Young workers' blog

The union for workers at the Autonomous Port of Lomé (SYNTRAPAL) conducted a training seminar for its members, including its "Young Workers".

The seminar had the following as its topic: Synatrapal for a better union education in order to increase the profitability of the port [of Lomé].

This seminar allowed members,  above all young workers, to get to grips with how the union was formed and the the core purpose of a union, along with the rights and responsibilities of the worker.

The young workers left the seminar much better educated.

The Young Workers expressed their strong desire that the ITF - in its training programme - could enrol them so that they would be better equipped.

Young trade unionists who met at the European Social Forum’s young workers’ conference in Izmir in Turkey last week wrote individual letters to the UPS chief executive officer to protest against the company’s union-busting activities in Turkey. Some 119 workers have been dismissed for their trade union activities.

The letters of protest were put into a box, along with union flags from different countries. The young workers also visited the UPS picket line in Izmir, where employees were protesting, to show their solidarity with the dismissed workers. The UPS manager refused to accept the box.

Activists from the Turkish ITF affiliate TUMTIS, which represents the workers, said that they were glad that the young workers’ conference had looked into their dispute and showed moral support.

Since then, shootings have been reported at a picket line protest in Istanbul, Turkey. To find out more go to ITF condemns shootings and further dismissals at UPS in Turkey.

There is also a video clip direct from the picket line in Istanbul.

The 1st Federal Youth School of the Public Services Federation was held on 3rd, 4th and 5th June in Valencia, Spain. Under the slogan “Rewrite your role”, about eighty young delegates (male and female) from throughout the country met in the city of Valencia to discuss the role of young workers in the union Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.)

The lectures and workshops addressed various aspects of union life: the history of CC.OO, the role of collective bargaining, equality policies within the Public Services Federation (women, immigrants and LGBT policies) as well as the role of the Public Services Federation. 

Prominent among the workshops were: how to negotiate equality plans within businesses, sustainable mobility, occupational health, union elections, employment regulation procedural processes and collective bargaining.

There was also time for some fun, to which end a “Festival of Alternatives” had been organised.

To read the article in Spanish, please see attached document below

NOTABLOGITF.pdf  (11 KB)

On 10-13 June 2010, more than 400 participants attended the 'Next Up' conference, the AFL-CIO’s first-ever Young Workers Summit held in Washington.

They developed a game plan for the future that focuses on making sure young union leaders and activists are taken seriously and their ideas are heard at all levels of the union movement.

In reports to the conference’s closing session, the breakout groups recommended and called for increased mentoring programs to help young union members grow into leadership roles and establishing a national youth mobilization effort as an AFL-CIO priority.

The young workers also called for:

• Organizing a Next Up constituency group.
• Holding a national youth summit each year.
• Opening up seats for the Next Up generation on national, state federation and central local body boards.
• Creating an internship website with information on national, state and local opportunities.
• Creating blogs that highlight best practices for involving young workers.
• Re-branding the union movement to appeal to a wider audience.

For more information please visit the AFL-CIO 'Next up' page.

Alternatively, visit their facebook page here.

To view their video on youtube please click here.

This new product by APYouthNet is a new means of reaching out to young workers. It will summarise and bring you up to speed on the latest and greatest things that are happening in the community. It  will provide you with the most recent events, highlight new resources, and showcase any news about projects/programmes from members.

Please find attached below the first edition.

apyn updates.pdf  (641 KB)

As its contribution to the Youth Month commemoration activities, COSATU hosted a Young Workers Seminar on 9 June in Johannesburg.

The Seminar, which drew scores of young workers, including shop stewards from COSATU affiliated unions, focused on among other things, youth unemployment, strategies for organising young workers, and initiatives that trade unions have embarked upon to organise young workers.

The delegates at the seminar were unanimous in raising the importance of creating young workers’ structures within the unions to ensure that when young people take membership of a union their voices will be heard.

