News
UNI-Americas Info Bulletin for April 2008
Regional Secretary: Rodolfo Benítez No. 56 – APRIL – 2008
MAY DAY MESSAGE
UNI-Americas endorses all the statements issued by its affiliates for the celebration of May 1st, International Workers’ Day, a day on which the universal heroic struggle for trade union rights is commemorated. We reaffirm the need for unions to go back to the origins of the fight of men and women workers, so we urge all our colleagues to disseminate and actively participate in the Campaign for Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining led by the Global Union Federations (GUFs) and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA). Long live May Day!
Contact: rodolfo.benitez@uniglobalunion.org
STRIKE IN QUEBECOR WORLD PERU
196 workers went on strike in Quebecor World Peru. The strike began on April 29 and ended on April 30. The workers demanded a fair distribution of the profits that the company had historically paid to its workers when they were not unionized. In addition, they claimed that there are deficiencies in the plant related to management errors that bring about substantial production losses, and that they feel mistreated by Quebecor top management.
English Version
Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org
UNI-AMERICAS REGIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SUPPORTS ACTION PLANS
At the 9th Meeting of the UNI-Americas Regional Executive Committee held in Panama City on April 24 and 25, 2008, Regional Secretary Rodolfo Benítez reported on the activities carried out since March 2007. In addition to highlighting the achievements regarding organizing and actions in multinationals, Bro. Benítez explained the various strategies that are part of the 2008-2009 Action Plan. The President of UNI-Americas, Bro. Rubén Cortina, stressed the need for governments to duly fulfill their national responsibilities, preventing foreign interests from causing social distortions by adopting purely mercantilist attitudes. The key elements of the action plan have to do with the various specific projects that focus on the main themes pursued by UNI and UNI-Americas in order to guarantee the organizing of new members, the signing of more global agreements with multinational companies, and the fight for the application of standards that ensure decent work.
Contact: rodolfo.benitez@uniglobalunion.org
UNI PROPERTY SERVICES AND UNI GAMING EFFORTS PRAISED
In his political report to the Regional Executive Committee meeting in Panama City last April 24 and 25, the UNI-Americas Regional Secretary highlighted the significant progress made by the Regional Office in two sectors that have only recently started operating in the region: Property Services and Gaming. At the 9th Meeting of the Regional Executive Committee, Bro. Benítez described the significant achievements made by the former in organizing private security workers and by the latter in underpinning a promising initiative aimed at organizing casino workers. Along these lines, he said, “There are two projects under way focused on organizing and creating strong unions for the thousands of men and women who risk their lives every day to safeguard valuable assets and for whom working conditions are far from decent. I refer to security guards. Furthermore, the explosive and thriving gaming business, particularly the casino business, does not take workers’ wellbeing into account at all, despite the fact that they work night after night to ensure that large sums of money go into the casinos’ vaults.”
Contact: alberto.barrow@uniglobalunion.org
MESSAGE FROM THE FEDERATION OF WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE PAPER AND CARDBOARD INDUSTRY
“We pay tribute to all the brothers and sisters who lost their lives fighting for better working conditions and a dignified life. May the example of these martyrs guide our actions and enhance our capabilities so that we can put them to the service of our fellow workers and the labor movement as a whole in order to become united and attain the essential conditions we need to bring peace of mind and happiness to all workers.” This was the salutatory message issued by the Federation of Workers and Employees of the Paper, Cardboard and Chemical Industry of Argentina on May Day.
Contact: Blas Juan Alari fedpapel@speedy.com.ar
HEALTH SYMPOSIUM FOR PANAMANIAN WOMEN WORKERS
The Panamanian Social Insurance Fund (Caja de Seguro Social) held this important symposium with the aim of promoting spaces for reflection on issues related to health and safety at work from a gender perspective, within the framework of the World Day for Health and Safety at Work. Preventing occupational risks means guaranteeing the right to enjoy a safe and healthy work environment, taking into account the particular characteristics of workers based on their sex, age and psychophysical traits.
