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TUC Aid Tsunami Relief Update

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Research and reports
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TUC Aid Tsunami Relief Update

Tsunami Relief Programme

TUC Aid expresses its gratitude to all those who contributed generously to the Tsunami Appeal in 2005. A total of £318,000 was raised through the Appeal. We are pleased to let you know that, thanks to your generous support, we are helping thousands of people affected by Tsunami waves in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The proceeds of the Appeal are used to fund four projects aimed at long-term rehabilitation of those affected by the disaster. In addition, TUC Aid donated £25,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal in January 2005. It also made a contribution towards the cost of a conference organised by Tourism Concern on the post-Tsunami reconstruction and tourism in the countries concerned. The details of the projects funded through the Appeal are as follows:

Indonesia

Two Projects

1 Project Name: Trade Union Development and Livelihood Security Project in Aceh, Indonesia

Implementing Agency: Union Aid Abroad -APHEDA (Australia)

Delivery Organisation: Aceh Trade Union Care Centre

Project Duration: Two years

Goal

The goal of the Project is to build the capacity of independent and democratic trade unions in Aceh and to provide livelihood security for union members affected by the Tsunami of 26 December 2004.

Project Objectives
  • Improve capacity of trade unions in Aceh to form strong, independent and democratic union structures.
  • Provide livelihood security for union members and communities affected by the Tsunami.
Project Activities
  • Vocational skills training for workers (Sewing/Tailoring training and Embroidery Screen-printing training for women)
  • Development of independent trade unions (Training in union administration, negotiation skills, organisational skills etc)

Budget: £100,835

Progress

Trade Union Training Programme

workshop in indonesiaThe Trade Union Training Programme began with the recruitment of two trainers – Ms Kurniawati, qualified trade union trainer from the Labour Working Group Training Centre and James Rankin, trade union trainer from Australian Education Union. A mapping of various trade union federations and unions has been undertaken in Aceh, which will include assessment of relative strengths of unions, membership levels, awareness levels of their members, and their capacity to train, organise, recruit members and negotiate collective agreements. Mr Rankin has joined the Project as a technical adviser on a 3-month assignment funded by APHEDA.

Due to the very low level of union awareness, even amongst union members, a number of basic introductory courses - Introduction to Trade Unionism - have been organized in Aceh. 60 male and 20 female union members from two Federations have attended them. Plans are underway under the Project to select some key young union activists to be trained, mentored and developed into union organisers / recruiters for Acehnese unions. While unionisation is very high in some sectors such as education, only a handful of potential members have been recruited into unions in others.

Union Aid Abroad organised a major workshop / conference for all unions and all union donors in Aceh on 14-15 January 2006 to develop a comprehensive plan for strengthening Acehnese unions. The workshop was attended by Global Union Federations active in Aceh, the ILO, other organisations such as ACILS (USA) as well as all local unions.

Skills Training for Women in Aceh

Work is progressing well on the skills training for women component of the Program.

women in aceh on a tailoring and embroidery courseMs Kurniawati, an Acehnese with vocational training experience, has been trained and mentored by the Australian technical adviser placed in Aceh. 35 sewing machines, 6 hemming machines and 5 embroidery machines have been purchased for training purposes. 25 women have already received intensive training in sewing, embroidery and handicraft (screen printing) and are expected to start training others. In the initial three months, training courses have been held in five locations, mainly in the Lhoksuemawe and Sigli area, for a total of 120 workers. 100 women, among the trainees, are taking part in a six-week tailoring and embroidery training session, which will enable them to develop the skills needed to earn a living for their families. So far, 20 people have been provided with training in screen-printing.

some of the women from acehThe women selected for the training courses, for the most part, are those who have been widowed by the tsunami or those whose husbands have lost their livelihood due to the tsunami. Many of them are heads of households or come a socially disadvantage background.

The first small steps taken to provide livelihood skills training have already made a big difference to the lives of some people. One example is the Skills Training provided to a women's group comprising fifteen women in Kampung Baru in Aceh
Following the training, the women have been given eight sewing machines and work is shared amongst them - with some doing machining and others hand-stitching. They soon realized that making colourful ceremonial Acehnese umbrellas used for weddings and special occasions was the most profitable activity. It takes three women a day to make one umbrella. The profit from the sale of an umbrella amounts to some Rupiahs 20,000 (£1.20), which is sufficient to buy enough rice to feed a family for five days
.



2 Project Name: Trade Union Development in the Informal Sector in Tsunami-affected Regions in Indonesia

Implementing Agency: International Labour Office

Delivery Organisation: ILO Jakarta Office

Project Duration: One year

Goal

The goal is to contribute to the development of effective trade unions capable of protecting the interests of all workers, both in the immediate reconstruction period, and in the longer term. In addition, the Project will strengthen the on-going peace and reconciliation efforts through reinforcing linkages across different sections of population.

Project Objectives
  • Build union capacity on development, implementation and monitoring of union education and training programmes and activities, for purposes of strengthening trade unions' social dialogue capacity.
  • Build union capacity on organising the unorganised, giving them voice and representation, especially to those in agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Project Activities

Education and training programmes for workplace trade union representatives and regular members focusing on

  • Worker/union organisation;
  • The role of workplace union representatives;
  • Introduction to labour laws;
  • Union education strategies; and
  • Occupational safety and health, particularly related to reconstruction activities.

Organising of unorganised workers, focusing on support for the development of workers' organisations in new sectors (e.g. agriculture; fisheries; street vendors; market vendors).

Budget: £50,000

Progress

The Project agreement with the ILO has been signed and activities are due to commence in January 2006.