According to a study conducted by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), younger workers are less likely to be hostile to unions even though they are also less likely to be members.  NALEDI’s survey also indicated that 40% of younger workers say they don’t belong to a union because there is no union in their work place. 

During the discussions there was a general consensus among the young workers that youth groups or structures within the unions must be established to raise the voice of young workers and to build networks of young activists.

The seminar also deliberated on exploring alternative ways of communicating, networking and raising awareness, using web-based and electronic communication.  Other forms of organising that were explored include using popular culture, art, poetry, film music and sport activities.  By so doing, the young workers will be communicating in the language that they understand.

The seminar also noted that there was a strong need to build links with students, through the student movement and educational institutions with a view to introducing students to trade unions. 

In a bid to ensure that young workers’ voices are heard, COSATU affiliated unions have embarked on various initiatives including establishing youth desks, youth networks, student unions and targeted recruitment campaigns.  

Thanks to Tim Beaty (IBT) for highlighting the work that young organisers such as Ben Speight do in the field of Global Delivery. Ben works in Atlanta and has used his position as a shop steward as springboard to organise more workers at UPS. In the link, he illustrates the sense of identity that being a union member can give a young worker and of the need to educate people as to what a union is.
 
link: http://teamstermagazine.com/marathon-justice
 
Courtesy of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

On 21 May 2010, a Boeing 737 Air India Express plane crashed in Mangalore as it overshot the runway. In this tragedy 158 men, women and children lost their lives. By a miracle, eight people managed to survive. None of the four young cabin crew members, who were members of ITF-affiliate AIEG, were among them. The ITF Young Workers would like to express our heartfelt condolences to their families and friends. May they rest in peace

Young transport workers will call on the ITF to ensure that youth work and the active participation of young workers is a key focus in the federation’s work.

The young workers’ steering committee, represented by eight unions - from Australia, Dominica, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Jordan, Norway and Spain - met in Madrid, Spain, from 6-7 May 2010. There, they called for the creation of youth structures within the ITF, a proposal that has been included in a motion to be put to the ITF congress in Mexico. The motion will urge the ITF to develop an active programme involving young people, by, for example, setting up a youth summer school, an idea that was unanimously endorsed by the committee. Other demands included the promotion of youth structures in affiliated unions.

A young transport workers’ conference will take place on 3 August in Mexico which will develop a work programme for 2011- 2014.

Click here to view a clip from the meeting.

Joe is a very unaware dog. He seems quite selfish and doesn’t really take the time or effort to try to find out what is going on in the world. But he learns quickly that there all sorts of things happening in the world, from people being shot for defending their rights to climate change and pollution. He also learns that these issues are best fought together and that together we have a chance to make a difference!

The ITUC, as part of relauncing their youth campaign (step 2), have released an animation video as a way to explain what the ITUC and other trade union organisations do on a global level to help organise young workers.

To see the video in English click here:

Joe le chien tente de changer le monde -

http://www.youtube.com/ituccsi#p/a/u/2/ILVIg_m--UA

Joe el perro intenta cambiar el mundo -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j_YHu2N7aQ

Video auf Deutsch: Joe, der Hund, versucht, die Welt zu verändern -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4RCfX5SgGY 

As part of the celebration of International Women's Day, a group of some 30 young workers and women participated in a talk at the conference room in the Port of Lome. They discussed the mutual benefits and advantages of joining a union. A film, which can be found in the Young Workers Pack, was also shown to the audience to highlight the issues affecting young workers worldwide.
 
The meeting ended on a high note, with recommendations and resolutions and other meetings are planned.

French version attached:

syndicalisation des jeunes et des femmes1.doc  (26 KB)

ITF-FNV Thailand held their first ever Young Workers Seminar on 3-5 March 2010.

Participants covered topics such as:

• what is the trade union and trade union movement?
• basic labour law and related laws
• gender sensitisation issues.

Men and women from 7 different Thai affiliates attended the three day seminar

On 9th February, 2010 the N.F. Railway Mazdoor Union, affiliated to the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF), had their inaugural Youth Convention in Assam. This took place as part of the union’s Annual conference, with the full support of the senior union officers.