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
PERU: WOMEN’S COMMITTEE ADOPTS GENDER AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES PLAN
On April 18, the UNI Women’s Committee of Peru held a meeting for the purpose of adopting the “Gender and Equal Opportunities in the Union Plan.” The invitation was also extended to delegates from grassroots organizations affiliated to UNI, so the meeting was attended by 21 representatives from the health area of the social insurance, electricity, telecom and finance sectors. Rodrigo Ochane opened the meeting on behalf of the coordination of the Liaison Committee and then Ruth Anchorena, coordinator of the Women’s Committee, and María Grandez, a titular member of the UNI-Americas Women’s Committee, took over.
Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org
SEIZING EACH OPPORTUNITY IN THE INTEREST OF WORKERS IN THE AMERICAS
In his report to the UNI-Americas Regional Executive Committee, the Regional Secretary touched on a very important issue. We would like to use this means to raise awareness of the urgent need for UNI affiliates in the continent to have an active participation in the various spaces and opportunities that may arise in some countries of the Americas that have been undergoing political changes and that may favor the aspirations of the vast majority of workers in our continent. The theme of the 2nd UNI-Americas Regional Conference (Mar del Plata, March 2007) was “Imagine... a new Americas” and based on that, the Regional Secretary highlighted certain circumstances, events and realities that we need to make the most of and that require our determined and vigorous action.
Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN THE AMERICAS... NOW!
Thanks to a detailed report by Bro. Rodolfo Benítez, the UNI-Americas Regional Executive Committee was formally made aware of the “Campaign to defend freedom of association and collective bargaining” in the Americas that was launched on March 28, 2008 at the Founding Congress of the new Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) and that will extend throughout the continent between 2008 and 2010. Although the Global Union Federations of the Americas (GUFs-Americas) are the other important and crucial party in this initiative, the campaign will have the direct involvement and support of the ILO and the ACTRAV Office for Workers as well as of UNI-Americas, of course, which at present is in charge of the coordination of the GUFs in the Americas in the person of the Regional Secretary Rodolfo Benítez.
For more information: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org
LABOR MINISTER ATTENDED THE OPENING OF THE 9TH REC MEETING
With nearly all its members in attendance, the UNI-Americas Regional Executive Committee held its 9th meeting in Panama City during two days (April 24 and 25). The meeting was opened by the Minister of Labor and Labor Development, Mr. Edwin Salamín, who reaffirmed his strong conviction that tripartism is the right approach for addressing the main problems that affect the world of labor in the region; in the case of Panama, this approach has been recently implemented under the name of “A New Labor Culture.” Minister Salamín praised UNI-Americas’s decision to choose Panama as the venue for this meeting to discuss issues that are important for the organization, especially considering that a few weeks before, the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas was founded in the same city. For more information: alberto.barrow@uniglobalunion.org
UNI-AMERICAS CONDEMNS MURDER OF RENOWNED HONDURAN LEADER
During the opening of the 9th Meeting of the UNI-Americas Executive Committee on April 24, 2008, the Committee members received the heartbreaking news of the death of the General Secretary of the Honduran Workers’ Confederation (CTH), Altagracia Fuentes, who was shot to death together with another two people while traveling in a car. According to the report received, the shooting took place in the vicinity of the Northern city of El Progreso, where Sister Altagracia Fuentes and another union leader, Yolanda Sánchez, as well as the driver, Juan Bautista Aceituno, were heading to. This terrible event comes in addition to the recent murder of brother Luis Gustavo Galeano, who was the Representative of the National Commissioner’s Office for Human Rights.
English Version
Contact: rodolfo.benitez@uniglobalunion.org
9th MEETING OF THE UNI-AMERICAS REGIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
“ALL OF US ARE COLOMBIAN, NO ONE CAN BE NEUTRAL”
In his opening address at the 9th Meeting of the UNI-Americas Regional Committee, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings made this final statement, thus summarizing the feeling of solidarity towards the people of Colombia, especially to the social and trade union movement, for the deaths of thousands of leaders in the country. Recently, another life was taken, that of our unforgettable brother Leonidas Gómez Rozo, a leader of the bank employees’ union of Colombia (Unión Nacional de Empleados Bancarios de Colombia, UNEB) who was brutally murdered in his apartment in Bogotá. Another leader of that same organization, Sis. Janet Bonilla, received death threats.
