We’re very pleased to announce that the fifth GLI International Summer School will take place from the 4th – 8th July 2016 at Northern College, Yorkshire, UK.
Summer School participants are generally nominated by their unions or global union federations so if you’re interested in participating, please contact your union. Alternatively, get in contact with us directly at: gli-uk@31.172.241.170
What should the Summer School cover? We’re currently drawing up the programme for the 2016 School. We invite our supporters to get in touch with suggestions for topics to cover in the programme and for speakers we may want to invite along.
Meanwhile you can access the programme from the 2015 School, plus videos, presentations, blog posts and suggested reading, at our ISS 15 archive page here: GLI International Summer School 2015
Naomi Klein photo by Kourosh-Keshiri. Jeremy Corbyn photo by Jeff Overs/BBC/PA
Now is Not the Time for Small Steps
Solutions to the Climate Crisis and the Role of Trade Unions
A Conversation with Naomi Klein & UK Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn
Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) is co-hosting a public meeting with Naomi Klein and Jeremy Corbyn for trade unionists and their allies during the upcoming COP21 UN climate negotiations taking place in Paris this December. The event will take place on Monday 7th December, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m, at the Salle Olympe de Gouges in Paris and is supported by the Global Climate Jobs Campaign, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung–New York, and the Global Labour Institute Network.
Due to hundreds of trade unionists and social movement activists registering for the meeting over the past few days, the event is now fully booked. However, you can join the waiting list for tickets that may become available closer to the event here: goo.gl/7mYivL.
We also hope that the event will be live-streamed on the internet, and details of this will be announced as soon as arrangements have been finalised.
Explaining why this meeting is so important, Sean Sweeney, co-ordinator of TUED, said: “Naomi Klein’s book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate and Jeremy Corbyn’s Protecting Our Planet leadership campaign statement get to the root causes of climate change, namely an economic system that serves the interests of the large corporations and the one percent. This is the reality that unions and other social movements must confront, and it explains why the UN climate talks have failed to produce an agreement that can ensure a truly just societal transition.”
Naomi Klein’s book urges unions and their allies to step up their efforts to establish a new paradigm anchored in a far-reaching democratization of economic life. This message was recently reinforced by the documentary film of the same name (directed by Avi Lewis).
Prior to being elected leader of the Labour Party in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn issued a clear commitment to an energy transition that is “open, democratic, sustainable and accountable” and be able to deliver 100% carbon-free electrical power by 2030.
The meeting is sponsored by trade unions and global union federations from across the world, including:
Public Services International; International Transportworkers Federation; Education International; International Union of Foodworkers; Global Nurses United; Canadian Labour Congress (CLC); Central de Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA); Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Mangagawa (SENTRO) Philippines; FTQ Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec; Confédération des syndicats nationaux, Quebec; European Public Services Unions (EPSU); La Fédération Syndicale Unitaire (FSU) France; l’Union Syndicale Solidaires, France; Service Employees International Union (US & Canada); Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE); GMB, UK; National Nurses United (US); Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) United States and Canada; Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW); Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (Fagforbundet); National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Australia; New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA); Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) UK; Public Services and Transport Workers Union (KPTU) Korea; UNISON, UK; UNITE the Union, UK; United Electrical Workers (UE),US; University and College Union (UCU) UK; Water Workers Union at EYATH, Thessaloniki, Greece; Dipartimento Ambiente e Territorio CGIL, Italy.
“Get in touch with the labor movement’s fighting spirit—meet us in Chicago!”
Labor Notes will be holding its next conference in Chicago, US, in April 2016. The conference will bring together thousands of trade union activists, mostly from the US but including international participants, for a series of workshops and meetings covering topics such as “creative organizing tactics”, “understanding the economy”, and “reviving the strike”.
The conference is billed as a “weekend of inspiration, education, and agitation”, and Labor Notes invites those interested in attending to register on their website: Labor Notes Conference 2016.
Founded in 1979, Labor Notes is a media and organising project which uses its magazine, website, books, conferences, and workshops to promote and empower grassroots labour organising in the US.
