ITF’s Steve Cotton in
face to face talks with Algerian unions
24 June 2014
ITF acting general secretary Steve Cotton today personally
thanked Algerian trade unionists for their support for the ITF’s Gaza appeal,
its work in Palestine and trade union initiatives in the Arab World region.
Cotton arrived in the country on Monday for four days of
talks.
He explained: “Unions
in Algeria have recorded some extraordinary achievements – including the FNTPA
(Fédération Nationale des Travailleurs des Ports Algériens), which is now the
third largest dockers’ union in the ITF. They and the FNTT (Fédération
Nationale des Travailleurs des Transports) have been long-standing supporters
of the people of Palestine and our work to help them, and we look forward to
that relationship continuing. With them and the UGTA (Union Générale des
Travailleurs Algériens) trade union centre we will be jointly examining how to
further increase campaigning, membership and co-operation, and how to help
build union strength in aviation and seafaring.”
He continued: “Algeria
has the highest number of ITF-affiliated union members in the Middle East
region. The country’s strengths in sectors such as gas and oil production and
its potential in areas such as seafaring are evident. For those to benefit the
people of Algeria, vigorous, involved union initiatives are a necessity, and
the ITF is committed to supporting them.”
Today, accompanied by ITF Arab World representative Bilal Malkawi, Steve Cotton met with unions and government officials, and
visited the Port of Algiers, the country’s largest.
While there he placed a bouquet at a memorial monument to 16
Algerian seafarers on two ships who were killed in a storm on 13 November 2004.
Tomorrow he will take part in a celebration of the Day of
the Seafarer in Oran where he will be awarding certificates to seafarers. He
will then attend talks on the oil and gas sector – where ITF unions are working
closely with the IndustriALL global union to build on the already strong union
presence – and on building standards in the ferry industry.
Spotlight on women’s
strength at Indian port union
16 June 2014
The strength of women workers was celebrated in Kandla,
India recently as a 90-strong women’s meeting was held by the port union there.
ITF dockers’ section secretary Sharon James and ITF Asia/Pacific assistant regional secretary Sangam Tripathy attended the meeting of
Transport and Dockworkers’ Union (TDWU) of Kandla members. James credited the
TDWU with a very progressive approach to women workers, pointing to the fact
that the ITF-affiliated union organises across a range of categories despite
operating in a very male-dominated environment.
James met with
activists and heard about the challenges they face, particularly regarding
proposed development plans in the area. Opportunities for the union to organise
and grow were also high on the agenda for discussion.
Women from across port departments, including sweepers from the
outdoors section, engineers, and medical, marine and finance staff, shared
their experiences and opinions on the union and its role in their working
lives. Some of the women who had been on daily wages shared their story of how
they made it onto the regular payroll with the support of the union. However,
there were still workers in this situation and the union pledged to support
them.
Seema Mohan, secretary of the TDWU-Kandla and ITF Asia/Pacific
dockers’ section women’s representative, said: “We have been talking about being union members and what it means to us,
practically day to day. The union has clearly played a very vital role in the
welfare of its members on various issues but our work is not done. We will
continue to work for equality and decent conditions for all our members.”
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий