Summer school report

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Trade union leaders and activists need opportunities to get together, share ideas and learn from each other. This is why the ITF has been running summer schools since 1999.

Last year, the school took place in Mumbai, India, and was open to trade unionists in the Asia Pacific region. More than 30 participants came along and shared their experiences. Here are some of their reflections on the school.

D Subramaniam, vice president, Transport and Dock Workers’ union, Mumbai

“I am very happy that I got the opportunity to attend the summer school. I shared my experience with the participants throughout the Asia Pacific region about the dockers, in particular the working system, facilities, organising, mapping and union strategies. I improved my knowledge of organising and empowering women. It also helped me to understand globalisation and knowledge of other global disputes.

We looked at organising strategies of unorganised transport workers and cargo-handling workers. The Australian dockers and their solidarity was fantastic, and a good thing to learn. The membership strategy adopted by Singapore seafarers – giving them gift items for joining the union – is very interesting. I will also try these strategies to organise and strengthen my union. I express my thanks wholeheartedly to the ITF on behalf of my union and comrade SR Kulkarni, chair of the Asia Pacific ITF dockers’ section.”

Richard Priest, national researcher, Transport Workers’ Union of Australia

“The ITF Asia Pacific summer school gave participants the rare opportunity to meet fellow trade unionists in the region, share ideas, strategies, successes, obstacles and build union solidarity that transcends language, culture and location.

One of the resounding successes of the school was the realisation that the mixture of neo-liberal economics, globalisation of trade and the agenda of those who control supply chains impacts unions from every country. In the majority of cases the obstacles unions face in organising workers in the supply chain are very similar if not identical. This provided great opportunities to share strategies and common experiences to help unions from the region to organise members and build power for workers.

One of the objectives I left the summer school with is to continue thinking about organising in a global context to help counteract the growing global presence of transport operators. Through keeping the communications open between trade unions, we can compare notes on how to tackle these transport giants. The summer school has resulted in me benefiting from the experience of others, which means my campaign skills continue to grow.”

Henry Fagaiava, RMTU organiser & NZCTU co-convenor Komiti Pasefika

“I learned that the issue of globalisation and neo-liberal policies is a worldwide issue. The need to organise the unorganised is crucial to the union movement globally and to ensure the power we have is effective against anti-union employers and governments. It was interesting to learn that our brothers and sisters from India and Bangladesh are facing privatisation and outsourcing currently and the effect it is having on their memberships. I found the trials and tribulations that our RMTU members faced during privatisation were helpful in me sharing our experiences with our comrades, to show there is hope if we continue to strategise and campaign and never give up.

The summer school has helped me gain an understanding of the ITF and the global network we have within it. The networks established will benefit and strengthen the strong ties we have internationally and which we can call upon to fight globalisation and international disputes with international companies who rip off workers’ rights.

As a result of the summer school I plan to spend allocated time each week to network with the new friendships I have made and seek how the RMTU from New Zealand can assist in any campaign they are involved in or going to be involved with.”

This year’s summer school will take place in September. Further details will be available from March.

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Issue 34 - January 2009

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