Contact: rodolfo.benitez@uniglobalunion.org
GRAPHICAL UNIONS OF UNI-AMERICAS STAND UP FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
“We defend the right to collective bargaining as a means of democratizing social relations between management and labor and as a way of contributing towards fair distribution of wealth,” said Leonardo del Roy, President of UNI-Americas Graphical, at the close of the network of Central American graphical unions’ meeting. The network met in Panama on April 21 and 22, 2008. Twenty-five union leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama attended the meeting. They discussed in depth the work done during 2007 and the most relevant problems, focusing specially on the unions’ resistance to fully incorporate women in their activities.
Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org
MEETING OF THE UNI-AMERICAS POST AND LOGISTICS REGIONAL COMMITTEE
The UNI-Americas Post and Logistics Committee met within the framework of the 9th Meeting of the UNI-Americas Regional Executive Committee. The meeting was opened by UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings, who greeted the Committee members and welcomed Neil Anderson and Rolf Büttner as Head of Department and as President of the sector’s World Committee, respectively. He also gave a brief account of the work done by Bro. John Pedersen, who decided to retire. Then, UNI-Americas President Rubén Cortina and Regional Secretary Rodolfo Benítez addressed the meeting. All of them agreed on the need to work jointly in order to monitor and devise strategies to organize workers into unions in the multinationals that operate in the region.
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
“REAFFIRMING OUR COMMITMENTS”
THE 3RD REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF UNI-AMERICAS WOMEN BEGINS
The 3rd UNI-Americas Women’s Conference began on Monday, April 21, in Panama City. Present at the opening ceremony were Rodolfo Benítez, Regional Secretary; Monique Marti, Head of Department of UNI Women; Barbara Easterling, President of the UNI World Women’s Committee; Neide Fonseca, President of the UNI-Americas Regional Women’s Committee; Lic. Diana Molo, Deputy Minister of Social Development of Panama; and Eng. Balbina Herrera, President of Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) and pre-candidate to the Presidency of Panama. The local affiliates were represented by the General Secretary of the Panamanian Union of Flight Attendants (SIPANAB), Dalys González. The UNI-Americas Regional Secretary highlighted the importance of women’s participation and the progress made by UNI over time. He invited all participants to join in the campaign to promote and defend Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining. The President of the UNI-Americas Regional Women’s Committee and Chairwoman of the Conference underlined the critical role that women play in the changes that are taking place in the world. She said, “We should not only wonder how we can defeat global capitalism; we should also discuss and put forward strategies to achieve a fair distribution of goods and wealth so that all women may have the right to live free from violence, to see their rights extended and to have more and better jobs in a world with dignity for everyone.”
Related news:
UNI-Americas Women: Conclusions and Action Points
Contact: briceida.gonzalez@uniglobalunion.org
CLOSING OF THE 3RD WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
The General Secretary of UNI Global Union, Philip Jennings, attended the final session of the 3rd Regional Conference of UNI-Americas Women held in Panama City from April 21 to 23. In his address to over fifty unionist women from North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, he highlighted the important work that the Women’s Group has been doing in UNI’s structures and its impact on the organizing of women workers in the Americas, where women are taking up an increasingly large share of the labor market. He said, “Sixty per cent of newly created jobs are in the services sector, 75% of which are filled by women. Consequently, although we have made progress in organizing women into unions, this still remains to be seen in the internal structures of UNI, where women still do not have sufficient representation. We need to ensure that our organization reflects the trend that is taking place in the world of labor, as women have become key in such a world.” Philip Jennings ended by inviting all UNI structures to take up the challenge of ensuring greater empowerment of women within UNI Global Union in a positive attitude.
Contact: briceida.gonzalez@uniglobalunion.org
ARGENTINA: BANK WORKERS REACH WAGE AGREEMENT
The representatives of the bank workers’ union Asociación Bancaria and of the Employers’ Associations ABAPPRA, ADEBA, ABA and ABE informed the President of the Nation, Dr. Cristina Fernández of the wage agreement they had reached, whereby a 19.5% wage raise would be given in one payment with guaranteed minimum amounts based on seniority and position. The guaranteed amount for an initial wage was set at $500 (US$ 159,00). Likewise, a significant increase for cash shortages and the teller’s position was agreed on. Additionally, in 60 days’ time, a joint committee must make a decision on the basic wages for the private sector for workers covered by the collective agreement regarding which there are significant differences.
