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“We want to encourage the practical use of English among trade unionists to promote solidarity and communication,” said Hitomi Akiyama and her group in their presentation at the 12th UNI-LCJapan (UNI LCJ) Youth English Camp.



Hitomi is one of the young English-speaking resource assistants who contributed to the success of the English Camp which kicked off in Hiroshima, Japan this October 2012. The annual camp is organized by UNI LCJ and reaches out to grass root members in Japan to expose them to the international union movement.



This year, the English Camp gathered a group of 20 people at different English speaking levels. Participants represented different unions from commerce (JAW and UI Zensen), ICTS (ICTJ), postal (JPGU), finance (Zenshinren), and graphical (All Printing Bureau Labour Union) sectors in Japan.



Kiyoshi Ochiai, Chairperson of UNI-LCJ, surprised everyone with an opening address delivered in English. Speaking to participants, he said, “You will gain more experience in the union movement and play an important role as union leaders in the future. We have great expectations that you will be leaders, not only in Japan, but also in the Asia and Pacific region.” He explained that international solidarity is important to establish stronger linkage with workers and unions in the same industry around the world and assured that UNI LCJ will continue to assist unions to establish mutual trust between labour and management.



As the camp also coincided with Decent Work Day, participants discussed and share several examples of decent work. These include having trade union agreements, equality, fair wages, and diversity at the workplace.



Joining in the workshop as resource people were Edwin Thompson from UNI-Europa Youth, Paul Paggabao from UNI-PLC Youth, Suraj Dhakal from FIEUN Nepal, and Rebecca Yuen from UNI Apro Singapore. Participants happily conversed in English with them and were also tasked to translate key messages from Japanese into English during the Peace Walk at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.



The young unionists had a valuable opportunity to learn from and experience the real UNI Global Union movement. Among many UNI’s activities, this activity aims to support unions by increasing activists with wider perspectives and building potential leaders with a good sense of international solidarity. Participants were encouraged to keep networking, exchanging views and practicing English on Facebook.



For pictures, please go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/uniglobalunion/sets/72157631878796024/

To listen to Bro Ochiai's English Speech, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwSJChJhmCs&feature=youtu.be