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Ingo Marowsky, who heads an ITF initiative to encourage more young people to participate in their unions and the ITF, writes about the background to the project.

It’s often said that young workers are the future of the trade union movement. In our experience, they’re already working hard in their unions to make changes. Let’s be clear, the young transport workers who have started to work with us, organisers and activists, are by no means something that is still to come, they are making a difference in the here and now.

Pål Haugen Strand Job title and company: Cabin crew, SAS, Scandinavian Airlines Norge, Norway. What is your union role? I’m a member of SAS Norge Kabinforening, SNK, which is an affiliate of Parat, a Norwegian trade union. I’m part of a committee with representatives from the two cabin crew unions and the company. We work on issues about combinations of flights into work days and work periods. I’m also part of the board of the aviation section of Parat. Parat organises workers in most parts of the aviation industry in Norway, including pilots, cabin crew, ground handling, fueling and catering. What issues do you face at work and how has the union helped? The main concern about my job now is the general situation at SAS and what will happen with the company in the future. It seems clear that it will need to merge with a bigger company to survive, which might be Lufthansa, British Airways or any other big airline willing to buy SAS. The union helped us to get proper pay and work conditions in the time before our merger with SAS. During the merger the union made sure that it was done as properly as possible. The most important reason for me to be a member of the union is to make sure I do my part in supporting it. The union depends on having support amongst the workers to be able to do its work. Good deals on insurance are also a reason to be organised. Why should unions encourage younger people to get involved? It’s important for the union to get more young people involved in the labour movement. Young workers aren’t just the future, they’re already a big part of the workforce. If the unions are going to maintain the momentum they have against the employers, they will have to make sure they’ve got enough support among the workers. We need to ensure that young workers of today will have proper working conditions tomorrow. Dina Feller Job title and company: Purser cabin crew, LAN Airlines, Argentina. Union role: Shop steward and coordinator of LAN ITF project in the region. What issues do you face at work and how has the union helped? The main issues we face are the anti-union policies of the company, neoliberal policies, and social dumping. The union helps cabin crews to move to better companies and reinforce organisational aspects within the anti-union company LAN. Organising through the union is the main tool for achieving improvements in the workplace. Why should unions encourage younger people to get involved? Companies like LAN have a strategic young workers personnel policy. They can undermine labour conditions through hiring young workers and can replace them more easily than experienced ones. In terms of the unions, it is vital for the sustainable struggle to involve young workers in union responsibilities and organising activities. Roger Barahona Job title and company: Tug master, Smit Harbour Towage, Panama. Union role: Finance secretary, Sindicato de Trabajadores de Servicio de Remolcadores, Barcazas y Afines de Panamá. What issues do you face at work and how has the union helped? Our main concern is safety. Many employers don’t care. They only care about making money. We have more and more responsibilities, but this is ignored. To do our work safely, we should have a regular and adequate period of rest. The union has helped us to improve working hours. At first, the company had a system of eight-hour shifts. But in 1993, they changed the shift pattern to 10 days on board, five days off. The union fought hard and in 1999 the system changed to five days on, five days off. It is very important to be part of a union because we can try to get a better life and job conditions for all with our efforts. We are in a difficult position at the moment. Our salary has not been negotiated for 15 years and it is now below the level of the global and national market. Why should unions encourage younger people to get involved? I believe that it is the policy of companies to avoid the unions. This situation is difficult, so we need to have young blood to keep the strength of the union and to change things. Carsten Ganser Job title and union role: Federal youth secretary, Transnet, Germany. What issues do you face at work? I fight for better conditions for young people daily and try to improve the quality of occupational training for employees. As a youth secretary for a union, I have to persistently convince young people that union membership is important for all employees. Why is it important for young people to be in a union? The youth of today are our future. We have to fight liberalisation, social dumping and the effects of the globalisation. Therefore, we need to involve young people more in politics, in unions and in global movements.

The ITF is proud to be doing work to support young activists. Personally, it is a great experience to be part of the change which opens the door for them, and I feel humbled to be the one responsible for this work. We have organised a number of events for our young workers. The range of participants has been truly impressive.

"The young transport workers who have started to work with us are by no means something that is still to come, they are making a difference in the here and now"

They have represented a global geographical spread, reflected the sections of the ITF, achieved an impressive gender balance with a high female participation and comprised a majority of participants who were less than 35 years of age. All of them bring a keenness and power to our events which I have not seen for a long time, and which remind me of years gone by.

Many of us who now hold positions of senior leadership in our respective organisations started our way decades ago, and we often had to face what we perceived as solid elder cadres “above” us. We all worked above and beyond the call of duty to achieve the change we found our organisations needed. The young activists I see today have done the same. They have worked very hard in a very short time, and at late hours (I have seen their tired, yet enthusiastic eyes the following morning), and delivered a whole range of options for the development of this work.

"It is the policy of companies to avoid the unions. This situation is difficult, so we need to have young blood to keep the strength of the union and to change things"

Both the organisations which send activists and the ITF’s executive board support this new work with great enthusiasm and have, so far, made the necessary resources available. As the intermediary between the ones pushing forward and the ones referred to as the elders, it makes me smile to see that quite a few of my generation still remember how hard is was for us, and are ready to ease the way for the ones coming after us.

Why is it so important for the ITF and its affiliates to do this work? Some might ask: what’s in it for us? I say that the young activists carry the torch of the trade union movement as generations did before us. And more than this, they are the potential leaders who continue the work of bettering the professional and personal world of men and women.

Young people are the activists who will fight discrimination, oppression, poverty and environmental destruction. They are the activists who will forge solidarity over and over again, locally in the workplace, together in their regions, and globally under the roof of the ITF. They will be organisers in the field when we are long gone, and it is good to see them at work. Last, but not least, they will also continue to build bridges into NGOs, in traditional ways, but also by making use of new technology, as befits the 21st century. There are new ways to do trade union work, and they are using them. I am glad to say that the ITF, proudly being more than 112 years old, supports this new approach to challenges yet to come.

These are just some of the reasons that our work with young activists is so important. I would ask our affiliates to continue to support us in this work, to send young workers to our events and to help them achieve their full potential.

Ingo Marowsky is the regional and industrial coordinator for the ITF and has responsibility for young workers. Contact young@itf.org.uk or see www.itfglobal.org/youngworkers