International Development Matters - Issue 168 October 2017
Issue number 168 October 2017
TUC General Secretary writes to Iranian Ambassador calling for the release of Reza Shahabi
Huber Ballesteros finally joins TUC at Congress
World Day for Decent Work: End Corporate Greed: The World Needs a Pay Rise
South Africa: COSATU held strike against State capture and corruption
Kazakhstan Trade Union Leader’s Sentence Confirmed, Family and Union Representatives Threatened
Joining union forces in Asia-Pacific’s textile and garment sectors
What lies behind the thinking of those driving development at the IMF?
Hypocrisy: How the UK promotes rip-off health PPPs abroad
BHRC report: Modern slavery in company operation and supply chains
Ever heard of SDG washing? The urgency of SDG Due Diligence
ACT NOW! Colombia: Drop sanctions against trade union leader
ACT NOW! Egypt: Free jailed union leaders
BBC Radio 4 Interview with UNI Global Union General Secretary, Phil Jennings
Interview: New Labour and Social Security Acts in Nepal
RadioLabour World Report, 22 September 2017
UNISON: National Black History Month Event - 20 October 2017
GLU course: Fair Wage Strategies in a Global Economy - 24 October 2017
The Workers Cup Film: showings to be confirmed
TUC NEWS
TUC General Secretary writes to Iranian Ambassador calling for the release of Reza Shahabi
The TUC is promoting the Amnesty International urgent action for Iranian bus workers’ union leader Reza Shahabi. Our latest blog on the campaign is here and a copy of the TUC General Secretary’s letter to the Iranian Ambassador – sent before Reza suspended his hunger strike, is at here
TAKE ACTION: Please send a message to the Iranian government or London embassy, and encourage your colleagues and other activists to do likewise.
Huber Ballesteros finally joins TUC at Congress
Colombian trade union leader Huber Ballesteros finally joined the TUC at its Congress in Brighton this year after his sensational arrest four years ago. Read the report from Kevin Maguire (Associate Editor (politics) of the Daily Mirror).
OTHER INTERNATIONAL NEWS
World Day for Decent Work: End Corporate Greed: The World Needs a Pay Rise
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW), which will fall on 7 October. This year, the global focus is on the world struggle for living minimum wages and a pay rise for all workers.
Find out what you can do to be part of this year’s campaign here
South Africa: COSATU held strike against State capture and corruption
On 27 September South Africa’s trade union federation COSATU held a nationwide strike against state capture, corruption, and job losses. All COSATU affiliates in various sectors would join the strike. Reports suggest ‘twin evils of corruption and job losses’ had cost workers their jobs and robbed people of much-needed services. The ITUC and IndustriALL have expressed strong support for the actions by South African affiliate COSATU against corruption leading to “state capture”. A report of the action was included in this Radio Labour report here
Kazakhstan Trade Union Leader’s Sentence Confirmed, Family and Union Representatives Threatened
The ITUC has condemned the decision by the South Kazakhstan Regional Appeal Court confirming the sentence imposed on trade union leader Larisa Kharkova, as a political decision which flies in the face of the rule of law.
Read more here
Joining union forces in Asia-Pacific’s textile and garment sectors
The fashion industry has changed rapidly; strategies of the past are no longer relevant today. During IndustriALL’s Asia-Pacific regional meeting for the Textile, Garment, Leather and Shoe sectors in Bangkok, 80 participants from 12 countries discussed common goals and strengthening unions through unity.
Read more here
IFI NEWS
What lies behind the thinking of those driving development at the IMF?
The IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) rarely lives up to its pretention to operate in real independence from the Fund, as its name implies. Peter Bavkis provides an analysis of the new IEO report The IMF and Social Protection. Perhaps most surprising, for those who have not followed the IMF’s evolution in recent years, is the invitation to the Fund to question whether its endorsement in 2015 of the Sustainable Development Goals is compatible with its reaffirmed support for narrowly targeted safety nets.
Hypocrisy: How the UK promotes rip-off health PPPs abroad
Jubilee Debt Campaign have recently released their new report: ‘Double standards: How the UK promotes rip-off health PPPs abroad’. The report exposes the contradiction between senior UK government ministers’ criticism of the cost of Private Finance Initiative hospitals in the UK (aka Public Private Partnerships – PPPs), whilst their departments are actively promoting such schemes to other countries. The report shows that Liam Fox, Jeremy Hunt, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson have all criticised PPPs in the UK, yet their departments are promoting similar schemes around the world.
