_SlOLKf3XwHEWMN1URhY_D2ItWM365hZG9aJGLcBWo5ongjkYM-vvp0vDItQKqmnyy5fd/s640/kopenhagen+2+Willem+Jelle+Berg+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Willem Jelle Berg, member of CNV Board.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">CNV board member Willem Jelle Berg
of the <a href="https://www.cnv.nl/english/">Dutch trade union confederation CNV</a> then spoke about the
experiences with this theme. For the CNV, which was founded about 100
years ago, work has always meant more than just making money. People
need recognition and respect for their work, look for professional
pride, they want individual responsibility and the opportunity for
personal development. Work is the way by which you participate in the
community, from your family until your neighborhood, from your city
until your country and eventually the world community. An unemployed
person feels quickly useless or redundant. Incidentally, work also
means volunteering, caring for his family and household work. The CNV
has campaigned against factors that stand in the way of happiness at
work, such as bullying at work and the ever-increasing stress at work
as a result of globalization.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGfTe-5YLyoMuKKmtsQFgfkzZFWokK3RufWLof8aWlto7I0tJ1TugG3bZTcm0kOda6NcN6QvfJKJsdwYG_KvIp0SPbesvWRD4Cw8s3UoE88dElfkN42yaUKOY37YHI7j16jx41cXIBONF/s1600/kopenhagen+3+soren+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGfTe-5YLyoMuKKmtsQFgfkzZFWokK3RufWLof8aWlto7I0tJ1TugG3bZTcm0kOda6NcN6QvfJKJsdwYG_KvIp0SPbesvWRD4Cw8s3UoE88dElfkN42yaUKOY37YHI7j16jx41cXIBONF/s640/kopenhagen+3+soren+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Soren Fibiger Olesen, President Krifa speaking about the mission statement of Krifa.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Krifa president Soren Fibiger
Olesen confirms that for KRIFA as a Christian trade union "job
satisfaction" is a central theme. KRIFA wants to help increase
the happiness of employees at their workplace. But the question is
how to do this in practice? To get an answer on this question, KRIFA
launched with two renowned Danish research institutions an extensive
investigation. The goal was the composition of a job satisfaction
index 2015. The how, what and where of the research was explained at
the seminar by the KRIFA communications consultant Mikkel Hundborg.
In plain language, he told us about the design of the study, the
different variants that play a role in happiness at work, the
research literature and the (statistical) elaboration of the data.
The results of the research are published in a brochure entitled 'Job
Satisfaction Index 2015 What drives job satisfaction? "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the study, six factors are
identified that affect happiness at work: the purpose of your work,
leadership, influence, the work-life balance and colleagues. I think
all of us recognize those factors and finds them appropriate also to
him or herself. The trick is to measure to what extent these factors
weight on the total package. A few results are interesting to mention
here.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9q5mQJaUzC0BG_L2Sx3uX9GhAStr6_btUCpXNW07nNZI3tUQfDXtU2z4SyoeVWtLx3pMiJ7nMRJGnBA1VoZH9E135h4R2lUYK3zUARV4B_8x8K0OXLGecYw3kTF6i4aYoJ1y6-BwvhGBu/s1600/kopenhagen+4+oefeningen+met+muziek+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9q5mQJaUzC0BG_L2Sx3uX9GhAStr6_btUCpXNW07nNZI3tUQfDXtU2z4SyoeVWtLx3pMiJ7nMRJGnBA1VoZH9E135h4R2lUYK3zUARV4B_8x8K0OXLGecYw3kTF6i4aYoJ1y6-BwvhGBu/s640/kopenhagen+4+oefeningen+met+muziek+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Some exercise made by the participants of the seminar to promote 'happiness at work'.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">First, participants were asked
what factors they found for themselves important for happiness at
work. In order of importance: purpose of the work, colleagues,
influence outcomes, leadership and the balance between life and work.
After analyzing the questions asked, this ranking proved to be wrong.
Indeed, the most important factor for happiness at work is the
purpose of work. </span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>The belief that your
work has purpose has a strong positive correlation with job
satisfaction. In fact, the study shows it is the factor that affects
well-being at work at most.”</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Based on the results of the
research, leadership appeared to be the number 2 important factor and
not as was said earlier, namely colleagues. </span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Leadership
significantly affects job satisfaction – and far more tha employees
realize.”</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Workers want a pat on the back
from their boss and does he listen to you? The following factors
weighing on the balance happiness at work in order of importance: a
balance between work and life, influence and results of your work
(achievements). Surprising was that the behavior of colleagues
eventually appeared as the last one of importance for the total score
on satisfaction.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WgIGhUpbVug00LMgpX3fkLJe0lzjiPlmwcoCumz7ZjkitIHImlnRWSCu58IyjYlYKI2CghUZ1BiY63TyqYWmXvHhFZel-xNU6EzZobQdq2XJw9zRWCW8Cceb233atZpy7CeSNyXEXDdP/s1600/kopenhagen+8+balkantafel+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WgIGhUpbVug00LMgpX3fkLJe0lzjiPlmwcoCumz7ZjkitIHImlnRWSCu58IyjYlYKI2CghUZ1BiY63TyqYWmXvHhFZel-xNU6EzZobQdq2XJw9zRWCW8Cceb233atZpy7CeSNyXEXDdP/s640/kopenhagen+8+balkantafel+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Participants from Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia listening attentive to one of the speakers at the seminar.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">One of the results of the
workshops was that some European trade unions have not yet arrived to
put this item on their policy agenda for their members, for
employers and governments. Some participants, mainly from Central and
Eastern Europe, suggested that for their country happiness at work is
a luxury because of lack of jobs (unemployment), low wages and poor
working conditions. Governments and employers even don't take health
and safety as an equally serious question. Because of globalisation
employers want above all minimize labor costs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The answer to this is that
health and safety issues also were not always important for the trade
union movement but forced by circumstances they were put on the trade
union agenda. Now safety and health at the workplace are regulated by
legislation and each employer must have an eye for the health and
safety of its employees. Additionally, satisfied employees are more
productive and more creative allowing the company to produce more
than other companies and function better. In short, also from a
cost-benefit point of view, for the employer happiness at work is a
good thing. But even without these positive side an employer must
consider that employees are much more than just money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNbxX63LauPsSlOuAKzBY4OLdGA7T2OD5KgPqyrZ5FYHI48drScL_Pr82CH6Klgw7aWuA0qWyIldLWnqn9ior3eRlod6a2pDXD79-3Pn1Lz8CwGtfNPOdcsQdXCzwS47EkvHINGdrq-1V/s1600/kopenhagen+6+Pilko+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNbxX63LauPsSlOuAKzBY4OLdGA7T2OD5KgPqyrZ5FYHI48drScL_Pr82CH6Klgw7aWuA0qWyIldLWnqn9ior3eRlod6a2pDXD79-3Pn1Lz8CwGtfNPOdcsQdXCzwS47EkvHINGdrq-1V/s640/kopenhagen+6+Pilko+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Ing.Mag. Heimo Pilko, Work psychologist and Safety Engineer.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Austrian psychologist and
occupational safety engineer Heimo Pilko told us about practical
possibilities in a company to manage the socio-psychological risks of
a job. How urgently such control is required, was recently tragically
demonstrated by the suicide accident caused by a co-pilot of the
airline Germanwings. To understand and decrease the stress risks at
work with a potentially negative socio-psychological impact, an
evaluation scheme has been developed, on basis of which can be judged
by the employer and employee how great these risks are.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcO3jyD3E-pvk1LBJXlj888h9ruPoPOOvjDxc9n76lbD86uNBdn2FOuz9Y-6a-b3njBZj_6sR_44clOEhONYJdWhxtNF2E7ZILhM4nlLyuFS01Zux0zFGd4ftQ4ak7jBwN1DEN_RF7DO34/s1600/kopenhagen+7+zaal+mer+rugnummer++4+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcO3jyD3E-pvk1LBJXlj888h9ruPoPOOvjDxc9n76lbD86uNBdn2FOuz9Y-6a-b3njBZj_6sR_44clOEhONYJdWhxtNF2E7ZILhM4nlLyuFS01Zux0zFGd4ftQ4ak7jBwN1DEN_RF7DO34/s640/kopenhagen+7+zaal+mer+rugnummer++4+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Spanish delegation at the seminar.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How far can you go with the
promotion of happiness at work? Arletta Bentzen, Chief Happiness
Officer has no doubts that happiness at work will increasingly become
important for responsible business. The company where she works at
national and international level, focusses on possible techniques to
increase happiness at work. She looks to the personal emotions of the
employee's, the mutual interaction between employees and the
interaction between board, management and employees. On the website
of <a href="http://woohooinc.com/">Woohooinc.com</a> you can find tips and instructions for increasing
happiness at work. </span>petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-30583899704698405592015-08-09T12:57:00.000+02:002015-08-11T09:56:56.163+02:00WILL THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT REACH 2040?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qWFpJSzk-qtwYjUOIsUzDiML-zIyFb0yj-WyEMb_sifpkIM-ZYKQKFNO_Ao1VM4a6w47JNwP4isSvYy4xqCT30hRnfVKgVM9z-qxHCd__OCITL3t55yq2ZJc-uqCrXIN1ZSJSC_RMNB0/s1600/staking+demonstratie+oss+1977+%2528100%2529+no.3+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qWFpJSzk-qtwYjUOIsUzDiML-zIyFb0yj-WyEMb_sifpkIM-ZYKQKFNO_Ao1VM4a6w47JNwP4isSvYy4xqCT30hRnfVKgVM9z-qxHCd__OCITL3t55yq2ZJc-uqCrXIN1ZSJSC_RMNB0/s640/staking+demonstratie+oss+1977+%2528100%2529+no.3+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Solidarity March with the Strike of the Metal Trade Unions, Oss Netherlands 1977<br />(foto: petrus nelissen)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In
April this year, a course on the trade union movement ended with an
introduction by Paul de Beer, professor of industrial relations at
the University of Amsterdam. He searched for an answer to the
question whether the trade union movement still has a future. De Beer
advised the trade unions above all to make choices. "Do
everything will be fatal at the long run. Do we choose for a trade
union with a broad social orientation, or for targeted interests?
Past experience shows, according to De Beer, that significant results
can be achieved with small steps. Kees van Kortenhof reports in the
digital newsletter <a href="http://www.vakbondshistorie.nl/">"The memory of the labor movement"</a>,</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> a publication of the "Foundation Friends of the History of
Trade Unions".</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu81-lgO9aqcJsG4v9tzQ_QPs3Xh0-Hei6_quOIpT8V8yiqIfQobzGfB81cWTIDwhGoG-rr3JiNGS1gComOuk6WiiTVXiTvOJcfnBUweQUaImUAAVfBwA05xq8Fn4IZbl9QpEiuO-QZFR9/s1600/staking+demonstratie+Oss+1977+%2528100%2529+no.2+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu81-lgO9aqcJsG4v9tzQ_QPs3Xh0-Hei6_quOIpT8V8yiqIfQobzGfB81cWTIDwhGoG-rr3JiNGS1gComOuk6WiiTVXiTvOJcfnBUweQUaImUAAVfBwA05xq8Fn4IZbl9QpEiuO-QZFR9/s640/staking+demonstratie+Oss+1977+%2528100%2529+no.2+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Solidarity March with Strike of Metal Trade Unions, Oss Netherland 1977<br />(foto: petrus nelissen)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Successes</b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">De
Beer looked back on the successes of the labor movement over the last
hundred and ten years in the Netherlands. The real wage per labor
year has risen sharply while the working hours have decreased. Now an
employee earns per hour ten times as much as 100 years ago. If we
take the ratio between capital and labor studies of that period, we
must conclude, however, that "the French economist Thomas
Piketty with his book Capital is right and that the capitalists are
on the winning hand.” Job security is higher than in the 19th
century but also in the last century there have been crises like also
these days, which have led to high unemployment.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Challenges</b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">De
Beer also painted the challenges for the trade union movement of
today. Trade union membership is decreasing. In 1980, still one of
the three employees were members of a union, currently only 1 out of
6. The share of older people in the movement is large and the degree
of organization among 25 year olds and younger is low about 7%. This
weakens the legitimacy of actions and statements of the trade union
movement. He blamed for this the defensive attitude of the trade
unions. Comparing the trade union situation today with that from the
sixties and seventies in the passed century: "the
political-economic agenda is no longer determined by the trade unions
but rather by politics and employers ".</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
trade union movement must cease to do everything. That is eventually
fatal. It should also be clear which groups will be the target of the
trade union movement. Are that only members or all wage earners, or
all workers/employees including the self-employed or perhaps also all
(indirect) wage earners including beneficiaries and pensioners?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fWwf69sqmz_r4JbVhbT_-fA77D75q0k4gya8iu1UKrTmCMub2XNwiv_WhszsOFzJMgC50qVIvBxkH05TACwkrJmIkZXMQq4aIcGaDbaHvhMxDZbcst_lF1D4856JwDs68Fm77-Fq8GXQ/s1600/staking+demo+oss+jongeren+1977+%2528100%2529+no.4+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fWwf69sqmz_r4JbVhbT_-fA77D75q0k4gya8iu1UKrTmCMub2XNwiv_WhszsOFzJMgC50qVIvBxkH05TACwkrJmIkZXMQq4aIcGaDbaHvhMxDZbcst_lF1D4856JwDs68Fm77-Fq8GXQ/s640/staking+demo+oss+jongeren+1977+%2528100%2529+no.4+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Solidarity March with Strike of the Metal Trade Unions, Oss Netherlands 1977<br />(foto: petrus nelissen)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Does
the trade union reach 2040?</b></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
concluding forum dealt with two questions: does one need to know
about the history of the trade union movement? and will the trade
union movement still exist in the year 2040? Paul de Beer warned for
looking too much backwards because "knowledge of history can
also lead to conservatism and adherence to old models." Piet
Hazenbosch (management consultant of the Christian trade union
confederation CNV and researcher of the history of the CNV), however,
believed that when one wants to understand what is going on, you need
to know where you come from. According Hazenbosch this time differs
fundamentally from the time when the labor movement was born and he
warns that the trade union movement is now not adequately related to
contemporary social development. He pleads for a return to the
'ideological sources "where we answer the question: Why are we
here?". On this matter the Christian trade unionist Hazenbosch
and the left-socialist Van der Velden agreed with each other. Van
der Velden also laments the loss of ideological depth and vision of
the trade union movement on society: " Maybe CNV may have lost
less its ideological feathers.” However, as a specialist in the
field of Dutch labor relations, he is indifferent to whether the
trade union movement in 2040 still will exist: "The trade union
is an instrument for achieving certain goals. That's the main point.
"</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCJPQeXTwbSca4dMEFfJ8HMfmhYaXYcKx1GYwo0Cn8TssH966_-fWVmeLTo39z28R1-o0drR32SwDP30mmRUbpt3GoYeSAWsKR2pm7RCkGVk_f7MwPObT-G7YJjp7oNamPldHzlBUbmqL/s1600/etuc+demo+march+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCJPQeXTwbSca4dMEFfJ8HMfmhYaXYcKx1GYwo0Cn8TssH966_-fWVmeLTo39z28R1-o0drR32SwDP30mmRUbpt3GoYeSAWsKR2pm7RCkGVk_f7MwPObT-G7YJjp7oNamPldHzlBUbmqL/s640/etuc+demo+march+2013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">ETUC Protest March, Brussels Belgium 2013<br />(foto:petrus nelissen)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Union
Sundown</b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Leontine
Bijleveld, independent researcher and consultant on women's rights
and labor relations and historian, considers knowledge of history
essential but in a broad way and as an inspiration for the present.
She agrees with her colleagues of the CNV that the trade union
movement in 2014 is different from that of the past, but there will
always be social movements that make the world a little bit better.
Harry Peer, expert on participation and works councils, points to the
responsibility of trade unions when it comes to history "because
the fundamental training courses are all gone. There is little
attention to the reasons of existence of trade unions and what
motivates trade unionists. "He fears the American way, where
employers with all means keep the unions out. "We talk a lot
about the Rhineland model but now the US model is coming to us."
Lodewijk de Waal, former chairman of the trade union confederation
FNV and now chairman of VHV, closed the meeting wondering about his
own optimism. He has grown up with Bob Dylan's song "Times They
are Changing." But the same Dylan in the eighties sings about
the Union Sundown. Who reads the text of that song can not but
conclude that there is still enough work to do for the trade union
movement.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i>Kees van Kortenhof</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i>April 2015</i><br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE08kMwC4TZonWF123-_D7SxPnqoYfFR7H91QkNLVOKdWvZdMfBw1PJMOeK7rMxdOzK7gFuQrdmfz_t-TiEaxdXm4qqGLl8JHlmUxE76O0-6Pe8zGB-e5I3CvUyIBCg20LgI1rO4EMLm5/s1600/staking+demo+oss+1977+politie+%2528100%2529+no.5+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXE08kMwC4TZonWF123-_D7SxPnqoYfFR7H91QkNLVOKdWvZdMfBw1PJMOeK7rMxdOzK7gFuQrdmfz_t-TiEaxdXm4qqGLl8JHlmUxE76O0-6Pe8zGB-e5I3CvUyIBCg20LgI1rO4EMLm5/s640/staking+demo+oss+1977+politie+%2528100%2529+no.5+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Solidarity March with strike of the Metal Trade Unions, Oss Netherlands 1977</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>An overview of the trade union movement in the
Netherlands 2014.</b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Again
fewer union members, but for a long time more young members</b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
number of members decreases again in 2014, but more young people have
become member of the trade union. The number of female trade union
members increases after an occasional dip last year. The number of
older members falls.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">End
of March 2014 the unions had more than 1.7 million members, 30
thousand less than the year before. In all confederations, as well as
in non-affiliated trade unions, membership declines. The
confederation FN is the largest confederation with more than 1.1
million members.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Growth
of young trade union members</b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
number of young people (under 25) who are members of a trade union,
has almost halved compared to the last century. In 1999 the number of
young members amounted to 117 thousand, in 2013 that figure was 61
thousand. The decline in the number of young people seems to have
ended. Already in recent years the number of younger members
decreased barely, in 2014 for the first time there was an increase of
six thousand young members . From all trade union members now 3.8
per cent is less than 25 years old. </i></span></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
out of six trade union members is 65 years or older</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
number of trade union members in the age between 25 to 65 years
declined. The group of members between 45-65 years old still remains
the largest group with 906 thousand members. However, this is 19
thousand less than last year. A part canceled their membership,
another part remained member, but now belongs to the group of retired
trade union members (65 years and older). The number of members that
after retirement remained a member of the trade union increased in
2014. The proportion of over-65s stood at 17 percent, which means
that out of six trade union members is 65 years or older. Pensioners
can often continue to use the services of a trade union for a lower
contribution rate.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>More
women join the trade union</b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>After
a decline in 2013, in 2014 slightly more women became a member of a
trade union. Their number amounted to 630 thousand.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/arbeid-sociale-zekerheid/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2014/2014-4153-ta.htm">CentralBureau of Statistics, Web magazine, October 31, 2014 </a></i></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubtY3jjtXZgNczuhD6wIp6welXQkObscLvVhtZBbk-XAiHDurdcV6ZO40omm4bsKzvWry_HhKNm_auyFmYa0Ql1HAiViaksOltzi6vXjBFPNMBEzWvRooKc8sRopPyQxiEAnLR__isfzh/s1600/bob-dylan-the-times.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubtY3jjtXZgNczuhD6wIp6welXQkObscLvVhtZBbk-XAiHDurdcV6ZO40omm4bsKzvWry_HhKNm_auyFmYa0Ql1HAiViaksOltzi6vXjBFPNMBEzWvRooKc8sRopPyQxiEAnLR__isfzh/s640/bob-dylan-the-times.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changing, 1964</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The lyrics of Bob Dylan's song </b></span></span><i style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Union Sundown"</b></span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>My flashlight’s from Taiwan</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>My tablecloth’s from Malaysia</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>My belt buckle’s from the Amazon</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And the car I drive is a Chevrolet</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>It was put together down in Argentina</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>By a guy makin’ thirty cents a day</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, it’s sundown on the union</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And what’s made in the U.S.A.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Sure was a good idea</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
’<i>Til greed got in the way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, this silk dress is from Hong Kong</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And the pearls are from Japan</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, the dog collar’s from India</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And the flower pot’s from Pakistan</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>All the furniture, it says “Made in Brazil”</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Where a woman, she slaved for sure</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Bringin’ home thirty cents a day to a family of twelve</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>You know, that’s a lot of money to her</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, it’s sundown on the union</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And what’s made in the U.S.A.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Sure was a good idea</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
’<i>Til greed got in the way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, you know, lots of people complainin’ that there is no work</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>I say, “Why you say that for</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>When nothin’ you got is U.S.–made?”</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>They don’t make nothin’ here no more</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>You know, capitalism is above the law</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>It say, “It don’t count ’less it sells”</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>When it costs too much to build it at home</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>You just build it cheaper someplace else</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, it’s sundown on the union</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And what’s made in the U.S.A.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Sure was a good idea</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
’<i>Til greed got in the way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, the job that you used to have</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>The unions are big business, friend</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And they’re goin’ out like a dinosaur</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>They used to grow food in Kansas</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Now they want to grow it on the moon and eat it raw</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>I can see the day coming when even your home garden</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Is gonna be against the law</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, it’s sundown on the union</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And what’s made in the U.S.A.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Sure was a good idea</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
’<i>Til greed got in the way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Democracy don’t rule the world</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>You’d better get that in your head</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>This world is ruled by violence</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>But I guess that’s better left unsaid</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>From Broadway to the Milky Way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>That’s a lot of territory indeed</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And a man’s gonna do what he has to do</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>When he’s got a hungry mouth to feed</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Well, it’s sundown on the union</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>And what’s made in the U.S.A.</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>Sure was a good idea</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
’<i>Til greed got in the way</i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/union-sundown#ixzz3iDbFXfij">Copyright © 1983 by Special Rider Music</a></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-56539381350358640532015-07-15T12:25:00.000+02:002015-07-15T12:25:04.463+02:00MELONS OR UNITY: THE CUBAN TRADE UNION MOVEMENT UNDER CASTRO<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJiO1HN-jUo_Z2JxWUFwdk6l4SIrxVVvP6nyLLR_BpDJ1tg5NSEmcWQMeG0E2mhLiFsZl7Idr4VWUgy7yI9j2WzUsyjivhv9EiBE5WUJt-XYunZ16eW_tnPFYq8yVRQXFTxYG0DNxt1YK6/s1600/havanaheader2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJiO1HN-jUo_Z2JxWUFwdk6l4SIrxVVvP6nyLLR_BpDJ1tg5NSEmcWQMeG0E2mhLiFsZl7Idr4VWUgy7yI9j2WzUsyjivhv9EiBE5WUJt-XYunZ16eW_tnPFYq8yVRQXFTxYG0DNxt1YK6/s640/havanaheader2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Header of the <a href="https://informatiecuba.wordpress.com/">Cuba Weblog</a></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>This
blog “Melons or Unity, the Cuban trade union movement under
Castro”, written by Kees van Kortenhof, has been published in the
digital newsletter <a href="http://www.vakbondshistorie.nl/over-de-vhv.html">“The memory of the trade union movement” </a>of
the “Friends of the History of the Trade Union Movement”, a
Dutch foundation that is dedicated to safeguard the history of the
trade union.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Kees
van Kortenhof is one of the founders of “Glasnost in Cuba”. The
Foundation is set up in 1989 after a visit to Cuba. The aim of
Glasnost in Cuba is to support the peaceful human rights movement in
Cuba. This year (2015), the Foundation exists 25 years. The
Foundation is completely independent, consists only of volunteers and
receives no subsidies. The foundation publishes the blog <a href="https://informatiecuba.wordpress.com/">“CUBA”</a>
with actual information on everything what happens on the island.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmvnmf9pSKoSgHrhsQYqVYaX8Ssub6GbkOqyk4irVmjZvFY4B88QhIKm9lEDs2-fPWbRLLRj3pEMvca-tagN1Z0oEnABfJOuqb3nKrcc5xCHDPM0Ur76F4ugLfQpceT6dr9RDt7XRA2L_/s1600/cienfuegos+schilder+nike+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmvnmf9pSKoSgHrhsQYqVYaX8Ssub6GbkOqyk4irVmjZvFY4B88QhIKm9lEDs2-fPWbRLLRj3pEMvca-tagN1Z0oEnABfJOuqb3nKrcc5xCHDPM0Ur76F4ugLfQpceT6dr9RDt7XRA2L_/s640/cienfuegos+schilder+nike+BLOG.jpg" width="622" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Painter in Cienfuegos, 2008 (Petrus)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">When
Fidel Castro came to power on January 1, 1959, half of the active
population in Cuba was a member of a union. The Central de
Trabajadores de Cuba CTC, counted 1.2 million members and 33 trade
federations. The confederation was pluralistic and had Catholic,
communist, socialist and anarchist members and trade unions. Through
the efforts of the CTC were already realized in 1959, the eight-hour
day, a minimum wage, the right to strike and employment protection .
