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ASETUC Workshop, 23-24 October 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand
ASETUC Workshop on ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND ITS IMPACT ON TRADE UNIONS AND WORKERS
Trade Unions, Employer Organisations and Labour Ministers established tripartite dialogue on ASEAN level
24th October 2009 Bangkok, Thailand
 Pic. ASEAN SLOMs, ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Confederation of Employers and ASETUC Board |
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During the ASEAN Summit more than 60 representatives of the ASEAN Services Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC) met on October 24th at the Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok with their social partners from the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (ASEAN SLOM), the ASEAN Secretariat as well as the ASEAN Confederation of Employeers (ACE) for their first tripartite dialogue at the ASEAN level. During this meeting, cooperation between these three partners of social dialogue were mutually developed and further collaboration was agreed.
 Pic. Overview of ASETUC Workshop |
Before this tripartite dialogue unionists from ASETUC, which consists of member-organisations UNI APRO (services sector), BWI AP (construction and forestry sectors) and PSI AP (public services sector) reviewed the results of the assessment-study “ASEAN Economic Integration and its Impact on Trade Unions and Workers” conducted by an expert research team over the last two months. Together, the participants agreed upon a joint communiqué “Bridge the Gap: The Workers ì Voice in ASEAN Integration” (find attached), which was discussed on the second day of the conference with ASEAN SLOM officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam as well as the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) represented by APINDO, Indonesia and ECOT, Thailand and the ASEAN Secretariat led by Dr Donald Tambunan.
Pic. Solidarity and partnership spirit
“As trade unions we very much appreciate the established tripartite dialogue and fully commit our movement to the ASEAN community, which we seek to develop in close cooperation with our partners from ASEAN SLOM, the ASEAN secretariat and the employers organizations. We call therefore for union recognisation on national and regional level as equal partners and commit at the same time to a future constructive engagement for economic growth with economic justice in the region.” summarized Christopher NG, on behalf of ASETUC, the results of this historic workshop.