Showing posts with label world confederation of labour WCL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world confederation of labour WCL. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WCL 47 (federalization and pluralism)

Second from right: WFBW President Jacky Jackers at the congress of the 
Panafrican Federation of Wood and Building Workers in Lomé, Togo 
at the FOPADESC Centre of ODSTA, august 2003

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.

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.

 Bert van der Spek, Secretary General and Jacky Jackers, 
President of the WFBW, talking to trade union leaders 
of a construction union in Indonesia. 
The union members were on strike because of a wage conflict. April 2004

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:

“attitude WFBW (including ACV Building and Industry) regarding the developments between WCL / ICFTU and WFBW / IFBWW / EFBW.

1.With regard to WCL and ICFTU:
– ACV-BI stands for more cooperation. Even more, we must not wait longer but instead take initiative.
– 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!
– 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.


2. With regard to WFBW and WCL:
– 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?
– 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.


3. With regard to WFBW, IFBWW and EFBW:
– 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!


– Some remarks with regard to the EFBW:
1. Since 1989 ACV - BI is a member of the European Federation and has developed well its place.
...
...
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.
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!

Construction workers on strike in Indonesia, april 2004.


4. With regard to WFBW and IFBWW
– 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.
– 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.”


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:

– 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.
– It is expressed explicitly in the letter that the WCL must continue to exist.
– The continental organizations of Africa, Asia and Latin America are considered to be not ready for a merger.

Friday, December 9, 2011

OLD LABOUR TRIES TO OUST CLAC FROM ITUC

 
Below you find a press release in English, German, Spanish and French of the Christian Labour Association of Canada – CLAC which speaks for itself. You can find more information on the website of CLAC.


A continuación encontrará un comunicado de prensa en Inglés, alemán, español y francés de la Asociación Cristiana de Trabajo de Canadá - CLAC, que habla por sí mismo. Usted puede encontrar más información en la página web de la CLAC.


Ci-dessous vous trouverez un communiqué de presse en anglais, allemand, espagnol et français de la Christian Labour Association of Canada - CLAC qui parle pour lui-même. Vous pouvez trouver plus d'informations sur le site Internet de la CLAC.



Nachfolgend finden Sie eine Pressemitteilung in Englisch, Deutsch, Spanisch und Französisch der Christian Association of Labour Kanada - CLAC die für sich spricht. Sie finden weitere Informationen auf der Website der CLAC.

25-11-2011 
  ***
Mississauga, ON—CLAC is outraged at the decision of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to suspend CLAC’s membership for presenting itself as an alternative trade union in Canada.

ITUC has caved in to demands by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to attack CLAC because it is afraid of the competition of a modern, progressive union that focuses on its members. ITUC’s decision and its kangaroo court process are a clear indication that it is unable to escape the stranglehold of old time unionism.

Despite appearing before an ITUC delegation to answer questions and presenting voluminous evidence in its defense, CLAC was denied an opportunity to challenge the accuracy of the delegation’s report to ITUC’s General Council on which it based its decision. CLAC’s suspension will be reviewed at ITUC’s next Congress in May 2014. Membership in ITUC can only be decided by the Congress.

CLAC is appalled at the lack of ethics of some ITUC members who leaked news of the General Council’s decision before it was communicated to CLAC. Further, Ken Georgetti, president of the CLC, sits as vice-president on ITUC’s executive board—a clear conflict of interest.

There was hope in 2006 that the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions with the World Confederation of Labour to form the new, more broadly based ITUC would breathe new life into an archaic and ineffective approach for workers’ rights. Today, we know that ITUC’s leaders are made up of the same old, irrelevant ideologues who cling to an out-dated model of labour relations whose days are numbered. How can ITUC maintain any sense of credibility or relevance when it seeks to oust CLAC—a union recognized by government labour boards across Canada—but believes the state-controlled unions in labour unfriendly countries such as Russia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and Eritrea are just fine?

CLAC refuses to succumb to these Old Labour style tactics. CLAC put the ITUC’s platitude of “union pluralism” to the test and it failed miserably. CLAC continues to believe firmly in the rights of workers to make informed choices regarding which union they want to join and what working agreements they want to work under.

