Glenn Thompson
Sunday, 22 April 2018 23:23
SIGTUR XI Congress "Another Work is Possible"
The Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR) final declaration along with five special resolutions were endorsed at the XI Congress on 4 and 5th April in Buenos Aires. The congress focused on alternatives to capitalism, the need in a reduction of the working time without loss of rights or income, a universal basic income to takle inequality and the challenges of the new technological revolution Industry 4.0.
On the 4 and 5th April the congress took place for the first time in Argentina a meeting of the trade unions from the global south that integrate the SIGTUR. Trade unions from Australia, South Korea, South Africa, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Japan, Tunisia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The XI Congress focused on the theme of "Another Work is Possible".
SIGTUR did not seek to debate on whether what work will exist in the future but rather the kind of society that we want to live in and the role work has in that society”. The SIGTUR Congress agreed "a solidarity network of trade unions" in the context "of a global neoliberal economy" in which "the organized work must have an international focus that go beyond the country borders".
The XI Congress of SIGTUR focused on three topics:
1) Reduction of the working time without a reduction of salary or rights;
2) Universal basic income as an iniciative to fight for the right to a decent wage;
3) The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the role work plays in it.
Fito Aguirre Secretary of International Relationship of the CTA-A and host country of the congress explained the actions of the next triennium: "we need to be involve in fair transition agreements which ensure the introduction of the new technologies, with resources and well coordinated in order to guarantee that the social damages resulting, like the massive unemployment, will be dodged based on the restructuring of jobs and at the same time that the legislation protect the our jobs and offer roads for the training of the workers".
The Congress also produced five special resolutions, which were approved by unanimity.
1. G-20 in Argentina: Six members of the SIGTUR are from countries part of G-20, and this year the summit will take place on November in Buenos Aires. It is a key event for the working class because it states the neoliberal agenda that continuously push workers across the world for lower the salaries and reduction of rights. It is also an historical opportunity to think on new alternatives in against neoliberalism that continues moving forward in the concentration of wealth and the marginalization of the people. The proposals of the G-20 in favour of "structural reforms" in fact mean a direct attack to the worker's rights, promoting the disintegration of the collective bargaining, increase of the workday, labour flexibilization, and hostility to the trade unions.
2. In the defense of Lula and democracy in Brazil: SIGTUR lead campaigns of denouncement of the coup d'état in Brazil, the attacks to the democracy and social setback without precedents. This is the result of a broad alliance of the business groups, the judicial system, members of the parliament and the media groups who are part of the Brazilian elite. SIGTUR also support and recommend the creation of Solidarity Committees in "defense of the Democracy and Lula" in the countries of the members of the network.
3. Freedom for Han and Lee: SIGTUR demands the immediate liberation of the former president of KCTU from South Korea, Han Sang-gyeun, and the retreat of the charges against the former general secretary of the union, Lee Young-joo. Han has been more than two years in prison. The Working Group on Arbitrary Prison of the UN has emphasized that the privation of Han’s freedom is arbitrary and claimed for his immediate liberation and compensation. Han and Lee are accused for their roles in the mass demonstration of the 14th November 2015. The only thing they did was to stop the regressive labour reforms law of the previous government of Park Guen-hye, that generated unregistered jobs which the government had committed to finish.
4. For an asbestos free world: SIGTUR condemn the evitable death of more than 107.000 workers every year because of diseases derived from asbestos when there are available alternatives of safer products. The elimination of the use of asbestos is the most effective way of protection. SIGTUR encourage the realization of national and international campaigns to promote the ban of asbestos in all its forms and of the materials that contains it in our countries and in the world, as well as the use of alternatives products and just transition policies for to avoid the loose of jobs in the local industries.
5. In defense of the workers and unionists in Philippines: SIGTUR resolve realize a global day of action against the attacks of the fascist regime of Rodrigo Duterte in Philippines against de trade unions, their leaders and human rights. By this time, 29 unionist and activist for the human rights were murdered since Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016. The leaders and activist are criminalized and labeled as "terrorists", with the purpose of discredit their claims.
Fito Aguirre sumarised the XI SIGTUR Congress and said that "this Congress reafirmed that we are the union voice of the global south against the attacks of the neoliberalism and that we look for make better the life of our workers with realistic proposals"
Fito Aguirre CTA-A lead as coordinators of the XI SIGTUR congress delevered and international experience ", he highlighted that "we had been very effective and we had fulfilled the objectives agreed for this XI Congress.
