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Education can foster democracy and promote organising, conclude transport trade unionists
6 December 2006
 |  | | Delegates at the education conference in Vienna | |
Transport trade unionists have reached a consensus on education’s powerful role in progressing unions’ industrial work and reinforcing democracy. The trade unionists were attending an ITF education conference in Vienna, Austria, last week.
During the conference, delegates representing 55 unions from 39 countries including Barbados, France, Guyana, Jordan, Tunisia, Panama and Zambia, discussed ways of developing education as a tool to build membership participation, democracy and political awareness. They also agreed that unions’ education had to explore new strategies on organising, bargaining and campaigning and discussed the need to stimulate critical thinking about the challenges ahead.
Alana Dave, ITF Education Officer commented: “There is a huge disparity in terms of what unions are offering in education. In some cases there is no education. In some cases there is education that does not adequately meet needs. And in some cases, unions have already begun to explore shifting in a new direction.”
She added: “We have to go beyond the leadership and look at delivering education at a number of other levels and be much clearer about who we are targeting. We have to see education as part of the process of revitalising our organisations - not only in terms of meeting the new challenges, but also in rebuilding internal democracy, activism and a vibrant union culture within our unions. Education has been very critical to that.”
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