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TUED Bulletin 137 – Updates on TUED South & Discussion on Position Paper “Reclaim & Restore” Public Utilities to Fight Energy Poverty

RSVP and join TUED on Wednesday, August 16th, 0800 – 0930 Eastern US to discuss: Reclaim and Restore: Preparing a Public Pathway to Address Energy Poverty and Energy Transition in sub-Saharan Africa.

Reclaim and Restore

In mid-May 2023, unions from 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) came together in Johannesburg to lay the groundwork for a public pathway approach to addressing the challenge of energy poverty in the region.  

Convened by TUED South, the 3-day meeting discussed a draft position paper that brings to light the abject failure of neoliberal approaches to addressing energy poverty in the region. 

Focusing on the World Bank, the paper describes how the Bank’s structural adjustment agenda of the 1990s targeted public utilities and redirected financial support to for-profit independent power producers (IPPs). The results have been devastating. Today half of the region’s population (roughly 600 million people) have no electricity, 70% in rural regions. 

The document has been updated and is available here. It advocates for a “reclaim and restore” approach to energy utilities so they can begin to repair the damage of the past 30 years. 

We will first hear from TUED unions based in Namibia, Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya. View the draft program here. 

Please RSVP for the Global Forum here. Interpretation will be provided in English, French, and Spanish. 

New TUED Union: Independent Education Union of Australia (IEU).  Welcome IEU! 

The Independent Education Union of Australia (IEU) represents over 75,000 workers in non-government schools and institutions across Australia. Learn about IEU’s work on their website and Twitter (X). 

In solidarity,
The TUED Team

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 is part of the Global Labour Institute Network. 

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WIEGO Job Advertisement – School Coordinator

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is hiring a School Coordinator consultant role to coordinate the rollout of the WIEGO School. The School is aimed at the global and national leaders of WIEGO’s institutional members (membership-based organizations of street vendors, waste pickers, domestic workers and home based workers), as well as other membership based organizations of workers in the informal economy that WIEGO works with.

Click here for more information about the role.

WIEGO is a global network focused on securing livelihoods for the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy.

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GLI Job Opportunity – Researcher/Educator

  • 6-month contract
  • Based in Manchester UK
  • Flexible working (full-time or minimum equivalent of three days per week) 
  • Salary: £25,000 – 32,000 full-time equivalent 

The Global Labour Institute (GLI Network Ltd) is looking to appoint a member of staff for research and education programmes with the international trade union movement. The contract will be for 6 months, potentially extendable pending resources. 

GLI (http://gli-manchester.net/) is a small not-for-profit independent organisation, based in the UK. It was formed in 2010 to work with the trade union movement to encourage and support international solidarity and organisation through education and research. It is underpinned by the principles of democratic socialism, equality and environmental justice, but is not party-political. 

We specialise in research and education for trade union organisation among precarious and informal workers; research and education in the areas of gender and ‘just transition’; design, management and evaluation of international trade union capacity development and education programmes; and the history and political agenda of the international trade union movement.

Job Description

Main role: To support the planning and delivery of GLI’s research and education programmes with particular reference to:

  • Partnership work with the Global Union Federations and their affiliates to develop education programmes on the political history and development of international trade unionism
  • Projects commissioned by national unions, international federations, and related institutions
  • The informal transport economy, in partnership with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)
  • Unite the Union national education courses on organising in the global workplace, industrial policy and transition to a zero-carbon economy

Main duties: To work as part of a small team to undertake:

  • Desk research and writing on wide range of issues relevant to the international trade union movement 
  • Field research in partnership with local trade unions, academic institutions and partner organisations 
  • Design and delivery of national and international workshops, seminars and courses for trade union representatives 
  • Preparation of reports, education materials and internet resources for trade union representatives, negotiators, educators and partner organisations