In addition to the armed struggle of the Castro's in the mountains,
the urban resistance, together with the labor movement, was the core
of the resistance against dictator Batista.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In
January 1959, when rebel groups marched under the leadership of Fidel
Castro into Havana, all 33 national headquarters of the Cuban trade
union movement were occupied by the urban resistance and were
expelled the trade union leaders who had supported Batista. It was
time for new - free, democratic and secret - elections that were
organized throughout 1959 and that had to culminate in the first
revolutionary trade union congress to be held in November of that
year. On local level, the mostly anti-Communist Movement of the 26th
of July was opposed the supporters of communism. The Movement won
almost all local elections. The Communists paid electorally for their
reluctant support to the resistance. Had the party not undermined the
first armed action of Castro in 1953 with his attack on the Moncada
barracks as "adventurism of wealthy bourgeois sons?" Even
in the food and textile union federation, the Communists got little
support. Within the trade union for sugar cane workers only 15 of the
9,000 delegates sympathized with the Communist Party PSP.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71lrny_tY30VkDB0DwCcT2tfdWRtrE4tloleaaO5-NNKFVtnQOskn6U1u5JjBkrjOj3ASLPdBQ8HYZ_upWlkHYUy2lYKGEJUjL5OeX2Xc4uGHd7Q0PwEpJiTDTEq6A6T51EEPUaK8I9F8/s1600/cienfuegos+sapverkoopster+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71lrny_tY30VkDB0DwCcT2tfdWRtrE4tloleaaO5-NNKFVtnQOskn6U1u5JjBkrjOj3ASLPdBQ8HYZ_upWlkHYUy2lYKGEJUjL5OeX2Xc4uGHd7Q0PwEpJiTDTEq6A6T51EEPUaK8I9F8/s640/cienfuegos+sapverkoopster+BLOG.jpg" width="624" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Young Shopservant, Cienfuegos, 2008 (Petrus)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Unity</b></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On
18 November 1959, the CTC trade union confederation held its first
national congress. Of the 3,200 delegates 200 were communists. The
remaining 3,000 were part of the revolutionary 26th of July Movement.
It looked that the Communist Party PSP would play no longer a
significant role in the Cuban trade union movement. But Fidel Castro
decided otherwise. His aversion towards the Communists was changed
gradually into appreciation because of the support of the PSP.
Moreover, he could use very well the organizing and mobilizing
capacity of this party. He spoke 2 times during the trade union
congress. In his opening speech, Fidel emphasized the need of
“Unidad” (Unity) and said not to like an election circus. Quote:
"The only thing what is important here, is the unbreakable
solidarity with the Revolution. Is there one worker present here, who
does not agree with us? The revolution comes first. (…) Each
disunity within the trade union congress, will be a joy for our
enemies. (...) Attacks of the enemy, must be answered by discipline.
"</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNU1dW0Z9Hl0ICwCuFdjfXp4iikBWT4hhVGYYUljIs9O-xyacn1ACwexu205qSlPNp0NktOs9SpYH38giRlXXnrS98gNIQKtd2ug46JGvMtOJLUlETBcVzzQo04mGrazEG0KlWqEsSuP7/s1600/vinales+felix+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNU1dW0Z9Hl0ICwCuFdjfXp4iikBWT4hhVGYYUljIs9O-xyacn1ACwexu205qSlPNp0NktOs9SpYH38giRlXXnrS98gNIQKtd2ug46JGvMtOJLUlETBcVzzQo04mGrazEG0KlWqEsSuP7/s640/vinales+felix+BLOG.jpg" width="624" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Campesino, Vinales 2008 (Petrus)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Soldiers
on the trade union congress</b></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">But
the trade union representatives did not seem convinced. After all,
after years of dictatorship, they had come to talk and to debate
freely and to cast their votes in freedom. It appeared that of the 33
trade union federations at the congress 27 did not want communists in
the CTC Board. Uproar broke out among the 3,200 delegates. There was
a fight between the supporters of the Communist Party and the others.
"Unidad, unidad (unity)," shouted the first ones. 'Melones,
Melones (melons),' replied the members of the Movement of the 26th of
July. The Communists were compared with watermelons because on the
outside they are green (the color of the guerrilla uniform) and
inside they are red. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In
the early morning of 22 November, Fidel Castro returned in military
uniform at the trade union congress, accompanied by a group of armed
soldiers. "This is a shameless spectacle", he shouted, and
he added the names of three Communists to the list of 13 candidates
for the board of the CTC. Castro explained that this addition was
necessary for the sake of unity. In that period of the revolution
Cuban workers were fond of Fidel Castro and gave him what he asked,
but they made clear also to Che, Raúl and Fidel that they never
would give up their independent unions. The three additional
candidates were defeated in the first round. Then Fidel Castro
presented again a list but without the three defeated communists but
also without the name of Reinol González, who in 1959 was appointed
as international secretary of the CTC. He had led a general strike
against Batista and was anti-communist. He came from the Cuban
section of the Catholic Labor Youth (YCW). Against these superior
power the Congress capitulated. From then on for each function one
candidate was presented and the elections took place by raise of
hands. The socialist David Salvador became provisional president.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tuZ751JIazBicGavlMNs_XyCcCjJy4QSRlwvvAB8ZaHIzVKpjlmo7YuHZhEglZr9cmPe8ftCm7Y4PYbhSDqEOsQeIFNKN01zFesPtuJOJZq8bq_hK82c_7OkW7Sb3_5DpjIbDB7sN4FG/s1600/reinol+gonzalez+en+teresita+1981+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tuZ751JIazBicGavlMNs_XyCcCjJy4QSRlwvvAB8ZaHIzVKpjlmo7YuHZhEglZr9cmPe8ftCm7Y4PYbhSDqEOsQeIFNKN01zFesPtuJOJZq8bq_hK82c_7OkW7Sb3_5DpjIbDB7sN4FG/s640/reinol+gonzalez+en+teresita+1981+BLOG.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">In 1977 Reinol González visited with his wife Teresita the Netherlands. They were hosted by CLAT Netherlands. He talked about his Cuban experiences with the Dutch trade union confederations CNV (Christian) and FNV and also with Amnesty International. González was active in Cuba in the Juventud Obrera Catolica (JOC), the Cuban branch of the international young workers movement. (foto: Petrus)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Jail
and prison camps</b></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">David
Salvador resigned in May 1960 as protest against the takeover of the
union apparatus by the communists, . A few months later he was
arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Through mediation of
Gabriel Marquez, the Colombian writer and friend of Castro, David
Salvador was released from prison earlier and left Cuba . Reinol
González stayed for 17 years in prison. In 1977 he was released from
prison earlier also through the intervention of Gabriel Marquez. In
November 1960, the communist trade union bureaucrat Lazaro Peña, was
appointed as the new secretary general of the CTC. He was it before,
namely in 1939, when the Cuban communists worked together with
Batista. The dream of a free trade union movement in a revolutionary
Cuba had ended. Free trade union movement was not anymore necessary,
according to current President Raul Castro. In these early years of
the revolution he tried to convince the Cuban workers that the State
Government is the best trade union; workers do not need trade unions
as they have a government as friend, it is THEIR government that
protects them. "</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Kees
van Kortenhof</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Juli
2015</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-73181442307371524432015-07-08T10:00:00.000+02:002015-07-08T23:13:21.658+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 55<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How
were the formal decision procedures about the merger with the ICFTU
and what happened with the CNV proposal and other alternatives? The
first step in the formal debate was put at the 18th of March 2004
when the members of the European Section (an informal gathering of
European members, without structure and secretariat) exchanged views
on the relations with other international organizations. A final
decision would take place in October of the same year. (Activities
Report of the European Section, Doc 3, 12.10.2004)</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6x6GJ3eM13PRhfMEgXN0EpKaYwTUffLiG1VZplxANM6EMaf-DMG8sBEhSAG10hThQZIop8V1_9ckx3Np-8hQb829ld8lZyW65vxZlvPChL71GrJbYZf7ZTVuVKDiWbQG8Oz0qQ9WN62-/s1600/wva+verbondsbestuur+2000+jaap+wienen+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6x6GJ3eM13PRhfMEgXN0EpKaYwTUffLiG1VZplxANM6EMaf-DMG8sBEhSAG10hThQZIop8V1_9ckx3Np-8hQb829ld8lZyW65vxZlvPChL71GrJbYZf7ZTVuVKDiWbQG8Oz0qQ9WN62-/s400/wva+verbondsbestuur+2000+jaap+wienen+BLOG.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Jaap Wienen as president of the World Federation of Industrial Workers WFIW during the WCL Association Board in Washington in 2000. Jaap Wienen came from CNV Industrial Workers Trade Union of which he was treasurer. His election as Deputy General Secretary of the WCL was seen by CNV as strengthening the preservation of the WCL. He managed to maintain his function as Deputy General Secretary in the new organization ITUC.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">According
to the minutes it is Deputy Secretary General Jaap Wienen </span></span><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">(former
CNV trade union leader) </span></span><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">who
introduces the debate: </span></span><span lang="en-US"><i>“During
the ETUC Congress in 2003, ICFTU Secretary general Guy Rider made an
appeal to join forces in the trade union world. </i></span><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
difference with earlier approaches is that the aim of the talks would
be to build a new organisation </span></i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>(instead
of a merger of the WCL into the ICFTU). This appeal was discussed
during the WCL Confederal Board in Jakarta, where the political
secretariat was given a limited mandate to enter into talks with the
ICFTU so as to define the ideas of the ICFTU on a common worldwide
approach. On the basis of the dicussions which took place during two
meetings, Emlio Gabaglio (former Secretary General of the ETUC) wrote
a note which refelects his views on the possible directions of
further discussions between the ICFTU and the WCL. This note will be
discussed during the WCL Executive Board meeting of March 29 and 30.” </i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
opening of the debate is made by</span></span><span lang="en-US"><i>
</i></span><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">CNV
staff member Evert-Jan Slootweg who explains the position of CNV. “</span></span><span lang="en-US"><i>He
reads out the model for cooperation of CNV. The proposed model is
meant to be a plus for both existing secretariats (of WCL and
ICFTU).” </i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Luxembourg LCGB representative Leon
Drucker raises some questions about after the merger. “<i>What can
be said about the future possibilities of trade unions which share
our values? Will cooperation still be possible? Furthermore, how will
we explain a possible merger, as we have been stressing the
differences in values between the WCL and the ICFTU for years? What
will happen with regard to join projects on international level? What
will it take to sustain such development cooperation at global level?
How will we still be able to identify partners in Africa, Latin
America,.(...) As for the national pluralism, it is clearly stated
that the identity of the different trade unions should not be
questioned.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Jan Dereymaker of the ACV/CSC
international dept. explains the why and how of the merger. He gave 4
reasons for the merger:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">1. The appeal of Guy Rider,
President of the ICFTU.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">2. Some ACV/CSC branch
organizations are already affiliated to the ICFTU international
branch federations, Global Unions GUFs.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">3. The fact that ACV/CSC pays
almost 70% of the WCL budget is a weakness of the WCL.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>4. What structure is most
efficient for the protection for our members? </i>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Other important observations of him
are:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">- “The time that syndicalism was
linked to political parties belongs to the past.”</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">- “As pluralism is fundamental,
this should be a starting point. We should opt for a strong base, a
strong 'syndicalisme de base'. Syndicalism should be based on
democratic values, and it should be internationalized.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">- “A new structure, well
balanced from ideological and structural point of view, pluralistic
on national level and perhaps on continental level, could be a
possible orientation. (…) A foundation may be a good idea to
safeguard our identity, but this remains an open question.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Andrej Adamcsik (Solidarnosc, Poland)
agrees with the analysis presented by Jan Dereymaeker. He is positive
<i>“but admits that he finds himself a bit surprised by the quick
progress in the talks with ICFTU.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pavel
Moutafchiev (Promyana, Bulgaria) believes the merger is necessary
because of the globalization. He hopes that the merger will stop the
problems with the ICFTU affiliates in his country.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Joseph
Thouvenel (CFTC France) is of the opinion that the mandate given in
Jakarta has been exceeded. </span></span><span lang="en-US"><i>“There
should be a balance between material and spiritual dimensions, and
these same basic values will not be found within the </i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>I</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>CFTU.
Furthermore, two voices are better heard than one single voice.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bogdan Hossu (Cartel alfa, Rumania)
does not agree with Joseph Thouvenel. He proposes a more “flexible
mandate” for the Executive Committee and the composition of a work
group.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqNXiUny1MoUeAwx611xLOD9X_vQdIgc_FccUcPpPNp-b1RyVVwwtk6NdPDI4mDiIhYt2hZYrqCYd_C36B2Gq8312qR80oScfl6Rs1Zg5SOHJr9gRgPNqQJc4Ej-u5Y53wUOuDvsePN1K/s1600/Gaston+De+Lahaye.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqNXiUny1MoUeAwx611xLOD9X_vQdIgc_FccUcPpPNp-b1RyVVwwtk6NdPDI4mDiIhYt2hZYrqCYd_C36B2Gq8312qR80oScfl6Rs1Zg5SOHJr9gRgPNqQJc4Ej-u5Y53wUOuDvsePN1K/s400/Gaston+De+Lahaye.jpg" width="351" /></a></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">WCT Secretary general Gaston De
Lahaye clarifies the position of the World Confederation of Teachers
<i>“To the WCT, an important issue was the discussion on the
values. As the essence of these values, the identity of the WCT, is
reflected in the declaration of principles, this was presented to the
colle</i><i>a</i><i>gues of Education International, who did not have
any problems with it. A jo</i><i>i</i><i>nt declaration of principles
will be drafted, taking into account the identity of the WCT.
Pluralism on the national level has been well defined. National
agreements can be a side effect of the cooperation, but it does not
necessarily have to be so.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVjxcyYtAm1EtAKQ8v4guargmxPh1T4TekNiUzJhUlp5pW7JjSkMD1Y-1p5tVCidIFfA0GFFquzc8dbB6vGkft85hnLQvoeEHgs-qOrJx97e93zLZIdEk2lPFYg9mF70fxS6anDCfT68h/s1600/bart+bruggeman+als+voorzitter+CLAT+Nederland+1998+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVjxcyYtAm1EtAKQ8v4guargmxPh1T4TekNiUzJhUlp5pW7JjSkMD1Y-1p5tVCidIFfA0GFFquzc8dbB6vGkft85hnLQvoeEHgs-qOrJx97e93zLZIdEk2lPFYg9mF70fxS6anDCfT68h/s640/bart+bruggeman+als+voorzitter+CLAT+Nederland+1998+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Bart Bruggeman speaking as President of the Dutch solidarity organization CLAT-Netherlands in 1998. Bart Bruggeman became president of the WFIW after the election of Jaap Wienen to WCL Deputy Secretary General. </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Bart
Bruggeman (CNV)</span><i> “supports the viewpoint of his French
colle</i><i>a</i><i>gue. There would have been protest during the
Confederal Board had Willy Thys indicated that Emilio Gabaglio was
going to present the note.” </i><span style="font-style: normal;">He
wonders if there will be organized tendencies or not in the new
organi</span><span style="font-style: normal;">z</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ation?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Andrey
Adamczyk answers that it was agreed in Jakarta that ICFTU and WCL
will express their specific values. </span><i>“A foundation was
also mentioned at that occasion.” </i><span style="font-style: normal;">He
defended the note of Gabaglio as</span><i> “just an element in the
debate”.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_w949lTMSIPhrrXndelUt6l5BeE5R1kptXp9a_zTL4e20TE9nUHcr4NeYCVdfGPwPCEjDqVUUM-TzUq7qnuhi6EWDGLHDzbxCnV91x6WmDtcJMDIg8MGpGADbmQ7gw1EpxCLNl5sVTRt/s1600/ACV_thema_voorzitters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_w949lTMSIPhrrXndelUt6l5BeE5R1kptXp9a_zTL4e20TE9nUHcr4NeYCVdfGPwPCEjDqVUUM-TzUq7qnuhi6EWDGLHDzbxCnV91x6WmDtcJMDIg8MGpGADbmQ7gw1EpxCLNl5sVTRt/s640/ACV_thema_voorzitters.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">It was under the guidance of the ACV/CSC Presidents Willy Peirens and Luc Cortebeeck that the WCL became a cofounder of the ITUC and the WCL disappeared from the international trade union </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>history.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After some
debate on the role of the Gabaglio note and the status of WCL as a
Christian organization, ACV President Luc Cortebeeck, also President
of the European Section, summarizes the discussion saying that not
everyone agreed on everything and that there is no agreement on the
Gabaglio note. He concludes that there is de CNV proposal in which
the WCL continues to exist as a separate organization but cooperates
with the ICFTU. Others wonder why the ETUC model is not possible on
international level. Another important question is how to preserve a
certain identity and how the cooperation will be organized in the new
organization?</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">So it was decided that at the
European Section of October 2004 a formal decision will be taken on
how to proceed with the merger. The next step would be a formal
decision taken by the Confederal Board, and after that a World
Congress to ratify the decision taken (November 2005 in Houffalize,
Belgium). For decision taking at the European Section, the Executive
Committee presented at the October meeting 2004 the document
“Recommendation by the Executive Committee to the Confederal Board“
with an introduction and annexes:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Annex I. “Proposal of a decision
to be submitted to the Confederal Board”. </i>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">A<i>nnex II. “Elements that have
emanated from the informal dialogue </i>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-size: large;">1.
