Viewpoint: the big rethink

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محتوى الصفحة: Home > مجلة النقل الدولي "Transport International" > Issue 36 - July 2009 > Capitalism in crisis > Viewpoint: the big rethink

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Elizabeth Cotton outlines her view of the global labour movement's role during the crisis.

Whatever our politics, there is now no alternative but to take on the big rethink.We have to rethink the financial sector and its regulation, rethink what is going to create stable economies and with it decent jobs.

This task is key to the work of trade unionists. Our unions have always been working for better regulation of business and social justice. Unions represent a big politics of distributive justice, a fair system for who gets what and who determines this. This is precisely what needs to be argued for in the workplace, nationally and internationally.

The work of the Global Unions is pivotal in this process, and this is why.

Global Unions are the largest membership organisations in the world and that gives unions a legitimacy that neither business nor political parties currently have. Global Unions are made up of the full range of constituencies that need to engage with the crisis, workers both from poor and rich countries,migrant workers, contract workers, from teachers to miners. The Global Unions are real representative bodies and as such have a central role in decision-making at governmental and international levels.

The multilateral structure of the Global Unions is also crucial to their ability to operate in this crisis. Global Unions are multilateral in that they are able to coordinate relations between unions on the basis of the general organising principles of trade unionism, solidarity and collective action. The Global Unions have been operating at international level for over 100 years. This is precisely what they were designed to do – to negotiate with governments and the IFIs (international financial institutions), to bargain with multinational companies, to push for international regulation of employers. The Global Union Federations also provide a staggering level of sectoral and technical support for affiliates and this is increasingly important during the crisis. The GUFs are working now to protect and rebuild jobs in their sectors – UNI and regulation of the financial sector, PSI and the protection of public services, BWI organising migrant workers and Icem organising contract and agency workers. The Global Unions provide affiliates with the only way of coordinating union action in the global crisis.

The Global Unions have one unified agenda for reform, The London Declaration. It is a remarkable document that could only have been written by trade unionists. It spells out the main lines of action that need to be tackled, from an International Recovery Plan to green investment in jobs. What is important about this document is not just the content, it is that this is a multilateral negotiating position for unions representing over 167million working people. This is not posturing, it is a global union agenda that spells out the work of national and global unions in rebuilding the global economy.

If you are a union member reading this we need you to build your union’s involvement with its Global Union. The current crisis is not just an economic one, it is a political one. Decisions can no longer be made by small groups of people in New York or London. Decisions affecting jobs must be made actively by your union. It is also important that you get involved in building the capacity of the Global Unions. This capacity can only be built with your union’s political and financial support. This is the reality, the time when you most need them is the time that you have to support them. If we allow a decline in our international structures, we lose our place in the big rethink.

Elizabeth Cotton is one of the authors of a new book about the Global Union Federations called “Global Unions Global Business”. ITF affiliates can buy this book at a reduced rate of GB£15.99 quoting reference TU3M from Middlesex University Press: www.mupress.co.uk

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Issue 36 - July 2009

صفحات أخرى لـ Capitalism in crisis:

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