We believe that healthy competition between unions for the loyalty of workers is a good thing that will make unions better and more responsive to their needs. It is not a race to the bottom but a race to be the best. CLAC will continue to work hard for the betterment of unions, members, and the working conditions of all Canadians—with or without ITUC.
 ***

Mississauga, Ontario – La CLAC expresa su indignación por la decisión de la Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI) de suspender la afiliación de la CLAC por presentarse como un sindicato alternativo en Canadá.

La CSI cedió ante las reivindicaciones del Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) de atacar a la CLAC por miedo a la competencia de un sindicato moderno y progresista que se centra en los intereses de sus miembros. La decisión de la CSI y su proceso judicial montado de toda pieza indican claramente que no está en condiciones para evitar quedar maniatada por el antiguo sindicalismo.

A pesar de que compareciera ante una delegación de la CSI para responder a las preguntas y de que presentara numerosas pruebas en su defensa, a la CLAC se le negó la oportunidad de impugnar la exactitud del informe de la delegación sometido al Consejo General de la CSI en el que basó su decisión. La suspensión de la CSI será objeto de una revisión durante el próximo Congreso de la CSI en mayo de 2014. La afiliación a la CSI sólo puede ser decidida por el Congreso.

La CLAC expresa su consternación por la falta de ética por parte de algunos miembros de la CSI que divulgaron la decisión del Consejo General antes de ser comunicada a la CLAC. Además, Ken Georgetti, Presidente del CLC, es miembro del Buró Ejecutivo de la CSI como Vicepresidente – un conflicto de intereses evidente.

En 2006, había esperanzas de que la fusión entre la Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres y la Confederación Mundial del Trabajo, que desembocó en la formación de la nueva CSI más amplia, insuflara nueva vida a un enfoque arcaico e ineficaz de los derechos de los/las trabajadores/as. Hoy en día, sabemos que los dirigentes de la CSI cuentan con los mismos antiguos ideólogos irrelevantes que se aferran a un modelo anticuado de relaciones laborales cuyos días están contados. ¿Cómo puede la CSI mantener la credibilidad o relevancia al pretender expulsar a la CLAC – un sindicato reconocido por los consejos de trabajo del Gobierno en todo Canadá – y considerar que todo va bien en los sindicatos controlados por el Estado en varios países antisindicales, como Rusia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe y Eritrea?

La CLAC se niega a sucumbir a esta antigua táctica sindical. La CLAC ha sometido a prueba la perogrullada del “pluralismo sindical” de la CSI, y fracasó de manera lamentable. Sigue creyendo firmemente en los derechos de los/las trabajadores/as de poder elegir con conocimiento de causa al sindicato al que deseen afiliarse y los acuerdos laborales con los que quieran trabajar.

Consideramos que una competencia sana entre sindicatos por la lealtad de los/las trabajadores/as contribuye a mejorar los sindicatos y a que respondan mejor a sus necesidades. No se trata de una carrera descendente sino de una carrera para ser el mejor. La CLAC seguirá trabajando duro para mejorar los sindicatos, los miembros y las condiciones laborales de todos los canadienses – con o sin la CSI.
 ***
 
Mississauga, Ontario – La CLAC est indignée par la décision de la Confédération syndicale internationale (CSI) de suspendre l’affiliation de la CLAC pour s’être présentée en tant que syndicat alternatif au Canada.

La CSI a cédé aux demandes du Congrès du travail du Canada (CTC) d’attaquer la CLAC dans la mesure où il craint la concurrence d’un syndicat moderne et progressiste axé sur les intérêts de ses membres. La décision de la CSI et sa parodie de processus judiciaire indiquent clairement qu’elle n’est pas en mesure de sortir du carcan du syndicalisme d’autrefois.

Bien qu’elle ait comparu devant une délégation de la CSI pour répondre aux questions et qu’elle ait fourni de nombreuses preuves de défense, la CLAC a été privée de l’occasion de contester l’exactitude du rapport de la délégation soumis au Conseil général de la CSI, sur lequel la CSI a basé sa décision. La suspension de la CLAC fera l’objet d’une révision lors du prochain Congrès de la CSI en mai 2014. L’affiliation à la CSI relève de la seule décision du Congrès.

La CLAC est consternée par le manque d’éthique de certains membres de la CSI qui ont divulgué la décision du Conseil général avant d’être communiquée à la CLAC. En outre, Ken Georgetti, président du CTC, siège au Bureau exécutif de la CSI en qualité de vice-président – un conflit d’intérêts évident.