Outline of a new international trade union confederation.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Annex III. “Elements that have
emanated from the informal dialogue</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">2. First draft of the basic
principles for a new international trade union confederation.</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vEjqP2NScmuZCorH_-XI8mquBxue1RuUktLWGFVPyjtIh_HMXteId81lLPp5yijpVV6kVgAO172AvAb9ia_Xz6s6FnX9VoxIvURJniBqrAT2lJqdUCRTVvk7fAFP9bzKGDi1ZsYmUOjb/s1600/cnv+proposal+cooperation+international+trade+union+organisations+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vEjqP2NScmuZCorH_-XI8mquBxue1RuUktLWGFVPyjtIh_HMXteId81lLPp5yijpVV6kVgAO172AvAb9ia_Xz6s6FnX9VoxIvURJniBqrAT2lJqdUCRTVvk7fAFP9bzKGDi1ZsYmUOjb/s640/cnv+proposal+cooperation+international+trade+union+organisations+BLOG.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The CNV proposal was only worked out for Europe. The proposal had not a chance. It was presented to late and without to few convincing power.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Al
these papers have already been </span><span style="font-style: normal;">spoken
of</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> in foregoing blogs. What
remains is “</span><i>Annex IV. Alternative CNV proposal.” </i>
In a note attached to the annex, CNV President Doekle Terpstra writes
that <i>“a CNV working group has been discussing the future of the
WCL and possible more intense co-operation between the WCL and the
ICFTU for the last month. The working group has presented a proposal
to the Executive Board of the CNV, which has been approved
unanimously on the 15th of March 2004.” </i>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmfivM27lLO3IcIgiMI8KWnB6aJCwJuCwvcVd5SoO8MJdTW4fwA8XFI5ILoVZyswZ_euvglbK0e-diBEYZyBLHmjtAKt5sAWVN5fK8Bm0g1-p2Ym50-RU8aXRJUeyj_9Gst5mwnuVgOo7/s1600/wva+bestuursraad+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+Jan+lanser+en+arie+hordijk+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmfivM27lLO3IcIgiMI8KWnB6aJCwJuCwvcVd5SoO8MJdTW4fwA8XFI5ILoVZyswZ_euvglbK0e-diBEYZyBLHmjtAKt5sAWVN5fK8Bm0g1-p2Ym50-RU8aXRJUeyj_9Gst5mwnuVgOo7/s640/wva+bestuursraad+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+Jan+lanser+en+arie+hordijk+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">CNV was one of the founders of WCL and had a long tradition of supporting WCL. Here we see on the first row, third from left Arie Hordijk, who dedicated a lot of his time as Secretary General of CNV to the WCL. At the end of his CNV career he became President of EZA (European centre for Workers)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Instead of a merger, the CNV had worked out the idea of closer cooperation between the two
international organizations by introducing a so-called “World Level
Secretariat”. This secretariat had to coordinate the common
activities of WCL, ICFTU, the International Trade Federations of both
sides and TUAC. Meanwhile, both WCL and ICFTU would maintain their own
secretariats, as well as the other organizations involved. The reason
for this more elaborated model for cooperation was that CNV wanted to
maintain by all means the WCL as an independent, autonomous world
organization for the sake of international trade union pluralism and
identity bound trade unionism.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">But unfortunately we must conclude
that the CNV proposal had no real chance. ACV/CSC had prepared
already for a long time the merger with ICFTU. It was just waiting
for the right moment and the right ICFTU leadership. It seemed that
the CNV leadership was overtaken by the events. The presentation of
the proposal itself was somewhat amateurish, clumsy and naive. Even
at the meetings itself, none of the CNV confederal leadership was
present. Also unconvincing was the lack of any kind of financial
outline for the proposal.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Such a financial outline could have
given rise to a thorough discussion on the financial priorities of
the WCL. During many years before, there have been lengthy debates on
the affiliation fees but without result. In particular the continents
tried to escape time after time from an increase of contributions. It
seemed that they saw the WCL mainly as a one-direction road for
international solidarity. The other side of the problem, that is to
bring political priorities in accordance with financial
possibilities, was never well debated. This should have been an
important task set for the treasurer and the financial commission of
the WCL. One of the reasons this debate was never really implemented,
because ACV / CSC was always ready in one way or another to absorb
the budget deficits. Therefore ACV / CSC had become far away the
biggest sponsor of WCL This was apparently taken for granted by the
other members.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2t52nuaF4VseHI87tGuALgazHOVMK7U20-VU02-HWsPIGr3ajA5mbi0r_QsENJkI8Bmi_wzROsyUfsrvRkHXZ2oXB9f3iggRShU42gxLP169cKEDTgxyuQ_5GlJ4VzQDpSNXZKj19R3mM/s1600/paraguay+1992+terpstra+van+de+jagt+hanko+en+pedro+parra+rol+327+1992+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2t52nuaF4VseHI87tGuALgazHOVMK7U20-VU02-HWsPIGr3ajA5mbi0r_QsENJkI8Bmi_wzROsyUfsrvRkHXZ2oXB9f3iggRShU42gxLP169cKEDTgxyuQ_5GlJ4VzQDpSNXZKj19R3mM/s640/paraguay+1992+terpstra+van+de+jagt+hanko+en+pedro+parra+rol+327+1992+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">In 1992 a delegation of the CNV Trade Union for Industrial Workers visited Paraguay and Brazil. From left to right: Doekle Terpstra, Wim van der Jagt( treasurer), Pedro Parra and Frits Hanko (persident). Shortly after this trip Doekle Terpstra became president of the trade union. From 1999 until 2005 he was President of the CNV Confederation. Under his presidency CNV could not prevent the WCL was merged with the ICFTU into the ITUC.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Such a debate would also have made
clear that the merger proposal was related to the fact that also
ICFTU and its International Trade Secretariats were in need of money
because of losing members. Such a debate was and is avoided in all
trade unions world wide but this is what happens. Trade Unions
worldwide are losing members and therefore money and this makes it
more difficult to maintain heavy bureaucratic structures and costly
international formal and informal meetings. During the merger talks
this point came up but only as a formal point not as as a real point
of debate. Talks were all about unity because of globalization and
the ongoing neoliberal policies worldwide.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another alternative would have been
to agree with the merger under the condition that former WCL members
within the new international organization could make their own
groupe, fraction, platform or tendency. This model exists for
example in the Austrian trade union confederation ÖGB with the
formal groupings of socialist, christian and communist members. It
is not an easy model to handle because it requires a fundamental
democratic attitude and respect towards minorities. But such a model
would have been a very good example of democracy on international
level.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">But </span><span lang="en-US">the
WCL leadership talked </span><span lang="en-US">only vaguely </span><span lang="en-US">about
“identity guarantees” in the new organization: “</span><span lang="en-US"><i>The
setting up of an appropriate instrument, internal to the new
confederation open to all must make it possible to preserve the
heritage of the WCL” </i></span><span lang="en-US">(introduction to
the “Recommendation by the Executive Committee to the Confederal
Board) In annex II we read the following about this question: “</span><span lang="en-US"><i>The
WCL is however the heir of an historical component of the trade union
movement rooted into spiritual values and vision. To recognize this
unique reality and to preserve its influence a Foundation could be
created, within the organization, and whose cultural and education
activities could be benefitting to all interested partners.”</i></span><span lang="en-US">
As in previous debates those proposals were unclear and vague and as
a result they disappeared from the merger- agenda.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">The result of the inadequate
presentation of alternatives was that the debate was ultimately
limited to the question "for or against the merger." Polish
Solidarnosc was for the merger talks. The Luxembourg LCGB rejected
the CNV proposal and supported the merger. The Maltese CMTU supported
the CNV proposal. The Spanish USO supported the merger proposal. The
French CFTC supported the CNV proposal because of the importance of
the spiritual dimensions in trade union action. NKOS (Slovakia)
supported the CNV proposal. The Hungarian Munkastanscok explained
that their affiliation to WCL was a well conscious choice because
they did not want to sit together with ex-communist organizations
even not after the more than ten years. In their view the ex
communist trade unions want to maintain their monopoly. The
Lithuanian confederation LDF spoke more or less the same words. Bask
ELA/STV supported the merger like the Rumanian Cartel alfa
confederation. ACV/CSC of course supported the merger. Serbian CATUS
supports the merger as an answer to the globalization. Others
(Bulgaria and Cyprus) express their doubts regarding the merger but
recognize the presented documents as very valuable. The Austrian FCG
has its doubts. The Ukranian VOST expressed strong doubts about the
merger.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">President Luc Cortebeeck summarized
the problems and concluded that a majority of the members wanted to
continue the negotiations of WCL with the ICFTU. From then on the
train was on the rails and nobody could stop him anymore. Alea iacte
est.</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-89940998061305640742015-06-10T10:50:00.000+02:002015-06-10T10:50:38.236+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 54<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-XDpfUDE0iWWeDyqQji-apyjG8fakMoMk7lXAKG9MFyeNNeW9D39tI1hxgyz2iTfVwSEO9j6a9zsxJI7yvJLyTR9Pb7k2tyANrUE3KpO864CSc71J8i9mLMz1-QZSJQPcN2PqykLZn0H/s1600/gabaglio+ituc+oprichtings+congres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-XDpfUDE0iWWeDyqQji-apyjG8fakMoMk7lXAKG9MFyeNNeW9D39tI1hxgyz2iTfVwSEO9j6a9zsxJI7yvJLyTR9Pb7k2tyANrUE3KpO864CSc71J8i9mLMz1-QZSJQPcN2PqykLZn0H/s640/gabaglio+ituc+oprichtings+congres.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Emilio Gabaglio, as one of the architects of the ITUC because of his role as </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">a mediator </span></i><i><span style="font-size: small;">between WCL and the ICFTU and promotor of unity,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">was one of the very important speakers <br />at the ITUC founding congress in Vienna 2006.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Because of the
lack of coordination between the WCL Secretariat and the
International Trade Federations, 4 of them ( WFCW, INFEDOP, FIOST and
IFTC) decided to write <a href="http://www.eurofedop.org/infedop/fs.html">“an open letter”</a>(July 2005)
(also in Germen, Dutch, Spanish and French) to the WCL, as to put
pressure on the Secretariat, to negotiate with more conviction and
firmness about the position of the ITF's. They prepared also a
<a href="http://www.eurofedop.org/infedop/fs.html">“Declaration of WCL Trade Action”</a>
(also in 5 languages) to be presented during the WCL Congress in
November 2005 in Belgium.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8Aj0An0U_7G0OkRzusYqPfQXCLR0AZ1o0LZsoDEZZCxu7rTPdSQUA1_GjLa8iqcjlhKHjSjgzWKWvRMkti2_BTrkaq27UV2n0INeIH6cO_8h5DqY5wodAuat2DURSs_iLEjbEMHGsZtB/s1600/fritz+neugebauer+congres+2007+Eurofedop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8Aj0An0U_7G0OkRzusYqPfQXCLR0AZ1o0LZsoDEZZCxu7rTPdSQUA1_GjLa8iqcjlhKHjSjgzWKWvRMkti2_BTrkaq27UV2n0INeIH6cO_8h5DqY5wodAuat2DURSs_iLEjbEMHGsZtB/s640/fritz+neugebauer+congres+2007+Eurofedop.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> President Fritz Neugebauer (Austria) signed on behalf of INFEDOP/EUROFEDOP</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>both the letter and the resolution. INFEDOP./EUROFEDOP is one of the </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>two former WCL International Trade Federations that dit not merge with the </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>ICFTU oriented International Trade Secretariat PSI.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Millions of
workers will get homeless at trade union level</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="western">
<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The two large
world trade unions (World Confederation of Labour and International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions) have been discussing for months
the creation of a new World Organisation. Their intention is inspired
by the fact that, in a world that is globalising more and more,
workers need a world organisation that can act as a counterforce and
can aim for the realisation of a world society in which there is more
justice and more solidarity. In this way, the WCL and ICFTU also want
to improve the representativeness of the trade union movement
worldwide by organising a maximum number of trade union members
worldwide.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Until
recently, all organisations affiliated to the WCL started from the
conviction that trade union pluralism, effectively realised through
the operation of at least two world organisations, was the best
guarantee to achieve this objective. It was only at the Confederal
Board in Casablanca in October 2004 that it was decided to start
discussions with the ICFTU, and this on the basis of a number of
conditions that had to ensure that the historic values of the WCL
would be preserved, respect would be shown for the WCL and its
affiliated members and the principle of pluralism would be
effectively subscribed to on the ground.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>In this
context, the confederal board adhered jointly and unanimously to two
conditions that were of particular importance for the WCL’s Trade
Action : “A dynamic and structural anchored cooperation has to be
established between trade action and inter-trade action. A
coordination of trade action beside the inter-trade organisation is
considered counterproductive.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>This condition
was decided by the Confederal Board, because it was the explicit wish
of the latter that an operational link would be maintained between
the trade union leadership and the action in the sectors and
companies, because a world organisation without members who would be
able to strengthen the proposed objectives with their support on the
ground, misses the capacity to react quickly and effectively, which
is the essence of the trade union movement.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>According to
the reports that have been meanwhile submitted on the course of the
negotiations, no progress whatsoever has been made in this respect.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The idea of a
“GUFs Council” is also considered insufficient in this respect,
the more so because internal documents have shown that the ICFTU and
WCL would have agreed that for each sectoral working field only one
professional organisation would be active, and that would be an
organisation of the ICFTU family.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">All WCL and
ICFTU members have the right to become member of the new
organisation.”</span></span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>This condition
was drawn up as a safety net for national and trade organisations
that, because of national and professional characteristics, would
fall between two chairs.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Apparently,
the negotiators reached an agreement about the national
organisations, but, as regards the trade organisations, they opted
for “one sector one union”, the classical ICFTU option.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>You understand
that, in this context, the signing organisations (FOUR international
organisations out of the eight that are full members of the WCL)
cannot agree with this state of affairs.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Millions of
workers affiliated to the WCL risk to become thus left without trade
union home in the world. The signing organisations have consequently
decided to do their utmost to support the attitude they will adopt in
this respect. It should be clear that this will show in the first
place through their voting attitude at the WCL Congress, where they
will demand that all conditions decided by the confederal board in
Casablanca should be fulfilled.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Moreover, they
are considering the possibility of taking necessary action in the
margin of the WCL Congress, with a view to informing public opinion
of the consequences unification will have for the representativeness
of trade unionism at world level. It should be clear that, if the
essential conditions for the trade action are not fulfilled, the
organisations will no longer consider themselves bound by the other
points submitted.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>In the
meantime, the signing organisations are working at the development of
alternatives to continue their involvement in the interests of their
members with firm determination, especially if no further progress is
made in the negotiations.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Signed by
Michel Bovy, President FIOST (Transport), Roel Rotshuizen WFCW
(Employees), Dirk Uyttenhove IFTC (Textile) and Fritz Neugebauer
INFEDOP (public services employees).</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdaSWHUvn8g_iGnCUNMWUyTcwAn4S-3He93tLyr0g3OBGna2bI1hfQ42qZ2H4oaqooLQE5mg9pF2vt_24Y6j4EG8-jaUh7mc_RKlKzt_EMvUM1knh-Lo76fhM21B-r6DpaHk0jPomMuMY/s1600/Roel+spreekt+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdaSWHUvn8g_iGnCUNMWUyTcwAn4S-3He93tLyr0g3OBGna2bI1hfQ42qZ2H4oaqooLQE5mg9pF2vt_24Y6j4EG8-jaUh7mc_RKlKzt_EMvUM1knh-Lo76fhM21B-r6DpaHk0jPomMuMY/s640/Roel+spreekt+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">At the WCL dissolution congress in Vienna 2006, President Roel Rotshuizen <br />rejected the merger between WCL and ICFTU on behalf of the former World federation <br />of Clerical Workers. The WFCW decided to continue as an </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">independent International Trade Union Federation with the new name </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">World Organization of Workers WOW.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The following
Resolution for Orientation, with insertion of the position of the
WCL’s Trade Action, was approved by the WCL Congress, with 169
votes in favour, 18 against and 10 abstentions. Herewith the road is
open to the creation of a new world confederation.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The
International Trade Federations of WCL respect the decision of the
Confederal Board of Casablanca, take note of the present state of
affairs in the negotiations between WCL and ICFTU and observe the
following:</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>- The
structures of WCL and ICFTU differ with regard to the position of
Trade Action.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>- The draft
Constitution of the new world organisation confirms the importance of
the greatest possible degree of cohesion and effectiveness within the
international trade union movement and the fact that this has
resulted in the intention to establish a structural partnership with
the international industry federations, the forms and operating
methods of which shall be determined in agreement with them.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
International Trade Federations of WCL welcome the fact that the
importance of the greatest possible degree of cohesion between the
inter-trade and the trade level of trade union functioning is
confirmed and wish to be closely involved in the further concretion
of this cohesion, both at the world and at the regional level. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">All the
International Trade Federations of WCL state their will to consult
with the Global Union Federations on forms of cooperation.</span></span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The
International Trade Federations of WCL note that in the meantime
consultations between them and the Global Union Federations have
started in a large number of sectors.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>These
consultations are taking place on the basis of the autonomous powers
of the organisations involved, just like also decisions on
cooperation, in whatever form, shall be made on the basis of
autonomy.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>For the
International Trade Federations of WCL it is an established fact that
consultations between them and the Global Union Federations shall be
based on mutual respect for the organisations involved and for their
affiliates.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>We note that
in the meantime Global Union Federations and the International Trade
Federations of WCL from a number of sectors have concluded agreements
that will or can lead to a unification of global as well as of
regional structures.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>In other
sectors, however, it must be pointed out that there is an
insufficient basis for constructive consultations and that the
structural difficulties or the conditional ties beyond the
possibilities of the organisations and, very often, a lack of respect
for the International Trade Federations of WCL concerned, and their
affiliates impedes further overtures.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>This can
result in serious obstacles to the effective realisation of the
intended structural partnership between the inter-trade and the trade
level of the world trade union movement.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">WCL can and
will indeed not accept that parts of WCL are excluded as a
consequence of changing structures. </span>
</span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>So, a
transitional period, and appropriate transitional measures, will be
necessary to give the International Trade Federations of WCL and the
Global Union Federations from all the sectors in which this is not or
insufficiently the case the opportunity to proceed, with due respect
for each other’s structure and members, to constructive
consultations on forms of cooperation of their choice, taking into
account the global process.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The
International Trade Federations of WCL state their will to have these
consultations and call on the Global Union Federations to give
content to this, jointly with them.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The WCTA calls
unanimously upon the Global Unions Federations to deepen the
initiated dialogue with the respective International Trade
Federations and to start a constructive dialogue with the
organisations that are not yet committed and to promote this dialogue
on the basis of respect of the organisations, their history, their
principles and values, their criteria for political action. The joint
International Trade Federations of WCL will periodically evaluate the
progress and report on it to the Confederal Board.</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Congress
is invited to endorse the above-mention position.</i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The resolution
was signed by Timothée Boko, FEMTAA (Food & Agriculture), Fritz
Neugebauer, INFEDOP (Public Services Employees), Dirk Uyttenhove,
IFTC (Textile & Clothing), Roel Rotshuizen, WFCW (Employees),
Claudio Corries, WCT (Teachers), Michel Bovy, FIOST (Transport),
Stefaan Vanthourenhout, FMTCM (Building & Wood), Bart Bruggeman,
WFIW (Industrial Workers), Carlos Gaitán, Acción Profesional CLAT
(Latin America), Ernesto Verceles,Acción Profesional BATU (Asia),
Chrysanthe Koffi Zounnadjala, Acción Profesional ODSTA (Africa),
