Asia Pacific

Regional education projects often have sub regional and national components for which activities are carried out. These projects can either be industry specific or cross sectional. The ITF currently has the following projects in Asia Pacific, please click on the links below to go the desired project.

• Organising strong civil aviation unions and networks in South and South East Asia
• Organising strong railway unions and networks in South & South East Asia
• Railway Safety project, India
• HIV/AIDS and transport workers: South Asia
• Long-term education project for women transport workers
• South Asia transport restructuring project
• Organisation building in Thailand project
• 
  

• *Please note website links for the cooperating organisations can be found at the bottom of this page.

      
  

  Industrial Projects

  Organising strong civil aviation unions and networks in South and South East Asia

  In many countries of South and South East Asia both domestic and international competition has intensified markedly as a result of deregulation, liberalization, and the commercialization or privatization of many airlines. The ITF and its affiliates are concerned about the negative implications for workers and unions. The objectives of this education project are:

  • To analyse restructuring trends in the aviation industry, and the implications for unions;
  • To develop strategies to build and strengthen  union organisation in the context of industrial change, including how to organise the large numbers of precarious/ outsourced/contract workers;
  • To build union networks in regional and global aviation companies;
    To mobilise cross-sectoral solidarity with other transport unions in the logistics industry;
  • To identify priorities for future organisational and industrial strategies for the ITF aviation section in the Asia Pacific region.
  
  Target group: Leaders and activists
  Project duration: 2011 - 2013
  Cooperating organisation: FES
    
  

  Organising strong railway unions and networks in South and South East Asia

  Restructuring in the railway industry in most of countries of South and South East Asia is at various stages of implementation and completion. Workers and unions are facing major changes to their working conditions, including increased work intensity, decreased job security and lower job satisfaction.

  The objectives of this education project are:

  • To initiate strategic organising campaigns to increase the membership of existing railway unions and rebuild their industrial strength;
  • To develop alternatives to neoliberal transport restructuring, such as Quality Public Services for railway workers and passengers;
  • To plan future organisational and industrial strategies for the ITF railway section in the Asia Pacific region.

  Target group: Leaders and activists
  Project duration: 2011 – 2013
  Cooperating organisation: FES
  

  
   

   Railway Safety project, India

  The railways in India are government owned and the All India Railway men’s Federation (AIRF) and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) are the two most representative organisations of railway employees representing some 1.4 million rail workers.
  
  Generally speaking safety issues have not been much of a priority on union agenda although they serve a very big network spanning over 65,000 kms. of rail tracks. The aim of this project is to raise awareness of the importance of safety to railway workers and leaders at all levels of the two federations.  The project has the following aims:
  
  
  
  • Enable an informed and educated leadership of the railway unions to participate in and influence the process of enhancing safety policies and the implementation of safe working practices.
  • Build trade unions’ capacity and competence to devise short and long term union strategies and campaigns to deal with the issue of workplace safety.
  • Establish on a permanent basis effective and functioning union safety committees in zonal trade unions. A similar committee will also be constituted at the AIRF level.
  • Train a group of union activists specialising in safety who will be able to further educate and inform the grass root members on the need to adopt safe working practices and be able to play a proactive and constructive role in ensuring that safety is accorded top priority in workplaces.
  • Increase the participation of women in project activities in order to integrate them in the safety related work of the unions.
  
  The project activities over the years have included training of Safety trainers and conduct of education programmes for union activists and grass root members at the zonal and divisional levels of unions. An end-of-project Evaluation Seminar is due to be held in January 2009.
  
  Target Groups: Office bearers at all unions levels, safety representatives and members working in safety categories in railway workshops and open line operations, trained educators with previous experience of working on safety issues, women activists and rank-and-file workers (members and non members) 
  Cooperating organisation: SASK
  Project Period: 2005-2008
  
    
  

  Cross-sectional projects

  HIV/AIDS and transport workers: South Asia

  This project is primarily concerned with focusing on HIV/AIDS as a trade union and workplace issue. Project activities include awareness raising seminars and working towards the elimination of stigma and discrimination in the workplace. In addition emphasis will also be placed on developing workplace policies and linking with relevant stakeholders to in order to provide care, treatment and support for transport workers and their families.
  
  The project aims to train peer educators from different transport sectors who in turn will conduct seminars/education programmes at workplaces focusing on issues such as prevention, workers’ rights, care and support issues.
  