Sri Lanka

Project Name: Trade Union Assistance for Long-term Rehabilitation of Tsunami Victims in Sri Lanka

Implementing Agency: American Center for International Solidarity

Delivery Organisation: ACILS Office, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Project Duration: One year

Goal

The Project aims at facilitating long-term rehabilitation of victims and enhancing their prospects of sustainable livelihoods and of strengthening trade unions' capacity to assist their members in their efforts to come to terms with the difficulties caused by the disaster.

Project Objectives
  • Provision of training in skills for trade union members and their family members who lost their livelihoods, enabling them to find gainful employment.
  • Improvement of prospects for long-term rehabilitation of trade union members and their families
  • Improvement in services provided by trade unions for their members.
  • Provision of shelter for trade union members made homeless following the disaster.
  • Enhancement of physical and mental well-being for those affected by the disaster.
Project Activities

Provision of office equipment, furniture and other equipment: the Project will arrange for purchase of office equipment and furniture for trade union organizations to replace those lost, damaged or destroyed during the disaster and of tools of trade of members of trade unions, damaged, lost or destroyed during the disaster.

Financial and/or material support for trade union members in need: the Project will provide financial and material support for families of trade union members through partner organisations.

Counseling and/or health clinics: the Project will provide financial assistance for partner organizations involved in provision of counseling services and/or health clinics for those affected by the Tsunami waves.

Vocational training: the Project will provide financial support for trade unions and community-based organizations involved in provision of vocational training for those affected by Tsunami waves.

Housing: the Project will provide financial support for trade unions for building houses (20) for their members made homeless due to the Tsunami waves.

Budget: £100,322

Progress
Housing

TUC Aid is funding the construction of 10 houses for members of the Free Trade Zones /General Services Employees’ Union (FTZGSEU). A Joint Committee consisting of three women from the Women’s Centre and three men from the Union is in charge of the housing programme and has already awarded the contract to a local firm with experience in building houses for Tsunami victims. Five men and five women, selected under criteria agreed with TUC Aid and ACILS, will be the beneficiaries. The ten houses to be built in the Eastern and Southern Provinces will cost 380,000 LKR each.

The Trade Union Women’s Forum is finalising the selection of beneficiaries for 10 houses to be built with financial assistance from TUC Aid. A committee of seven members is going through quotations from local firms and is expected to award the contract soon. The houses will be built in Southern Sri Lanka at a unit cost of 350,000 LKR.

· The construction of the twenty houses is scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2006.

Counselling Services/Health Clinics

The Government Nursing Officers’ Association (GNOA) is providing counselling services and/or health clinics in Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. There are 14 Counselling Programmes (two per district). Some thirty men and twenty women are expected to take part in them. Two types of programmes are underway – one for people affected by the Tsunami and another for local civil servants, including public health inspectors, midwives, schoolteachers, and representatives from voluntary organizations. At local level, civil servants play a crucial role in the long-term rehabilitation programmes run by the Government and various NGOs. Activities are scheduled to be held from 1st January to 31 August 2006.

A vocational training programme organised by the Jana Setha Sahana Foundation (JSSF) – local NGO - is underway. 271 women and 89 men will receive training in the manufacture of exercise books, joss sticks and candles. Trainees will be provided with equipment and material, which will enable them to start their own business following training. Training workshops are being held in Matara, Hambantota, Galle, Kalutara, Trincomalee and Amparai.

Material Support

The Confederation of Public Services Independent Trade Unions (COPSITU) will receive two computers, printers, tables, cupboards, filing cabinets etc for their offices in Amparai and Matara.

The Friendship House in Koggala in the South of Sri Lanka is to receive office equipment and furniture. In addition, the Friendship House will also be provided with a number of other items – an overhead projector, a projector screen and kitchen appliances etc to be used for training purposes.

Fishing nets (10), sewing machines (5), bicycles (10), food processing appliances and other miscellaneous items will be distributed by the All Ceylon Federation of Free Trade Unions (ACFFTU) to trade union members affected by the Tsunami. This will enable a number of trade union members and their families to re-engage in income-generating activities.

The Project will provide the Regional Office of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress with office equipment and furniture to replace some of the equipment destroyed in the Tsunami.

The Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya will distribute sets of household items, kitchen utensils and educational material to fifty families affected by the Tsunami in Kalutara and Galle in the South of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya is arranging for purchase and handover of five mopeds to five of their members who lost their modes of transport in the Tsunami.

Financial Assistance

The Sri Lanka Nurses’ Association (SLNA), at its 63rd Annual General Meeting on 17 February 2006 in Colombo, will hand over cheques (10,000 LKR each) to 25 of its members in the North and East of Sri Lanka who were affected by the disaster in December 2005.

Thailand

Project Name: Trade Union Assistance for Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand

Implementing Agency: Burmese Institute for Democracy and Development, Washington, USA

Delivery Organisation: Federation of Trade Unions in Burma, Thailand

Project Duration: One year

Goal

The Project aims at supporting long-term rehabilitation of Burmese migrant workers affected by the Tsunami waves in December 2005.

Project Objectives
  • Assistance for rebuilding livelihoods
  • Assistance for migrant workers and families to facilitate integration into Thai society.
  • Enhancement of knowledge and understanding of Thai and international labour laws among Burmese migrant workers.
Project activities
  • Provision of fishing nets and crab traps for the workers
  • Provision of water tanks for storing clean drinking water
  • Provision of a teacher to teach children of migrant workers Thai language.
  • Organisation of 12 training courses on international labour law and Thai legislation

Budget: £20,130

Progress

Project activities started in December 2005 and the first Progress Report is expected by the end of February 2006.

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