The TUC has a long and proud tradition of trade union solidarity. Below are some of the recent actions that we have been involved in:

2002 Congress expresses solidarity with global Trade Unionists
Picket of the Colombian Embassy in London
High-level TUC delegation to Colombia
ETUC demonstration for social and trade union rights in Europe
Solidarity visit to South Korea
Picketing the Gucci store in Old Bond Street, London

2002 Congress expresses solidarity with global Trade Unionists

The 2002 Congress expressed solidarity with trade unionists in many parts of the world. It was addressed in particular by Hector Fajardo, General Secretary of the CUT Colombia; Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions; and Shaher Saed, General Secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (pictured above, left to right).

 

Picket of the Colombian Embassy in London

During the last few years SINTRAEMCALI (the municipal workers union in Cali) has battled against undemocratic privatisation in the municipality, whilst struggling for human rights and against corruption in the companies in their sector. When on 24 December 2001 the national government announced the forcible privatisation of EMCALI E.I.C.E., the local municipal services company, SINTRAEMCALI reacted by peacefully occupying the CAM Tower (the 17-storey central administrative building of the company). For the next 37 days, the workers endured serious harassment, including attacks from baton-wielding riot police, tear gas, and repeated threats.

During this period, the international trade union movement, including the ICFTU, TUC and AFL-CIO (USA), offered solidarity and rallied to the cause of the beleaguered Colombians. The TUC was particularly active in their support, organising a meeting between the General Secretary, General Council members and the Colombian Ambassador to London as well as a picket of the Embassy on 25 January 2002 demanding 'Justice for Colombia'.

Finally, on 30 January, under domestic and international pressure, the Colombian government ceded to the demands of the workers. It produced a 10-point agreement promising that neither the liquidation nor the privatization of the enterprise was sought, and that "no type of administrative, disciplinary, criminal of financial measures would be taken against any workers."

High-level TUC delegation to Colombia

Following the picket, a TUC delegation led by Brendan Barber, Deputy General Secretary, visited Bogotá and Cali from 15-20 February. Other members of the delegation were Mick Rix, General Secretary of ASLEF and TUC General Council member; Alison Shepherd, Unison Executive member and TUC General Council member; Lord Brett, Chair of the ILO Workers' Group and Vice Chair of the ILO Governing Body; Ken Cameron, Chair of Justice for Colombia which is the alliance of TUC affiliates promoting trade union rights for Colombia; Rory Murphy, Joint General Secretary, Unifi; Dave Patton, National Officer, FBU; and Simon Steyne, TUC.

The purpose of the delegation was to gather information about the trade union rights situation in Colombia, including respect for the ILO Conventions on trade union freedoms ratified by the Colombian Government; gather information about the general economic, political, and social situation in the country; express the solidarity of the British trade union movement with the Colombian trade union movement; emphasise to the Colombian authorities the continuing concern of the TUC and its affiliates at the appalling and violent violation of the fundamental trade union rights of our Colombian colleagues; discuss with the Colombian authorities the importance of quality public services; and to emphasise to the Colombian authorities that the TUC and its affiliated unions were monitoring adherence to the agreement to secure the future of EMCALE E.I.C.E as a public company.

During the visit, the delegation experienced first hand the appalling level of violence under which Colombian trade unionists had to operate. The mission helped to strengthen dialogue and solidarity between the TUC and its Colombian equivalent, the CUT, and between UK and Colombian unions. The delegation met several ministers and senior representatives of public bodies to discuss the trade union rights situation, and in particular to press for greater and more rapid action to counteract threats to trade unionists. In addition, there were meetings with a wide range of community organisations under attack for promoting alternatives to the government's plans for privatisation.

ETUC demonstration for social and trade union rights in Europe

A TUC delegation led by the President, Tony Young, was among the 90,000 trade unionists who participated in the European Trade Union Confederation demonstration in Barcelona on 14th March 2002, a day before the European Council of Ministers' meeting. They called for social inclusion, workers' rights and quality public services in Europe.

 

 

Solidarity visit to South Korea

An ICFTU delegation of 21 representatives, with trade unionists from the USA, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, India, Poland, Japan, the UK (Tom Jenkins, TUC) and from three global union federations (ICEM, IUF, PSI) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD visited Seoul between 18 - 19 March 2002.

The purpose of the delegation was to observe the sentencing of Mr Dan Byung-ho, President of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who was condemned on 18 March 2002 to two years' imprisonment on charges of initiating illegal strikes and assemblies; to express solidarity with him and some 50 other trade union leaders jailed for trade union activities (five of whom were visited individually by members of the delegation); and to meet members of electricity unions on (illegal) strike against plans to privatise the industry who were sitting-in at Myongdong Cathedral.

The delegation held meetings with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions; and with the Labour Minister Mr Bang Yong-seok. It urged the release of detained trade unionists and denounced breaches of ILO Conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining by Korea. They called on the authorities to meet their commitment, given when Korea joined the OECD in 1996, to bring laws and regulations in line with internationally-accepted standards. These issues have also been raised by the TUC with Dr Denis MacShane, Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Dan Byung-Ho, President of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was released in April 2003, after 20 months' imprisonment. This was welcomed by the ICFTU and the TUC.

At the March 2003 session in Geneva of the UN Committee on Human Rights, the ICFTU had once again denounced the serious trade union rights violations in the Republic of Korea, reminding members that dozens of trade unionists were still imprisoned in the country's jails including, at the time, Dan Byung-Ho.

Picketing the Gucci store in Old Bond Street, London

The TUC regularly supports solidarity actions with unions around the world in their campaigns to persuade multinational companies to respect basic rights at work in their global operations. Here, on 29 April, outside the Gucci store in Old Bond Street, London, colleagues from the TUC, TGWU and War on Want supported the US garment workers union UNITE in its campaign against anti-trade union intimidation by employers at the distributors of the Redoute catalogue in Indiana, USA. Gucci is part of the empire of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, the French-based multinational.