International Development Matters Newsletter - Issue 150 February 2016
| International Development Matters |
| Issue number 150 February 2016 |
|
IDM - Monthly newsletter reporting international development matters and issues affecting trade unionists around the world. Including reports, statements, interviews and events. |
UNISON’s International Newsletter February 2016
TUC Stronger Union’s blog - Iran: what does ending sanctions mean for workers?
TUC Stronger Unions blog: Swaziland’s feudal dictatorship blocks public sector pay protests
BWI in solidarity with Fiji after cyclone
Indonesia: ITUC and IndustriALL support unions over minimum wage
Women unionists in South East Asia mobilize for year ahead
New union challenges the status quo in DR Congo
OECD slashes 2016 growth forecast: Trade union reaction
World Bank releases new gender strategy
Debt bubbles “popping” in emerging economies
Bretton Woods Project publishes new MENA report
ACT NOW! Iran: Release teacher union leader Esmail Abdi
ACT NOW! Morocco: Reinstate Said Elahirech, stop attacking union rights
ACT NOW! Egypt: Torture and murder of Giulio Regeni
Equal Times video report: Myanmar: Exile and the Kingdom
RadioLabour daily newscast: 2 February 2016
High Stakes in Venezuela & Latin America
TUC International Women's Day - Women's Health in the Workplace
Buena Vista Social Club Adios Tour
TUC NEWS
UNISON’s International Newsletter February 2016
The February addition of the International newsletter from UNISON, a TUC public services union includes the latest international development work being carried out by the union. Prioritised work on Palestine, Colombia, Trade and Qatar will be the focus for this year. The union would also undertake work on public services in the global south and ethical procurement in global supply chains.
Read the newsletter here
TUC Stronger Union’s blog - Iran: what does ending sanctions mean for workers?
Read the TUC’s Stronger Unions blog discussing what Iran’s return to the international community means for the country’s international obligations to respect workers’ rights.
Read the blog here
TUC Stronger Unions blog: Swaziland’s feudal dictatorship blocks public sector pay protests
Swaziland trade unionists have been arrested for taking part in a picket organised by public sector unions and a march in Swaziland’s capital city has been put on hold because of laws requiring police permission for protests.
Read the TUC’s Stronger Union’s blog here
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BWI in solidarity with Fiji after cyclone
Fiji was battered by Cyclone Winston over the weekend of 20 February, the most powerful storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere. So far the death toll stands at least 44, and many thousands have been left without shelter or electricity. The Building and Wood Worker's International (BWI) is in communication with their Fiji affiliate CETWUF and will ensure that workers’ rights are protected throughout the clean-up and rebuild that will follow.
Read more here
Indonesia: ITUC and IndustriALL support unions over minimum wage
Speaking at a joint press conference in Jakarta, the ITUC and IndustriALL general secretaries Sharan Burrow and Jyrki Raina urged the Indonesian government to return to the bargaining table with unions for the discussion on a minimum living wage.
Women unionists in South East Asia mobilize for year ahead
Women trade unionists from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines are to make gender equality and maternity protection a priority in 2016, following a series of strategy meetings this month.
Read more here
New union challenges the status quo in DR Congo
In the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country ravished by a torrid past and raging civil war and with little tolerance for different voices, the rise of the Travailleurs Unis dans les secteurs Miniers, Métallurgie, Energie et Chimie Worker’s Union (TUMEC) is an inspirational story of trade unionism.
Read more here
IFI NEWS
OECD slashes 2016 growth forecast: Trade union reaction
The OECD recently published a revised global growth forecast that, according to Reuters, “poured cold water on any lingering hopes of a pick-up in global economic growth this year”. It contains predictions of reduced GDP growth in 2106 for several large countries, including Brazil, Germany and the United States.
Read the reaction to the new forecast from TUAC and the ITUC
World Bank releases new gender strategy
In December, the World Bank published its new gender strategy for 2016 to 2023 entitled Gender equality, poverty reduction and inclusive growth. The strategy was developed after the Bank conducted formal consultations over the course of 2015. The achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls as articulated in Sustainable Development Goal 5 is at the centre of the strategy.