We had great level of debate, and we are well placed in our world analysis and growing as a network with affiliation campaigns" . In addition, Aguirre underlined the fact that the CUT-A from Paraguay has incorporated to the network and that is a proof that we are on the right road and that other trade unions want to take this way"
"SIGTUR is a network of democratic left-wing trade unions who will not sit back and do nothing in front of injustice, like we express in the cases of our comrades Lula, Han and Lee. We will always defend the workers and this SIGTUR Congress in Argentina is the response for the G20 Summit in our country", concluded Aguirre.
Special resolutions
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Saturday, 07 April 2018 02:30
Defence of Democracy and Lula
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The Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights – SIGTUR, condemn the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court on denying a Constitutional right to former President Lula.
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This decision was taken in a scenario where Brazilian democracy has been persistently attacked, violence has been growing, a military intervention has taken place in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where fascist forces have been killing leaders and activists as was the case in the murder of Marielle Franco, and the shooting of the bus in which former President Lula was traveling in the south of Brazil.
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On April 5th the Brazilian Supreme Court voted against the habeas corpus appeal for ex-President Lula, after unjust accusations by Sergio Moro and an unfair trail chaired by the 4th regional court (TRF-4). Lula suffers an unprecedented judicial, parliamentary and political persecution. This persecution has a clear objective: to prevent Lula from being elected, as all polls show that he can win in all scenarios in the coming elections in October this year.Only partisan convictions, theories without factual basis, arbitrary hypotheses and an intense political dispute justify and substantiate the legal proceedings against him. There is no proof of a single crime committed by Lula in these trials. In addition, the evidence of his innocence that appears in the process is being ignored.
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One day before his trial, an Army Commander General made a declaration through social media, which was a clear interference and a threat to the justice system and democracy in Brazil. On the other hand, TV Globo dedicated more than 20 minutes of airtime to pressure the Supreme Court Ministers to rule against Lula, suspending its main program highlighting the absurd declarations of the Army Commander.
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The respect for the Brazilian Constitution implies the recognition of innocence unless proven guilty, as defined in Article 5. But this was not what the Supreme Court did yesterday.
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TV Globo has also been a strong actor on the promotion of the parliamentary-judiciary coup d’état that deposed the democratically elected president Dilma Rousseff and began an unprecedented era of social setbacks in the Brazilian history.
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The 11th Congress of SIGTUR held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 4th and 5th, recommends that SIGTUR priorities:The denouncement of the coup d’état, the attacks on democracy and the unprecedented social setbacks in Brazil and the actors that supported it including employers groups, the Judiciary system, members of the Parliament and main media groups that are part of the Brazilian elite;
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Creation of solidarity committees in defence of democracy and Lula in the countries members of SIGTUR;The defence of democracy and Lula in Brazil is to defend democracy worldwide. The fair solution for the Brazilian crisis is to hold democratic and free elections, not condemn a candidate that did not commit a crime. If elected, Lula will implement a development program that would distribute wealth and income, something that the Brazilian elite is not interested in.
- Congress resolution
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Thursday, 05 April 2018 14:25
Global Campaign against Asbestos
The Southern Initiative Globalization Trade Union Rights congress (SIGTUR) discussed and debated the need to join the global campaign for an asbestos-free world.
Glenn Thompson, AMWU Assistant National Secretary an affiliate representative of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), said” The global campaign aims to eradicate the mining and use of asbestos (chrysotile). Tens of thousands of workers, their families and the community are affected by this killer material every year.
The time to put a permeant ban on the use of asbestos is “NOW”.
Asbestos is used frequently in the manufacturing of many products manufactured in those countries not signatory to the treaty. A global ban is critical to ensure we rid asbestos from the global supply chain.
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Thursday, 05 April 2018 14:05
One voice against Capital
Trade union’s leaders representing above 200 million workers of the world opened yesterday SIGTUR 11th Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Central of Argentinian Workers (CTA) hosts this international meeting which has got as its main topic the discussion on the future of work and alternatives organized workers are capable to offer against contemporary Neo-liberalism.
The opening session started with the screening of a welcoming video from the CTA in which Argentinian comrades summarized their local fights against Neo-liberal policies in the last year.
The International General Secretary, Adolfo “Fito” Aguirre welcomed the auditorium and said “it is the first time a SIGTUR Congress is host in Argentina, so we are grateful and hope within the next two working days we can develop a fight plan with incidence along the world”.
The opening of the Congress also counted with welcoming words from each delegation and the speech of two invited representatives: Víctor Báez, General Secretary of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), and Joao Felicio, President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
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Thursday, 22 March 2018 22:48
The G20 and the answer of the global trade union movement
By Fito Aguirre*
The Group of the Twenty (G20), the world forum that gathers the advanced and the emergent economies, will meet in South America for the first time since its creation in 1999. Its contrast will be the Congres of the Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Unions Rights (SIGTUR), which will take place in April in Buenos Aires and will discuss the future of work.
