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Africa

In much of Africa the aviation industry is barely surviving. Air Afrique was liquidated a few years ago, with devastating consequences for the workers and their families in several African countries (the airline was owned by 11 states). Most recently Nigerian Airways ceased to exist and Virgin came in to pick up the pieces.

An International Labour Organisation (ILO) tripartite project proposal involving governments, employers and workers was launched in 2004, which aimed to explore the problems and possible solutions for African aviation and its workers.

This project was strongly pursued by the ILO and the ITF, but was seriously impeded by the lack of participation of both African employers and African governments. We persevered however, and the key project event finally took place in June this year.

We are greatly concerned by current African government plans to now follow up the older “Yamoussoukrou” agreement to open up their skies to one another. Open skies in Africa, with hardly any African aviation left, hardly seems to be a recipe for success.

An African initiative: regional work in action ■ December 2005, North Africa and Middle East: A workshop event in Beirut brought together most affiliates from Arab speaking countries, in order to develop sub-regional communication and working structures. ■ East Africa: Using the mechanism of the ILO, resources could be activated to hold an additional event in East Africa, where analysts have spotted potential for industrial growth. ■ Francophone Africa (West): In a sub-region with the most countries in the smallest geographical range, a seminar in Benin brought together affiliates to discuss the current state of regional aviation and the very different challenges it faces. ■ Pulling it all together: By the time of the ITF Congress in Durban, South Africa, the conclusions and recommendations of these meetings can be analysed and a concise document developed, from which future work will be programmed.

Latin America

In Latin America, a number of social reformers, including former labour representatives have become members of governments. However we are yet to see this new breed of political leaders reclaiming state responsibility for national industries rather than leaving it all to markets.

ITF affiliates in the Mercosur free trade area put together a thorough policy paper in 2004, setting out a clear way forward for achieving a healthy Latin American aviation industry. One key plank of the policy is the recognition expressed by affiliates that open skies can actually be of possible benefit to a subregional market, but only if strong safeguards can be put in place to ensure social protection.

We argue that Mercosur must put in place a regional aviation policy, drawn up with the unions, in the same way that regional policies have been drawn up for every other transport sector. An international trade union delegation has presented the paper to every government in the region, as part of a three-year project. The ITF and its affiliates are now monitoring the impact of the paper (which is available from the ITF website at www.itfglobal.org). So far we note that, while governments appeared willing to listen, no implementation has taken place. Once again however, we are not giving up. We will be updating the document to reflect new developments in the region, and we will be making changes to our campaign strategy.

The ITF is in the midst of reviewing its approach to tackling the increasingly diverse challenges presented by its regions. We will continue to focus on organising and on benchmarks, which – once again – are not going to be global only, but will have strong regional components. The survey for benchmarking is internet-based and allows such distinctions as part of the software programme.

The important thing to learn from these regional differences is how we can gain knowledge from each other’s experiences to help us in our own battles. Events around the globe have knock-on effects on other areas, and although these might differ from region to region, it is possible to discern patterns of cause and effect. This is why region-specific work is indispensable to our efforts at the international level.

Ingo Marowsky is secretary of the civil aviation and tourism services sections of the ITF.