Source: AB prensabaires@bancaria.org.ar
REMEMBERING LEONIDAS IN PANAMA
Within the framework of the campaign “Remember Leonidas”, a delegation of unions from Panama and UNI-Americas made up by Pedro Hurtado, General Secretary of the Graphic Arts Union, SITGRAF; Rodrigo Batista, General Secretary of the Union of Electricity and Similar Workers of Panama, SITIESPA; and Eusebilio Cabrera, General Secretary of the Industrial Workers’ Union of Plastic and Similar Products, SITPPLAS, together with a delegation of UNI-Americas led by Marvin Largaespada and Cenise Monteiro were received by Mr. Víctor H. Echeverri J., Counselor of the Embassy of Colombia and by Mr. César Hernández Riaño, Consul General of Colombia in Panama City. The union leaders presented the diplomats with various notes of protest for the horrendous murder of Leonidas Gómez Rozo, who had been killed exactly one month before in his apartment in Bogotá. We are in a position to say that this UNI-driven campaign has aroused great solidarity among affiliates and fraternal organizations in the region, which joined in the outraged protest of unions for this treacherous crime for which we demand justice.
Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org
CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN THE AMERICAS
The full text of the Resolution adopted by the Founding Congress of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) regarding a Campaign to Promote and Defend Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in the Americas is now available to our readership.
Source: TUCA Founding Congress
SAD DEATH OF GERALDO VILHENA CARDOSO
We regret to inform that on April 11, 2008, our brother Geraldo Vilhena Cardoso died at the age of 66 in his home in Piracaia. He had served as President of the Union of Telecommunications Workers and Telephone Operators of the State of Sao Paulo (SINTETEL) from 1981 to 1987, and as member of the World and Regional Executive Committees of the former Post, Telegraph and Telephone Workers’ International (PTTI). We hereby extend our condolences and sympathy to his family and friends and to SINTETEL, his grassroots organization.
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
WORKERS PERSECUTED BY EMPLOYERS IN CALL CENTERS IN CHILE
A paper written by the Chilean journalist Iván Gutiérrez Lozano and published in Crónica Digital on March 31, 2008 is now available to our readership. In this paper (in Spanish), the author clearly describes the situation currently faced by workers in call centers in Chile and the “model” followed by these companies in the various countries of the region.
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
“REMEMBER LEONIDAS” CAMPAIGN
April 8 will mark one month since the murder of Leonidas Gómez Rozo, a leader of the national union of bank workers of Colombia, UNEB. We are deeply impressed by the courage displayed by our affiliates in Colombia and their desire to continue the struggle in a country where 2,574 unionists have been murdered in the past two decades. As a humble but important step to keep the pressure on the Colombian authorities, we would like each UNI affiliate to send a message to the Colombian Embassy of its country asking with respect but also with indignation that the government put an end to the persecution of trade unionists and that Leonidas’ s murder be looked into and that his killers be arrested and punished. (See sample attached). Please, inform your own union members of the action you have taken through your statements, newsletters and websites.
Link to Colombian Diplomatic Offices around the world
Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org
UNI-AMERICAS WELCOMES AND SUPPORTS THE NEW TUCA
The newly created Trade Union Confederation of Workers of the Americas, TUCA, is the result of the merger between the former ORIT and the former CLAT, and represents a promising reality following the Founding Congress held in Panama City from March 27 to 29, 2008. Over 30 UNI affiliates that are affiliated to the trade union centers of their respective countries had an active and leading role in the Congress, where they had the opportunity to share and contribute ideas and support and fully join in the future work and commitments of TUCA. The new Confederation covers the entire Americas continent and initially represents more than 50 million workers grouped in 68 National Trade Union Centers and Independent Unions in 26 countries. Today, the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas is the largest organization in the history of the labor movement in the Americas.
Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org
Notice of Erratum: INFO Newsletter N° 55, Page 2. News: UNI-Telefónica Global Agreement Facilitates Negotiations.
The first sentences reads:
“We are pleased to inform that on March 17, the agreement signed with Telefónica de Argentina was passed by our House of Representatives.”
It should read:
“We are pleased to inform that on March 17, the agreement signed with Telefónica de Argentina was passed by our Congress of Representatives.”
CONTRIBUTIONS
We encourage our readers to send their comments, suggestions and contributions to the editor of UNI-Info via email mario.sanchez@uniglobalunion.org, by fax ++ (507) 317-0170, and by post to Apartado Postal 0819-06290, Panama, Republic of Panama.