News

A sub regional workshop on “Organizing, Union Rights and Social Dialogue in the Middle East” was held in Cairo, Egypt from the 16-18 November.

The workshop was organized by UNI Africa and supported by FES

The Deputy General Secretary Philip Bowyer opened the workshop and gave a presentation on the “Breaking Through” project, he spoke about the 5 pillars that have been adopted as part of the strategic direction for UNI.

He spoke about the importance of being innovative and the ability to respond quickly to decisions that multinationals make that impact on the lives of working men and women.

The Head of Department of UNI Graphical, Steve Walsh, spoke about the importance of organizing and campaigning.

He said that the new Department of Strategic Campaigning, Organizing, Research and Education headed by Adriana Rosenzvaig had been established to ensure that this focus is maintained across all sectors and regions.

Over 30 union leaders from the Middle East and North African sub region attended.

Participants broke into workshops and discussed the obstacles of organizing in multinationals in this region and what they need to do to increase the presence of unions within the companies identified in the sector and region strategic plans.

In the report back session the key issues identified across all sectors were:

· Lack of social dialogue

· Proper implementation and adherence to ILO standards

· Importance of training activists and delegates

· Build union structures in the workplace

· Importance of communications

· Undertake strategic research on multi nationals