On pouvait espérer, en 2006, que la fusion entre la Confédération internationale des syndicats libres et la Confédération mondiale du travail menant à la fondation de la nouvelle CSI, plus large, insuffle un nouvel élan à une approche archaïque et inefficace des droits des travailleurs/euses. Aujourd’hui, nous savons que les dirigeants de la CSI regroupent les mêmes anciens idéologues inappropriés s’accrochant à un modèle dépassé de relations de travail dont les jours sont comptés. Comment la CSI peut-elle conserver sa crédibilité ou pertinence en cherchant à expulser la CLAC – un syndicat reconnu par les conseils du travail du gouvernement dans tout le Canada – et en considérant que tout va bien au sein des syndicats contrôlés par l’État dans plusieurs pays antisyndicaux, notamment la Russie, le Venezuela, le Zimbabwe et l’Érythrée?

La CLAC refuse de succomber à cette vieille tactique syndicale. La CLAC a mis à l’épreuve la platitude du « pluralisme syndical » de la CSI, qui a échoué lamentablement. La CLAC continue de croire fermement dans le droit des travailleurs/euses d’effectuer des choix éclairés quant au syndicat auquel ils souhaitent s’affilier et aux contrats de travail sous lesquels ils veulent travailler.

Nous considérons qu’une saine concurrence entre les syndicats par esprit de loyauté envers les travailleurs/euses contribue à rendre les syndicats meilleurs et plus réceptifs à leurs besoins. Il ne s’agit pas d’un nivellement par le bas mais d’une compétition pour être le meilleur. La CLAC poursuivra ses efforts pour améliorer les syndicats, les membres et les conditions de travail de tous les Canadiens – avec ou sans la CSI.
*** 

 
Mississauga, ON—CLAC ist empört über die Entscheidung des Internationalen Gewerkschaftsbunds (IGB), die Mitgliedschaft von CLAC zu suspendieren, weil CLAC sich in Kanada als alternative Gewerkschaft aufgestellt hat.

Der IGB hat den Anforderungen des Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) nachgegeben, CLAC aus Angst vor dem Wettbewerb einer modernen, progressiven Gewerkschaft anzugreifen, die sich auf ihre Mitglieder konzentriert. Die Entscheidung des IGBs und der Femegerichtsprozess sind ein klares Indiz dafür, dass der IGB sich dem Würgegriff eines Gewerkschaftswesens alter Zeiten nicht entziehen kann.

Trotz dem Vorsprechen vor einer IGB Delegation zur Beantwortung von Fragen und trotz dem Vorlegen voluminöser Beweise zur Verteidigung wurde CLAC die Gelegenheit verweigert, die Genauigkeit des Berichtes der IGB Delegation an den Generalrat des IGB anzufechten, auf den die Suspendierungsentscheidung gründet. Die Suspendierung der CLAC Mitgliedschaft wird zum kommenden IGB Kongress im Mai 2014 überprüft werden. Mitgliedschaft beim IGB kann alleine durch den Kongress beschlossen werden.

CLAC ist entsetzt über den Mangel an Ethik gewisser IGB Mitglieder, die Neuigkeiten zur Entscheidung des Generalrates durchsickern ließen, noch bevor sie CLAC mitgeteilt wurden. Darüber hinaus sitzt Ken Georgetti – Präsident des CLC – als Vizepräsident im IGB Vorstand – ein eindeutiger Interessenkonflikt.

2006 kam die Hoffnung auf, dass die Fusion des Internationalen Bundes Freier Gewerkschaften mit dem Weltverband der Arbeitnehmer zu einem neuen, breiter ausgerichteten IGB einer archaischen und ineffizienten Auffassung der Arbeitnehmerrechte neues Leben einflössen würde. Heute wissen wir, dass die Leiter des IGBs den gleichen alten, irrelevanten Ideologien nachstreben, die sich an ein ausrangiertes Modell von Arbeitsverhältnissen klammern, dessen Tage gezählt sind. Wie kann der IGB Glaubwürdigkeit oder Relevanz wahren, wenn er einerseits versucht, CLAC zu verdrängen – eine Gewerkschaft, die durch Regierungsarbeitsbehörden in ganz Kanada anerkannt ist – und anderseits der Überzeugung ist, dass staatlich kontrollierte Gewerkschaften in Arbeitnehmer unfreundlich gesinnten Ländern wie Russland, Venezuela, Simbabwe und Eritrea ganz gut sind?