The report has been covered by the Financial Times here (apologies if this link requires a subscription to read).
BHRC report: Modern slavery in company operation and supply chains
Modern slavery is everywhere, but cleaning it up is possible. Due diligence and transparency is the key to ending modern slavery in supply chains. The Business Human Rights Resource Centre report, ‘Modern Slavery in Company Operations and Supply Chains: Mandatory Transparency, Mandatory Due Diligence, and Public Procurement Due Diligence’, commissioned by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) with support from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) gives an insight into the growing body of law and practice from international standards to emerging national legislation.
Read the report here
Ever heard of SDG washing? The urgency of SDG Due Diligence
After green washing and blue washing – using a UN logo to signpost sustainability without doing much – the term SDG washing points to businesses that use the Sustainable Development Goals to market their positive contribution to some SDGs while ignoring their negative impact on others. For example, a car company may market their electric cars as saving the climate (SDG 13↑). Yet, the cobalt in their batteries may be mined by five-year old kids in Congo (SDG 8 ↓).Ultimately, companies should do their due diligence on all SDGs to avoid undermining these goals. A focus on managing the negative impacts on the SDGs is most urgent.
CALLS TO ACTION
ACT NOW! Colombia: Drop sanctions against trade union leader
Carlos E. Castañeda Ravelo is the president of a public sector union in Colombia. In 2006, he was dismissed from his job and banned for ten years from holding public office because he dared to express his support for a political candidate. He is still banned, even though ten years have passed. PSI representing public sector trade unions around the world, is protesting this ban, which is in breach of ILO conventions and Colombian law.
Show your support for Carlos, by signing the action here
ACT NOW! Egypt: Free jailed union leaders
Egyptian authorities have arrested a number of leaders of independent trade unions in recent weeks. Nine leaders have been arrested and of those, seven remain in jail. These include leaders of the Real Estate Taxes employees' trade union and the union of electricity workers. There are concerns that other union leaders will soon be arrested as well.
Read more and take action here
FOCUS ON TRADE UNIONISTS
BBC Radio 4 Interview with UNI Global Union General Secretary, Phil Jennings
In a recent prime time BBC Radio 4 documentary, ‘Disrupted Development’, UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings called for caution and realism when evaluating both the challenges and opportunities of the Future World of Work.
Read more here
Interview: New Labour and Social Security Acts in Nepal
Read this interview with a Nepalese labour lawyer which looks (in great detail) at the changes that are set to come about due to the adoption of the new Labour Act and Social Security Act in the country. GEFONT, the confederation of Nepalese national trade union federations’ positive reaction is also available here.
RadioLabour World Report, 22 September 2017
A timely news report from RadioLabour reporting on; The need for guaranteed annual incomes; a new global coalition for equal pay; a rise in slave labour in the world and the LabourStart report about current union events.
Listen to the 10 minute broadcast here
EVENTS / COURSES
UNISON: National Black History Month Event - 20 October 2017
Fri 20 October 2017, 11:00 – 18:30
UNISON Centre, 130 Euston Road, NW1 2AY
Cost: Free
Black History Month is a time to acknowledge and celebrate achievements of Black people throughout history. To organise and recruit around Black History Month is to create a stronger union in the workplace and within our communities.
Registration and full details here
GLU course: Fair Wage Strategies in a Global Economy - 24 October 2017
24 October 2017
Cost: Free (or 49 € for a Certificate).
The Global Labour University is launching the new Massive Open Online Course on Fair Wage Strategies in a Global Economy. It will start with a Facebook Live Discussion with experts from IndustriALL and the ILO on 24 October 2017 at 13:00 pm UTC. The course offers global networking, theory and practical skills for trade unionists on fair wages, collective bargaining and minimum wages. Participation is free of charge, and it costs 49 € for a Certificate. There is a scholarship programme to study towards a Certificate for free.
You can watch the course trailer here
The Workers Cup Film: showings to be confirmed
Playfair Qatar participated in the Take One Action Film Festivals up in Edinburgh recently, to join a panel discussion following the showing of The Workers Cup Film. It's a superb documentary, showing both the heart and hopelessness of the workers in around the teams playing in the tournament organised by the Qatari government to "show appreciation of those who have worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth-running of Qatar 2022."
Look out for future films showings here. Or contact their press office to request a film screening for your union/organisation.
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