Participation
Registrations continue to arrive at UNI head office and we are approaching records numbers, with 1,900 participants representing 400 unions in 111 countries already registered.
Ebola
We would like to reassure participants that serious measures have been taken by the South African Government to prevent the introduction of the disease into the country.
There have been no recorded cases of Ebola in South Africa.
UNI Finance welcomes 120 union leaders from across the world
The organizers in Rengo Packaging Malaysia have managed to organize 72% of the workers in only one year. The total number of workers in Rengo comes up to 484 (excluding foreign workers) and out of them there are 350 members today in RENGO Employees Union.
Who would have thought that the exceptional mobilization of militants from UNI Europa affiliate Force Ouvrière (FO) in the retail and other sectors too, would have led director Leclerc Roques in Garonne to close his shop on Sunday morning, when the opening was already foreseen since the beginning mid-September?
Contrary to those who advocate liberalism, workers and consumers, for the first time mobilized to say NO to exploitation of workers. Admittedly, even FO was surprised for this unprecedented mobilization.
Trade Unions in Public and Semi-Government Enterprises in Sri Lanka organized joint picket on 21st October 2014 in Colombo; demanding the Government to increase the wages by LKR 10,000 per month. UNI affiliates in Sri Lanka spear headed the agitation on the eve of the Government budget announcement; appealing the government to increase wages enabling the workers to cope up with the soaring cost of living in the country.
Members of the Korean Finance Industry Union [KFIU] are awarded with scholarships to meet 50% of the tuition fees for 4 years; when they enrol to follow financial management and accounting courses at the Prime College of Korea Open University.
After months of public outcry, employee outrage and pressure on social media by the IBM Global Union Alliance, CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty, has at last "abandoned Roadmap 2015", the plan to deliver $20 earnings per share by next year.
While IBM focused on out of touch “Roadmap” goals, enormous damage has been done to both employees and the company:
The Belgian union BBTK-SETCa signs on to UNICARE Europa's position paper highlighting the impacts of austerity on the social insurance and private care sector in Europe.
This union is the second Europa UNICARE working group member to show support by officially endorsing the position. Together with other European social insurance and private care unions, they reject the cuts their sectors are facing, but also put forward what can be done to bring important, and necessary, change to the sector.
Despite the European Central Bank (ECB) having signed an addendum to the social dialogue contract with trade unions that provides for true consultation on the implementation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the actual plenary meeting of the Social Dialogue offered little new insight. Most of the trade union’s questions on future working conditions and HR policies within the new SSM framework remain unanswered. The plenary meeting took place on 18-19 September 2014.
On 20 October, the UNI Global Union call-center action week kicked off.
Since 2006, UNI Global Union (the global union for workers in the service sector) organises during the month of October a major campaign in call centers. From October 20 to 25, UNI Europa affiliates relay the campaign at company level to improve working conditions in this highly competitive sector. The 2014 edition focuses on the importance of union representation in call centers. Indeed, delegates are first in line to ensure that working conditions are decent for all workers.