The 13th Summit of the G20 will be held in Buenos Aires on November 30 and December 1 2018. Argentina assumed the one-year presidency in a context of regression for workers, both in the international and the local situation. That is the reason why the 11th Congress of SIGTUR becomes so important. Founded in the 1991 an alliance of the democratic Trade Unions from the Southern Hemisphere (Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania), SIGTUR will have its 11th Congress in Buenos Aires hosted by the CTA-A and counting with delegations from Australia, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, South Africa, India, Philippines, Malasya, Japan, Tunisia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
Nowadays, the debates in the International Labour Organization (ILO) between States, workers and employers are dominated by the viewpoint of the North and the employers. The scenery on the future of work they predict consists in: a) less job positions as a result of technological development; b) higher labour flexibility due to changes in work regimes.
From our point of view, SIGTUR is able to show a different approach on the future of work. Its perspective must include bold proposals, aiming to increase worker`s and Trade Union`s rights and having decent work and a better society as its horizon.
The Congress on April 4-5 2018 will have as its motto “Another work is possible”. Because nowadays it is urgent to displace the question whether there will be or not work in the future: instead, we should ask what kind of work and society we want. Let`s even hypothetically think that there might not be any change in our society and the variables stand constant: is this one the society we want, anyway?
SIGTUR looks for overtaking the historical cores of power, both political and regarding trade unions. For decades, southern trade unions focused their international policy on Europe. Since SIGTUR´s creation, campaigns and solutions have considered the common reality of regions that suffered imperial colonialism in the past and suffer transnational corporation’s colonialism in the present.
SIGTUR is not defined by geography, because it is integrated by Trade Unions from both the North and the South of the Equator. There are Trade Unions from South Korea, India, Australia, Philippines, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. Their definition is political. Those who compose the alliance have the commitment of fighting frontally against neoliberalism, which is at present times incarnated in free trade agreements, government austerity programmes and privatization of public services.
SIGTUR`s members state fights should be faced from an internationalist viewpoint, which does not mean the North dictates the agenda, as a kind of new colonialism; it means, instead, that the agenda is common and on an equal footing, so as to everyone can take part in the decisions.
In recent years, SIGTUR reinforced its internationalist activism and its mutual solidarity, with campaigns supporting Lula and the CUT in Brazil; asking for the freedom of the KCTU leader, Han Sang-gyun; denouncing Trade Union persecution in Argentina, among others.
The contemporary world requires workers to form a bloc and act together in the international labor scenery. Rarely our countries have common positions on the major debates of workers. From this initiative, we aim to breakwith our dependence on power cores, generate alliances between those having similar realities, and intervene in the decisions that condition the situation of workers all around the world.
SIGTUR is the most important network of left-wing and democratic Trade Unions built in recent years and we will meet in Buenos Aires for the 11th Congress in order to discuss workers`challenges in the contemporary international scenery. We will debate on universal basic income, reduction of working hours without loss of rights nor salary, and the impact of fourth industrial revolution.
Having a Trade Unions`voice from the South is a fact of relevance to the entire world. Buenos Aires will host Trade Unions from Asia, Africa, America and Oceania with which we must find integral answers questioning bothwealth concentration and technological advance that marginate developing countries and broaden inequalities. SIGTUR becomes a strategic network for workers`challenges and for the generation ofeffective alternatives to this third neoliberal wave.
*CTA-A Secretary of International Relations (@fito_aguirre)
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Friday, 23 February 2018 04:42
Release abducted KMU organizer Maoj Maga!
National labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno have strongly condemns the abduction and illegal arrest of its staff and organizer Marklen Maojo B. Maga and demands his immediate release and the dropping of the trumped-up charges against him.
Maga, 39 years old, was abducted by plain clothes men who identified themselves as elements of the Philippine National Police at around 8:40 this morning at a basketball court near their house in San Mateo, Rizal after taking his son to school. It was only this evening that his family and lawyers were able to confirm that he is being held at the PNP-CIDG compound in Camp Crame.
The KMU hold the Duterte regime responsible for the abduction and illegal arrest of Maga. This is part of his fentanyl-driven rampage against critics of his fascist and oppressive rule. This regime is stepping-up its fascist attacks against workers and the people to quell their resistance against his establishment of a fascist dictatorship.
The fascist Duterte regime has been intensifying its crackdown against unionists and labor rights advocates opposing his anti-worker and anti-people policies and has already killed 22 unionists and labor leaders. Last January 29, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also harassed and threatened workers’ communities in Compostela Valley and presented banana plantation unionists as New People’s Army surrenderees.
