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Action Week brings organising boost for road transport unions
19 October 2006
 |  | | Rally in Biratnagar city, Nepal | |
Thousands of road transport workers supported their unions in rallies, meetings and other events around the world to mark ITF Road Transport Action Week from 9-15 October. Unions’ campaign, and especially organising, activities are increasingly centred on this annual event, which secures international prominence for national concerns.
Among reports received from 51 countries, ITF affiliates in Jordan and Palestine told how they joined the Action Week for the first time this year, holding simultaneous meetings in Amman and the West Bank to further develop their solidarity. High profile actions were reported by Spanish affiliates in cooperation with their neighbouring unions in France and Portugal.
The Australian Services Union used the campaign to prepare for the forthcoming Action Day for integrators being planned by the ITF in conjunction with Union Network International (UNI) on 9 November.
ITF Inland Transport Secretary Mac Urata said:
“This was once again another very successful campaigning week for our road transport unions, many of whom continue to fight the appalling working conditions suffered by their professional drivers. This is why we had regional actions in Brussels to demand improvement in the rest facilities in Europe and in Bamako (Mali) to address border delays, police corruption and HIV/AIDS issues in West Africa.”
More unions than ever used this year’s campaign to help in their efforts to organise unorganised drivers – in line with the campaign slogan "Organising Globally - Building Union Power".
According to Berit Aaker of the Norwegian Transport Union: “The majority of our branches took part and altogether recruited 150 new members to the union. Our conclusion is that we must be more proactive to the unorganised workers. We should visit the worksites regularly to organise them as we have done so during this week. Our activists came back with a very positive feeling.”
Kelvin Rush of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union of New Zealand commented: “The reception from drivers was enormous. They all had something to say about their conditions needing to change. I hope after the ITF campaign, drivers will join our union and be a part of that change. I think this week was an excellent opportunity for our members to get out and meet the non-union drivers and cement solidarity.”
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