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No news is good news? Rebuilding trade unions in Sierra Leone |
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Written by john stirling
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Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
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Sierra Leone hits the news headlines when there is conflict, 'blood diamonds' or child soldiers to talk about but the day to day life of one of the poorest countries in the world is rarely mentioned. In particular, the presence of trade unions as major civil society organisations seeking to rebuild their capacity and represent workers is unseen. Solidarity action is vital to this renewal but it must be fouded on action that has real outcomes that fit with the particular circumstances of the country and its people. This article briefly explores the background to trade union development and reviews some practical solidarity action particularly from the TUC and its affiliates in the Northern region.
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Report Trashes Union-Supported Global Compact |
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Written by peter waterman
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Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
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National and international unions have trumpeted the UN's Global Compact, though it was clearly intended to charm TNCs into behaving nicely and is dominated by personalities from corporations and state politics. This new report does not directly address union participation but does raise the question of what on earth unions are doing there.
Whose partnership for whose development? - Corporate accountability in the UN system beyond the Global Compact
One day before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon chaired the second "Global Compact Leaders Summit" in Geneva, a group of NGOs sponsored a hearing to assess the UN corporate initiative. Speakers addressed the failure of the Global Compact to hold its signatories accountable for basic human rights, as well as environmental and labor standards. The speakers also discussed how many translational corporations exploit their Global Compact memberships to advance their public relations, and oppose initiatives calling for binding international regulation and "effective independent monitoring and auditing" of corporate activity.
Source: Global Policy Forum Europe
http://www.globalpolicy.org/reform/business/2007/0801whosepartnership.pdf
More information in "Corporate accountability":
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1294.html
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Union Leader Tells ILO to Grow Teeth or Give Up |
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Saturday, 11 August 2007 |
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Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the International Textile Workers ,here makes an angrier criticism of the International Labour Organisation than I recall having ever previously read. Many leftists have previously dismissed the ILO for its toothlessness because - unlike the World Trade Organisation - it can only make recommendations to governments. But such criticism has been reputedly dismissed by ILO General Director, Juan Somavia, as the 'dental' critique of the organisation. Watch this space?
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Old Discontents, New Movements: A Season of Reflection? |
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Written by peter waterman
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Monday, 06 August 2007 |
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There will be several events worldwide during the third quarter of 2007, all, it occurs to me, concerned with the new edge of labour internationalism. This new edge is where it touches on or overlaps with the new emancipatory social movement thinking and action. I hope to later report back on these - including the one I won’t be present at! Detailed information about these activities, where available, is appended. This note may encourage others to attend or follow, or sensitise others to what may develop into a new wave of global labour solidarity. But, in any case, the note will help me organise my own mind for the events.
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International Labour Studies(UK) in the Light of Social Justice and Solidarity (Globally) |
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Written by peter waterman
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
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This review article covers five recent books and two websites concerned with international labour struggles and/or labour internationalism. It cnsiders these in the light not of classical or contemporary labour theory or ideologies but in that of the global justice and solidarity movement and a new orientation toward global social emancipation. There has clearly been a revival of such labour studies and resources in the UK recently, but this has not necessarily itself been inspired by the new movement. Whilst, however, there might have been no anti-globalisation leap in such studies there has been at least some kind of anti-globalisation creep. Moreover, even the more traditionally inspired international labour studies or resources make contributions or provide challenges to a more consistent emancipatory orientation. Whilst the precise nature of such a new orientation is not spelled out, it is argued that this requires autonomous places or internet spaces for its further development. Whilst such new ideas from the UK are not ‘instantaneously transformed’ into internationalist ideas they nonetheless contribute toward the construction of a new kind of labour internationalism. A full version with footnotes is available from the author.
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