  Target Group: Affiliates in India, Nepal and Bangladesh
  Cooperating Organisation: FNV Mondiaal
  Project Period: 2008-2010
  
  
  Click here for the HIV/AIDS Manaul
  Click here for the HIV/AIDS website

   

  Long-term education project for women transport workers

  There has been change in betterment of women’s lives at union, local, national level and as far as women leadership, sustainability of positions of women in the unions and independent budgets to carry out women’s activities, but for ITF to improve transport women’s lives and their working conditions, it is strongly suggested that ITF continue working with transport women in Asia Pacific countries on women’s empowerment and gender equality. This was a key outcome of the evaluation done of a 3-year project (2005-2007) for education for women transport workers in Asia Pacific region.  
  
  A new 3-year education project has begun this year for women transport workers. The project aims to increase women membership in the participating unions and empower women transport workers. Project activities will encourage and equip women to participate in Individual Work Programmes (IWPs) - Improved skills of trade union women members in formulating and conducting education courses, planning, developing and implementing issue based campaigns, collective bargaining skills, organizing and mobilizing women, networking and lobbying at national and international level, grievance handling, public speaking.
  
  Woman officer/contact persons will be designated for women’s activities in all participating unions. Efforts will also be made to ensure that Women structures are established in all participating unions, that budgets/funds are earmarked for women activities and that women members participate in trade union decision-making bodies. Integration of specific women’s issues in mainstream trade union’s policies will be attempted.  Leadership qualities of women in trade union will be developed.
  
  Target Group: Women leaders, activists and members in South & South East Asian countries
  Cooperating Organisation: FNV Mondiaal
  Project Period: 2008-2010
  
  
  Click here for more information on the ITF Women's Department.

   

  South Asia transport restructuring project

  Transport sectors in almost all the countries of the region have been experiencing continuing deregulation, liberalisation, privatisation and the opening up of sectors for foreign equity participation like in the port and civil aviation industry. Many workers are working under poor conditions with diminishing rights and outsourcing is increasing becoming the norm in all sectors. The aim of the project is to assist unions to effectively deal with these changes and represent the needs and rights of workers by:
  
  
  
  • Contributing to the emergence of an informed and educated union leadership capable of participating in and influencing the process of reform and restructuring.
  • Assisting trade unions to devise short and long term union strategies and campaigns to deal with the challenges of restructuring.
  • Training a cadre of union activists who will be able to further educate and inform grassroots members and take up responsibilities in the second level of leadership in the union.
  • Increasing the participation of women in project activities in order to further integrate them in union activities and develop them take up leadership responsibilities.
  • Building effective unions capable of dealing with the issues and challenges of reform and restructuring and able to attract non-members and unorganised workers into the unions.
  
  Target Group: Union representatives at all levels, educators, grassroots members, women leaders and potential leader from affiliates in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan
  Cooperating Organisation: LO-TCO
  Project Period: 2005-2006
  *An Evaluation Seminar in early January 2009 will discuss to what extent project activities have achieved the objectives and what more remains to be done.
    
  

  Organisation building in Thailand project

  The key to the project is to strengthen the trade union movement in Thailand, which has a historically chequered and fragmented past, coupled with low membership levels. Added to this are the challenges of privatisation and job cuts on a large scale, being faced by the unions. The transport sector has primarily been in the public sector and prior to 2000 these workers did not even have the right to form or join unions.
  
  The long-term objectives of the project were to consolidate organisational structures and improve capacities of transport sector unions to influence the government on issues such as labour reform, transport privatisation etc. The immediate aims of the project are to train groups of existing and potential leaders, office bearers and activists in leadership skills and educators through training of trainers, who then conduct programmes in the unions thereby creating union consciousness, awareness of rights and promoting the participation of members in union activities.
  
  The programme has been running for 8 years and periodic evaluation seminars were used to assess the achievements and identify the shortcomings, which then helped to steer the future direction and activities of the project. By and large there is unanimity among the participating Unions that the project activities have benefited them and helped create a foundation for stronger and more representative unions, although the political climate in the country is unstable again and this has added challenges and new dimensions to the existing problems of privatisation being faced by most sectors in transport.
  
  An external evaluation of the project is now underway involving all the stakeholders in the project.
  
  Target Group: Leaders, activists and educators in ITF Thai affiliates
  Cooperating Organisation: SASK
  Project Period: 2000-2008