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International Trade Union Forum on Ecological and Social Transition

Over the past several months, TUED has been working with the main French trade union confederation CGT, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Alter Summit, and the Global Labor Institute Paris to convene this global event, which will bring together unions and allies from around the world. More information, and registration details, at this link.

In preparation for the Forum, TUED has partnered with both the energy and mining division of the CGT (FNME) and Public Services International to organize a session titled Towards a Public Energy Future. The session will take place on Wednesday, June 16, from 1300 – 1600 CET.

This session will share findings of the Interim Report developed by the Trade Union Task Force for a Public Energy Future. The final report of the Task Force will be completed before COP26 in Glasgow.

 

International Trade Union Forum on Ecological and Social Transition
June 14-18: 1300-1800 CET (Find your local time here.)
June 19: 1400-1700 CET (Find your local time here.)

The social and environmental emergency, as well as the dramatic deterioration of the working and living conditions of a majority of the population since the beginning of the pandemic, has led a growing number of organizations – from company unions to professional federations to local, regional and international organizations – and other social movements to develop various strategies to respond.

This Forum was co-organized for several months with organizations from all continents. It will be an opportunity to share experiences, proposals and struggles of unions and their allies. The themes discussed will mainly revolve around: the transformation of the energy system, sectoral transitions and strategies for building power relations. Each thematic workshop is the result of preparatory work that we wish to bring up for debate. Texts summarizing our collective reflections will be made available to participants before the Forum.

The International Trade Union Forum for an Ecological and Social transition will be organized around daily sessions from 1pm to 6 pm from June 14 to 18. The sessions will combine presentation and discussion time.

It will conclude on Saturday, June 19 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm with a plenary assembly where a united appeal will be presented in view of the Cop26 in Glasgow and addressed to all social forces engaged in the construction of an ecological and social transformation. Register here.

 

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.
 
For more information on how your union can be part of TUED, see here.
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GLU Masters Call for Applications

The Global Labour University (GLU) – a network of trade unions, universities, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the ILO – invites trade unionists and labour activists to apply for its 2021 Masters Programme in South Africa.

HONOURS PROGRAMME (Labour Policy and Globalisation)

To qualify for the Honours programme, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Completed Online application
  • BA or undergraduate Degree
  • At least three years union/labour support organisation (LSO) experience
  • Official letter of support from the union/LSO
  • Personal Motivation Letter from applicant
  • Formal, written commitment to return to union/LSO for at least two years after completing GLU programme • Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Sample of written academic work 60% and above average for previous studies

MASTERS PROGRAMME (Labour Policy and Globalisation)

To qualify for the MA programme, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Completed Online application
  • BA Honours degree or equivalent
  • At least seven years union/labour support organisation (LSO) experience
  • Research or Policy experience in union/LSO
  • Official letter of support from union/LSO
  • Personal Motivation Letter from applicant
  • Formal, written commitment to return to union/LSO for at least two years after completing GLU programme • Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • 65% and above average for previous studies
  • Sample of written academic work
  • Concept Note of proposed MA research project (5 pages max.)
For more information see here.

For all application and other student related queries please contact Soraya Patel on +27 11 717 4443 or email soraya.patel(at)wits.ac.za

Closing Date for Applications: 31 August 2021

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GLU New Online Course: Just and green: labour’s ecological question

The Global Labour University (GLU) – a network of trade unions, universities, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the ILO – invites trade unionists and labour activists totake part in its new online course: “Just and Green: Labour’s Ecological Question”
This FREE online course explores different aspects of the ‘jobs vs. environment dilemma’ through a lens of current struggles, as well as academic and policy debates. The different lectures, reading materials and zoom workshops discuss fundamental transformations in the ways we produce, consume and organise our economy and society.
 

“Climate justice: Capitalism is the problem! Can workers be the solution?”

Enrol in GLU’s new online course to discuss this and other questions with hundreds of other participants from across the the world here.

Course structure

The course has 5 chapters. Starting from 15 April 2021, there will be a new chapter each week. After becoming fully accessible, the course will remain open for studying the course materials at your own pace.