Person Specification

Essentials

  • Broad understanding of the principles and objectives of the labour movement, and an appreciation of the political foundations of the GLI and its partner organisations 
  • Interest in key issues of globalisation, climate change, just transition, gender equality, labour and human rights, international development and democracy 
  • Research capability to a high academic standard
  • Experience of working with trade unions, workers’ associations, or community-based organisations in the global South
  • Evidence of the ability to communicate complex ideas and information in plain English, both orally and in writing. 
  • Strong organisational skills and capability to manage work efficiently, imaginatively and cooperatively as part of a small team 
  • Competence in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, and Powerpoint 
  • Ability and evidence of the eligibility to work in the UK
  • Ability and willingness to undertake international travel 

Desirable 

  • Non-English language skills, especially French and/or Spanish
  • Master’s degree, equivalent experience or another post-graduate qualification 
  • Adult education or trade union education teaching experience

Click here to download the full job description and person specification.

If you are interested, please send your CV and a covering letter (maximum 800 words) setting out your interest and suitability for the position to recruitment@global-labour.net (by email only please).  

Deadline for applications has now been extended: 12:00 noon (UK time) Wednesday 8th February 2023.

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Freedom for Mikhail Lobanov!

Statement of the Trade Union Committee (“Academic Solidarity”) of Lomonosov Moscow University

At 6 a.m. on December 29, the police burst into the apartment of Mikhail Lobanov, assistant professor of the mechanical-mathematical faculty of Lomonosov University in Moscow, doctor of science, activist of the “University Solidarity” trade union. With the door kicked in, the police knocked Mikhail to the ground and beat him, under the pretext of a “search” linked to the prosecution of a so-called “spread of fake news”. Subsequently, Mikhaïl was accused of “refusing to obey the police” and imprisoned for 15 days. On the same day, other civil activists were also searched.

Mikhail Lobanov is a colleague and comrade known for a long time for his activity in defence of the rights of students and professors of the University of Moscow and of the inhabitants of the Moscow district of Ramenki. He was one of the founders of the “University Solidarity” trade union and chairman of its grassroots organization at Lomonosov University. In 2021 he applied for the legislative elections to block a candidate from the government party, then became one of the organizers of the electoral platform “VyDvijenié” (“You are a movement”) which brought together independent candidates in the municipal elections. Being an internationalist and anti-fascist in principle, Mikhail Lobanov has been a firm supporter of peace and the cessation of hostilities since the beginning of the “special military operation”.

To accuse this scholar and civil activist of spreading “fake facts” or of behaving aggressively is nonsense. To bludgeon him and throw him in prison is an infringement of the law and a disgrace.

We are convinced that the persecution of Mikhail Lobanov is a political reprisal against a civil and trade union activist aimed at intimidating all those who, in our difficult situation, want to defend the rights and freedoms of workers and citizens.

We demand the immediate cessation of the proceedings against Mikhail Lobanov and launch an appeal for solidarity with him to our academic colleagues, trade unions and civil associations in Russia and abroad. We consider that the leadership of Lomonosov Moscow University and the mechanical-mathematical faculty should do everything possible to defend the scientist and professor who has contributed a lot to the work of our university. Freedom for Mikhail Lobanov!

Any forms of solidarity welcome!

Click here fore more information

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ITF Study: Impact of COVID-19 on Women Transport Workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused mass social and economic disruption across the world. All workers have been affected by the pandemic. But the negative impacts of the crisis are falling disproportionately on women workers. Women workers have suffered a disproportionate loss of livelihoods, whilst also having to bear additional burdens of unpaid caring and domestic responsibilities. The impacts of the pandemic have also increased exposure to violence and harassment for women workers and studies have shown that reports of domestic violence have skyrocketed during the pandemic.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the International Transportworkers Federation (ITF) has launched a report which exposes how women transport workers were hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic – both at work and at home.

GLI Manchester was commissioned by the ITF to produce this research study to explore the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women transport workers, including in increasing exposure to violence and harassment, and to assess the long-term impact of the crisis on women

The research set out to gather evidence to build the case about the link between the pandemic and violence and harassment against women transport workers, to provide arguments for unions to secure a gender-responsive pandemic recovery, and to enable unions to use C190 as a tool to build movements to address violence and harassment. It identified three main impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • Impacts on employment and working conditions
  • Impacts on violence and harassment
  • Impacts on action in the trade union movement

The research also identified several recommendations for how trade unions can work with governments and employers to address the impacts of the pandemic on women transport workers, and to integrate this into the COVID-19 response and recovery. 