Several issues of the moment were discussed, which workers from many other unions will identify with, including safety at the workplace, deteriorating pension schemes and a hiring freeze.  In addition, a list of demands were drawn up, which included a reversion to the original pension scheme, more attention to be paid to safety and further training for young people in both trade unionism and IT literacy.

As a result of the meeting, several branches of the union have formed their own youth committees and many other branches are in the process of forming them.

A regional Youth Committee has also been formed, and a Chairman and Secretary elected. The committee comprises 36 young workers, including nine women.

We are now beginning to receive names of delegates who will be attending the ITF Youth Conference which is taking place at the 42nd Congress in Mexico.

Make sure that you are included in your union's delegation! Contact your union leader now, we are looking for people approximately 35 years or younger to attend the one day conference on 3 August.

It is an opportunity to meet the Young Workers Steering Committee, hear about the work they do and become part of the Committee yourself!

Important items to be discussed will be how the work has progressed since 2006 and the structure of the work programme for 2010 and beyond.

This will be the first Youth Conference at Congress so please make sure you do not miss out on a place and contact your union today.

We have a new page for our ITF Youth Conference, which is taking place during the ITF Congress in Mexico City on 3 August 2010.

We shall be updating the site regularly with latest news about the conference so please make sure you vist the page to ensure you are kept up to date with the latest events.

The ITF Young Workers Steering Committee now have their own section on the website.  Please visit the Steering Committee page to read profiles on each member.

The MUA Young Workers Conference took place in Brisbane on 30 November - 3 December 2009.

Over 70 delegates from branches around Australia and delegates from MUNZ, RMTU and EPMU met over three days to formulate MUA policy and plans for the future years actions.  The theme for the conference was "Know the past and own the Future".

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin reported via pre recorded message his enthusiam for youth delegates to increase their activity and involvement on a local national and international basis.

Click here for more information.

For your information, here are links to the new youth blog from Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía de CC.OO, Spain, which is also directly linked to the main CC.OO website:

http://blog.ccoo.es/juventud-federacion-servicios-a-la-ciudadania-ccoo

http://www.fsc.ccoo.es/webfsc/menu.do?Actualidad:Juventud  

For the fourth year running the ITF is calling on its’ affiliates to mark World AIDS Day on 1st December.  Due to the nature of their work in some areas, transport workers have been shown to be at higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.  

As transport unions our challenge is to address this problem which fundamentally affects us all. 

The focus of this years’ campaign is to:

• to move HIV/AIDS into unions’ core programmes and activities;
• to encourage unions to lobby to establish HIV as a workplace issue;
• to fight stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS at workplaces;
• to encourage unions to develop partnerships with relevant stakeholders to implement HIV prevention, care and support programmes.

Here are some of the planned activities scheduled during World AIDS Day 2009

During the African Regional Conference, the Young Workers Conference took place in Senegal on 22 November 2009.

From the conference, it was raised that unions need to spread the message to young people, and that participants needed basic tools and policies to help young people to join unions and translate ideas into reality. It was emphasised that international solidarity was a strong message.

Each country delegation then reported on the successes, challenges and needs they experienced in carrying out youth work, Their reports are attached at the bottom of this report

There was a wide understanding that the link with union executives was a key point in communicating with members. In order to communicate better with members, youth delegates needed access to communications techniques, they needed presentation skills and they needed leadership training. In terms of communication strategies, both low-tech solutions such as suggestion-boxes and social events were important, as well as high-tech solutions like Internet and Extranet technology. Everyone needed to sensitise union activists about the existing ITF website.

Members of the communications team in ITF London presented the background and made proposals for an ITF Africa Communications Project and Policy to be developed and implemented, based on the views of African delegates, and including views from women and young worker forums. This included A demonstration of the ITF Africa website, Facebook page and various film resources.

African Conf Country Reports.pdf  (23 KB)