Read more here
Debt bubbles “popping” in emerging economies
Global economic instability has highlighted the vulnerability of developing countries to renewed economic turbulence and even the potential for new debt crises in developing countries, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa.
Read more here
Bretton Woods Project publishes new MENA report
BWP launched its latest report on IMF policy in the MENA region. The report surveys the IMF’s impact on post-revolutionary Arab states by documenting the history of IMF involvement in the region. It traces the change in IMF rhetoric and practice before and after 2011 in four Arab countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt.
Read more here
CALLS TO ACTION
ACT NOW! Iran: Release teacher union leader Esmail Abdi
International trade union organizations are condemning a decision by the Iranian government to sentence a leading teacher unionist to six years in prison. Esmail Abdi, a leader of the Tehran branch of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association has been convicted for alleged crimes related to trade union activism. Take action and call for the immediate and unconditional release of Esmail Abdi and for the respect of the fundamental rights of all Iranian teachers.
Listen to RadioLabour’s special report or read the script here
ACT NOW! Morocco: Reinstate Said Elahirech, stop attacking union rights
Said Elhairech in Morocco, was the subject of a highly successful LabourStart / International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) campaign which helped to get him released. However, now he has been dismissed from his job. His efforts to promote and advance trade union rights have been branded "a nuisance" and other trade union colleagues face victimisation, intimidation and threats of dismissal at the hands of their employer.
Take action and demand that Said be given his job back and workers' rights be respected.
ACT NOW! Egypt: Torture and murder of Giulio Regeni
The torture and murder of Giulio Regeni, a young academic who was in Egypt to research the situation of independent trade unions shocked the world over. Act now and sign the LabourStart petition calling on the Egyptian government to cooperate with an independent and impartial investigation into Giulio’s death and all instances of forced disappearances, cases of torture and deaths in detention alongside any ongoing investigations by criminal prosecutors.
FOCUS ON TRADE UNIONISTS
Equal Times video report: Myanmar: Exile and the Kingdom
As democracy gets a foothold in Myanmar, so does foreign direct investment. But will the country’s mineral wealth be used for the benefit of the people, and what role will the newly-registered Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) play in securing a better future for the workers?
Watch the Equal Times video
RadioLabour daily newscast: 2 February 2016
RadioLabour reports on the UN employment initiatives to tackle global unemployment of young women. Listen to the interview with Guy Ryder Secretary General of the ILO supporting the initiatives. In other news - meetings are being held in South Africa to create a new trade union federation.
Listen to the report here
EVENTS
High Stakes in Venezuela & Latin America
Saturday 5 March, 11.00am (tea, coffee and registration from 10.30am)
VSC Dayschool - ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London, SE1 1DR (map here and directions here.)
Find out what's really happening in Venezuela at this timely event to discuss the latest threats and challenges facing progressive change in Venezuela and Latin America. You can invite friends on Facebook here - register online here
TUC International Women's Day - Women's Health in the Workplace
Tuesday 8 March 2016
10.00am – 3.00pm
Park Plaza Hotel, Leeds, Boar Lane, City Square, Leeds LS1 5NS
The Yorkshire and Humber TUC Women’s Forum are pleased to invite you to join us in celebrating International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8 March 2016 at the Park Plaza Hotel, Leeds.
Please fill out the application form to secure your place.
Buena Vista Social Club Adios Tour
Wednesday 6 April 2016
O2 Arena, London
Doors open 6.00pm
The Cuba Solidarity Campaign is honoured to join up with the Music Fund for Cuba in hosting the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club concert after-show reception at the O2 in London on Wednesday 6 April.
Tickets for the performance and reception are available here
The person responsible for the e-bulletin is:
Tanya Warlock
Tel 0207 467 1357
E: twarlock@tuc.org.uk
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