News

The unions came together this week in Paris at the UNI Graphical & Packaging Global Conference under the theme “The Way Forward: Organise for Strength.”



“Today it is imperative that Graphical unions evolve and strengthen so that it will be as good for workers in the future as it was in our day,” said former Graphical & Packaging President Michel Muller at the conference. “We want to put that idea at the heart of our conference and listen to you and hear your thoughts about how you deal with this question in your countries.”



Muller said that the changes in the industry, with less printing and automation of printing and packaging are posing challenges on their own He said that at the same time companies are also trying to cut working conditions and make printing work more precarious.



“We are in a fight for our very existence,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “I see this conference as a call to action. We look to you for action; we look to you for leadership. You are the industrial wave to this great international that we brought together.



Jennings said that the age of “total globalization” has changed the rules of the game that we have to deal with.



“The rules of the game have changed,” he said. “The consequences of this are real not peripheral to lives of working people.”



He said that it was important to organise the new work force and ensure that they had quality jobs and dignity in the workplace.



These ideas were echoed in the work plan that the sector has for the next four years to focus on building power for workers through organising and Global Agreements with multinationals.



“Breaking Through is not just a catchy theme,” said head of UNI Graphical & Packaging Steve Walsh. “It is really about making a difference. It is about challenging us to grow our membership and it is about us, through the Breaking Through strategy, having influence nationally, regionally and globally.”



Graphical unions from Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Bahrain and Kuwait were at the conference to talk about the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. While there has been brutal repression in many countries, including Bahrain, the unions vowed to continue their fight for democracy and human and workers’ rights.



UNI Graphical & Packaging elected a new President for the sector. Michel Muller, from French union Filpac-CGT, stepped down from the presidency as delegates elected Tommy Andersson, Vice-President of the Swedish affiliate GS.



Andersson that union work is team work and there are many common goals for us to work together on. He also paid tribute to Muller for his tireless work and leadership of UNI Graphical & Packaging, saying Muller’s skills as a leader had played a significant role in the first 10 years of UNI.



After the global meeting the UNI Europa Graphical & Packaging unions also met to plan their future work together.

You can find videos from the conference on youtube