Message to Dockers
To all ITF affiliates organising dockers
ITF Circular No: 140/D.16/2005
30 August 2005
Dear Friends,
Cross-sectional Cooperation: International Road Transport Action Week (10 - 16 October 2005)
You will be aware that the Dockers’ Section agreed at its Conference in Singapore in 2004 that there was a need to intensify cooperation with other Sections within the ITF. Such cooperation helps to strengthen all our unions in the face of globalisation in the transport industry. As business increasingly treats the ports and each transport mode as elements of the same supply chain, collaboration between transport unions has become more and more important in our efforts to safeguard our members’ interests.
The Inland Transport Section of the ITF will be holding an International Road Transport Action Week between 10 - 16 October 2005, and would very much appreciate any support that dockworkers’ unions could provide to make this week a success. Of course, collaboration between our two Sections is nothing new, with a number of dockworkers’ unions participating in similar events held in previous years. The link between the two Sections is a close one as dockworkers and road transport workers sit side by side in the transport chain. We are obvious allies in organising and other campaigns to promote workers’ rights.
The slogan for this year’s Action Week is ‘Organising Globally, Building Union Power’, which we feel is applicable to all unions and all sectors. We hope that affiliates of the Dockers’ Section will once again lend their support to our brothers and sisters in the road transport sector and work with their unions at a local level to make the Action Week a success. In previous years, dockworkers have taken part in events such as joint meetings, seminars and rallies held in a number of countries including Japan, Malaysia, India, Ghana, Germany and Costa Rica.
In order to facilitate participation in this year’s activities, posters and postcards have already been sent out to dockworkers’ unions that have been involved in the past. Information will also be available on the ITF website in due course, where unions will have access to the Action Week materials, including the Campaign Guidelines, reports and photos of activities that are organised. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further materials or information.
Yours fraternally,
Frank Leys
Dockers’ Section Secretary
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