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TUC Aid (Registered Charity No 299832)

Message from Trustees

Solidarity with working people throughout the world has always been a basic tenet of British trade unions, which found practical expression in the creation of a charitable arm in 1988. TUC Aid affords us a unique opportunity to assist fellow trade unionists in their efforts to protect and promote economic and social rights of their people. It has also enabled us to provide humanitarian relief and rehabilitative care to thousands affected by natural and man-made disasters throughout the world in recent years.

TUC Aid relies on your generosity to carry out training and education activities aimed at capacity building in trade union organizations and foster their efforts in sustainable development.

We take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to all those who support us.

TUC Aid Trustees:
Ms Alison Shepherd - UNISON
Ms Sally Hunt - UCU
Ms Sue Ferns - Prospect
Ms Gail Cartmail – Unite
Ms Sheila Bearcroft – GMB
Ms Fiona Wilson - USDAW
Mr Brendan Barber - TUC
Mr Owen Tudor - TUC

About TUC Aid

TUC Aid was established by the TUC General Council in 1988 with a view to raising funds for humanitarian relief, long-term development, education and training activities and in developing countries and is a registered charity (Registered Charity No 299832). Since its inception, it has relied almost entirely on trade unionists for its funding and, is, perhaps, unique among charitable institutions in the UK in that it seeks to achieve its objectives in close collaboration with trade unionists in developing countries. It aims at promoting and protecting rights of working people and their values through provision of technical and financial assistance for capacity building. Such assistance is crucial as strong and democratic trade union organisations provide a firm foundation for democracy, and play a key role in enabling people to break out of the poverty trap. TUC Aid has made substantial contributions to a variety of projects ranging from trade union training and education activities, emergency aid and long-term rehabilitation of victims of natural disasters to re-settlement of refugees in the last ten years.

What does it do?

In recent years, TUC Aid has made significant contributions to capacity building in trade union organisations in developing countries. The Rebuilding Trade Union Capacity in Sierra Leone Project funded by the Department for International Development was successfully completed in September 2010. The Project Completion Report noted that the membership in the SLLC-affiliated unions had risen from 42,000 in 2007 by nearly 21% to 50,806 in 2010, that the number of affiliates had increased from 20 in 2007 to 24 in 2010 with the affiliation of four associations of workers in the informal sector and that the union officials trained under the Project had been instrumental in securing better pay and working conditions - a 20% pay increase for some 15,000 civil servants in 2009-10. The Report further emphasized that over 50,000 workers had their rights enhanced under collective bargaining agreements in 2007-10, that the SLLC and affiliates had adopted policies to improve women's position in unions while the technical advice provided through the Project strengthened the SLLC position on the Technical Committee tasked with the Labour Law Review and that the SLLC continued its engagement with the Government of Sierra Leone and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on good governance.

The activities under the Building Workplace Capacity to Combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria Project have been in progress with the establishment of a Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) clinic in July 2010 at the Jikwoyi Primary Health Care Centre in Abuja. A second facility was opened at the Gwarinpa Hospital, making it possible to cater to the needs of workers travelling to the metropolis for routine business. So far, 8,525 workers have attended the clinics and 467 have tested positive and been referred to appropriate hospitals for treatment and care. The training of trade union officials from participating unions in the preventive aspects of the pandemic as well as in the protection of employment and human rights through the implementation of a national workplace policy is continuing. Since the launch of the Project in June 2009, about 2,300 trade union officials have attended courses. Some 13,700 people have been reached through the information and education campaign targeted on workplaces.

All activities under the Workers' AIDS Project (WAP) launched in July 2009 in partnership with the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) in Uganda were completed in 2010. The Project Report highlighted the achievements in a number of areas of importance to the success of workplace response to the pandemic. The awareness of risks of HIV infection had risen following interventions by 60 peer educators and 25 focal persons trained under the Project, leading to an increase in the number of workers going for voluntary counseling and testing. Information and education material produced in English as well as in Swahili and Luganda circulated to workplaces, too, contributed to greater awareness of risks of infection.

In the last 23 years, more than one million pounds were raised in response to appeals for emergency aid and/or long-term rehabilitation of victims of disasters. Only about 1% of the total expenditure for the period as a whole was devoted to administration of the Charity.

The Trade Union Assistance for Long-term Rehabilitation of Tsunami Victims in Sri Lanka Project launched in October 2005 provided vocational training for trade union members, office equipment (computers, fax machines, printers, photocopiers etc) and furniture for trade unions, financial support and transport equipment (mopeds and bicycles) for trade union members. In addition, the Project built 18 houses for Tsunami victims. In Indonesia, the Trade Union Development and Livelihood Security Project supported a training and education programme for some 900 trade union activists and was instrumental in the resurgence of trade union activities in Aceh after a lapse of some thirty years. Moreover, the Project improved the livelihood of 575 women and 26 men through the provision of vocational training, capital equipment (sewing machines, hemming machines, tools, utensils etc) and financial grants. Moreover, financial support from TUC Aid enabled the ILO Office in Jakarta to carry out a training and education programme for trade union activists and help the development of trade unions in the informal sector in Aceh and North Sumatra. TUC Aid supplied twenty 8000-litre water storage tanks to four worksites in Hey Island, Phuket, and 650 fishing nets and crab traps to fishing villages in the district of Suksamran, in the Ranong Province in Thailand. In addition, TUC Aid provided the school for the children of Burmese migrant workers affected by the Tsunami in Phuket, Thailand, with a teacher, furniture and educational material and will be continuing the support for the third year. The financial support from TUC Aid enabled the Pakistan Workers' Federation to provide roofing material, temporary shelters and bedding for the victims of the earthquake in October 2005 and set up a model school for skills development in Mansehra, Pakistan.

The TUC Aid Haiti Appeal raised some £120,000 for the long-term rehabilitation of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010. £30,000 of the appeal proceeds was used to provide emergency humanitarian assistance carried out in collaboration with Haitian trade unions and their sister organisations in the Dominican Republic. TUC Aid is in discussion with the Trade Union Confederation for the Americas (TUCA) on financial support for strengthening trade union institutions and structures in Haiti as part of its contribution towards the implementation of the Trade Union Road Map adopted by the Haitian trade union movement in April 2010 in Santo Domingo.

Who funds it?

TUC affiliates have generously responded to TUC Aid appeals. The Trade Union Unity Trust (TUUT) has been a significant single source of funds for TUC Aid in recent years. The UNISON, Unite, USDAW, Prospect, GMB, FBU and PCS were among major contributors to appeals in recent years. TUC Aid has started raising funds from the general public through the TUC website since 2005.

Donations

The easiest and most effective way of supporting us is to make a regular contribution to TUC Aid through Gave As You Earn Scheme.

Please, check if your employer operates a charities payroll-giving scheme. If so, you can join it by filling in a form available from the employer and authorize deductions to TUC Aid.

If your employer does not currently operate a scheme, you may encourage him or her to set one up. Your union representative may be able to help you.

Please, visit www.giveasyouearn.org for further information on GAYE.

You may make a contribution directly. All cheques should be made out to TUC Aid and sent to TUC Aid, EUIRD, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS.

Contact

Please, contact for further information:
Bandula Kothalawala
European Union and International Relations Department
TUC
Congress House
Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3LS

Tel (44) 20 74671257
Fax (44) 20 74671343
E-mail: bkothalawala@tuc.org.uk

Briefing document (1,000 words) issued 29 Mar 2006