CLAC weigert sich, diesen ‘Old Labour’ Taktiken zu erliegen. CLAC legte den Gemeinplatz der IGB Platitude von ‚gewerkschaftlichem Pluralismus’ auf den Prüfstand und der IGB scheiterte kläglich. CLAC glaubt weiterhin fest an die Rechte der Arbeitnehmer/innen, fundierte Entscheidungen darüber treffen zu können, welcher Gewerkschaft sie beitreten und unter welchen Vereinbarungen sie arbeiten wollen.

Wir sind davon überzeugt, dass ein gesunder Wettbewerb zwischen Gewerkschaften sich im Sinne der Loyalität der Arbeitnehmer/innen auswirkt und die Gewerkschaften verbessern und ihre Verantwortung gegenüber den Bedürfnissen verstärken wird.
Es geht sich nicht darum, den Gegner niederzumachen, sondern um den Wettlauf für das Beste. CLAC wird weiterhin hart an der Verbesserung der Gewerkschaften, der Mitglieder und der Arbeitsbedingungen aller Kanadier/innen arbeiten – mit oder ohne IGB.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

REMEMBER JAN JERZY KULAKOWSKI

Jan jerzy Kulakowski (1930 - 2011)
Recently I was informed by a former colleague of the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) that the former secretary general of the WCL, Jan Jerzy Kułakowski, had passed away in Warsaw, Poland on 25 June 2011 following a long illness. He was 81 years of age.


Jan Kułakowski had a remarkable career. And during his career he never forgot about his Polish background. How could he? In 1944, when he was fourteen years old, he took part in the uprising in Warsaw as a Liaison Officer of the BASZTA Regiment. After the war he fled to Belgium where he studied Law at the Catholic University of Leuven. After his Doctor degree he joined the Belgian Christian Trade Union ACV.

From 1976 to 1989 Jan Kułakowski worked as Secretary General of the Social Christian oriented WCL. Before that he had been the General Secretary of the European Organization of the World Confederation of Labour. This European Organisation was disbanded (1976) because the WCL member-unions became affiliated to the in 1973 founded European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Exactly 40 years after the WCL itself was disbanded itself. Together with the Socialist-oriented International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) they merged into the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Vienna, Austria (2006).

Personally, I have spoken only occasionally with Jan Kułakowski. In the mid-seventies I was approached by him to join the WCL. In the ensuing conversation I got to know him as an amiable and modest man. Shortly after, however, I got the opportunity to be appointed as an assistant in a project of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Costa Rican Institute for Land Reform in Costa Rica. Since I wanted to gain more international experience, I decided to accept this opportunity.

Our next conversation took place many years later (1995) during a reception at his home in Brussels. In the meantime he had become Ambassador of Poland to the EU, while I had become Confederal Secretary of the WCL. During the conversation we merely exchanged pleasantries on politics and the WCL. At the reception I also had a lengthy conversation with the British trade unionist John Monks, who later was elected as General Secretary of the ETUC (2003). My plea for international trade union pluralism fell in arid soil. As I expected he was more orientated towards class-struggle and therefore focused more on unity than on plurality.

In the eighties of the last century Jan Kułakowski was very involved with the struggle of the Polish trade union Solidarnosc against the Polish Communist dictatorship. As Secretary General of the WCL Kułakowski organized strong international support for Solidarnosc. Particularly in the period that it was banned from public life by the Polish Communist Government. At the end Solidarnosc succeeded to defeat the Communist Government through peaceful actions. After the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, he became the first Polish Ambassador to the EU. As such, he was closely involved in the negotiations on Poland's accession to the EU. Because of his involvement and commitment to solidarity, he was appointed as honorary member of Solidarnosc. Later he became an Member of the European Parliament for Poland (2004-2009).

As has been stated by President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, Jan Kułakowski was a great Pole, “who was also a distinguished and respected European diplomat, intellectual and humanist. His name is a symbol for Poland’s accession to the EU. Jan Kułakowski was also among his people’s first representatives in the European Parliament”.

Jan Kułakowski was a great European and International trade unionist who believed in international solidarity strongly supporting Solidarnosc when it was needed most. We should not forget him.

With thanks to reporting by: ACV, Euronews, European Commission, European Liberals and Democrats

(To be continued)