Kalina Grzelak, Women</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-30253135909911293322015-06-05T11:37:00.000+02:002015-06-05T12:06:49.561+02:00ILO ONFERENCE 2015: a photographic impression<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrQ6Dpe5clG4NgCXInduRy0i-4q3JpkOdO76ZgtVnDGHrmCCTZnY2F90EXG28TnfWBQKvvo0Q13LXrqD7cttifTraul0qpMIefGpukyJxGgI-au_Revo014FJc21VAwlThQc5-zQMZsXJ/s1600/1.ILO+conference+brings+a+lot+of+paperwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrQ6Dpe5clG4NgCXInduRy0i-4q3JpkOdO76ZgtVnDGHrmCCTZnY2F90EXG28TnfWBQKvvo0Q13LXrqD7cttifTraul0qpMIefGpukyJxGgI-au_Revo014FJc21VAwlThQc5-zQMZsXJ/s640/1.ILO+conference+brings+a+lot+of+paperwork.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The ILO Conference is still a lot of paperwork. Participants use every corner to store their papers for the day. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Do5oRevlJOErekYj15m8gdCttlMAoPmnyh3lnSMWovB9XL3h6H1cqpsrTkKjD08bNLVGsTkK-PQ1tWW32epfx3BX9prAEu6e8mmV0mckINFZYol8sEGyK4EM-2qj_j9P7ZhG0yPaijry/s1600/2.ILO+conference+signaturaes+against+modern+slavery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Do5oRevlJOErekYj15m8gdCttlMAoPmnyh3lnSMWovB9XL3h6H1cqpsrTkKjD08bNLVGsTkK-PQ1tWW32epfx3BX9prAEu6e8mmV0mckINFZYol8sEGyK4EM-2qj_j9P7ZhG0yPaijry/s640/2.ILO+conference+signaturaes+against+modern+slavery.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">This friendly Canadian woman collects signatures against all modern forms of slavery. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3eU1C2EHtdepPG5n2xOxMgOF5NoPO-VSkEdj0HCRxokG-399TTu8VYnzVEDUeKnRrfd9b5v3fsl_cDQGw5X-F6S-NTg3Ei1QxzRhqsT-NuJm1IRYbkPuswR9I4iGwgICt027JyJZJ4zn/s1600/3.ILO+conference+ilo+message+in+words+and+beeld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3eU1C2EHtdepPG5n2xOxMgOF5NoPO-VSkEdj0HCRxokG-399TTu8VYnzVEDUeKnRrfd9b5v3fsl_cDQGw5X-F6S-NTg3Ei1QxzRhqsT-NuJm1IRYbkPuswR9I4iGwgICt027JyJZJ4zn/s640/3.ILO+conference+ilo+message+in+words+and+beeld.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The ILO message in words and pictures. Words from all around the world and an universal image as developed by Picasso. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTfNVp9co4I25IkI1vIJAxoOiwM1xG2XFVQK7M4jszJAHjM78Oql9cS0Pgt-Z3Q_d7tv2j_Hl_2SsH_p7yhpLMsw4imGtNjfWaM22AIm-roqzJDxxwdKv2D8bVOfkShTLuJ8H82sbvkJC/s1600/4.ILO+conference+decent+empoyment+for+youth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTfNVp9co4I25IkI1vIJAxoOiwM1xG2XFVQK7M4jszJAHjM78Oql9cS0Pgt-Z3Q_d7tv2j_Hl_2SsH_p7yhpLMsw4imGtNjfWaM22AIm-roqzJDxxwdKv2D8bVOfkShTLuJ8H82sbvkJC/s640/4.ILO+conference+decent+empoyment+for+youth.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Another important and strong ILO message: decent work for youth. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvVqol1XXo8EE3AlVwx8nenVoTMlEQVFv0xpvKn71G0r14jZMapyM3ZBUH5unfFblF2CyTkMTH7C_CpecFdCnXws5XPdp8tUMnpp34xuWou3sc5lRIPnnKROS-zuuMe-BHUGDn_vIIat5/s1600/5.ILO+conference+she+watches+te+door+to+the+meeting+only+authorized+persons+allowed..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvVqol1XXo8EE3AlVwx8nenVoTMlEQVFv0xpvKn71G0r14jZMapyM3ZBUH5unfFblF2CyTkMTH7C_CpecFdCnXws5XPdp8tUMnpp34xuWou3sc5lRIPnnKROS-zuuMe-BHUGDn_vIIat5/s640/5.ILO+conference+she+watches+te+door+to+the+meeting+only+authorized+persons+allowed..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">This young and nice woman takes care that only authorized persons enter the conference room. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYlrg2K5ijDbOrAVYIyRYl_50_znsUyMJ5iCd-XTUAoaQo4CAo2dIPqavcdZQ9Hjkw_drVoazs1RFRFjVlRTi2FHzkN_XkeIg__zJ8DgoCVeylp0e7hL6SDibcb1I_Dcx4jcQWW-s2t1Z/s1600/6.ILO+conference+it+is+a+labyritnh+of+rooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYlrg2K5ijDbOrAVYIyRYl_50_znsUyMJ5iCd-XTUAoaQo4CAo2dIPqavcdZQ9Hjkw_drVoazs1RFRFjVlRTi2FHzkN_XkeIg__zJ8DgoCVeylp0e7hL6SDibcb1I_Dcx4jcQWW-s2t1Z/s640/6.ILO+conference+it+is+a+labyritnh+of+rooms.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Palais des Nations with all the conference rooms sometimes resembles a labyrinth. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpMuexdv3pKNwhEX1GTKvJMYKf2FKuW7Hr-Gc7wWkXte90_6zhHVea0JudqYZLJEHw848YgH1mR-_m4knReIK_By9b5z07MUn46MR0DCp9i4Cw87IdbL252OPHyJKa1GuOIV5SCHDy3p6/s1600/7.ILO+Confrence+room+without+windows+witgh+lost+of+persons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpMuexdv3pKNwhEX1GTKvJMYKf2FKuW7Hr-Gc7wWkXte90_6zhHVea0JudqYZLJEHw848YgH1mR-_m4knReIK_By9b5z07MUn46MR0DCp9i4Cw87IdbL252OPHyJKa1GuOIV5SCHDy3p6/s640/7.ILO+Confrence+room+without+windows+witgh+lost+of+persons.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Every day for 10 days hundreds of persons -workers, employers and government representatives - gather in the windowless conference rooms (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WBm3FCs0ZZxtUA-ypIAffvkxZZrh5jHzMI-pHQ-B1v33azPJkUL4J54EGq0JzRBr84Hq_c92g2tnS6hAEPbmvrD4A3aaqQ5jJ3o6MLfVV_i8motBXDNPyxnqGvRt2uaWvYI8e8zXf_U1/s1600/8.ILO+Geneva+is+a+city+of+rich+people+also.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WBm3FCs0ZZxtUA-ypIAffvkxZZrh5jHzMI-pHQ-B1v33azPJkUL4J54EGq0JzRBr84Hq_c92g2tnS6hAEPbmvrD4A3aaqQ5jJ3o6MLfVV_i8motBXDNPyxnqGvRt2uaWvYI8e8zXf_U1/s640/8.ILO+Geneva+is+a+city+of+rich+people+also.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Geneva is also a city for very rich people. (Geneva Center)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCUxzSvoh0n83cJ6uPJGS4EhWymax_xHXmurIPA3NDpJ3lsNUwvSbsmboPMTFIYxBI-6z5CiMtoVqx6oRrOSA5kxWGDKCqjU5YUayGZvBMAF7vD5zzz8EYsOE2JF3948OTzV1jCF3h_OK/s1600/9.+ILO+conference+the+workers+take+the+bus+everyu+morning+and+evening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCUxzSvoh0n83cJ6uPJGS4EhWymax_xHXmurIPA3NDpJ3lsNUwvSbsmboPMTFIYxBI-6z5CiMtoVqx6oRrOSA5kxWGDKCqjU5YUayGZvBMAF7vD5zzz8EYsOE2JF3948OTzV1jCF3h_OK/s640/9.+ILO+conference+the+workers+take+the+bus+everyu+morning+and+evening.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Workers use every morning and evening public transport to get to the conference in the Palais des Nations or the ILO building. (</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fernay-Voltaire, France)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfQP45lRbk53pWHjDnwMxuK90K8AVW0vCM8ydGCFjZlcM-pvJ_8XKpv53rbcs6mOllBvms93TW-QrXlwm54Cesuxl39EWQawu1c_1ysxXDFp7ICK45pL9LWVriM6xftIlXnIe5-zbGsBF/s1600/10.ILO+confernece+Volle+bus+elke+ochtend+elke+avond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfQP45lRbk53pWHjDnwMxuK90K8AVW0vCM8ydGCFjZlcM-pvJ_8XKpv53rbcs6mOllBvms93TW-QrXlwm54Cesuxl39EWQawu1c_1ysxXDFp7ICK45pL9LWVriM6xftIlXnIe5-zbGsBF/s640/10.ILO+confernece+Volle+bus+elke+ochtend+elke+avond.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Full bus in the morning between the French border and the ILO building.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4Uz4Siy3s91V0-EVutBv6MEvFIKpt4JIhwo_PdS1jCXhhAHt8_grc0d2IUaizoAIkA7vMGw2WncqE2si3oNRDXPrEf3vBXcE-N7TOQFdyAEj-EGaErBB4pZJ2DQ_904si6EvWOiPpiV/s1600/11.ILO+conference+gallery+of+former+directors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4Uz4Siy3s91V0-EVutBv6MEvFIKpt4JIhwo_PdS1jCXhhAHt8_grc0d2IUaizoAIkA7vMGw2WncqE2si3oNRDXPrEf3vBXcE-N7TOQFdyAEj-EGaErBB4pZJ2DQ_904si6EvWOiPpiV/s640/11.ILO+conference+gallery+of+former+directors.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Gallery of former ILO Director Generals who helped to build the institution to what it is today: the only tripartite UN agency that takes care of the Social Dialogue between workers, employers and governments worldwide. (ILO Building, Geneva)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk70pg83WMIBvzfltP7_jSfCf-2K8WHsnRezO6sUht2DfJeYuz6t_8Fa7MEfqcudEs4C_7m4zKl1tXtkioWRmvP789OTFoVhEQ-KK-9JlFAjQSKWTQ5JEK4v6EdctZfWibMpOZoiNdpNl/s1600/12.ILO+conference+a+lot+of+reading%252C+thinking+and+communicating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk70pg83WMIBvzfltP7_jSfCf-2K8WHsnRezO6sUht2DfJeYuz6t_8Fa7MEfqcudEs4C_7m4zKl1tXtkioWRmvP789OTFoVhEQ-KK-9JlFAjQSKWTQ5JEK4v6EdctZfWibMpOZoiNdpNl/s640/12.ILO+conference+a+lot+of+reading%252C+thinking+and+communicating.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Outside the meeting rooms, the participants read, phone and relax a moment during the long meetings. (ILO Building, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqj_LRZATpHC-dIfFQhkTrr8-Cpsnu5Jpw1IkmdAfrpocI7SlruBqZEcuNdEjlEe4NX-lIb4CiGltdNmM8pFbAu8mzN6qFRA2QB3LJm7_RaNrhO0-EJasQmhS3FQX47avuuKY6tBNfHs_r/s1600/15.ILO+conference+some+take+care+for+others.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqj_LRZATpHC-dIfFQhkTrr8-Cpsnu5Jpw1IkmdAfrpocI7SlruBqZEcuNdEjlEe4NX-lIb4CiGltdNmM8pFbAu8mzN6qFRA2QB3LJm7_RaNrhO0-EJasQmhS3FQX47avuuKY6tBNfHs_r/s640/15.ILO+conference+some+take+care+for+others.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Some participants are even worried that they do not infect other participants. (Palais des Nations, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3VW2pKre1YU1ASH9pv7cAjzNhNiQPQTYbHqentuf7yBYfoCt5eqGGWlTpq0QdfBOxRd_2mqzJl153r37Uh4pbQq6VeBwdUa6kPrQ8p1mYWXabiz1FUSq2OOOW8Khyxdk-5iaePBJFTiM/s1600/13.ILO+conference+in+the+ILO+building+labyrinth+every+corner+is+used+for+meetings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3VW2pKre1YU1ASH9pv7cAjzNhNiQPQTYbHqentuf7yBYfoCt5eqGGWlTpq0QdfBOxRd_2mqzJl153r37Uh4pbQq6VeBwdUa6kPrQ8p1mYWXabiz1FUSq2OOOW8Khyxdk-5iaePBJFTiM/s640/13.ILO+conference+in+the+ILO+building+labyrinth+every+corner+is+used+for+meetings.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The ILO building </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>sometimes gives the impression of a labyrinth in which every corner is used for meeting.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPceQIxBWhcqeWyi2rPCXGi3Ko7tOR1o_I5dQ_K4yxPeXF-PwSrI7ALPDLL5s7D71bPvnAJcXXtqv25339gdBXNRFcdVQx2qhc7TAld4Vfcz2JJdb762i-ST0L63VgukfdkbNBQjcjKqd5/s1600/14.ILO+conference+petite+restauration+and+social+contacts+go+topgether.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPceQIxBWhcqeWyi2rPCXGi3Ko7tOR1o_I5dQ_K4yxPeXF-PwSrI7ALPDLL5s7D71bPvnAJcXXtqv25339gdBXNRFcdVQx2qhc7TAld4Vfcz2JJdb762i-ST0L63VgukfdkbNBQjcjKqd5/s640/14.ILO+conference+petite+restauration+and+social+contacts+go+topgether.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">But there is also a time for taking a coffee and a snack and some small talk. (ILO Building, Geneva)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-66311392172561594322015-06-01T11:14:00.000+02:002015-06-01T11:15:29.752+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 53 (trade action)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5j1SGYBsE076jbS2z185LLCdonIPqV3_yqS8YOHyFuDTw6cGBi-UOtQHH6MimD_mbpnaWRT5OWKfqUsSx50WlXcaJvPYM5RD3Lu4CO0R_0ew1lm3N2aTa_UBZecdfydzZOITCBHKs0VGx/s1600/the+WIB+Board+doorn+netherlands+march+2000+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5j1SGYBsE076jbS2z185LLCdonIPqV3_yqS8YOHyFuDTw6cGBi-UOtQHH6MimD_mbpnaWRT5OWKfqUsSx50WlXcaJvPYM5RD3Lu4CO0R_0ew1lm3N2aTa_UBZecdfydzZOITCBHKs0VGx/s640/the+WIB+Board+doorn+netherlands+march+2000+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Board of the World Federation of Industrial Workers at the 4th WFIW Congress held in Doorn, Netherlands, March 2000. WFIW President Jaap Wienen (in the middle) became after the merger of WCL and ICFTU Deputy Secretary General of the ITUC. Before the merger he was WCL Deputy Secretary General charged with Trade Action. To the right of the photo Leon Vanhaudt, WFIW treasurer. Next to him WFIW Secretary general Fons van Genechten. On the left of the photo Executive Secretary Piet Nelissen. Next to him WFIW Vice President Carlos Gaitan.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">The
last and most difficult problem for the WCL was the question about
what to do with the International Trade Federations (ITF's) during
the merger of the WCL and the ICFTU into a new international
organisation? One would expect that Deputy Secretary General Jaap
Wienen, charged with Trade Action within the WCL secretariat,
together with the Presidents of the ITF's had come to a certain kind
of common strategy but this was not so much the case. </span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The WCL
discussion paper limits itself to conclude that </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“the
WCL and the ICFTU Trade Action structures are quite different.”</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
It says that </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“the
WCL Federations -although autonomous in the management of their
sectoral policy – are affiliated to the WCL, pay dues and have the
right to vote in the Congress and the Confederal Board. Likewise, a
vice-president representing Trade Action is elected by the Congress.
He chairs the CTA (Trade Action Committee consisting of the
presidents of the ITF's) and the WCTA (the World Trade Action
Committee) meetings. Within the General Secretariat, there exists a
Deputy Secretary General in charge of coordinating Trade Action and
fostering the links between the ITF's and the other WCL departments.”
</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">(paragraph
3.1)</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>.</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Within
the ICFTU, the ITS (International Trade Secretariats) are completely
independent. They pay no dues to the ICFTU and have no right to vote
within the decision-making bodies, where they do participate as
observers. A couple of years ago, an informal agency called </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>Global
Unions</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>
was created. It frequently gathers ICFTU and ITS representatives in
order to foster coordination among them.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">(paragraph
3.2) </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">They have also an informal coordination agency: the </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Global
Union Federations (GUF's): </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">“The
GUF's are powerful organisations (146 million members), both at the
political and financial levels. Sometimes they devise their own
inter-trade policy, something that is aberrant in an increasingly
globalized economy.”</span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(paragraph 3.3)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">In
the paper it is said that these ITS's</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“despite
their independency, they follow the ICFTU stand.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Therefore
it is not surprising that “</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>the
affiliation of national trade federations coming from confederations
with no international affiliation ( of France's CGT 12 sectors out of
32 are affiliated to the GUF's) often paves the way for ICFTU
membership.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">(paragraph
3.4). </span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T5VY4BVq-io1pluuQHFRtC-yWQ6mr5tV54jk3qAcG9DVNB6iM8woNtW8Fmm3AePZLLekv8ZuB9oFKZhV7Gquuv5oRoEciiHR2MthFxTzQJgjRcdnZE1T5XFKcxA9L-OAv5RO1bdWAyQ_/s1600/WVA+archief+WFBW+congreso+mundial+juni+2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T5VY4BVq-io1pluuQHFRtC-yWQ6mr5tV54jk3qAcG9DVNB6iM8woNtW8Fmm3AePZLLekv8ZuB9oFKZhV7Gquuv5oRoEciiHR2MthFxTzQJgjRcdnZE1T5XFKcxA9L-OAv5RO1bdWAyQ_/s640/WVA+archief+WFBW+congreso+mundial+juni+2004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The World Congress of the World Federation of Building and Woodworkers WFBW was held in Varna, Bulgaria in may 2004 with 77 delegates from 33 different countries all over the world. </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Years
ago trade unions of the ACV-CSC and CNV had already left WCL: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“after
the 1980's, the trade federations of Belgium CSC (metal, employee,
food, some transport sectors, culture) and Holland's CNV (food,
metal) left the ITF's and joined the ITS, so as to strengthen their
actions, especially vis-à-vis multinational companies.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">It
is very sad to read that</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>
“this evolution mainly led to the marginalisation of the WFAFW
(WCL's World Federation for Agricultural and Food Workers), which
could not afford deploying its action within the agricultural sector,
which is a basic activity in developing countries and where male and
female workers are particularly exploited.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">(note
8 in the paper)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">We
can conclude that already since the 1980's the WCL was weakened
because of the departure of ACV-CSC and CNV trade federations from
the ITF's and their affiliation to the ITS. In a broader sense they
became part of the ICFTU policy. </span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now,
the lack of a clear common vision and coordination between WCL and
the ITF's led to a certain kind of divide and rule policy by the
ITS's. While the WCL negotiated the merger it left its ITF's without
real support.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
first ITF that started to negotiate about a possible merger was the
World Confederation of Teachers (WCT) that, as far as I know, tried
indeed to establish within Education International (EI) a special WTC
platform. At the beginning of the negotiations it was told that such
an arrangement of a WCT platform within EI was possible but after a
while this possibility for whatever reason disappeared. Now, about 10
years later, there is no sign whatsoever on the EI website that there
ever existed a WCT.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">With
the merger talks in the wood and building sector, between the WFBW
and the IFBW, happened more or less the same. The core idea was to
safeguard the WCL heritage (see The Downfall of the WCL 48) by way of
a special foundation within the new world organisation. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFlNELlsPvJmX5k1c6NeuoZEZM-ugjQSvF0uOuHbDk7krCFqAWty3-PovOTRgeGnuo1m8Or8zentfPemBwXITBLRj5oZOBsD4LuxtRSowHdxTpHgW3dTHdMoYvDkp_5tDlgjuS6Nz2gLk/s1600/wva+archief+flatic+bestuur+juni+2004+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFlNELlsPvJmX5k1c6NeuoZEZM-ugjQSvF0uOuHbDk7krCFqAWty3-PovOTRgeGnuo1m8Or8zentfPemBwXITBLRj5oZOBsD4LuxtRSowHdxTpHgW3dTHdMoYvDkp_5tDlgjuS6Nz2gLk/s640/wva+archief+flatic+bestuur+juni+2004+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Board members of the Latin American Federation of Industrial and Construction Workers FLATIC. From left to right: Domingo Moreyra, Carlos Gaitan (</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>president), Miriam Berlak, Vicente Carrera and Rolando Arias. June 2004.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
WFBW World Congress in Varna, Bulgaria on the 20</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
of May 2004 decided to continue with the merger talks. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“During
the Congress and the seminar it was agreed to continue the process of
unity in a new World Sectorial Federation, which allows to
participate more strongly at the negotiation tables and agreements
with multilateral agencies that impact politics and global economy
and multinational companies, who are the ones that impose the
economic, productive, and technological conditions of incorporation,
investment, employees and consumption. The participation in this
United Federation will be based on our identity and participation
with the WCL and its regional organisations. Also should be allowed
the continuation of national and regional diversity and respect for
local particularities.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">(
Nueva Epoca, revista de FLATIC, Ano XVIII-No.90, Junio de 2004, page
5)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">But
there were also some critical remarks made by president Carlos Gaitan
of FLATIC (Federacion latinoamericana de Trabajadores de las
Industrias y la Construccion): </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“The
procedures onto unity so far has been only European, without
sufficient consultation with the other Continents. We believe more
participation, information and consultation of the affiliates is
essential.”</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
(Nueva Epoca, page 5). The Swiss trade union SYNA represented by
treasurer Werner Rindlisbacher was opposed to the merger. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">The <a href="http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Issue=About">BWI website</a> refers to the merger of IFBWW and WFBW. However, a foundation
dedicated to the WCL/WFBW heritage does not exist.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>At
its World Congress in Buenos Aires, on 9 December 2005, the
International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) and the
World Federation of Building and Wood Workers (WFBW) created a new
global union federation, the Building and Wood Workers' International
- BWI. The BWI is the Global Union Federation grouping free and
democratic unions with members in the Building, Building Materials,
Wood, Forestry and Allied sectors. The BWI groups together around 326
trade unions representing around 12 million members in 130 countries.
The Headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. Regional Offices and
Project Offices are located in Panama and Malaysia, South Africa,
India, Burkina Faso, Curaçao, Chile, Kenya, Russia, Peru, Brazil and
Thailand.</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>”</b></i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
World Federation of Industrial Workers WFIW decided on its World
Congress in Dakar, Senegal (July 2005) to start negotiations with the
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General
Workers' Unions ICEM in Brussels. The French CFTC Metal Union and the
German CMG Metal Union voted against it. Because the WFIW had no
powerful affiliates in terms of money and members like the WFBW with
its powerful member ACV-CSC Building and Industries and to a certain
extent also CNV Wood and Construction, the negotiations were limited
to a collective affiliation. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjod9urywkYvGim_OPft0euEmO40Owh8lm1Cd6ISoCryQNDHhaOZrHuDJ_IHGV_Loze4CxwuwZ7nI9DCcV39tcb-2uAosJeYlUV6Lv-AYpSF_EUtM_MXDgAtlgq8Pwp1rnWfdSEwWGuNb5_/s1600/reinhardt+schiller+2012+EO+board+wenen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjod9urywkYvGim_OPft0euEmO40Owh8lm1Cd6ISoCryQNDHhaOZrHuDJ_IHGV_Loze4CxwuwZ7nI9DCcV39tcb-2uAosJeYlUV6Lv-AYpSF_EUtM_MXDgAtlgq8Pwp1rnWfdSEwWGuNb5_/s400/reinhardt+schiller+2012+EO+board+wenen.jpg" width="373" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">President Reinhardt Schiller of the German Metal Union CGM together with the CFTC Metal Union refused to support the integration of WFIW in the ICEM. After the merger between WCL and ICFTU the CGM became a member of the World Organization of Workers WOW ( the former World Confederation of Clerical Workers WFCW). Photo taken in Vienna 2012 at the board meeting of the European Organization of WOW </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
German CGM refused the invitation made by WFIW President Bart
Bruggeman to be part of this collective affiliation. CGM President
Reinhardt Schiller did not believe that it is possible to have a fair
cooperation with the socialist trade unions. According to his view,
at the start you get some qualified positions but after a few years
the majority will go back to business as usual which means that as a
minority must follow socialist policies. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBw2PIhxkxetD1go3Q0__01oQ6FSvmM_EnMW0_BgN_C0h3KI-PzTmnWLjpDzuX1iG2GK_iWlFMkbo6-kQdDbYkTFmnZdbCv_cq0uYmte8_ZtAEhF1G1uIfjn0ABToVqfqIne7WF3xvCTUl/s1600/WIB+0706WFIWDissolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBw2PIhxkxetD1go3Q0__01oQ6FSvmM_EnMW0_BgN_C0h3KI-PzTmnWLjpDzuX1iG2GK_iWlFMkbo6-kQdDbYkTFmnZdbCv_cq0uYmte8_ZtAEhF1G1uIfjn0ABToVqfqIne7WF3xvCTUl/s640/WIB+0706WFIWDissolution.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The WFIW Board at the Dissolution Congress, June 2007. </span></i>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><i>From
left to right: Justin Daerden; Carlos Gaitan (Vice-President); Italo Rodomonti (Secretary General); Bart
Bruggeman (President); Manfred Warda (ICEM); Achille Dutu and Romuald Nuwopke.</i></span></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">On
the <a href="http://www.industriall-union.org/archive/icem/wfiw-dissolution-congress-prepares-integration-of-its-affiliates-in-the-icem">website of the International Federation 'Industriall'</a> you find
the following text on the WFIW Dissolution Congress:</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"The
World Federation of Industry Workers (WFIW) held its Dissolution
World Congress in Houffalize, Belgium, on 14 June 2007. The 80
participants at this historic meeting, from 25 countries, unanimously
took the decision to integrate the WFIW structures into the ICEM, a
process which will be finalised at the ICEM's 4th World Congress in
November 2007 in Bangkok.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The
WFIW is one of the International Trade Federations formerly
affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the
international trade union confederation which, together with the
former ICFTU, recently merged to create the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC).</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The
Dissolution Congress, with ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
present, was just one step in a longer process to prepare the WFIW’s
integration into the ICEM.(...) WFIW General Secretary Italo
Rodomonti said he strongly believes that “after the integration of
the WFIW members into the ICEM, pluralism within the international
trade union confederation will form a firm basis for a stronger
international trade union federation.” The Dissolution Congress
elected Italo Rodomonti, as well as Achille Dutu from Romania, as
future ICEM Presidium members. Brazil's Wilson Wanderlei Viera and
Alphonse Beya Tshimbu from the Democratic Republic of Congo were
elected to become ICEM Executive Committee members."</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-41804940207189279652015-05-23T16:46:00.000+02:002015-05-24T11:04:21.647+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 52<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDyzwlWpPwQxB4ZR_6KVejeOVytduql6XyWEhglrycgXL8GDucx8U3bsJjMRTy1bH1J_X4VDPMqMs5xsdjVmeOiQ_-qWC8M7eSwfDAa8ly3-mOXLK7t5v6spLlWqdcsUwbhL5kkwBvfI2/s1600/wva+bestuursraad+overzicht+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDyzwlWpPwQxB4ZR_6KVejeOVytduql6XyWEhglrycgXL8GDucx8U3bsJjMRTy1bH1J_X4VDPMqMs5xsdjVmeOiQ_-qWC8M7eSwfDAa8ly3-mOXLK7t5v6spLlWqdcsUwbhL5kkwBvfI2/s640/wva+bestuursraad+overzicht+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The WCL Confederal Board in Milan, Italia, November 5-7 in 1970, 50 years of WCL. The WCL was the oldest international trade union organization in the world. As members of the board we see Secretary general Jean Bruck in the middle. On the left President Nguyen van Tan of BATU, Secretary General Emilo Maspero of CLAT, Marcel Pepin of the Canadian CSDN and WCL Confederal Secretary Carlos Custer (left of Jean Bruck).</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
WCL paper about the possible merger of WCL and the ICFTU into a
unitarian world organisation identified 4 main problems for WCL: </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">1.
The end of international trade union pluralism must not affect</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> national trade union pluralism.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">2.What
about the balance of power and the internal pluralism? </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">3.
What to do with the WCL heritage?</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4.
The future of the WCL international trade federations.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">1.
National trade union pluralism.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">While
on international level the end of pluralism is accepted, at national
level this is not the case. Indeed, no national confederation wants
to sacrifice its interests, its (ideological) identity and its
history because of the so-called need to strengthen the trade union
movement. Therefore in the paper it was considered as vital that the
creation of the new unitarian international trade union organisation
should not interfere on national level. </span><span lang="en-US"><i>“The
possible creation of a unitary organisation at the international
level does not imply national unification. In fact, national policies
are the responsibility of national organisations and not of the
international organisation. Both within the WCL and the ICFTU, there
exist countries where several organisations are affiliated to a
single international organisation.” </i></span><span lang="en-US">
No National Confederations should be excluded from becoming a member
of the new organisation. </span><span lang="en-US"><i>“In Annex II
it is clearly stated that the new organisation will be open to all
organisations currently affiliated to the iCFTU and the WCL.3
(Paragraph 4.7.)</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqm0aYBVM8Yhd7HE3-9A2mN2lZ0Ef0lkMGkvltMAVn7taezg7_N6Ze7ufZqLp2bhf6pzOlxciatGRf_uS2YOr6KERhpcq5r_O8oBMQ9z3YoF6DTR7f6YgXbwhDUw3_-OxQRJnEHTJsD_w_/s1600/wva+bestuursraad+maspero+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqm0aYBVM8Yhd7HE3-9A2mN2lZ0Ef0lkMGkvltMAVn7taezg7_N6Ze7ufZqLp2bhf6pzOlxciatGRf_uS2YOr6KERhpcq5r_O8oBMQ9z3YoF6DTR7f6YgXbwhDUw3_-OxQRJnEHTJsD_w_/s640/wva+bestuursraad+maspero+milaan+5_7+nov+1970+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Another overview of the Confederal Board in Milan. On the left we se Emilio Maspero with his </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>characterisic posture, Carlos Custer and Jean Bruck.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Paragraph
4 from Anex II says: <i>“The new unitarian centre at world level
shall be opened to existing ICFTU and WCL affiliates as well as to
all national Confederations under the condition of being democratic
and independent in principle as well in practice. The new centre will
not call into question existing pluralism at national level”.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This
was the theory but what happened in practice? A new organization,
after all, has its own dynamics, in this case the dynamics of the
majority. Pluralims is not a topic for most ICFTU members as we know
from the past. The merger did not change this culture. Almost
immediately after the creation of the ITUC (2006), the Canadian CTC
attacked the Canadian Christian trade union confederation CLAC which
was a respected affiliate of WCL, by claiming that it is not a
genuine trade union. This meant of course also an attack against the
former WCL, that apparently had affiliated no genuine trade unions.