  • Chapter 1: Introduction to the course
  • Chapter 2: Setting the context: why is the environment a labour issue?
  • Chapter 3: Responding to the environmental crisis and pushing for a fair transition: workers’ struggles across the world
  • Chapter 4: Theoretical and conceptual debates on labour and environment
  • Chapter 5: Meeting the environmental challenge: labour-related policy proposals
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Dan Gallin 90 Years Fund

Dan Gallin, founder of the GLI Geneva, has launched an international solidarity fund in celebration of his 90th Birthday on 26th April.

Happy Birthday to Dan Gallin!

To my friends and comrades,

This year, on April 26, is my 90th birthday. At this age my ability to participate in our movement is limited.  It is hard to express how much I regret it, seeing all the battles the workers in so many countries are fighting today, with an enormous courage risking their life and freedom. I wish I could contribute to these fights to the same extent as in my previous life. But with the current state of my health, I can’t.

Nevertheless, I know I have a lot of comrades, who would wish to celebrate this 90th anniversary with me. And for the first time in my life, I decided I will tell my birthday wish. It is to extend our international solidarity to the frontline workers battles in Hong Kong, Burma, Belarus and Russia. You can help to make this wish true by contributing to Dan Gallin 90 Years Fund.

I will greatly appreciate all donations. Every bit counts and even small donations are symbolically important.

The collected funds will be equally distributed between:

– Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions which was just suspended by Chinese authorities with dozens of union leaders under arrest,

– All Burma Federation of Trade Unions which is organizing a general strike to stop the sizing power by military junta and mass killings of civil protesters

– Belarus Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, which is organizing workers of this European country against state repression and police brutality

– Victor Serge Library, part of the GLI Network in Moscow. The later will be used for Russian publication of a Victor Serge novel. “Last Times” is based on real events of WWII. It shows how the establishment of an authoritarian regime takes place, how public consciousness changes, how different people react to it – some adapt, others turn to resistance. The main idea is that in the most difficult circumstances, victory remains with those who do not bend or break.

The collection is open until May 15. All contributors will receive a report from me by the end of May.

Yours in Solidarity,

Dan Gallin

———————————————————

Information to make donations:

Bank: Banque Cantonal de Geneve BCGE
Account holder: GLI

IBAN: CH 2500788000S32098445

SWIFT BCGECHGGXXX

Please indicate the purpose as DAN 90

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Crossing the Divide: Informal Workers and Trade Unions Building Power

FES Crossing the divide

Millions of people throughout the world work in the informal economy. In many countries, most workers are obliged to work informally, particularly in the global South – although a growing number are to be found in advanced industrial, or post-industrial economies. This is not a choice for most informal workers, but the only means of survival in the absence of formal jobs.

GLI Manchester was commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) as a direct follow-up to the Trade Unions in Transformation project of the FES Global Trade Union Programme to produce a paper: ‘Crossing the Divide: Informal Workers and Trade Unions Building power’.

The paper reflects experiences and policies from examples of organisations across the spectrum of those with an interest in relationships between informal worker organisations and the trade union movement. This includes both international and national organisations, and national trade union centres and national sector-based unions and associations. The major focus is on informal worker organisation in Asia, Africa and Latin America, but includes some perspectives from organisations in the global North representing precarious and informal workers.

Click here to read the paper in English.

Click here to read the paper in French. 

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Resist and Reclaim: Mexico’s Fight for Energy Sovereignty

TUED Global Forum: Mexico’s Energy Sovereignty

Mexican energy politics have made headlines in recent weeks following a political confrontation between the AMLO administration and actors in both Mexico and the U.S. that oppose his efforts to reverse the previous administration’s steps towards privatization, and reassert the country’s energy sovereignty.

This is a pivotal moment for energy politics in Mexico — the second largest economy in Latin America — with potentially global implications for the dominant neoliberal “privatize to decarbonize” agenda. Unions in Mexico support AMLO’s proposals. A successful campaign to defend AMLO’s proposed energy policies opens the door to a “pro-public” approach to energy transition.

