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Page context: International Road Transport Action Week 2006 > Worldwide Update
Information on planned activities by unions for the International Road Transport Action Week 2006.
On 10 October, a European demonstration will be held at Rond-Point Schuman in Brussels, organised by the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF). This activity will coincide with the European Commission Road Transport Meeting, which is due to take place in Brussels on the same day.
In addition to participating in the European demonstration in Brussels, Fédération Nationale des Cheminots,Travailleurs du Transport, Fonctionnaires et Employés Luxembourgeois (FNCTTFEL) will leaflet international drivers at rest places in Luxembourg to inform them, for example on how the Work Directive is implemented.
OGB-L (Onofhängege Gewerkschaftsbond Lëtzebuerg) will meet with the Minister of Transport in Luxembourg to discuss the Campaign issues as well as union demands on a national level. The union will also send a delegation to the European demonstration in Brussels.
In Spain, ELA Hainbat is planning an information campaign during the Action Week. Awareness meetings will be held with union members and workers in the road transport sector and information will be distributed in the road transport companies. A day of action on the borders is also planned.
The Lithuanian Transport Workers’ Federation will meet with the employers’ organisation “Linava” in order to try and initiate a branch collective agreement. On 22 September, a joint meeting of all transport unions was held to discuss a common position in preparation for the meeting.
In Ethiopia, the Transport & Communications Workers' Trade Unions Industrial Federation aims to use the Action Week to organise unorganised workers and to introduce the ITF and its strategic objectives to workers and members. Trucks, buses and taxis will be decorated with campaign messages and brochures will be distributed. The union will organise a tripartite panel discussion, workshops, seminars and union meetings.
The Communication & Transport Workers' Union of Tanzania - COTWU will use the Action Week in 2006 to build on previous activities by the union for the Campaign to mobilize workers in the transport sector and to raise awareness of the important role trade unions play in particular to long-distance drivers. The union plans to distribute posters and flyers with different messages including "Fatigue Kills!" and "HIV/AIDS kills!". Meetings will also be held with owner-operators in order to mobilise them to join their association with whom the union can establish social dialogue about working conditions. The union's activities will culminate with a rally which will include decorated vehicles - more than 200 workers are expected to participate.
In preparation for the Action Week, the Communication and Transport Workers' Union of Zanzibar in Tanzania has established a Tripartite Taskforce Committee. Through activities such as leafleting, decoration of trucks, buses and taxis with campaign messages, interviewing road transport workers and holding press conferences and media interviews, the union aims to educate and recruit workers, increase awareness of drivers' fatigue and other health and safety issues, and publicise demands for decent work.
The Transport Corporation Employees' Union in Mauritius is planning a programme of activities for the Action Week. On 9 October, union members will distribute campaign materials including stickers, posters, cards and the ITF magazine. On 10 October, the union will meet with the Minister of Transport to discuss the issue of bus privatisation. On 11-13 October, a workshop on HIV/AIDS will be organised, attended by counsellors. Awareness activities will also include distribution of 4,500 condoms and 500 copies of an information film to male and female workers on 12 October. On 13 October, members of the union will meet with workers at the different depots.
Affiliates in Ghana, including the General Transport, Petroleum & Chemical Workers' Union of TUC, the Private Road Transport Union and the Maritime and Dockworkers' Union of TUC will start their Action Week celebrations on 4 October in front of the Ghana Trades Union Congress in Accra where a symposium and cultural display will be held. Participants will then march through the streets of the capital carrying placards with different slogans on road safety, drivers’ fatigue and fighting against HIV/AIDS. Representatives from government and other road organisations are expected to attend. On 9 October, a delegation from the unions will travel to Bamako, Mali to participate in the cross-border activity.
Several activities are planned by the Federation National des Taximen et des Travailleurs du Secteur des Transports du Burkina (FNTT/STB) including a general meeting, march and parade of taxis through Ouagadougou.
The Union des Conducteurs de Taxi Moto de Cotonou in Benin hopes to use the Action Week to raise awareness amongst road transport workers and workers in the integrator companies so that workers can join together to fight for their rights. The union plans to organise large meetings and motorcades during the Week.
In the Philippines, the Associated Labour Union plans to raise awareness on “Fatigue Kills!” during the Action Week. On 10 October, the union is planning to hold a meeting of drivers and conductors at terminals. On 12 October, a motorcade will be organised around the city. On 15 October, the information drive and union awareness campaign will be extended to the provinces. Public awareness will be raised through the media, radio and TV. The union also hopes to make representation to local and provincial legislative bodies on the issue of safety and establish a network with other transport groups, in particular non-unionised workers.
The National Transport Workers’ Union in the Philippines will highlight issues such as the increase in fuel prices. Activities planned by the union include lobbying of local government units, press conferences, motorcades, display of campaign materials such as streamers and posters on vehicles and in strategic points, as well as the distribution of leaflets in terminals.
Through distribution of leaflets, stickers and copies of the union bulletin, Sektor Transportasi Dan Angkutan - Serikat Buruh Sejahtera Indonesia (SBSI) will use the Action Week to organise unorganised workers. The union will focus its activities at the national transport company Perum Damri in Semarang.
In preparation for the Action Week, leaders from the three bus workers' organisations from the Japan Confederation of Railway Workers' Unions (JRU) met on 7 September. On 12 October, the union will organise leafleting in the main stations and bus and truck terminals in Japan under the message "No Competition but Solidarity".
NETWON in Nepal will distribute leaflets at transport workplaces throughout the country. The union will also organise a vehicle procession in cities across the country on 15 October.
The Indian National Transport Workers’ Federation will use the Action Week to oppose the closure of the M.P. State Road Transport Corporation and the union plans to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister through local authorities requesting that a new state transport undertaking be created. Other activities planned by the union include a seminar, a group discussion of how to organise the unorganised, a demonstration and sit-in at the bus stand and the blowing of whistles and horns in solidarity with the ITF and its affiliates. Campaign materials will also be made available in the local language.
The Transport & Dock Workers' Union, Mumbai is planning a programme of events during the Action Week together with port workers. Union activists will distribute leaflets at call stands in order to organise unorganised transport workers. Banners will be displayed prominently on arterial roads leading to the ports and central business districts in order to emphasise fatigue due to long driving hours. The union will highlight the need for social security measures including insurance and basic welfare amenities such as the provision of canteens for workers. Awareness activities among workers on HIV/AIDS will also be organised.
During the Action Week, memebrs of the Pakistan Transport Workers' Federation will organise a rally on 9 October. A national seminar is also planned in Lahore.
The Australian Services Union will use the Action Week to hold meetings of its members to endorse support for the national Campaign which is being coordinated by the Australian CoUncil of Trade Unions (ACTU) to protect rights at work. National teleconferences of delegates will also be organised to endorse the ongoing ITF international Campaign. The union is also planning to distribute stickers and poster during the Week.
Members of the National Automobile, Aerospace Transportation and General Workers' Union of Canada (CAW) in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario will take part in the Action Week. The union’s community based organisers (CBOs) will visit fuel stops, rest areas and border points during the Week. Furthermore plans are made to target certain road transport companies.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will organise activities during the Action Week that target school bus drivers and freight drivers. On 12 October, a day of remembrance will be held for First Student mechanics who have lost their lives at different sites. On 17 October, worker delegations will meet with First Student site managers in order to demand health and safety improvements. Union members will distribute leaflets at the First Student sites. In road freight transport, the union will hold hours of work education activities against the recent legislation for regulations that decrease drivers safety.
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