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Examples of Trade Union or Labour NGO Development Awareness Fund projects

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Examples of Trade Union or Labour NGO Development Awareness Fund projects

Labour Behind the Label

Fashioning and ethical Industry:

Labour Behind the Label is Labour Behind the Label is a campaign organisation that supports garment workers' efforts worldwide to improve their working conditions. The aim of the project which lasts until May 2008 is to work with colleges, tutors and course development teams to embed Corporate Social Responsibility issues into the curriculum fashion programmes of Further and Higher Education Institutions. The target groups are two fold: people who work in education and will continue the work once it has formally ended and students who will go on to work in the fashion industry and understand that their future decision making could either positively or negatively have an affect on working people and their families in developing countries. Activities include working with tutors do develop resources and methodologies, providing training events, enabling students to understand and critically analyse current CSR initiatives, two dissemination conferences and providing Southern and British trade union speakers. Further information about the project can be gained from info@fashioninganethicalindusty.org.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU/Congress)

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Global Solidarity 2004 - 2007

Development education has been a main theme of ICTU work for some years now and we are currently in the middle of our third cycle - of three years each - with support from the EU, Irish Aid and Trocaire, as well as DfID who started funding the programme in April 2005.

The aims of the project are to show trade unionists the context in which job negotiations take place - the international links between core labour standards, globalisation and development; to encourage Irish TUs in greater solidarity actions internationally; to encourage development education to be more firmly integrated into TU training and education programmes; to promote a TU voice on international issues; to extend the ongoing ICTU campaign for workers' rights to include Corporate Social Responsibility and Overseas Development Assistance by greater campaigning and action by trade unions. We produce a Global Solidarity Newsletter; produce annual themed resources, closely following the ILO's priorities; offer training and education to trade unions and other partners; aim to accredit a globalisation module; we have done training work with Queen's University M.Sc (in Leadership for Sustainable Development) students, as well as a number of unions; and we hold seminars, workshops, summer schools and other events to progress the trade unions' international agenda. Global Solidarity also promotes linkages between unions here in Ireland and unions in developing countries, with a major international event planned for next year. More information can be gained from Neil Alldred neil.alldred@ictuni.org.

TGWU

The T&G has been involved in a sequence of DAF-supported projects designed to raise awareness on questions of the global economy, international development, and international trade union organisation. The backbone of this work has been a comprehensive programme of five-day residential courses for senior workplace representatives, designed around some of the key sectors in which the T&G has significant numbers of members (food and agriculture, passenger transport, textiles and garments, public services, etc) and complemented by courses for the equalities sector and others specifically for T&G tutors. Each course is closely involved with the appropriate Global Union Federation, and invites participants from relevant unions from one or two developing countries. The main objectives, aside from generally raising awareness on development issues, have been to strengthen the union's lay member engagement in the solidarity work of the international unions, build new links with unions overseas, and encourage workplace reps to place questions of workers' rights on agenda for national and international collective bargaining. Further information can be gained from Dave Spooner dspooner@tgwu.org.uk

War on Want

The Global Workplace

Initiated in July 2000, a key objective of the programme was to build a network of trade union activists, across a number of trade unions, who would act as advocates for international development within their trade unions. The success of the programme was measured by the ability of these activists to put pressure on their trade union institutions for greater institutional commitment to international development and globalisation issues, and to "mainstream" this work with other existing activities.

There were a number of elements to this programme:

* Education

* Global Workers Fora

* Mini Campaigns

* Pensions

* Website

The Global Workplace aimed to capture the imagination and increasing awareness of international development issues amongst grassroots trade unionists - a group of people who are almost by definition "active". Its approach was multi-faceted and from the outset it was anticipated that although all the strands would be interesting, not all would necessarily be effective as a means of delivering the awareness-raising potential. Education, Global Workers Fora and the website being the most successful strands which still continue after the cessation of funding.

Further information can be gained by contacting Jackie Simpkins jsimpkins@waronwant.org

IFWEA

Informal Economy Workers' Rights

The Informal Economy Workers' Rights project seeks to build awareness and support among British trade unions for the organisation of informal economy workers in developing countries. The two-year project will be working with IFWEA's UK affiliates to produce new multi-media resources and educators' pack to undertake trade union education provision in the UK and a sequence of seminars on key issues related to the informal economy: workers' rights and trade union organisation, the role of workers' education for informal economy workers, and women workers in the informal economy. The project works closely with the T&GWU, affiliated unions of the GFTU, the UK affiliates of the International Transportworkers' Federation, the Workers' Education Associations in the UK, and the residential colleges. Project partners include War on Want, unions and associations in India and Zambia, and other international organisations involved in informal economy workers' organization.

Further information can be gained from Dave Spooner dspooner@tgwu.org.uk

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