News

Trade union leaders of UNI global union affiliates from Central American countries Costa Rica, Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic met in San Jose, Costa Rica on 23-25 June 2009. Trade union strategies to organise, retain and service professional and managerial staff (P&MS) built the focus of the three days meeting.

The trade union leaders agreed that organising P&MS into trade unions in multinational companies was important since they share as employees common concerns with workers in general. Organising P&MS strengthens the national and international labour movement and adds force to UNI’s strategy to seal global agreements with multinational companies.

The trade union leaders also agreed that in order to attract P&MS as members, trade unions have to role out innovative policies designed to serve the particular needs of professional and managerial staff.

Among those innovative approaches the trade union leaders emphasised the use of new information and communication technologies, in particular Web2.0 applications such as social networks, user generated content in order to improve communication with members and facilitate democratic participation in decision making.

As essential services for P&MS, trade union leaders identified:

· the implementation of effective work-life-balance schemes through social dialogue and collective bargaining,

· empowering P&MS in a global labour market by offering cross border mobility services and assistance such as the UNI passport for P&MS;

· facilitating employability and adaptability of professional and managerial staff by enforcing effective lifelong learning facilities;

· strengthening the position of P&MS in companies be promoting ethical, social and professional responsibility as a basis for genuine corporate social responsibility schemes.

Trade union leaders at the UNI Americas meeting heavily criticised the anti trade union climate and the appalling track record of many Central American countries as regards trade union and employee rights. Out of 7 American countries on an ILO list of labour right violators, 3 are from Central America, including Costa Rica and Colombia.

Hundreds of trade unionists were discriminated, harassed, intimidated, kidnapped, tortured and killed over the last couple of years, namely in Colombia, only because they were pursuing trade union activities, a right, which are granted and declared as a fundamental human right under the UN Universial Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and under several Conventions adopted by the ILO such as Conventions 87 and 98 and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998.

Trade union leaders that the San José meeting declared that they will:

· hold up international trade union solidarity,

· stand united and not let us be divided,

· not give in and bow to anti trade union forces,

· continue to fight for human and trade union rights in Central Amercia,

· step up the efforts to organise employees, including professional and managerial staff into trade unions, to build a powerful labour movement across the continent, that cannot be ignored or harassed.

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The event was organised by UNI americas with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Costa Rica. Trade unions present were ANTTEC and SITET, Costa Rica; SINTRAELECOL, Colombia; SINTRACP and UIM, Panama; FESC, Nicaragua; SITRATELH and ANEEAH, Honduras; FESEBS and STTELGUA, Guatemala; SINTISSTE and SUTERM, Mexico; SINATRAE, Dominican Republic. These trade unions represent professional workers in Telecom, Finance, and Healthcare.