TUC-UIL second bilateral meeting

TUC-UIL bilateral meeting, Friday 1 December 2006

Meeting in London on Friday 1 December for their second biennial bilateral summit, the General Secretaries of the UIL and TUC, Luigi Angeletti and Brendan Barber discussed a number of issues, including:

· The ETUC congress, and in particular the role of collective bargaining at company, national and supra-national level

· Industrial policy and state aid to R&D

· The political situation in Italy and the UK and trade union relations with governments

· Priorities for the G8 in Germany in 2007

The Italian unions were growing in all sectors (industrial production was on the increase and so were exports) and not just in pensioners' membership levels. This was probably due to increased credibility of the union movement vis à vis political actors. Equally, the casualisation of the labour market seemed to have had the opposite effect in the two countries, making trade unions a strong reference point and contributing to increasing membership levels in Italy, whereas in the UK new forms of work have made it more difficult for unions to reach out to potential members in the new sectors of the economy. One reason for this is probably the tradition of sectoral bargaining in Italy which means that trade unions are able to have a direct impact on terms and conditions of atypical workers and those in small firms.

Relations with China were also discussed. The TUC and UIL share the view that the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is not a free or independent trade union, but both believe in critical engagement with the ACFTU as a step towards the ultimate goal of respect for core labour standards (including freedom of association) and securing Chinese support for including a social clause in world trade agreements.