Unions internationally have an opportunity to build solidarity with this struggle and raise awareness about its wider significance.

TUED is holding a Global Forum on Thursday March 25 2021 at 11am-12:30pm US Eastern Time

Find your local time here. Register here

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TUED Bulletin 106: French Energy Union FNME-CGT Endorses TUED Call for Public Energy in Texas

In a March 8 Press Release, FNME-CGT — the energy and mining division of French trade union confederation CGT — has republished a TUED briefing paper on the recent power sector crisis in Texas. TUED’s briefing paper argued that the recent catastrophic power sector failures in Texas “serve as a stark warning that unregulated, privatized and marketized electricity systems pose a serious threat to human life.”

As previously reported in TUED Bulletins 104 and 105, FNME is currently involved in a major struggle by striking French electricity and gas workers in defense of the country’s publicly owned energy company, EDF. The target of the strikes is a set of proposals being advanced by the French government, at the heart of which is a plan to “restructure” the country’s major national power utility, EDF. According to the unions, the proposed changes would undermine EDF’s ability to continue to operate as an integrated public utility, would jeopardize energy security and jobs, and would be against the general public interest.

Over the December holiday period, 33 union bodies from 20 countries and regions signed a statement of solidarity with the striking unions and workers.

With support from global union federation Public Services International (PSI), FNME-CGT and TUED are currently working to convene a Trade Union Task Force on Decarbonisation.

The Task Force will produce an interim analytical report to guide the development of a “Trade Union Charter for Public Energy in Europe,” which will be debated at a June meeting being convened by the French trade union confederation, CGT.

The June meeting will also bring together social forces from across and beyond Europe to explore and debate a broad range of issues related to the socio-ecological transformation.

Unions interested in participating should email Irene Shen at ireneTUED@gmail.com.

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GLU Masters Call for Applications

GLUThe Global Labour University (GLU) – a network of trade unions, universities, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the ILO – invites trade unionists and labour activists to apply for its 2021 Masters Programme in the USA and in Germany.

 

2021 GLU Masters Programme in the USA

The Masters Programme in Professional Studies (MPS) in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State in central Pennsylvania in the USA focuses on global workers’ rights, work and gender in the global economy, employment relations system around the world, and strategic corporate research and organizing campaigns.

Classes of this 12 month program will begin in August of 2021.

Trade unionists with a trade union recommendation letter can apply for scholarships.

For more information see here.

Application deadline: 15 March 2021

Contact: lgwr@psu.edu

 

2021 GLU Masters Programme in Germany

The Masters Programme ‘Labour Policies & Globalisation’ in Germany focuses on policies for social justice including global governance, international labour standards,  economics, trade and multinational enterprises. This one-year programme is part of a wider project to promote cooperation between trade unions and the research community and to strengthen the analytical and policy development capacity of trade unions.

The course in Germany takes place at the University of Kassel (1st semester) and the Berlin School of Economics and Law (2nd semester) and is taught in English.

Trade unionists with a trade union recommendation letter can apply for scholarships.

For more information see here.

Application deadline: 1 March 2021

Contact: glu.germany@uni-kassel.de

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New Article – Beyond traditional trade unionism: innovative worker responses in three African cities

Insufficient attention has been given to how workers organisations are challenging precarious and informal work through new hybrid forms of organising in the Global South.

Dave Spooner, Director of the GLI, has contributed to an article which examines how workers in three different African cities are innovating and experimenting with new forms of worker organisation. This includes traditional unions reaching out to precarious workers in Cape Town, hybrid forms of worker organizations in Kampala, and workers in the gig economy starting a process of self-organization in Johannesburg.

The examples reveal that if current trade union organizations are to meet the needs of informal workers and the new workers of the digital economy they will need to transform, rediscover their power and the capabilities necessary to realize this power.

This article can be purchased to read here.

 

 

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The success of Dakar’s BRT system depends on the inclusion of informal workers