The result was an official ITUC inquiry of CLAC. Former WCL
affiliates were involved in the investigation (the Belgian ACV / CSC
and the former WCL Deputy Secretary General Jaap Wienen, now Deputy
Secretary General of the new trade union world centre) had no defense
against this attack. Probably they feared a political conflict which
as a minority they would loose. The CLAC choose to maintain the honor
to themselves and left the ITUC. The result is that from now on in
such conflicts former WCL members are politically silenced. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFuIlkpYnl9O12iNAd1CvS99v-odo9hmK5B9f0DU_19yU56wXzbvwAJoBOWRNjPDyauUy-bx_6X4VXCKJ1YIEo1X-_xGGcMTxlgVx-_UcDVz5XKgOWNb_GTJ3WfGFXOh44v2J9SfE_xGj/s1600/wva+gabaglio+bestuursraad+milaan+5-7+nov+1970+BLOG+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFuIlkpYnl9O12iNAd1CvS99v-odo9hmK5B9f0DU_19yU56wXzbvwAJoBOWRNjPDyauUy-bx_6X4VXCKJ1YIEo1X-_xGGcMTxlgVx-_UcDVz5XKgOWNb_GTJ3WfGFXOh44v2J9SfE_xGj/s640/wva+gabaglio+bestuursraad+milaan+5-7+nov+1970+BLOG+.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The delegation of the Italian WCL affiliate ACLI at the Confederal Board meeting in Milan of 1970. On the right Emlio Gabaglio, National President of ACLI <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2015/04/the-downfall-of-wcl-49.html">(see: WCL downfall 49)</a>. Shortly after he left ACLI and started to work with the ICFTU. later on he became Secretary General of the European Tarde Union Confederation. During the merger meetings of ICFTU and WCL Gabaglio served as a kind of mediator.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">2.
The internal balance of power and pluralism.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every
merger has to face the problem, how positions will be distributed
between the merging partners, the so-called balance of power between
the merging partners. In paragraph 4.7 of the paper the balance of
power ratio between WCL-ICFTU is established on about 20/80 <i>“and
changing it is not a real possibility.”</i> Apparently the WCL
accepted that the internal balance of power was not negotiable. Why
not? In any merger it is normal to negotiate this because this is the
way to establish what the merger is worth for both partners. Now it
appeared that the WCL was not more worth than what was calculated by
the ICFTU (the amount of members and no more!). What this means we
saw already in the Canadian case and who knows what cases will
follow?</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">Besides
this the WCL paper itself is also ambiguous about internal pluralism.
On one side one expresses the fear of division because of to much
internal pluralism: </span><span lang="en-US"><i>“Besides,
competition like situations are not always positive, except when they
can used to foster united action. In these cases, it is also
necessary to measure the results obtained in relation to the
resources mobilized.” (paragraph 4.7)</i></span><span lang="en-US">
On the other side one fears bureaucratization. </span><span lang="en-US"><i>“In
a unitarian organisation, danger often lies in the opposite
direction: that of working in a bureaucratic way, this stifling the
internal dialogue.” (paragraph 4.8)</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLFKL6pGZGs72j9R5_gJqcy3Fbmnsd5QObpGCNBzY_P_DuiWNBCty1g3IwhU6puTNQBcWtiKRonXVQNQCjcON_z1e1BbUf7rWwGCtJ4F1em_1LVo_w2f0SPGMVYoQvI24AvVTLfo2ceVG/s1600/ituc+willy+thys+en+guy+rider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLFKL6pGZGs72j9R5_gJqcy3Fbmnsd5QObpGCNBzY_P_DuiWNBCty1g3IwhU6puTNQBcWtiKRonXVQNQCjcON_z1e1BbUf7rWwGCtJ4F1em_1LVo_w2f0SPGMVYoQvI24AvVTLfo2ceVG/s640/ituc+willy+thys+en+guy+rider.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WCL Secretary general Willy Thys and ICFTU Seceratry general Guy Rider at the ITUC Founding Congress, Vienna 1-3 November 2006. </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">3.What
to do with the WCL heritage?</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">In
the document it is proposed to create a Foundation to preserve the
WCL heritage: </span><span lang="en-US"><i>“The WCL is however the
heir of an historical component of the trade union movement rooted
into the spiritual values and vision. To recognise this unique
reality and to preserve its influence a Foundation could be created,
within the organisation, and whose cultural and education activities
could be benefitting to all interested partners.”</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">However,
this Foundation has not been established. The same what happened at
the merger of the 2 international federations of building and wood
workers (<a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2015/04/the-downfall-of-wcl-48-building-and.html">see downfall of the wcl 48</a>). The WCL heritage has not been
institutionalized nor in the ITUC nor in the the Buidling and Wood
Workers International (BWI). </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So,
it was not a firm point at the negotiations on the creation of the
new orld organisation. Probably, it was primarily intended to
reassure the critical members.</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-91122218825429199842015-05-15T10:30:00.000+02:002015-05-15T10:40:38.433+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 51<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSBTMJltcuuCF2LjPZUb8qTSIH9lPzjF2e6SG7egzIdHbjg82fFPcM3zdekQHphB1W7TvJ1Q9bdnEt0gEsiFIhWTkZ-X5FO-Jr8F1JS_O0WBVPe64YGEm8zgKMqceaVzn5-7M1R3ee3zSV/s1600/wva+icv+secr+gen+serrarens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSBTMJltcuuCF2LjPZUb8qTSIH9lPzjF2e6SG7egzIdHbjg82fFPcM3zdekQHphB1W7TvJ1Q9bdnEt0gEsiFIhWTkZ-X5FO-Jr8F1JS_O0WBVPe64YGEm8zgKMqceaVzn5-7M1R3ee3zSV/s640/wva+icv+secr+gen+serrarens.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The WCL was born in June 15-19, 1920 in The Hague (Netherlands) with the foundation <br />of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions IFCTU. <br />The federation represented 3.366.400 workers affiliated to 10 confederations <br />in de following countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Hungary, <br />Italy, Netherlands, Swiss and Czechoslovakia. <br />President was the Swiss Jozef Scherrer. <br />Secretary General was the Dutch P.J.S. Serrarens. <br />( see: J. Insausti, Head of the Press and Information Service of the WCL, <br />"50 Jaar Internationale vakbewegingsactie in dienst van de werknemers, <br />Het WVA van 1920 tot 1970", WCL magazine Labor Nr.6, 1970)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">We
are still working with the documents that were used as reference
papers for the WCL debates about the future relations between WCL and
ICFTU. Times had changed. Were earlier debates about ways of
cooperation, now it went further and it was about a possible merger
or creating a complete new international organisation between ICFTU
(the big one), the WCL (the small one) and the loose ends that roam
here and there in the international trade union movement, the so to
say national trade union confederations (some of them ex-communist)
which had no international connections.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1isjuev94x6PGbRGUR54DtVBi_WdrEZCKE6hJPFuXkMgQuFTyqf-DtpSib0J-lxW2gh9luonPHXwruWWhyphenhyphen328Sn0OWxHU6ERHw_WkVDLt5KkxLxbAxJX6mYXv7iqP6quvvBxjxcrIvbW/s1600/wva+icv+secertariaat+utrcht+geplunderd+door+de+gestapo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1isjuev94x6PGbRGUR54DtVBi_WdrEZCKE6hJPFuXkMgQuFTyqf-DtpSib0J-lxW2gh9luonPHXwruWWhyphenhyphen328Sn0OWxHU6ERHw_WkVDLt5KkxLxbAxJX6mYXv7iqP6quvvBxjxcrIvbW/s400/wva+icv+secertariaat+utrcht+geplunderd+door+de+gestapo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The IFCTU Secretariat in Utrecht, Netherlands after it had been looted <br />by the German secret police <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo">Gestapo</a></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Paragraph
2 titled “United Action” gives an overview of the development of
the relations between WCL and ICFTU. We read that since its Congress
in Caracas (1989) and later on in Mauritius(1993) </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“the WCL put
forward a proposal on the creation of a WCL-ICFTU united front. This
concept was later on transformed into “united action”, mainly
meant with the ICFTU but without excluding other organisations.”</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxJD38pagL0c_aM2CLkfTxDTeEGK_pDM7OCN-MF9WsdrfftMqWN7_JH95s3qv_4apUU_VGk7C5W19A-Oc9fqhe99gd2a5Z3WtdfDtJzpBoi6kP0ps-Y-Yepwk2jIsvoO4Uk_SBttT0nhh/s1600/WVA+ICV+Congres+1946+Amsterdam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxJD38pagL0c_aM2CLkfTxDTeEGK_pDM7OCN-MF9WsdrfftMqWN7_JH95s3qv_4apUU_VGk7C5W19A-Oc9fqhe99gd2a5Z3WtdfDtJzpBoi6kP0ps-Y-Yepwk2jIsvoO4Uk_SBttT0nhh/s640/WVA+ICV+Congres+1946+Amsterdam.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">In 1946, one year after the end of World War II, the IFCTU Congress gathered <br />in Amsterdam and celebrated its 25th birthday. <br />Originally it had to be held in The Hague where the IFCTU had been founded <br />but the city still stayed in ruins. <br />During this Congress a resolution was adapted <br />in which the IFCTU declared itself prepared to cooperate <br />with other </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>international trade unions, <br />such as the World federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). (see: J. Insausti, page 21)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">It is written in the document that </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">after
the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of communism in the Soviet
Empire, the ICFTU became more respectful to the WCL:</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-
In 1993, the WCL regained a seat in the ILO Governing Body.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-
TUAC Vice Presidency has been in hands of Belgium's ACV/CSC.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-
Several agreements between the ICFTU and WCL were made in 2002 to
organise common meetings at the IMF and World Bank level.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-Since
2000, the WCL, participates, together with Global Unions, in the
World Economic Forum of Davos.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-
The ICFTU decided to work together with the WCL in 2001, within the
framework of the annual organisation of the World Social Forum.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">-
<i>“Their exist good cooperation links with the ICFTU at the United
Nations level. The ICFTU's veto on the participation of the WCL and
its organisations in Global Compact (a UN initiative to make
agreements between multinationals and trade unions) has been recently
lifted.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JQiPWjCtUu1rDQQRfxRzy5ZMUnAEmYzrACnC46gMGowGD738nslQm2iHUpoeuFwsY3pEY3s98CiSzQGp42aFU3_fbZCJu7x1c7EALQ3zo_kEIjxcNUIs6-BAlZ7GbIX2CezwFyYyk-1a/s1600/wva+vanistendael+en+Gaston+Tessier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JQiPWjCtUu1rDQQRfxRzy5ZMUnAEmYzrACnC46gMGowGD738nslQm2iHUpoeuFwsY3pEY3s98CiSzQGp42aFU3_fbZCJu7x1c7EALQ3zo_kEIjxcNUIs6-BAlZ7GbIX2CezwFyYyk-1a/s400/wva+vanistendael+en+Gaston+Tessier.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">On the left WCL Secretary General August Vanistendael <br />and on the right WCL President Gaston Tessier <br />who brought between 1949 and 1960 <br />the WCL to Asia, Africa and Latin America.(see: J.Insausti, page 31)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">However
within the ILO, the main UN institute for employees and employers to
develop a social dialogue on world level, the WCL was marginalized:
<i>“The issue of the ILO and the elections for the Governing Body
remains of the essence. The Workers' Group working procedures (simple
majority) supply the ICFTU with a de facto <b>monopoly-based situation</b>,
which leads to the <b>sub-representation</b> of the other members. This
situation can also be seen in the other ILO structures and specially,
within ACTRAV.” (Point 2.3)</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">To
my opinion the so-called </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">sub-representation</b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> of the WCL in the ILO was
not only because of the </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">monopoly-based culture</b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> of the ICFTU but also
a lack of WCL to give priority to staff its ILO liaison office in
Geneva with experienced and skilled lobbyist. In stead, young and
unexperienced staff was hired with the argument that they were not
expensive. More is said about the ICFTU “monopoly-based culture”
in paragraph 2.4: </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“However, in general terms, it can be said that
despite the progress and efforts made by its leaders, the ICFTU is
still characterized by a monopoly-based culture, which becomes
stronger at the intermediate executive level.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But
in spite of these negative ICFTU positions towards the WCL, there
were also some positive ICFTU attitudes:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>– “<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">In
November 2002, the WCL Secretary General was invited to a Global
Unions meeting held in London, in order to give his opinion on
international trade unionism. The discussion was heated, but open and
respectful of the different standpoints.”</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>– “<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">During
the ETUC Congress in Prague -in April 2003- the public appeal made by
the ICFTU Secretary General (Guy Rider) and addressed to the WCL
constituted an implicit acknowledgement of the latter as a key factor
for the unification of the international trade union movement.”</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>– “<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
ICFTU has cast aside the idea of an outright WCL-ICFTU merger.
Likewise, the creation of a new organisation -in compliance with an
ICFTU-WCL agreement – open to confederations with no international
affiliation, and aimed at strengthening an international trade
unionism undermined by neoliberal policies, is a novelty within the
history of our relationships...” (Paragraph 2.5)</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It
seems clear that the ICFTU, under the leadership of Secretary General
Guy Ryder, had developed a new strategy for the unification of the
WCL-ICFTU, that served also as the focus point from which could start
unification of trade union confederations world wide, including also
members and former members of the communist World Federation of Trade
Unions WFTU (with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the WFTU had lost
the Russian Trade Union Federation FNPR as its main sponsor).</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">On
a certain level, this strategy is based on the analysis that with the
collapse of communism world history has come to an end and that we
are entering now the era of global capitalism (neoliberalism). This
hypothesis was more or less introduced by Francis Fukuyama's essay
“The End of History?”, published in 1989 in the international
affairs journal 'The National Interest'. It is a new variant of the
old Marxist notion about the end of history but then in the opposite
way, toward capitalism and not towards socialism. </span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ66qnp38yDeXYhX7t3Zu3_ceQhHgXTjAdonnglxc5qFPvgr339acwQA85zm5T653vGp0xNhu4G5ckKYufE5kKO68BqPf1tyfPMPMISTbFuU3FkY7Lb5bmE5dAOUz6CgyhtpgAOUrQHlhP/s1600/comman62cov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ66qnp38yDeXYhX7t3Zu3_ceQhHgXTjAdonnglxc5qFPvgr339acwQA85zm5T653vGp0xNhu4G5ckKYufE5kKO68BqPf1tyfPMPMISTbFuU3FkY7Lb5bmE5dAOUz6CgyhtpgAOUrQHlhP/s640/comman62cov.jpg" width="433" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">THE
NOTION of the end of history is not an original one. Its best known
propagator was Karl Marx, who believed that the direction of
historical development was a purposeful one determined by the
interplay of material forces, and would come to an end only with the
achievement of a communist utopia that would finally resolve all
prior contradictions. But the concept of history as a dialectical
process with a beginning, a middle, and an end was borrowed by Marx
from his great German predecessor, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. (
<a href="http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm">chapter 1 of Fukuyama's “The End of History?”</a>)</span><span style="color: navy; font-size: large;"><u></u></span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On
top of this, with this new strategy, the ICFTU presents the old
Marxist dream of workers' unity in a new jacket. The famous communist
slogan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers_of_the_world,_unite!">“Workers of the world, unite!”</a> of Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels in their Communist Manifesto (1848), comes to life again but
now under the leadership of mainly social-democratic oriented trade
unions organised within the ICFTU. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The officially reason for the unification on world level was of
course not this old Marxist slogan but the much more pragmatic idea
of <i>“Strengthening the international trade union movement”</i>. </span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-65416372366349776572015-05-03T15:14:00.000+02:002016-09-08T18:43:02.713+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 50<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64EJ2mxf7NbsFuKUVzwGlOsUhpY347MYhItm5jP10qDGJdBqxkToLHQpz7fObXhVGcbcjnJJTIfY-BaSggNWpiipd_lUldz5VW_UKQ9xd8qYc22f4Ews5oWdOXgzN-VyKjeqhgdrz2BPB/s1600/wva+confederal+board+senegal+april+1998+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64EJ2mxf7NbsFuKUVzwGlOsUhpY347MYhItm5jP10qDGJdBqxkToLHQpz7fObXhVGcbcjnJJTIfY-BaSggNWpiipd_lUldz5VW_UKQ9xd8qYc22f4Ews5oWdOXgzN-VyKjeqhgdrz2BPB/s1600/wva+confederal+board+senegal+april+1998+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A group photo of the participants of the WCL Confederal Board made in Senegal, April 1998. </i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">I may be wrong but I believe this was the first Confederal Board without </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">CLAT General Secretary Emilio Maspero. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">BATU President Johny Tan was already a long time not active. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">He was replaced by Noel Rebello (India) and later Muktar Pakpahan </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">(President SBSI, Indonesia). Emlio Maspero died in 2000 at the age of 73. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Johnny Tan in 2006 at the age of 82. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Both had an outspoken WCA vision and ideals.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Before
continuing the analysis of the Gabaglio discussion paper, I want to
emphesize the importance of the document. Don't forget it has been
used two times as a guide for the debates between the executive
committees of WCL and ICFTU. I don't know what history the document
has had in the ICFTU but in the WCL it has guided the debates in the
European Section and therefore also in the Confederal Board. Whatever
the reasons are, it seems strange that an outsider but at the same
time a man of the ICFTU has been asked to present such a document.
On the other side, it is interesting to read the opinion of an
outsider/ICFTU oriented man about the history of the WCL.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">Gabaglio
writes the following about the WCL after the downfall of
communism.<i>“1.9 The WCL has played a leading role in supporting free
trade unions in Central and eastern Europe (active support to
Solidarnosc from the beginning). The day after the Romanian
Revolution, the WCL offered its support to Cartel alfa, the country's
first independent organisation, and took similar initiatives in other
countries.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">This
is indeed what happened and credits for this goes first to WCL
Secretary General Jan Kulakowski (see blog: <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2011/10/solidarnosc-and-struggle-for-trade.html">Solidarnosc and the struggle for the trade union movement after communism.</a> and <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2013/08/the-downfall-of-wcl-part-3.html">The downfall of the WCL part 3</a> and for Romania to the former Confederal Secretary Emiel Vervliet (Belgium).
Unfortunately Solidarnosc gave always priority to the ICFTU for
reasons which were never clarified. Was this because of the AFL-CIO
that supported the anti-communist policy of the American President
Ronald Reagan and therefore openly choose side for Solidarnosc while
the European left hesitated to take side openly for Solidarnosc? Or
was it a matter of money? Given the struggle of Solidarity against
communism based on human and Christian values, I do not wish to
believe in the latter.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">1.10
However, the main organisations of most of those countries joined the
ICFTU, which was supported by great European confederations (mainly
the DGB) and the ACILS, which was an AFL-CIO agency. The latest
affiliation registered was that of the Russian federation in 2001.”</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It is true,
the AFL-CIO affiliated - what Gabaglio calls - “the main
organisations” in Central and Eastern Europe. But it would have
been more frank if he in this context had used the expression
ex-communist organisations. Some, so not all, changed rapidly of flag
from communism to (social) democracy without worrying too much about
democracy. However, for the ICFTU realpolitik was sometimes more
important than democracy. That is also the opinion of Gabaglio
because later in the document he writes with regard to this about
“the erratic policy” of the ICFTU. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">In
point 1.11 Gabaglio claims that the Austrian and Swiss confederations
distanced themselves from the WCL because of not paying dues. As far
as I know this had more to do with an internal dispute about the WCL
policy which the executive committee could not arrange. These two
confederal organisations had the opinion that the WCL did not listen
to their comments and did not give enough support on European level.