The study draws together research from seven ITF C190 project countries across West and Central Africa. Study participants included women workers, union members and leaders in both the informal and formal transport economy across four different transport sectors: aviation, road (passenger and freight), maritime and rail (passenger and freight).

Click here to read the research report in English.

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GLI History Project: The Story of Our International Labour Movement

GLI is pleased to announce that our new book ‘The Story of our International Labour Movement’ is now available to read and download.

In 2019, the GLI launched a new programme on the history of the international trade union movement, including a book on the history of the international trade union movement, accompanied by education projects to be undertaken with national and international unions. 

Supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the project explores the influence of different radical political ideas, the struggles for liberation and independence, the growth of unions in the global south, the impact of war and revolution, and the challenges of globalization, financialization, precariousness and environmental destruction. 

It is designed to introduce activists who are new to the international movement, and those active in local and national trade unions, to current important issues and debates within the international labour movement, and their long histories.

‘The Story of our International Labour Movement’ was written because GLI believes that the international labour movement can play an important role in changing the world. It is hoped that this book can provide trade unionists and activists with a guide to some of the different important organisations, campaigns, and ideas within the international labour movement and show how these have developed over time. By looking at the history of the working class movement across the globe, labour activists can be better equipped to discuss, debate, strategize, collaborate, and ultimately transform the world to create a system that works for all of us.

This book was produced as part of the GLI History Project.

Click here to read and download the book in English.

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Ukraine: Support workers’ struggle for labour and union rights

On 19 July 2022, in the middle of a war, the Ukrainian parliament adopted Draft Law 5371, which abolished labour rights for 94% of Ukrainian workers. This law introduced extreme liberalisation of labour relations, depriving workers of union protection. 

The Ukrainian trade unions actively opposed this anti-labour draft law for two years. But despite many warnings from the International Trade Union Confederation, the European Trade Union Confederation, and the International Labour Organization, the Ukrainian parliament adopted it. 

This new law will lead to a massive violation of workers’ rights — and Ukrainian unions are asking for our help and support in telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to veto the law.

Please sign this petition to show support for the Ukrainian workers today.
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ILO C190: ITF Transport Workers Toolkit

Violence and harassment is endemic in the transport industry, affecting women workers disproportionately.

In 2019, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted ILO Violence and Harassment Convention (No.190) and Recommendation (No.206). These international tools were introduced to tackle violence and harassment in the world of work.

As we celebrate the second anniversary of ILO Convention 190 coming into force, the International Transportworkers Federation (ITF) has launched a transport focused C190 toolkit.

GLI Manchester was commissioned by the ITF to produce this transport toolkit on C190. The toolkit is a supplement to the joint GUFs toolkit, that was also produced by GLI Manchester.

Since transport is identified in C190 as one of the sectors most exposed to violence and harassment, this new toolkit highlights the issues and C190 language that are key for transport workers. The toolkit helps to recognise different forms of violence and harassment; it addresses the myths, stigma and shame around these issues; and includes tools to encourage and support union action to build and strengthen C190 campaigns.  

The toolkit includes a set of briefings on issues that affect transport workers most significantly and a separate briefing on identifying targets and allies to strengthen the campaign. Each briefing looks at understanding the issue and its importance for transport workers; what C190 can do to help; and includes activity to encourage to union action.

The toolkit aims to:

  • Demonstrate how violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment, impacts all transport workers, in particular women workers and other vulnerable groups.  
  • Raise awareness of C190 and R206 and their relevance for all transport workers and highlight the importance of ratification and implementation.  
  • Outline how C190 and R206 can be used as a tool for advocacy and encourage unions to plan and organise campaigns on violence and harassment.  
  • Encourage unions to use the language of C190 most relevant for transport workers to promote ratification and implementation, and to negotiate with employers and other key stakeholders.  
  • Emphasise the role of women transport workers in making C190 effective. 

Click here to read the toolkit in English.