Maga is a KMU staff tasked to organize workers’ unions in the port area, in factory belts in Valenzuela (among them are Kentex workers), and in Central Luzon.
Before becoming a union organizer, Maga was also an active student leader. He was a member of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and a founding National Council member of youth group Anakbayan.
Maga’s arrest also follows the illegal arrest and detention of his father-in-law National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant and labor rights advocate Rafael Baylosis in Quezon City last January 31.
Duterte is mistaken if he thinks that these attacks against workers’ and people’s rights would quell our resistance against tyrannical rule. These attacks only push workers to further intensify their struggle and foil Duterte’s attempts to establish his Marcosian dictatorship. Duterte is only giving workers more reason to unite and hold widespread protests to call for the ouster of his fascist regime
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Wednesday, 14 February 2018 09:20
Six Month Strike Ends In Victory
After 180 days of strike action and over 2 years of contract negotiations, with Indian muiltnational Lanco maintenance workers at Griffin Coal in Collie, Western Australia, returned to work at 7 am today.
The 29 maintenance workers – all members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) – had been on strike for exactly 6 months, since August 2017. The workers entered their shift with an honour guard from the community and other trade union members.
“This is a victory for the members, they’ve fought to restore their family friendly rosters and rescue their stolen entitlements,” said AMWU WA Secretary Steve McCartney.
“These workers are the text book example of how critically broken Australia’s workplace laws are. They have faced a termination of their conbtract from Griffin Coal, a long and drawn out struggle over more than 2 years, and a massive cut of 43% of their take home wages.
“This community has stood together and stood defiant against Lanco a multinational Indian owned company. They’ve protected their family-friendly rosters and gotten back their stolen entitlements – but it should have never been allowed to happen. This could all have been avoided if the Australian industrail laws were fair and we had a system that delivered workplace democracy.
“This is a victory of the entire Collie community, that has stood by Griffin Coal workers every step of the way.”
Lead delegate Jay Scoffern said that the dispute had been long and bitter, and had taken its toll on workers and the entire community.
“Collie is close knit community and we want to thank the entire town for their support of us through the whole time,” he said.
“We also want to thank the unionists from every union who have backed us up and sent us their solidarity. Their support helped to keep us going.”
Mr McCartney said that Griffin Coal’s actions throughout this process – terminating an agreement, cutting pay by 43%, and attempting to steal entitlements and force anti-family rosters on a regional community – demonstrates why the rules are broken.
“We need to be throwing out the the current Australain laws and demanding a system that respects workers, respects families and can’t be used as a weapon by foreign multinationals,” he said.
Griffin coal is owned by Indian muiltnational Lanco.
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Friday, 09 February 2018 04:38
ITUC International Day of Action - Australian Solidarity with KCTU
Today in Sydney and Melbourne Australia, hundreds of unionists joined the ITCU International day of action and rallied in support of jailed Korean trade union leader Han Sang-gyun.
Han is the former president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU and is still serving a three-year sentence in Hwasung Correction Centre. Mr Han lead the trade union against the regressive labour reforms under the former Park Geun-hye government.
The rallies in Australia were organised by SIGTUR, APHEDA and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and supported by a range of unions.
Unionists in Australia are calling for their immediate release and calling for the rights of unionists around the world to be respected.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2018 05:56
A storm has erupted in Gippsland Australia
A storm has erupted in Gippsland Australia Esso a company owned by Exxon a muilt national American company. Workers have been picketing for 224 days. At the centre of the storm reside two multinational corporations, Exxon Mobil and contractor UGL, who have signaled their intent to employ some of the most heavily criticised tactics used by bruised beer company Carlton United Brewery (CUB) in its six-month self-declared war on maintenance workers.
The plan of these giant corporations is to cut the wages and conditions of offshore and onshore oil and gas maintenance workers in the Bass Strait by shifting them onto a dodgy agreement with a recently created shelf company of contractor UGL.
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Tuesday, 30 January 2018 13:08
Free Han Sang Gyun NOW and drop the charges on Lee Young-joo
The former president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Han Sang-gyun, is still serving his three-year sentence in Hwasung Correction Centre. Han lead the trade union movement in various protests and the people’s rally on 14 November 2015 against the regressive labour reforms under the former Park Geun-hye government.
Less than a year in power since the anti-worker government under Park Geun-hye was toppled by mass demonstrations, President Moon Jae-in has pledged to end the use of irregular workers in the public sector and to increase the minimum wage by sixteen per cent. His government has yet to follow the recommendations of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) to release Han or revoke the wrongful charges against the trade union leaders taking part in the people’s rally in 2015.
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