Therefore, on the contrary what one would expect, their trade union
affiliates in different sectors continued to pay their dues to the
international trade union federations of the WCL. For example the
WFCW (bank and commercial employees) and the WFBW (Wood and
Building) had for many years a Swiss treasurer. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMyvDTSXcKdQug-ZtnF6h1-V-0gkCxlKWktoAYKl_WL5TmWk1FI2j5nWHrSweuNLb82oaPJxzjkl1j_E9IgeiJ27Qt5l61T4cvOXEL0joKdUc86GXSCC9qDUXrClygZZY366u8sJPXmoj/s1600/muchtar+pakpahan+foto+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMyvDTSXcKdQug-ZtnF6h1-V-0gkCxlKWktoAYKl_WL5TmWk1FI2j5nWHrSweuNLb82oaPJxzjkl1j_E9IgeiJ27Qt5l61T4cvOXEL0joKdUc86GXSCC9qDUXrClygZZY366u8sJPXmoj/s1600/muchtar+pakpahan+foto+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Muktar Pakpahan, President of the Indonesian independent trade union confederation </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">SBSI (Indonesian Prosperity Trade </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Union)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: large;">1.12:
At the world level, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the WCL
has strongly developed in Africa, especially since pluralism started
being tolerated within the continent. In Asia, it is worth
highlighting the affiliation (in 1977) of Indonesia's SBSI, the only
independent organisation of the world's fourth most populous nation
and the world's largest Muslim populated country.</span>”</span></span></i></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
SBSI was in a certain sense for the Indonesian dictatorship what
Solidarnosc was for Polish communist dictatorship. From its start,
SBSI fought for the so-called 'Reformasi' with the aim to return to
democracy and pluralism in Indonesia. Because of this the SBSI
President Muchtar Pakpahan was jailed many times. The credits for the
affiliation of SBSI to the WCL go to the CNV and especially former
President Anton Westerlaken who visited the SBSI President Pakpahan
when he stayed in prison and had to appear in court. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9_aDLJ0o24F9yldIKednR34r8WxyjQikEDVeaF8vt9jfZq4w-wqKlkQ-4AIN2-Ys5qIvZivte-eqCsQev-DTlXhx5DvRb1smaR2JYefdye2clhZZeSYX3FqBMhQov7rk2kmvD3P2MP4N/s1600/muchtar+pakpahan+in+gevangenis+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9_aDLJ0o24F9yldIKednR34r8WxyjQikEDVeaF8vt9jfZq4w-wqKlkQ-4AIN2-Ys5qIvZivte-eqCsQev-DTlXhx5DvRb1smaR2JYefdye2clhZZeSYX3FqBMhQov7rk2kmvD3P2MP4N/s1600/muchtar+pakpahan+in+gevangenis+BLOG.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Muktar Pakapahan was sentenced several times to imprisonment in the period 1994-1998.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>It was at this time that CNV President Anton Westerlaken visited him in prison </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>and during a trial.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">While the WCL
gets some credits from Gabaglio for promoting trade union pluralism
in Africa and affiliating the Indonesian confederation SBSI, the
ICFTU is praised by Gabaglio for affiliating <i>“great progressive
organisations all over the world, such as Brazil's CUT in 1995, South
Africa's COSATU in 1997 and South Korea's KCTU in 1999.”</i> (point
1.13) Can it be that the word “progressive” used by Gabaglio is a
euphemism for “socialism”?</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">With
point 1.16 we arrive to the most important remarks of Gabaglio
regarding the aim of the unification of WCL and ICFTU. First he
declares that <i>“the trade union scenario has changed and the
ideological lines first drawn have become blurred”</i> because of the
fall of the Berlin Wall (a much used euphemism for the economic
political, moral, social and ideological collapse of communism). In
the meanwhile ICFTU had changed also: <i>“The affiliations registered
in emerging or developing countries in general, and in Arab countries
in particular, have somehow modified the image of the ICFTU as a
confederation dominated by industrialized countries.” </i></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Jm4GFCv45ollyQF-9a8OSl95wKxJSeYmzVov5p8li-EJ4LrfVj8D-mDez4wsCeC_qdDMCF7409bhOySsE1-QS7EWugAc87Bv2K6w9kWpOd0yEqpmtu9Vc_-3XrCUvYuG6AU0Ld6TyUx/s1600/anton+westerlaken+clat+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Jm4GFCv45ollyQF-9a8OSl95wKxJSeYmzVov5p8li-EJ4LrfVj8D-mDez4wsCeC_qdDMCF7409bhOySsE1-QS7EWugAc87Bv2K6w9kWpOd0yEqpmtu9Vc_-3XrCUvYuG6AU0Ld6TyUx/s1600/anton+westerlaken+clat+BLOG.jpg" width="506" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">CNV President Anton Westerlaken at a special conference organized </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">by the Dutch solidarity association CLAT-Nederland </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">at the occasion of its 40th anniversary. (1994)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">However,
this is a to easy conclusion. The rich members have had always more
voting power than the poor and weaker organisations. This has been
always the case in the ICFTU and the WCL. However, the latter tried
to give a greater voice to the poor trade union members by giving
them a minimum presence and voting power. In general it can be said
that international solidarity has its limitations also in
international trade unions, whatever nice words are used. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the next point 1.17 Gabaglio makes a remarkable observation, nearly
a confession that I already announced before: <i>“Over the past years
, this change has been translated into a new ICFTU affiliation
policy. In the past, this policy was <b>“erratic”</b>. Today, the ICFTU
has refused to accept the affiliation of the leading (but not really
democratic) organisation of Ukraine, and has decided to shelve its
project on the unification of Indonesia's official trade unions
against the SBSI, which is a WCL affiliate.”</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US">The
expression “erratic policy” seems to refer what is normally
called “realpolitik”. In realpolitik, economic and political
power of a trade union is more important than its democratic
structure and culture. A policy well known from for example the USA
in Latin America and made that the USA preferred to support a
pro-American dictator in stead of a leftist elected government. A
bitter example of this policy was what happened to the Allende
Government in Chile (1970-1973). One of the instruments used by the
ICFTU to gain control of trade unions was also to force them to unite
as for example was tried once in Romania and so also in Indonesia. </span></span>
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-78875075619024294922015-04-27T17:21:00.000+02:002015-04-28T08:55:45.741+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 49<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbbnKVS_9eLT7C-uUCFrBSiRMHYDSUn80qV7KlW1I9ftjz5yG2mPRIvM8pkPR5s77AflRUsVukBkP_Du8WXIqtmvV1yMium6Qg3wiiKN8WSzsjR2qPB9qd6blu_Z-jgnK8Wt_GEkdZvaQ/s1600/emilio+gabaglio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbbnKVS_9eLT7C-uUCFrBSiRMHYDSUn80qV7KlW1I9ftjz5yG2mPRIvM8pkPR5s77AflRUsVukBkP_Du8WXIqtmvV1yMium6Qg3wiiKN8WSzsjR2qPB9qd6blu_Z-jgnK8Wt_GEkdZvaQ/s1600/emilio+gabaglio.jpg" height="432" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Emilio Gabaglio as ETUC Secretary General signing the European Framework Agreement on Teleworking, Brussels 16/O7/2002. (Foto: ETUC)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">While
the two International Wood and Construction federations were looking
for some kind of merger or cooperation between the WCL and the ICFTU
debates had started about some kind of a merger or institutionali</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">z</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">ed
cooperation or the creation of a new World Organisation. It happened
that Emilio Gablagio had elaborated a note that served as a kind of
discussion paper for the two informal meetings the WCL and the ICFTU
Executive Committees have held at the beginning of 2004. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
note was used also as an introduction to the internal WCL debates at
the European section held on the 18th of March 2004 about the future
cooperation between WCL and ICFTU. However, to status of the Gabaglio
note was not clear to the participants. Therefore WCL Deputy
Secretary general Jaap Wienen explained the role of the note:</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>“Because
there seems to be some confusion on the status of the note Gabaglio
note, Jaap Wienen (Deputy Secr. General of WCL) gives some further
explanation on the chronological events. Two meetings with the ICFTU
took place. During the first meeting, Gabaglio presented his point of
view. The political secretariat reflected on these statements, but
did not have the mandate to discuss changes. These reflections had
some effect on the second note, but it was not possible for the (WCL)
secretariat to discuss all possible alternatives. The note is
therefore not a reflection of the two political secretariats, and
will not be the final document.”</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">What
was not explained, is why Gabaglio was invited at both meetings nor
why he prepared the note. <a href="http://www.ces.uc.pt/cesfct/hc/Emilio_Gabaglio_CV.pdf">Gabaglio </a>had been ETUC
Secretary General from 1991 until 2003. Before 1991 he had worked for
17 years at the ICFTU on various positions. Before, in 1969 he was
elected National President of ACLI (Italian Workers' Christian
Associations). During his<a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Gabaglio"> presidency of ACLI</a> a conflict raised with the
Italian Catholic Hierarchy. Gabaglio organised at the end of August
1970 in Vallombrosa, Italy an ACLI Congress titled “Workers
movement, Capitalism and Democracy” during which was
introduced the hypothesis of the 'Socialist ACLI'. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">Only
a year later</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">
ACLI was publicly disowned by the Italian Episcopal Conference and
the repudiation was later confirmed June 19, 1971 by Pope Paul VI in
person. In spite of the almost immediate reverse of Gabaglio and his
subsequent self-criticism, ACLI split in two factions. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: navy; font-size: large;"><u></u></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioh5yEl9Yt8sLPEWfMCoQlH1nNM9ZmfoGYUxuKdcN-e6thXQ1uob3lkRi8OT4Fy8RxrnpWTOrXpY-cBEuyLyRttOglszB5AAXecRD_ZIHSTYxsid73ESi_TsCVhVC1j6KVO79wggPjOsZP/s1600/Philip-Jennings-682x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioh5yEl9Yt8sLPEWfMCoQlH1nNM9ZmfoGYUxuKdcN-e6thXQ1uob3lkRi8OT4Fy8RxrnpWTOrXpY-cBEuyLyRttOglszB5AAXecRD_ZIHSTYxsid73ESi_TsCVhVC1j6KVO79wggPjOsZP/s1600/Philip-Jennings-682x1024.jpg" height="640" width="622" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><i>"Philip
Jennings is the General Secretary of UNI Global Union, an
organisation with over 20 million members, representing 900 unions in
over 150 countries and with its head office in Nyon. In May 2013 UNI
Global Union was at the centre of worldwide press coverage, as the
“Bangladesh Safety Accord ”, a legally binding agreement by major
US and European clothes manufacturers to raise safety standards in
Bangladesh factories, was negotiated in Nyon by both UNI Global union
and Industriall." See interview <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/interview-with-philip-jennings-general-secretary-of-uni-global-union-in-nyon/">'Living in Nyon', September 18, 2013</a>. (Foto: Living in Nyon)</i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">As
already explained before, ETUC Secretary General Gabaglio was not
capable to convince EUROFIET to respect the statutes of the ETUC.
According to the ETUC statutes each European member of the WFCW had
the right to be a member of EUROFIET but EUROFIET refused and had its
own conditions. This arrogant power policy of EUROFIET against the
ETUC rules led to the departure of two important WFCW members what of
course meant a weakening of the WFCW. Was this what the EUROFIET
wanted? May be yes, may be not, but what is sure that for the
EUROFIET pluralism was not important, and deliberately wanted to
maintain its monopoly in the European social dialogue. This is not
only a shame for a democratic organization like EUROFIET (now UNI)
but also for its Secretary General Philip Jennings as a citizen
from Great Britain, one of the oldest democracies in the world. (See
also: The Downfall of the WCL <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2013/10/the-downfall-of-wcl-part-12.html">12</a> and <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2013/11/the-downfall-of-wcl-part-13.html">13</a>)</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Back
to the note of Emilio Gabalglio because in the note are made some
interesting statements about the history of WCL and ICFTU. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>1.2.
During the Cold War and after the creation of the ICFTU in 1949 (the
split within the WFTU), the three main international organisations
had each a specific role, according to its nature:</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
The ICFTU was dominated by the leading organisations of
industrialized countries. Most of them had links with
social-democratic parties in Europe, with an AFL-CIO working in the
wake of the foreign policy of the United States.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
The IFCTU (which became the WCL in 1968), a Christian organisation
whose proposals also took into account spiritual aspects.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
The WFTU, which comprised organisations having links with communist
parties.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">In
other words: the ICFTU was social democratic and socialist and
therefore class struggle oriented. The WCL was social-christian
oriented and because of its spiritual values against class-struggle
and for social dialogue. The WFTU was part of the communist party
strategy and on international level controlled by the Soviet Union as
the main communist world power. </span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Why
the AFL-CIO was a member of the ICFTU? The AFL-CIO had its leftist
oriented groups but its majority never questioned the free market
capitalism, like European ICFTU and also WCL members did. On the
contrary, the AFL-CIO was a loyal promotor of the free-market
capitalism in the Third World like for example in Latin America where
the AFL-CIO dominated ORIT, the regional partner of ICFTU, at a
certain moment supported dictatorships and US interventions against
leftist political leaders (Dominican republic and Guatemala). Without
doubt the AFL-CIO functioned during the Cold War as as the promotor
of US interests and its free-market capitalist model.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US">In
the Gabaglio note we read the following about the ETUC: </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>1.3
During the 1960's, the European trade unions of the WCL and the ICFTU
strengthened their cooperation links. Some debates were then opened
in Europe, leading to the creation of the ETUC in 1973. Before
reaching a compromise (the idea met with some hesitation and
resistance by some WCL organisations, the ECFTU (ICFTU's European
regional organisation) became the ETUC, which meant that any WCL
organisation could become an affiliate to this new confederation
created to act as a counterbalance to the development of the EEC
(that later on became the EU). </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>That
is why it was impossible to negotiate the creation of a WCL- specific
space.</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>”
</i></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">Gabaglio
explains here not only why the ETUC always had been dominated by the
ICFTU members but also why trade union pluralism was never on the
agenda of the ICFTU. Everybody with some feeling for international
policy and strategy could understand that in the long run this
anti-pluralism attitude will end in the destruction of the WCL as a
minority. Why the WCL did not make this analysis is a mystery. Was it
because of lack of leadership, confusion about the road to follow or
because European WCL members were losing their spiritual values? May
be </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">a
little bit </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;">of
each? </span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>1.3.
Weakened during World War II (after breaking off relations with
Central and Eastern European organisations and as a consequence of
the creation of single confederations in Germany and Austria, under
the Anglo-American pressure), the WCL gained ground worldwide ,
thanks to the creation of regional organisations or coordination
offices: CLAT in 1954 in Latin America, BATU in 1963 in Asia, UPTC in
1959, FOPADESC in 1973 and finally the DOAWTU in 1993 in Africa.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>1.4
The “industrialized countries” base decreased after the
disaffiliation of:</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
The CFDT in 1973 (replaced by the CFTC France)</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
The NKV in 1978 (which merged with NVV to create FNV Netherlands)</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>-
Quebec's CSN in 1986.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
ideological seduction of socialism was not the only factor that
played a role but sure it was one of the factors why these 3 trade
union federations did leave WCL. Of course it is very ironic that
this happened within more or less two decades before the communist
model based on socialist values in the Soviet Union, center and
Eastern Europe collapsed completely. Also ironic was that the
Christian oriented Solidarnosc trade union in Poland together with
the Polish Pope John Paul II played a decisive role in the fall of
communism. It was the victory of social christian and democratic
values on communist values.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Gabaglio
shows us in the next paragraph that for the ICFTU trade union
pluralism was never important:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>1.6
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the ICFTU exerted some
pressure on the WCL for both organisations to merge, arguing that from
that moment on, trade union pluralism at the international level was
no longer justified.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I
have never had an inside view in the policy kitchen of the ICFTU so I
can only guess what kind of ideas existed within the ICFTU. So let me
guess. Apparently, the Cold War justified international trade union
pluralism (however, for ICFTU trade union pluralism in the Western
world was never important, it was tolerated mainly because it
existed) but now the communist model had collapsed and free-market
capitalism had definitely won, seemingly trade union pluralism had
definitively also come to an end. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What
happened with this intent of merger? Gabaglio tells us the following:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>1.7
After many debates, a proposal was made: the WCL could then become an
organisation (foundation...) aimed at fostering the development of
trade unionism in developing countries (training, debates, financial
aid, and so forth).</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>1.8
Beyond the fact that the debate was obviously far from being closed
(given the wounds opened by ORIT in Latin America during the military
dictatorships), the ICFTU's arrogance also played an essential role
in the failure of the dialogue process. The proposal on the creation
of an organisation focused on the Third World was not accepted.
Neither was the idea of an outright merger.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I
had learned to know the arrogance of the ICFTU during my work in
Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Every
ICFTU representative on every occasion, was it a national trade union
congress, a seminar or a meeting, started with the observation that
the ICFTU with its millions of members is the greatest and the most
important trade union organisation in the world. It never occurred to
these spokesmen that next to the quantity component there is a
quality component, that of vision, values and ideas. It was precisely
the Polish trade union Solidarnosc that showed to Central and Eastern
Europe how important ideas were in the struggle against communism.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-10678470240419087892015-04-13T12:34:00.000+02:002016-06-03T14:42:26.172+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 48 (the building and woodworkers merger)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Oka2ouvqgKlUfsBG9LNBVQMTv1pDqpksv5u3-_ej7nfFu9VKnxnMKu8l-sNWGEEZdwZU66Mv5HdnxoJ8bT1-pD4nY8NHi58LPlRXmKDtymgkNvdydU2xh-WgZCo-bLKpkfUCd284G4pg/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+jackers+en+spek+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Oka2ouvqgKlUfsBG9LNBVQMTv1pDqpksv5u3-_ej7nfFu9VKnxnMKu8l-sNWGEEZdwZU66Mv5HdnxoJ8bT1-pD4nY8NHi58LPlRXmKDtymgkNvdydU2xh-WgZCo-bLKpkfUCd284G4pg/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+jackers+en+spek+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WFBW Secretary General Bert van der Spek (CNV Construction and Wood trade union) <br />and WFBW President Jacky Jackers (ACV Construction and Industries) <br />talking with a delegation of strikers in Indonesia <br />during a WFBW mission in April 2004.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another
document that throws light on the debates about the so called
cooperation and/or merger between ICFTU and WCL organizations is a
note of 12 December 2003 written by Bert van der Spek, Secretary
General of the World Federation of Building of Woodworkers WFBW
affiliated to the WCL. The note was sent by letter of 16 December
2003 to Doekle Terpstra, President of the CNV, to which the Wood and
Construction union of Bert van der Spek is affiliated. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>For
a long time there is pressure from the IFBWW. The pressure exists in
terminating cooperation if the WFBW is not willing to proceed to a
merger. This has been discussed with the Wood and Building Trade
Union CNV. At that time it has been clearly said that a merger is not
on the agenda and that at most there can be cooperation in relevant
fields. ACV/CSC Building and Industry has adopted the same attitude,
although a remark must be made here. ACV/CSC Building and Industry is
under high pressure of ACV /CSC. Within ACV/CSC there are movements
that can lead (and perhaps will lead) to a unification with ICFTU
International Federations. This can become dangerous. ACV/CSC
Building and Wood has chosen not to leave the WFBW but wants more
cooperation with the IFBWW. Wood and Construction CNV can accept
this, however somewhat reluctantly.</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>In
the first place one must take into account the dominance of the
Belgians. They are a strong decisive factor. If they stop engaging in
activities (and money) in the WFBW and consequently WCL, then the
question is whether the Netherlands still can continue in the same
way. Secondly, it is not possible to beat the IFBWW. A certain way of
co-operation can be an alternative and be of advantage for the WFBW
if it is well organized. That advantage can exist of being
represented at the ILO and the World Bank but also the use of
experts.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>On
the 18th of November a delegation of board members of the WFBW (
Jackers, Van der Spek, Nelissen and Bonnewijn) has negotiated with
board members of the IFBWW. Again there was pressure to merge. IFBWW
wished the elimination of IFBWW and WFBW. It was a difficult process
of negotiation. The WFBW confirmed again that a merger is not on the
agenda. There can be searched for a way of cooperation that keeps
intact trade union pluralism. As a result of the (prolonged)
negotiations the following has been established. Obviously this is a
proposal that must be presented at the Congresses (for WFBW in May
2004).”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTZHlehbnfxTW4QPB2WuxuRnN9DzyuBvin222zK1Xp91wi7WK0ztfDGwvmB-_gYSAFqzKLzDgC57z4P6sd56aiZSlI8pVgxAXjZjrPm_41W_qit2BFeAC412M3aCJWiG8HvdGVKfhv0ON/s1600/wvbh+indornesie+spek+jackers+en+spek+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTZHlehbnfxTW4QPB2WuxuRnN9DzyuBvin222zK1Xp91wi7WK0ztfDGwvmB-_gYSAFqzKLzDgC57z4P6sd56aiZSlI8pVgxAXjZjrPm_41W_qit2BFeAC412M3aCJWiG8HvdGVKfhv0ON/s1600/wvbh+indornesie+spek+jackers+en+spek+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WFBW President Jacky Jackers and WFBW Secretary general Bert van der Spek <br />visited a construction factory in Indonesia in April 2004.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The text of the agreement:</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="color: #ea9999; font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">The
presidiums of the International federation of Building and Wood
Workers (IFBWW) and the World Federation of Building and Woodworkers
(WFBW) met on 18 November 2003 in Geneva and discussed further
developments of co-operations based on the letter of intend of 28
January 2003.</span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Both
organisations agreed to start a process leading to a new
international organisation bringing together IFBWW and WFBW and other
potential organisations in our sectors. The intention is that members
of the two organisations become member of the new global
organisation.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>For
the realisation of this project it is proposed to establish a joint
steering committee on the highest level in January 2004 in order to:</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<i><span style="color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>1.
further develop the existing co-operation on ILO and other
international institutions and Multinational Companies to define a
more wide reaching joint action program including a proposal for
financing to be implemented as soon as the terms of agreement have
been established.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>2.
develop statues and new structures for the new global trade union
organisation.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The
WFBW will put forward the proposals for statutes and new structures
for the new global organisations at its World Congress in May 2004
and the IFBWW at its World Congress in December 2005.</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>After these congresses both organisations will define the necessary steps
for the establishment of a new global organisation.”</i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Therefore
there will be a continuation of the independence of the WFBW (and the
IFBWW). Pluralism remains. Cooperation will be intensified and
brought together in a new world organization to which WFBW and IFBWW
will be affiliated.</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>In
this construction, there remains room for WFBW and also a place for
the WCL. For me no lines may be cut to WFBW and WCL. Perhaps there
can be made a comparison with the European Federation of Building and
Wood Workers EFBWW. The independence of CNV Wood and Construction and
FNV Construction continues, while both cooperate as two national
organizations that affiliated to the EFBWW.” </i>(end of the note)</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Incorrect comparison is made in the
last two sentences of the text. It's not about that two unions from
the same country but with a different identity can be members of the
EFBWW, but that the EBFWW itself is not a federation of two different
European trade union organizations, each with their own ideological
identity. This observation brings us back to the problem that from
the outset trade union pluralism has not been institutionalized
within the European trade union organizations, beginning at the ETUC
itself. Rather, the social-democratic oriented unions have opposed institutionalized pluralism on ideological and power political grounds.
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">On the one hand they still cling to
the old idea of the unity of the working class and therefore insist
on the creation of unitary trade union organizations, on the other
hand they believe in trade union pragmatism. Ideological beliefs
about society, government, state, labor other than those laid down in
human rights and ILO conventions would no longer be relevant to trade
union action, which of course in everyday practice is not
sustainable. In this context, the great English miners' strike of
1984-1985 is a perfect example of how two conceptions of state and
society clashed. On one side stood the Thatcher government, on the
other hand, stood the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_of_Mineworkers_(Great_Britain)">National Union of Miners (NUM)</a> under the
leadership of Arthur Scargill.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">However, the most important European
WCL trade unions accepted these ideas about pragmatic and unitary
trade unionism and accepted therefore a unitary ETUC. (see for example also <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2014/05/the-downfall-of-wcl-33-ongoing-story-of.html">'The downfall of the WCL 33 - the ongoing story of the International Trade Federations)'</a> Some WCL
members did not agree. They insisted to form their own WCL fraction
within the ETUC. This was rejected by mainly the Belgian and Dutch
trade union confederations ACV / CSC and CNV. They believed that the
new reality of the European Union asked for more unity of trade
unions, neglecting that the European union is not just a pragmatic
project of cooperation between European states but that it is from
the start a political project. This becomes more and more clear if we
look to the political debates on the future of the European Union
which have become more intense than before.</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-56532825434420351092015-03-31T14:32:00.000+02:002015-03-31T17:56:27.925+02:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 47 (federalization and pluralism)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtoRBaeB0BGwgxKGf2UuOWY8s5KwBOaPUYdArgdL2PhSQk0IRvji-KfQX6LqnIb0kew8_SkS0mV6ghgsC9lNZPzJt02sP1vOUe29oIR6_Ex-CDZgbZbpgudYeFW1xLWeCGQwZ6_U3Nfw5/s1600/wvbh+afrika+jackers+fptbc+congres+aug+2003+lome%CC%81+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtoRBaeB0BGwgxKGf2UuOWY8s5KwBOaPUYdArgdL2PhSQk0IRvji-KfQX6LqnIb0kew8_SkS0mV6ghgsC9lNZPzJt02sP1vOUe29oIR6_Ex-CDZgbZbpgudYeFW1xLWeCGQwZ6_U3Nfw5/s1600/wvbh+afrika+jackers+fptbc+congres+aug+2003+lome%CC%81+BLOG.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Second from right: WFBW President Jacky Jackers at the congress of the </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Panafrican Federation of Wood and Building Workers in Lomé, Togo </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">at the FOPADESC Centre of ODSTA, august 2003</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">About a year
after the WCL World Congress in Rumania more and more was heard about
a possible merger between WCL and ICFTU. It was hard to believe that
the ACV/CSC would agree with a merger because what would they win
with such a merger? In practice the WCL was more or less an extension
of the ACV/CSC which meant that the ACV/CSC could play a bigger role
on international level than what normally could be expected from a
strong confederation in such a small country as Belgium. Of course
the ICFTU could try to isolate the WCL on international level but on
long term this could damage the image of the ICFTU as an
international organization that respects democracy and pluralism.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Besides, what
was there to win for the ACV/CSC by becoming a member of a new big
international trade union organization? Now everybody still listened
to ACV/CSC as one of the most important organisations of the WCL.