Celia’s brilliant article provides a snapshot of 2015 GLI International Summer School, drawing attention to how the School is organised, the questions posed and the conclusions put forward by its participants.
The Global Labour University (GLU) invites trade unionists and labour activists to apply to its Masters in “Labour and Development ” at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and “Social Economy and Labour ” at the University of Campinas, Brazil.
The programmes focus on global governance including international labour standards, economics, trade, and multinational companies from a labour perspective and on trade unions and other social movements as actors of change. This joint initiative of universities from different continents, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) the international trade union movement and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation provides a global study environment and offers unique opportunities for international networking and cross border collaboration.
A limited number of scholarships will be awarded by the GLU network to students in need of support.
The deadlines for application are:
1st September 2015 for University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Contact: Pulane Ditlhake – glu.southafrica(at)wits.ac.za
1st October 2015 for University of Campinas, Brazil
Contact: Prof. Eugenia Leone – glu.brazil.2010(at)gmail.com
After an exhausting but thoroughly inspiring week of plenary sessions, group discussions, workshops, film screenings, an anarchist castle tour and a book launch, this year’s GLI International Summer School 2015 has come to an end.
You can catch up with videos, blog posts, presentations and further reading from almost all of this year’s plenary and discussion sessions at our revamped 2015 Summer School webpage here: global-labour.net/iss15
We encourage you to use the site as an educational resource for bringing the debates of the Summer School to your own trade unions and organisations. Please note that the site is a work in progress and we’ll continue to add extra content – blog entries, further reading, edited videos, etc. – as they become available.
The fourth GLI International Summer School has begun!
Held at Northern College in Barnsley, UK, the School brings together over 100 trade union activists from over 30 countries “to debate and question what are, and what should be, the politics of the international trade union movement”.
If you are unable to participate in person, you can follow the 2015 GLI International Summer School live on line. Most of the plenary sessions and presentations will be streamed live on the web, and can be watched on our webpage.
You can also participate on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – using the #ISS15 hashtag.
Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) has published a new working paper, “Power to the People: Toward Democratic Control of Electricity Generation“, which aims to show how “another energy is possible, and absolutely necessary”. The paper, published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung–New York Office, examines the actual and potential content behind the term energy democracy in order to help unions get a better grasp of what is happening now and what could happen in the future. It succinctly explains the failure of profit-driven approaches to either emissions reductions or controlling energy demand.
According to Sean Sweeney, the coordinator of TUED, “The paper is not a blueprint. It shows what is happening, and also what needs to happen in order to reduce emissions and pollution. Its main message is, if we want to control atmospheric warming and to protect our common home, then we have to get serious about reclaiming and democratizing energy. Unions in different countries and from all sectors are increasingly aware of the need to do this.”
Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) is a global, multi-sector trade union initiative to advance democratic direction and control of energy in a way that promotes solutions to the climate crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and responds to the attacks on workers’ rights and protections. TUED is the signature project of the International Program for Labor, Climate & Environment at the Murphy Institute, City University of New York and is part of the Global Labour Institute Network.
He will continue to be a co-Director of GLI. Dave will take over from Andrew Brady, who has been instrumental in steering USi to become a leading news provider and grassroots international organisation for union solidarity using social media, and generating union support throughout the world. Andrew is stepping down from USi to take up vital work for Unite the Union in the UK.
Dave’s appointment marks the beginning of a new and exciting phase of growing cooperation between GLI and USi. As many will know, USi has been instrumental in transforming GLI’s annual international summer school into a major live-streamed social media event.
We now look forward to working together more closely, combining skills and experience in campaigning, communications, education, research and project management to advance international trade union organisation and solidarity.
GLI Manchester is running an “International Trade Union Organising” weekend course from April 24-26th at Northern College, Barnsley. Register before March 26th to secure yourself a place!
This course will use recent and current case studies of international organising in transnational companies or global supply chains to analyse and discuss success and failure to build truly effective union power. It will take on questions such as how do we tackle the global corporations? What organising approaches and tactics work best? What does real solidarity mean in an industrial context?
Young activists are particularly encouraged to apply, and GLI strives to have a 50:50 gender balance on all courses.
