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The UNI Breaking Through strategy begun at the UNI World Congress in Nagasaki two years ago has worked its way into the fabric of the global organisation no more so than in UNI Americas. Here the resolve to break through and win for workers has never been stronger – that was the conclusion of the morning session of the second day of the conference in Montevideo



UNI Americas Regional Secretary Adriana Rosenzvaig told the participants that, “UNI’s Breaking Through strategy was succeeding in changing the rules of the game and giving workers a voice and dignity in the work place.”



Affiliates across the Americas had adopted its message of international solidarity and it was bearing fruits. A prime example was the establishment of a new union for Carrefour in Columbia, the most dangerous country in the world.



Philip Jennings, UNI Global Union General Secretary said, “If we can win in Columbia we can win everywhere. We are applying ourselves and we are winning. I’m proud to see the Breaking Through work of our affiliates from Canada and the US in the north down to Chile in the south and all points in between.”



Affiliates gave a multitude of examples on how UNI Americas was Breaking Through by both signing more global agreements with multinationals but also forming strategic alliances with unions within companies such as T-Mobile and Prosegur. The participants resolved to continue the fight with these companies because it was unacceptable that T-Mobile workers in the US were being humiliated by management practices and that in Paraguay over 300 workers had been fired at Prosegur directly after the country had experienced a right-wing coup d’état.



Many of the affiliates also said that under the Breaking Through strategy efforts to end the illegal protection agreements in Mexico had to be redoubled. The importance of breaking through on this illegal activity was not confined to the borders of Mexico and could if not stopped spread like a cancer across the whole of the Americas.



The conference was unanimous that Walmart in the US was now on the run because of the efforts of the Walmart workers who had dared to strike and because of the international solidarity led by the UNI Walmart Global Union Alliance. All affiliates agreed they would continue to give their wholehearted support to the Walmart cause, beginning with the Global Day of Action on Friday 14 December.