What would remain of this ACV/CSC influence at international level if
it was only one of many voices. A voice lost between the powerful
German DGB, the Brittish TUC and above all the North American
AFL/CIO? Asking the question, is answering it.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12y42Xi8Pvq6xM8I3kuYjMNPgclisGfYrLRnPEc4_prFXvLahEhBYs8hB5b9DW_6HN4yGZiPeDINbOMy2nAG02eec5jbsmxfVMAQDmEnuSERKOHl7O3ZQV74my97dbTA5xiOGzuH-KsSU/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+jackers+en+spek+overleg+2april+2004+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12y42Xi8Pvq6xM8I3kuYjMNPgclisGfYrLRnPEc4_prFXvLahEhBYs8hB5b9DW_6HN4yGZiPeDINbOMy2nAG02eec5jbsmxfVMAQDmEnuSERKOHl7O3ZQV74my97dbTA5xiOGzuH-KsSU/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+jackers+en+spek+overleg+2april+2004+BLOG.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> Bert van der Spek, Secretary General and Jacky Jackers, </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">President of the WFBW, talking to trade union leaders </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">of a construction union in Indonesia. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">The union members were on strike because of a wage conflict. April 2004</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first
strong sign that a debate was going on within the ACV/CSC about a
merger of WCL with ICFTU was a letter from President Jacky Jackers of
the World Federation of Building and Woodworkers WFBW addressed to
ACV/CSC President Luc Cortebeeck of 25th october 2003:</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>attitude
WFBW (including ACV Building and Industry) regarding the developments
between WCL / ICFTU and WFBW / IFBWW / EFBW.</b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">1.With regard
to WCL and ICFTU:</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>ACV-BI
stands for more cooperation. Even more, we must not wait longer but
instead take initiative.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
prefer a Federation. In such a system each organization will pay for
activities that have been agreed in advance. We are well aware that
the ICFTU would prefer to talk about a merger!</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Setting
up a new organization so WCL and ICFTU disappear, corresponds to a
merger where only changes the name. Pluralism is not structurally
guaranteed! We believe that the WCL must continue to exist on
confederal level. In Africa, Latin America and Asia, one is not ready
to process further steps.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2. With regard
to WFBW and WCL:</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Here
the central debate is about that the members of WFBW are actually
willing to pay their dues, but they question why the WFBW has to pay
the same amount of dues to the WCL?</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>In
other words one says that the functioning of the WCL does not match
with the investment made, that is to say one chooses very clear for
more resources for trade union action.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3. With regard
to WFBW, IFBWW and EFBW:</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I
mention here also the European Federation because within the IFBWW
one believes that because of the past, the European Federation of
Building and Woodworkers is part of the IFBWW. About pluralism is not
spoken here!</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Some
remarks with regard to the EFBW:</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>1. Since 1989
ACV - BI is a member of the European Federation and has developed
well its place.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>...</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>...</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>2. Since the
last general meeting of the EFBW, the WFBW is recognized. This means
that where you in the past had to be a member of the IFBWW before you
could become a member of the EFBW, now it is allowed to be only a
member of the WFBW.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>3. The
Building & Wood trade union of the ACLVB (the liberal
Confederation) has asked for membership of the EFBW. We as ACV-BI
accept this, but the socialist trade union has inmediately asked the
trade union to become a member of the ...IFBWW! A good start!</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaGj2lU2vRfzxZdNeV1hTQupAJX3EOA2cRx7oCsJAEQ7YB4QaBlUzzzNhpDXKkscJtP-R8Z7ryPHQV4XaUmEth4ZfYhq8k4c0Ndvx1z0XeroLWmD3B0wDlpw3UlHq2o_tB3iIVLTFw1vu/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+bouwvakkers+in+staking+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaGj2lU2vRfzxZdNeV1hTQupAJX3EOA2cRx7oCsJAEQ7YB4QaBlUzzzNhpDXKkscJtP-R8Z7ryPHQV4XaUmEth4ZfYhq8k4c0Ndvx1z0XeroLWmD3B0wDlpw3UlHq2o_tB3iIVLTFw1vu/s1600/wvbh+indonesie+bouwvakkers+in+staking+april+2004+BLOG.jpg" height="416" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Construction workers on strike in Indonesia, april 2004.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>
</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>4. With regard
to WFBW and IFBWW</i></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The
last years there have been several meetings about cooperation. Roel
de Vries, President of the IFBWW, has always insisted on a merger and
was surely not for pluralism.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Tuesday
18/11/2003 there will be another meeting with the IFBWW. Our position
will be: active cooperation (ILO, European Works Councils, World
Works Councils) structured in a Federation to which dues are agreed.
This proposal is also supported by the Netherlands, France and
Suisse.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">According to
this letter the following commitments were proposed to the ACV/CSC
President with regard to the future relations with ICFTU and the
ICFTU oriented International Trade Union Federations:</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">No
merger but the creation of federal structures with the aim to
cooperate as much as possible and to guarantee pluralism on all
levels: confederal level (WCL) as well as on the level of the
International Trade Union Federations.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">It is
expressed explicitly in the letter that the WCL must continue to
exist.</span></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">– <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
continental organizations of Africa, Asia and Latin America are
considered to be not ready for a merger.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-56605230063983393382015-03-22T10:45:00.000+01:002015-03-22T10:45:34.145+01:00ITUC: GLOBALISATION AND INFORMALISATION (part 3)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOb2BDb0Mp_seBn6iTwTMP45bjanjicYitLxLQosQ51qAVqdWSKve4LMSnvWpXUwbn9skXi15_nzyDmvsndCoRVD1ln0fMuCpsCova_t6n-kN_doYFFx4kaJdMfktpGPrhwTbuuyjYNB_O/s1600/ITUC+Quatar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOb2BDb0Mp_seBn6iTwTMP45bjanjicYitLxLQosQ51qAVqdWSKve4LMSnvWpXUwbn9skXi15_nzyDmvsndCoRVD1ln0fMuCpsCova_t6n-kN_doYFFx4kaJdMfktpGPrhwTbuuyjYNB_O/s1600/ITUC+Quatar.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ituc-csi.org/qatar-world-cup-workers-standards?lang=en">An ITUC staged protest</a></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
article on the website of the on-line paper 'Bussiness Standard'
called <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/international-trade-unions-need-to-be-less-combative-encourage-more-interaction-with-workers-114122600503_1.html">“International trade unions need to be less combative,encourage more interaction with workers”</a></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> is a mixture of gossip and some critical opinions, with the main
goal to repudiate the ITUC, especially regarding its actions in the
Gulf region. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>“For
example, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has urged
the United Nations to look into the plight of thousands of migrant
workers in the United Arab Emirates, including those building a new
Louvre Museum and the world's largest Guggenheim, reportedly and
allegedly being treated as slave labour. Elsewhere, this trade union
body has severely criticized Qatar for its failure to give more
rights to the work force and appears relentless in its pursuit to
help strip Qatar of its right to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup. They
have ensured that the campaign is not only relentless, but also
aggressive, and at times, questionable. It was recently pointed out
in a news report that bodies like the ITUC have employed dubious
means during their alleged investigation of workers' conditions.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Strange
enough, in the article there are no facts or data that prove that the
ITUC reports on labor practices in the Gulf region are wrong.
Instead, some spokesman are staged to criticize the ITUC. For example
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">about </span><span style="font-style: normal;">corruption:
</span><span style="color: white;"><i>“</i><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i>A
personnel stationed at the Swiss-based office of ITUC located in the
ILO building in Geneva revealed on the condition of anonymity that,
"in 2013/14, the ILO fired more than 600 employees in an effort
to save costs. ITUC agreed not to lobby the ILO on this issue in
return for maintaining its funding!" </i></span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
the article the observation is made that the ITUC focusses to much on
the organized sectors </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(probably
is meant the formal economic sector)</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:
“</span></span><i>Mr. Krishnamoorthy, a former official with the
ILO, who is now based in Bangalore, in a telephonic conversation,
said trade unions needed to focus more on the unorganized rather than
the organized sectors. He said he would like to see institutions like
ITUC train their attention on what he called "the real deprived
persons", and added that it was his view that such bodies
currently represent just about seven to eight per cent of the work
force.” </i></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSupVYqf2Xl2kGLLfPc-JocAdYuLYvbTlOBNawJMj56RTphSuFMxZ78yvcnVlKNrTzY1m_FvQ14ngc7Ti4VrgV-GxD4ModBUsXuuC6yAL9htxuKri9-HMZSG6IA2GX0HjzYeCK9P38kDM2/s1600/ITUC+Aids+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSupVYqf2Xl2kGLLfPc-JocAdYuLYvbTlOBNawJMj56RTphSuFMxZ78yvcnVlKNrTzY1m_FvQ14ngc7Ti4VrgV-GxD4ModBUsXuuC6yAL9htxuKri9-HMZSG6IA2GX0HjzYeCK9P38kDM2/s1600/ITUC+Aids+day.jpg" height="386" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">International AIDS Day 2011 in front of the International Trade Union House in Brussels, the ITUC headquarters.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Traditionally
trade unions all over the world have always focussed on the formal
contracted industrial worker. It is indeed time to change this focus
because of the changes in the labour force world wide but this is not
easy. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">This starts with the
simple question</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;">'</span><span style="font-style: normal;">how
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to </span><span style="font-style: normal;">organise
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">workers who are informally
working in the streets, in illegal sweatshops, in changing workplaces
and so on</span><span style="font-style: normal;">? Even if you have
the answer on th</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ese</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
question</span><span style="font-style: normal;">s</span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
it costs a lot of time to change th</span><span style="font-style: normal;">e</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
“traditional” trade union culture </span><span style="font-style: normal;">which
is historically directed to what is generally called “the working
class”?</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> It is the same
problem as for example changing the male dominated trade union
culture in a more female friendly culture. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Another
more severe critic is that</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
the ITUC is becoming bureaucratic: </span><span style="color: white;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i>“There
are tendencies of some labor unions to become bureaucratic and for
the union leaders and staff to become detached from the needs and
interests of the rank and file union members. Interestingly, one of
the ways ITUC is funded is through contribution by global affiliates.
Spending money every year to have an organization like ITUC fighting
for your piece of the pie needs to be justified. </i></span><i>INTUC's
Rajendra revealed: "We pay huge amounts of money as annual fees
to ITUC. Sometimes, we even pay half-yearly. We hope we get much more
in turn, in terms of training programs and skill development."</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVd-XJza-IZm20Cpnax_Z-ntsIpOK4Ye4teldUsSVMEx2OqSkjg8aLrhN7Zqg44jfwo7WkQQKFAm4ZSc2TWIGDCYjPBD9AKmxDpzqot-EML5E3MuxmgcEVqymHwVnmOADO3njieiCm9am/s1600/itucuniversity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVd-XJza-IZm20Cpnax_Z-ntsIpOK4Ye4teldUsSVMEx2OqSkjg8aLrhN7Zqg44jfwo7WkQQKFAm4ZSc2TWIGDCYjPBD9AKmxDpzqot-EML5E3MuxmgcEVqymHwVnmOADO3njieiCm9am/s1600/itucuniversity.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Picture taken at the ITUC University in the University of Kwazulu Natal.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">This
kind of critics you hear regularly within and outside the trade union
and especially about international trade unions. It is indeed “a
normal phenomenon” that large -umbrella- organisations like for
example international trade union federations tend to go away from
the rank and file members and become bureaucratic.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
only remedy is that the organisation is clearly structured from
bottom to top and not top to bottom. This includes also a certain
leadership culture, which means that they understand very well that
the only legitimation for their positions and activities are the
member trade unions (so not presidents, employers or other high
placed persons) and that they morally and financially are accountable
to these members. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">However,
leadership includes also having a vision and ideas about what should
be done, what should be priorities and what not, what is relevant for
the future and what not. That makes leadership more complicated than
one might believe. Besides, leadership means also the capacity to
take decisions in difficult circumstances and how to manage the
budget?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What
astonishes that there are no remarks made in the article about the
lack of pluralism in the international trade union movement. It is
well known in politics, in social life and also in the economic field
that a lack of pluralism leads to monopolistic attitudes, to a
culture of arrogance, to a certain kind of bureaucratic way of
thinking and to a lack of dynamism and innovation. It makes even
corruption more easier. Leaders can be “sold” by money or high
(political) positions. That is the reason why open pluralistic
democratic societies are more developed, have less corruption, more
innovation and dynamics of change. And it is certain that what is
true for societies, applies also to (international) trade unions. The
people of “Bussiness Standard” should think about that.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br />
<br />
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-9896378052110379382015-03-16T10:29:00.000+01:002015-03-22T11:35:44.298+01:00A SMALL TRADE UNION HISTORY<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimH5c1zbt1Ei6Rv30CfOW2SL9Fl_6vWmzbJKLdrtrqE7tGznfUsSKoCYZmYHujLARA25rR68-Nmhu7MdX6hMi1azq5AO_pM4cc9Hd_IegabcGvx3oIR1q8B3PGbCCvZyPjWa57J6igG72T/s1600/oscar+semerel+chili+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimH5c1zbt1Ei6Rv30CfOW2SL9Fl_6vWmzbJKLdrtrqE7tGznfUsSKoCYZmYHujLARA25rR68-Nmhu7MdX6hMi1azq5AO_pM4cc9Hd_IegabcGvx3oIR1q8B3PGbCCvZyPjWa57J6igG72T/s1600/oscar+semerel+chili+1.jpg" height="396" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Opening of the World Trade Union Assembly for the defense of the rights of workers against multinational corporations, Santiago de Chile, april 1973. In the centre of the photo is President Allende of Chile. On his left Oscar Semerel from Curacao, representing CLAT. Second on the right side of Allende is Henry Molina from the Dominican republic and also representing CLAT as Deputy Secretary General of CLAT charged with foreign affairs.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">At
the CLAC WOW meeting in Santiago de Chile (</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">see
the BLOG <a href="http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be/2015/01/the-meaning-of-international-trade.html">“The Meaning of International Trade Unionism" </a>) </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">last November I received from Oscar Semerel (trade union leader from
Curacao) two photographs. He showed them with a certain amount of
pride and nostalgia. He told me about an important international
trade union meeting held in the time that the well known Chilean
President Allende was still in power. Oscar was invited to the
meeting of CLAC-WOW in Chile as president of the CLATJUPAM ( Latin
American and Caribbean Federation of pensioned workers and senior
citizens). Probably the visit to Chile had reminded him of the
photo's he had kept so long. Meanwhile, last December during a
congress of the CLATJUPAM in the Dominican Republic, Oscar became
honorary president of CLATJUPAM.*</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1_LXBq_cDnHJkxgQN9YXcPGbJ3Ld-MTRjXOUhPbzM3hAGeofYWqatp0i5JdSj4fzPEJhTwBcGMT3xZO8M_9aPObl3VOTBS5UaQurspiTyankCb6Ds8ax3ZUe26R3CZBMV_nOu7W54hUP/s1600/oscar+semerel+chili+2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1_LXBq_cDnHJkxgQN9YXcPGbJ3Ld-MTRjXOUhPbzM3hAGeofYWqatp0i5JdSj4fzPEJhTwBcGMT3xZO8M_9aPObl3VOTBS5UaQurspiTyankCb6Ds8ax3ZUe26R3CZBMV_nOu7W54hUP/s1600/oscar+semerel+chili+2+.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Oscar Semerel presiding the Assembly meeting (first row, third from left)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both
pictures have been made in April 1973 at the “Asamblea Sindical
Mundial por la defensa de los derechos de los trabajadores frente a
los sociedades multinacionales” ( "World Trade Union Assembly
for the defense of the rights of workers against multinational
corporations") held in Santiago de Chile. Together with Henry
Molina (Deputy Secretary General of CLAT and trade union leader of
the Dominican Republic) he represented at the Assembly the former
Latin American Workers Confederation CLAT. The idea was that Henry
Molina as Deputy Secretary General of CLAT and charged with foreign
affairs would be elected as president of the Assembly, but this was
blocked by the communist World Federation of Trade Unions WFTU
because of “his role in his country”. As a result Oscar was
elected president of the Assembly instead of Henry Molina.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSwkj6nN0U89e5oPwzK2hTTTZNnsXuXRESmkw7Yjn4hWiEllOso2lEtn0-jSgsTWc2_9jaw1ly3FAD9879xJx8xFBd07DwBNjAER_u0XCKjW0puuI4zX56JnAZZtr3V4JmZCayMcUxbYF/s1600/oscar+semerel+3+chili+nov+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSwkj6nN0U89e5oPwzK2hTTTZNnsXuXRESmkw7Yjn4hWiEllOso2lEtn0-jSgsTWc2_9jaw1ly3FAD9879xJx8xFBd07DwBNjAER_u0XCKjW0puuI4zX56JnAZZtr3V4JmZCayMcUxbYF/s1600/oscar+semerel+3+chili+nov+2014.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Oscar Semerel at the CLAC-WOW meeting in Santiago de Chili, 23 of November 2014</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As
you can see on the first photo above, the Assembly was officially opened by
Chilean President Allende (in the centre of the photo). This was 4
month before the violent coup of general Pinochet (11 September
1973). As President of the Assembly Oscar had the honor to stand on
the left side of President Allende. The second on the right side of
Allende is Henry Molina. The third on the left of Allende is Ernesto
Vogel, President of the Chilean Industrial railway Federation and
Vice-President of the Chilean Unitarian Trade Union Confederation
CUTch. In the past he had won the presidential elections within the
CUTch, but as leader of the christian democratic group within the
CUTch, he was not allowed to exercise his presidential functions by a
coalition of the left.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
remembered the history vaguely because at that time I was working
with CLAT Nederland, the Dutch solidarity association with CLAT. We
had an own bimonthly magazine called 'CLAT-Nieuws' (CLAT-News). In
the bimonthly the following was written on this Assembly:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8kpNIbT1PjVyxlBWGANzhdD6-qh9E7p9u8aB2CSIkEmv1DIW8rKCWcltQOanXdeNJ8aBDFC8KS95H2DpTJgDBzwkqY4zOieSYEhcG18UnaJncjurUDHZpH1Xfr4m8d2dxIlGuDTs4dVK/s1600/clat+nieuws+1973+sept+okt+BLOG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8kpNIbT1PjVyxlBWGANzhdD6-qh9E7p9u8aB2CSIkEmv1DIW8rKCWcltQOanXdeNJ8aBDFC8KS95H2DpTJgDBzwkqY4zOieSYEhcG18UnaJncjurUDHZpH1Xfr4m8d2dxIlGuDTs4dVK/s1600/clat+nieuws+1973+sept+okt+BLOG.jpg" height="640" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The front page of the bimonthly magazine 'CLAT News', September-October 1973</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="en-US"><i>The
Chilean unitarian trade union confederation CUTch tried meanwhile to
establish cooperation between the various national and international
labor organizations on a global scale. The Chilean experience with
multinationals had taught them that international solidarity is
important. Between 10 and 15 April this year, she had therefore
organized a conference for all trade unions in the world. At that
congress in Santiago de Chile were 350 delegates gathered from around
the world, who together represented 400 million workers. The ICFTU
did not participate in the conference. She refuses to cooperate with
the communist organizations that were present at the conference. The
ICFTU apparently holds rigidly to its "anti-communist"
line. She still cherishes the cold war ideology while the
multinational companies have forgotten it ... " (CLAT News,
September-October 1973, 4th year number 6, page 14)</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lm6vmckoEyqaLAjsET3PXsCxE3Fd-OimX3LP0pz6HKPHwNvHMS66OxOWa9iYPRV0hgQXk10WRErnbfMuz5BrtwO2n-UzDkeMRMdCenJVghzMSVBcfrbCbe3TsBrbtxPB8KiHokMaQ1mq/s1600/CLATJUPAM+congress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lm6vmckoEyqaLAjsET3PXsCxE3Fd-OimX3LP0pz6HKPHwNvHMS66OxOWa9iYPRV0hgQXk10WRErnbfMuz5BrtwO2n-UzDkeMRMdCenJVghzMSVBcfrbCbe3TsBrbtxPB8KiHokMaQ1mq/s1600/CLATJUPAM+congress.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Photo of the audience at the CLATJUPAM Congress held in the Dominican Republic, December 2014. The right X is the elected President José Gomez Cerda (Dominican Republic), former Secretary General of the WCL Trade Union federation for small farmers and farmworkers FEMTAA. On the left elected Vice-President Eduardo Garcia Moure (</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Venezuela), former Secretary General of CLAT. (photo taken from Facebook message of José Gomez Cerda)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">*
The VII Congress of the Latin American and Caribbean Federation of
pensioned workers, seniors and older people (CLATJUPAM), held in
Santo Domingo, closed yesterday by electing a new Executive Committee
headed by President José Gómez Cerda, (Dominican Republic) and
Vice-President Eduardo García Moure (Venezuela).</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">CLATJUPAM
its activities and actions are inspired by the values and demands of
Pensioned Workers, Senior Citizens and Older People who are seen as
human beings with earned rights from employment and acts autonomous
and independent from political parties, employers, governments and
religions. The values and principles outlined in the Declaration and
Principles are based on the principles of integral humanism.</span></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-30449994485763453382015-03-10T11:40:00.000+01:002015-03-10T11:40:22.099+01:00ITUC: GLOBALISATION AND INFORMALISATION (part 2)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmw3qiN0_KOoTDCaBeItPWwjePBejiMvEh8EUSmE6iHI1S2-PXXeAnY1vR-bqTpDBGE0Gvr8Y3N1K_yEqwEYtsVbhyphenhyphenhSjqbS93WGc6at_5dGlfEa3GdQpyV7OYP0k_Xu1Aze1HQPhrhNWd/s1600/mex+2010+villahermosa+bus+queso+cremq+kopie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmw3qiN0_KOoTDCaBeItPWwjePBejiMvEh8EUSmE6iHI1S2-PXXeAnY1vR-bqTpDBGE0Gvr8Y3N1K_yEqwEYtsVbhyphenhyphenhSjqbS93WGc6at_5dGlfEa3GdQpyV7OYP0k_Xu1Aze1HQPhrhNWd/s1600/mex+2010+villahermosa+bus+queso+cremq+kopie.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Informal trade along the road en Mexico, Villahermosa 2010</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bieler (</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://andreasbieler.blogspot.in/2012/06/trouble-in-international-labour.html">Trouble in the international labour movement: is the ITUC ready for the challenges ahead?</a>) </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">believes that it is not possible to transform the ITUC into an organisation that will be more oriented to the trade unions in the poor countries. Therefore he proposes to organize a Global South: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“The main emphasis should be placed on organising the Global South instead and developing a South-South strategy in the interest of Southern workers through new institutions such as the Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights.”</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Such a proposal is a denial of the ability of mankind to develop a spirit of solidarity between rich and poor, be it on individual level, international trade union level or countries. Mankind has shown through his history that he is more than his socio-economic interests. The human being is also a spiritual being which it makes possible to transcend his own socio-economic interests based on values, visions and beliefs on how society and state should be organised.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Therefore it is very well possible to unite trade unions of rich and poor countries in a spirit of solidarity in one Global Union like the ITUC. But then immediately comes the question of values, visions and beliefs. Because of supposed workers solidarity the ITUC was from the outset against institutionalization of the differences in values, visions and beliefs within the new Global Trade Union. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe this was for former ICFTU members a normal state of affairs, however, for the WCL members this was not the case. On the contrary, for WCL members the spirit of solidarity goes not only beyond the socio-economic interests but includes also values, visions and beliefs. Why WCL leadership gave away this dimension of solidarity at the merger is a mystery that will probably be solved in the future.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrG86R0N63Zco1r3SHGmpROPwsJN4XKTJeQ9fwW4QJncVz-yTN2hRwGHqBlSfNXzh4Sp3m1hZCDsoQZrDf_owtTk5CI23U47-VoPTKezL3unY2_zXjfukh6D_OZ6v7Wokf2HLcpwOPrGa/s1600/afrika+informal+trade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrG86R0N63Zco1r3SHGmpROPwsJN4XKTJeQ9fwW4QJncVz-yTN2hRwGHqBlSfNXzh4Sp3m1hZCDsoQZrDf_owtTk5CI23U47-VoPTKezL3unY2_zXjfukh6D_OZ6v7Wokf2HLcpwOPrGa/s1600/afrika+informal+trade.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Informal trade in gasoline along the road to Cotonou, capital of Benin in West Africa. For the merchant along the way there is no hour or time (2014)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">The second challenge Bieler is writing about, the growing informalization of the global economy is probably a more complicated affaire. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-size: large;">“This re-organisation of the production process around transnational outsourcing and centralisation of decision-making as part of globalisation, together with a huge influx into urban areas particularly in the Global South, has led to an increasing casualisation and informalisation of the global economy, in which permanent, full-time employment contracts have to a large extent become a feature of the past. In a way, ‘it is no longer accurate today’, Dan Gallin argued already in 2001, ‘to describe the informal sector as “atypical”’ (Gallin, 2001: 228). It has increasingly become the norm. This is especially the case in developing countries, which had never been in a position to establish a large industrial sector with permanent and secure employment (Bieler, Lindberg and Pillay, 2008: 266). Nevertheless, informalisation more and more also affects developed countries in the North, where employers are on the offensive and demand a flexibilisation of the labour market with the argument that this would be necessary in order to retain competitiveness. Peter Waterman (<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(53, 67, 83); text-decoration: underline;">2012: 3</span>) estimates that the traditional working class makes up only 15 per cent of the global workforce, with the remaining 85 per cent being part of the informal economy. As the traditional relationship between employer and employee ‘is being replaced by a variety of more diffuse and indirect but nonetheless dependent relationships in the process of production, trade union organising can no longer focus primarily on the employment relationship’ (Gallin, 2001: 233).”</span></i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Bieler believes that the ITUC is not prepared to attack the problem of growing informalization of the global economy, despite the fact that the Indian Self Employed Women’s Association was accepted as affiliate by the ITUC. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #272727; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL-cj7oDZxzhFsg7SDm3TYycF6P-ZSd0YMiuJwrD9hNH847dB2tDp3Uwcevgazq-rvb2Ik_PR5kDwq-eszvn3rePhjk1jNh4ywCCNL9FKO34FS5gavo15O_8RJ0wCiaGVPf9dQ6zn5Gjs/s1600/dom+rep+2010+maritza+en+straatverkopers+conde+dia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL-cj7oDZxzhFsg7SDm3TYycF6P-ZSd0YMiuJwrD9hNH847dB2tDp3Uwcevgazq-rvb2Ik_PR5kDwq-eszvn3rePhjk1jNh4ywCCNL9FKO34FS5gavo15O_8RJ0wCiaGVPf9dQ6zn5Gjs/s1600/dom+rep+2010+maritza+en+straatverkopers+conde+dia.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Street vendors posing together with Maritza Chireno (on the right), President of the Latin American Federation FETRALCOS, in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, 2010. FETRALCOS organizes workers in the Informal Sectors already the nineties in the past century.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #272727; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(39, 39, 39); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Labour Informalization is not an easy challenge, not in the south, not in the north. In the southern part of the world there is a lack of investments to create formal productive jobs and there is no real industrial and agricultural policy. There are many causes for this: unequal and unjust distribution of income, no respect for labor laws, underdeveloped trade unions, poor tax collection, lack of political stability or even worse like (civil) wars, unclear rules on ownership and conflict regulation, corruption, lack of capital, lack of local entrepreneurs and so on. In many of these countries no balance has yet been found between political and economic development together with social justice.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the northern countries the entrance of China on the world market has put pressure on the production costs and therefore also wages. Besides, in countries like China wages are low because there is to little or no freedom of trade union organisation and to negotiate wages. As an answer on this pressure on the production costs, employers in the north respond with outsourcing of work, flexibilisation and automatisation (industrial robots) as ways to lower costs of production. Thanks to the social welfare state, that is the institutionalization of solidarity through social funds, the informal sectors are relatively still small in the north. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But undoubtedly because of these trends, institutionalized solidarity (social security) is under pressure because of high unemployment rates, high labor costs and lately the aging of the population which makes pension systems more costly. How to lower the cost of labor and at the same time maintain the social security systems? At the moment there are two main solutions that are debated. A tax shift from labor to assets to make labor cheaper for employers without affecting the wages. To respond to the aging of the population, the retirement age is moved to 67 years and early retirement possibilities limited.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As we see, there is no global answer to all these problems. The differences between countries are too large, even between the countries of the European Union like for example between Germany and Greece, and even more between the regions in the world. For these reasons it is not easy to manage this in a Global Trade Union. What can be a good economic policy for one country or region, can be bad policy for another country. This makes solidarity on Global level and even on European level difficult and then we have not yet talked about differences in values, visions and beliefs about how society, government and state should be organized to respond effectively to all these problems.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 7px; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">To be continued</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-32623441812025699672015-03-06T15:05:00.000+01:002015-03-06T15:05:04.062+01:00ITUC: GLOBALISATION AND INFORMALISATION
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0FJ0sEDStyWhJFLrVOJLN2IoQeuiMrY4Bp5YcgjiHtUK49q-eFaDANlt1kHkyC839nf2XH8cLSUlMsJq2y8AtQo0w1Yjw3fi2svXQsVLxgQAW9nRufUbwqAdZ90JRxL8Str070hp_7MS/s1600/wva+verbondsbestuur+washington+somavia+ilo_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0FJ0sEDStyWhJFLrVOJLN2IoQeuiMrY4Bp5YcgjiHtUK49q-eFaDANlt1kHkyC839nf2XH8cLSUlMsJq2y8AtQo0w1Yjw3fi2svXQsVLxgQAW9nRufUbwqAdZ90JRxL8Str070hp_7MS/s1600/wva+verbondsbestuur+washington+somavia+ilo_edited-1.jpg" height="394" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">WCL Confederal Board with ILO Director general Somalia as guest speaker, Washington DC 2000.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Some weeks ago, to my big surprise I
read on Wikipedia about the World Confederation of Labor the
following about “Globalization and ITUC merger”:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">“</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>As
</i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>globalization</i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>
became more of a threat to union membership throughout the 1980s and
1990s, the WCL increased its efforts to carry out a similar global
unification of labour leadership. Its 1993 congress in </i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>Mauritius</i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>
attempted to lay out a concrete strategy for responding to business
attacks on organized labour around the world. The WCL soon obtained
consultative status within the </i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>International
Labour Organization</i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>
and joined the International Council of the </i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>World
Social Forum</i></span></span><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-size: 20px;"> (1)</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white;"><span lang="en-US"><i><span style="font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i>The
WCL was formally dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the
</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>
(ICFTU) to form the </i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>International
Trade Union Confederation</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>
(ITUC).</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>Since
the time of merger, many trade unions especially in the Global South
have become disillusioned with the ITUC. The dominant affiliates of
the ITUC are not independent of their ruling classes, even if they
organizationally seem to be, but they are politically tied to the
ruling establishment.</b></i></span><sup><span lang="en-US"><i><b>[7]</b></i></span></sup><span lang="en-US"><i><b>.
The junior employees of </b></i></span><span lang="en-US"><i><b>ITUC</b></i></span><span lang="en-US"><i><b>
are paid minimally and the trade union uses ineffective retired
people to save costs, whereas the management leads a lavish
lifestyle”</b></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYX4ge6KRldEXX0uuH9bq7JAdyRNsn30wclmarIa-o2qLI4yNh0XnCUXQkJGSqaINpjRCOg4h7SaHRNIe4k2Y-Fp-roHVSs3BIS6hmLTQ2eBigWike-jl4YCgJBHZg3Y0I21H3UWzuCDB/s1600/chile+clac+wow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYX4ge6KRldEXX0uuH9bq7JAdyRNsn30wclmarIa-o2qLI4yNh0XnCUXQkJGSqaINpjRCOg4h7SaHRNIe4k2Y-Fp-roHVSs3BIS6hmLTQ2eBigWike-jl4YCgJBHZg3Y0I21H3UWzuCDB/s1600/chile+clac+wow.jpg" height="364" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Participants of the Coordination Meeting of Latijn American federations affiliated to WOW,<br /> Santiago de Chile November 2014.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">The
surprise relates
of course to
the
last 3 sentences of the paragraph above.
However, to
my surprise a few weeks later the
last 3 sentences had disappeared from the Wikipedia article. If
you look to 'view history' (the
knob above the WCL
article
on the right side),
you will find the old<span lang="en-US">
</span>paragraph (25 January).</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
critical passages are based on a blog called <a href="http://andreasbieler.blogspot.in/2012/06/trouble-in-international-labour.html">“Trouble in theinternational labour movement: is the ITUC ready for the challengesahead?”</a> of Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy at the
University of Nottingham/UK (note 7) and an article called
<a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/international-trade-unions-need-to-be-less-combative-encourage-more-interaction-with-workers-114122600503_1.html">"International trade union need to be less combative, encouragemore interaction with workers"</a> in ANI, New Delhi, December 26,
2014 </span><u><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(note
8).</span></u></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dzyT7nE-TtJcl75DLXP3OUoevS6aZNcaXAIcUdcRLMNlsg41op_HdFrtqIZk8Wxu-Dx0kVmnQ1UABTAArRHCFSXJEdPbT0TcUsg-wQYvk9oLfvG6RFI4bhZery4B6GpSfqVcpoW96sV1/s1600/EVV+demonstratie+maart+213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dzyT7nE-TtJcl75DLXP3OUoevS6aZNcaXAIcUdcRLMNlsg41op_HdFrtqIZk8Wxu-Dx0kVmnQ1UABTAArRHCFSXJEdPbT0TcUsg-wQYvk9oLfvG6RFI4bhZery4B6GpSfqVcpoW96sV1/s1600/EVV+demonstratie+maart+213.jpg" height="344" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">European Trade Union demonstration organized by the ETUC, Brussels, March 2013. <br />The French communist trade union confederation CGT was also present.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Bieler
opens his
blog
with the following observation on the merger:</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">“<span lang="en-US"><i>The
establishment of the </i></span><span lang="en-US"><i><u>International
Trade Union Confederation</u></i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>
(ITUC) in November 2006, resulting from a merger of the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World
Confederation of Labour (WCL), was greeted with enthusiasm by labour
movements from around the world. A united, stronger international
trade union promised greater input on global politics towards more
equality. Since then, many trade unions especially in the Global
South have become disillusioned with the ITUC. In this post, I will
assess to what extent the ITUC is prepared for the key challenges of
the global economy in the 21</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i> century.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Bieler
distinguishes two challenges: <span lang="en-US"><i>“</i></span><span lang="en-US"><i>Two
key challenges for the ITUC can be identified in the global economy,
the increasing inequality between developed and developing countries,
between the rich and the poor, and the expanding informal sector of
the economy.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoP7QpHXQtYJ7oJd32m2cHFSUqkGmeQq1cH4AExDX6GVrBl8CQtH0cHp5oz-a9E-WXit_X9rNRiCiKRzdYYiJ3rA7LpU-hhCrrbqz9Ye0xF7OU61ozD7e5T3VN4-mhpF4-gAAs6uD7JgC/s1600/afrika+persconferentie+in+Togo+CSTT+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVoP7QpHXQtYJ7oJd32m2cHFSUqkGmeQq1cH4AExDX6GVrBl8CQtH0cHp5oz-a9E-WXit_X9rNRiCiKRzdYYiJ3rA7LpU-hhCrrbqz9Ye0xF7OU61ozD7e5T3VN4-mhpF4-gAAs6uD7JgC/s1600/afrika+persconferentie+in+Togo+CSTT+2014.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Press Conference at the office of the African Federation FPE, affiliated to WOW. Lomé, Togo, February 2014.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bieler
doubts
whether the Global Union is a truly global union that can accommodate
all unions in the world, either coming from the Northern or the
Southern part of the world. He refers to an attack of COSATU
Secretary General Bongni Masuku on the Northern dominance within the
ITUC.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> “<span lang="en-US"><i>Dominated
by the big four Northern unions AFL-CIO (USA), DGB (Germany), TUC
(Britain) and RENGO (Japan), the ITUC would defend the current system
and safeguard the interests of capital, it is alleged. ‘Despite
much talk about trade union independence, the dominant affiliates of
the ITUC are not independent of their ruling classes, even if they
organisationally seem to be, but they are politically tied to the
ruling establishment, hence their vociferous defence of the system’
(Masuku, 2010: 64). Ultimately, it would be the working classes of
the Global South, who are the victims of this situation, as they are
considered to be affected worst by ‘the viciousness of the global
system’. In other words, the ITUC dominated by big Northern trade
unions, is accused of co-operating with capital in the continuing
exploitation of the South. Unsurprisingly, Southern labour movements
increasingly question the use of the ITUC in the representation of
their concerns.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_aPkcW6EIfzKGV6J843nbF3shNJ5Wxsbx0HcfpbXKBoH-iFcH_s6MUAjPkoXjNeK0mJ9ZMC11BVlKMDlP3BgZ4ukRSqNF9SKEyoD9qsfcEAB7ZOIHi224Mv6zf0pL2LjxAt4Y3EzjIZOI/s1600/BSCWF.5_0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_aPkcW6EIfzKGV6J843nbF3shNJ5Wxsbx0HcfpbXKBoH-iFcH_s6MUAjPkoXjNeK0mJ9ZMC11BVlKMDlP3BgZ4ukRSqNF9SKEyoD9qsfcEAB7ZOIHi224Mv6zf0pL2LjxAt4Y3EzjIZOI/s1600/BSCWF.5_0005.jpg" height="394" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Child Labour School of the BSCWF affiliated to WOW, Bangladesh 2013</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en-US"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">May
be the words used above are a little bit to strong, but there is some
truth in it. Thus I learned during the merger talks that the trade
unions of the South were pressed to agree with the merger under the
threat that they otherwise would not get more financial support. I
also learned that the new structures and rules (statutes) left less
room for trade unions from the south than was usual in the WCL and
its ITF'S.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">The
merger was to a certain degree also Eurocentric because of the
balance of power within the ETUC between the German DGB, the British
TUC, the Scandinavian LO's and to a certain extent the French trade
unions. The main goal was also to integrate as much as possible the
large (ex)communist trade unions of France, Italy, Spain and
Portugal. I believe this was one of the reasons why every intent of
WCL and its ITF's to look for ways to guarantee organized pluralism
within the ITUC and its Global Unions was bluntly rejected.</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;">To
be continued</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US">
<br />
<br />
</div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987059902070100064.post-45499386012310766202015-03-01T10:39:00.000+01:002015-03-01T15:12:23.442+01:00THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 46 (a new federation)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEEA065iPsSQmWKF4nRMzRCK_oVz8G5FUfmDqAKrqiOPmgn4TQafKDB1vg2IujkTssVBQciLebpG2LD4_SX3KZhzEg4jMty55moHrnWc8EQSVql_jR6K4EVZUpANwzQG0BpiXtzHSvaaM/s1600/wvbh+afrika+fptbc+congres+lome+2003+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEEA065iPsSQmWKF4nRMzRCK_oVz8G5FUfmDqAKrqiOPmgn4TQafKDB1vg2IujkTssVBQciLebpG2LD4_SX3KZhzEg4jMty55moHrnWc8EQSVql_jR6K4EVZUpANwzQG0BpiXtzHSvaaM/s1600/wvbh+afrika+fptbc+congres+lome+2003+blog.jpg" height="640" width="514" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Together with Jacques Jouret (President of the ITF Textile & Cloithing) Jacky Jackers <br />
(President of ITF Construction and Wood) was the initiator for the establishment<br />
of an independent and autonomous secretariat 'trade action'. <br />
The photo was taken during the Congress of the Pan-African Federation of Building and Wood in Lomé 2003</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">Since the memorandum of General Secretary Willy
Thys about the International Federations, the relations between the
Presidents and the WCL General Secretary had not improved ( see: The
Downfall of the WCL 38, trade union action paper
http://internationalworkers.blogspot.be
/2014/08/the-downfall-of-wcl-38-trade-union.html ). The problems
between the International Federations and the WCL existed already at
the WCL World Congress in Mauritius in 1993. The International
Federations felt that they received too little support from the
secretariat despite their generous contributions to the WCL.
Therefore, the Congress decided that the WCL would make available to
the Professional Action 3 full time Executive Secretaries. During the
Congress, a start was made through the election of a second Executive
Secretary in the person of Dirk Uyttenhoven coming from ACV Textile.
Thus there were 1.5 Executive Secretaries, including myself as a half
Executive Secretary. However, to 3 full time Executive Secretaries it
never came in all the years until 2000.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNxbssEHD7DzBOtNdzcu7lyYKJubvMgdLjVqvn6E5mDx-IMaBuan5P4MnT9eFNAuQ-b8crDFESkg9pbG1XnXVGPIS78D22m70sRdVFxINDjpLe3_7ZoHzGWJo9dTbNvq7aUCI6u_GISsl/s1600/iftk+congres+thijs+jouret+dirk+jaap+j+doorn+2003+blog+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNxbssEHD7DzBOtNdzcu7lyYKJubvMgdLjVqvn6E5mDx-IMaBuan5P4MnT9eFNAuQ-b8crDFESkg9pbG1XnXVGPIS78D22m70sRdVFxINDjpLe3_7ZoHzGWJo9dTbNvq7aUCI6u_GISsl/s1600/iftk+congres+thijs+jouret+dirk+jaap+j+doorn+2003+blog+.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">In the front row third from right WCL Secretary general Willy Thys. Behind him on his right side IFTC President Jack Jouret. <br />The second left of Jouret is Dirk Uyttenhoven, once an Executive Secretary of the WCL for the International Trade Federations. <br />The photo has been taken at the IFTC World Congress in Doorn, Netherlands 2003.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">For President Jacky Jackers of the World
Federation of Building and Wood (WFBW) and Jack Jouret of the
International Federation of Textile and Clothing (IFTC) this was an
eyesore. Add to that the differences about the affiliation policy
between them and the WCL General Secretary and it becomes
understandable that the two Presidents were looking for a way out by
establishing a common secretariat, independent of the WCL and
autonomous. They decided to invite the World Federation of Industrial
Workers (WFIW) as so-called "market oriented trade union"
to participate The recently elected WFIW chairman Jaap Wienen was
prepared to join the 2 International Trade Federations (ITF's) in
this common secretariat. For not entirely clearly reasons, the World
Federation of Clerical Workers ( WFCW) WVB, although a white-collar
union but also a “market oriented trade union” was not invited,
despite insistence on my part. Given the poor relations between the
WCL Secretary General and myself, it will surprise nobody, that I
agreed with the creation of such an independent secretariat of the
mentioned 3 ITF's.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQWDgp_MXEXnqrhSHSpR0LUClfKdfqhb2D2pKGu_NDyuJMv_Xg7ykmqCKp3R8GvVz5E6JLVJCkE_c4F1g0_QOgGFQrUHMsN9awqELNMe-wjNYDEEyrrcpqMYs5fEaFy7UmE5_JRv4ZwJi/s1600/WIB+bestuur+congres+Doorn+2000+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQWDgp_MXEXnqrhSHSpR0LUClfKdfqhb2D2pKGu_NDyuJMv_Xg7ykmqCKp3R8GvVz5E6JLVJCkE_c4F1g0_QOgGFQrUHMsN9awqELNMe-wjNYDEEyrrcpqMYs5fEaFy7UmE5_JRv4ZwJi/s1600/WIB+bestuur+congres+Doorn+2000+blog.jpg" height="348" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Executive Board of the World federation of Industrial Workers. From left to right: <br />Leon Van Haudt (finances), Fons van Genechten (secretary general), Jaap Wienen (president), <br />Carlos Gaitan (vice-president) and Piet Nelissen (executive secretary).</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">On January 1, 2000 came into force which was
simply called the Federation. The three Federation members - WFBW,
IFTC and WFIW - paid from that time on not anymore membership fees to
the WCL. However, ACV/CSC Building & Industry continued to pay
its voluntary annual contribution to the WCL. However, the WCL was
expected to provide a number of previously defined services:</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">- Connection of the Secretariat of the Federation
on the computer network of the WCL with corresponding services.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">- WCL makes available his mailing address for the
Secretariat, as well as telephone and fax.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">- WCL provides translation of the documents that
are presented by the Secretariat</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">- WCL provides administrative financial services
to the Federation.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">- Under the supervision of the Executive Secretary
(Piet Nelissen) WCL provides support for the administration of the
staff.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL97H1dIGTKinl0AxQGPajX2baUVmpWqOnCcTNN1cv1z8uR00FLnkO8x7L-QGVeXI7Z-dXejl6TvyZR0L6WLrqILkCptlhHawiLnuY9ISLB3tIPYHId90BjLGoQBgl1cMxTNeOqbCGxiGG/s1600/wvb+roel+isabelle+nebeyu+minister+benin+audientie+sg+cgtb+2000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL97H1dIGTKinl0AxQGPajX2baUVmpWqOnCcTNN1cv1z8uR00FLnkO8x7L-QGVeXI7Z-dXejl6TvyZR0L6WLrqILkCptlhHawiLnuY9ISLB3tIPYHId90BjLGoQBgl1cMxTNeOqbCGxiGG/s1600/wvb+roel+isabelle+nebeyu+minister+benin+audientie+sg+cgtb+2000.jpg" height="452" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Visiting the Minister of Labour of Benin (2000). From left to right: Nebeyu Shone (director coordination office CNV </span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>International), <br />Isabelle Vos (assistant-secretary ITF's secretariat) and Roel Rotshuizen (president World Federation of Clerical Workers)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">The three Federation Members agreed on a mutual
key for the distribution the costs of the Secretariat. The
Secretariat consisted of a full-time Executive Secretary and two
assistants / secretaries. Each International Federation would finance
its own activities as there are statutory meetings, seminars,
regional meetings, conferences etc. Obviously, the Federation relied
on other NGOs for the co-financing of activities in the continents as
for example CNV International. The Executive Secretary of the
secretariat of the Federation continued to attend the usual weekly
coordination meetings of the WCL. The WCL General Secretary on his
turn continued to attend the coordination meetings of the Presidents
of the International Federations, the so-called Trade Action
Committee CAP.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">On the 25th WCL World Congress in Romania (20-27
October 2001) WFIW Chairman Jaap Wienen (boardmember of the CNV
Industrial Trade Union) was elected WCL Deputy General Secretary.
Under his leadership, a major three-year project was launched to
strengthen the WCL international trade union federations (ITF's),
funded by CNV International. Talks about the project had already
started from 1999 onwards until the WCL Congress (memorandum of Jaap
Wienen to Jack Jouret as the President of the 'Trade Action
Committee' January 7, 1999). The project was a so-called "training
the trainers" project. The project provided training programs
for key members of the trade union federations (trade action) in the
continents who in turn could train other people of the federations in
Africa, Asia and Latin America. The courses covered a wide field of
skills, from communications to administration, from management to
decision-making. The technical implementation was in the hands of
three specially recruited staff members and a secretarial assistant,
all managed by Jaap Wienen.</span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western">
<span style="font-size: large;">Although Jaap Wienen himself as chairman of the
WFIW had supported the establishment of the Federation of the 3
ITF's, the project for the strengthening of the Trade Action was
held totally outside the ITF's. In practice, it was a WCL project
carried out with the help of the regional WCL organizations in the
continents. The ITF's could only give advice through the WCL Trade
Action Committee (CAP) and through their Executive Secretaries.This
structure - political and financial – with the Deputy General
Secretary of the WCL as a project manager reinforced the centralized
nature of the WCL secretariat instead of strengthening the structures
and the networks of the ITF's. This was not only contrary to the WCL
professed principle of subsidiarity but worsened also the already
existing confusion between the regional organizations and the
regional federations affiliated to the ITF's. The International
Federations stood practically with empty hands.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
petrus nelissenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518968932430894100noreply@blogger.com0