News
New top team for UNI Telecom
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UNI Telecom global union has a new top team - following a world meeting in Nyon, Switzerland that reinforced its commitment to push for global investment in high-speed communications and to boost union organising in the growing multinationals in the sector. Bo Larsen of DM Denmark is the new UNI Telecom World President and Marcus Courtney is the new head of UNI’s Telecom bureau in Nyon. Bo takes over from Shoji Morishima of Japan who is retiring from this union - NWJ - later this month. Marcus – who comes from WashTech and the CWA in the United States with a track record in building union organisation in Microsoft - takes over from Neil Anderson, who has switched to UNI Post and Logistics global union. “I look forward to working with the regional Vice Presidents in carrying out the work of UNI Telecom,” Bo told the 100 delegates at the closing session of their two-day world meeting. There are now 3.36 billion mobile phones in the world - enough for half the world’s population - and building union membership, decent work and collective bargaining in the mobile phone giants were key issues for the meeting. “We need to ensure core labour rights for all Telecom workers, regardless of which country they live in,” said Shoji Morishima. “We want these companies to be working for the long run and investing in people as well as the technology,” said Neil Anderson. The thaw in relations with the Chinese trade union centre ACFTU will lead to more joint activities, said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “There will now be a steady increase in activities with a focus on organising in the multinational companies there.” Telecom has its first trans-Atlantic union - TU - that brings together T-Mobile workers from the United States and Germany. T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom and is 50% organised in Germany. But in the United States T-Mobile is a union buster, leaving 20,000 US workers without union recognition. “We are bringing together members from both nations to organise across borders and to strengthen our campaign for recognition,” said Lothar Schröder, from ver.di Germany. A common website has been launched and workers moving between the two countries will benefit from single union membership. “We want to break down the barriers of fear that central management are trying to instill - we want to get across the message that it is normal for unions to organise in Germany and the United States.” The call centres of India already employ more than a million workers and are still growing, said Thomas John, from NUBSL-FNTO India. He reported on UNI’s initiative in launching UNITES to organise IT-enabled service workers that has already signed up nearly 8,000 members. “Our aim now is to register a union for mobile telecom workers.” Both Mamadou Diop of SYTS Senegal and Justine Assango of SYNACOM Cameroun reported on the growing French-speaking call centre industry in their countries. The meeting backed UNI’s Action Month in call centres that will run again this October. Among the target multinationals for organising and signing global agreements to ensure labour rights around the world are Vodafone, Telmex/America Movil, Deutsche Telekom, TeliaSonera, Telekom Malaysia, MTN and Singtel. |
Union coordination is also being stepped up to ensure that already signed global agreements do operate effectively in Telefónica, France Telecom and Portugal Telecom.
Joe Chauke of CWU South Africa reported on their successful strike to win recognition at Vodafone subsidiary Vodacom. Formal collective bargaining has still to be established but already the company and the union are engaging in dialogue and training of union activists is underway
Intimidation of union members has not entirely stopped however, reported Joe. “The foot soldiers of Vodacom continue to intimidate workers.”
UNI’s Lorenzo de Santis reported on the build up to the launch of the IBM global alliance early in the new year with unions tracking the Big Blue’s latest restructuring. A union coordinator has been appointed and cooperation is being stepped up between IBM unions and the IBM European Works Council - which involves UNI unions as well as unions in the metalworker federations. “The aim of the alliance will be to secure organising rights and build trade union membership,” said Lorenzo. “We hope that one day this global alliance will turn into a global agreement with IBM - but there is still a long way to go.”
Francisco Hernandez Juarez of STRM Mexico outlined the phenomenal growth of the Carso Group - which includes America Movil and Telmex and which has made Carlos Slim one of the richest men in the world. Both companies are expanding across Latin America but with franchising that keeps the number of permanent workers extremely small.
UNI-Americas Cenise Monteiro briefed delegates on a new project to organise Movistar workers that will concentrate in seven countries on building union rights and membership and improving coordination between Movistar unions.
Bo Larsen also briefed the conference on the growing convergence of UNI Telecom and IBITS global unions in Europe with joint working groups looking at key, common issues.