The creation of four Centres of Excellence (COE) across the region was agreed by the ITF executive board in 2016 and was a key outcome of a review of how to build trade union power even further across the Asia Pacific region. Now a six-month planning process is underway to get them up and running.
The new COEs cover campaigning, union building, policy development and maritime. A new ITF Singapore office will open later this year and take up responsibility for financial and resource management.
Regional ITF affiliates and staff met this week to discuss the next steps in planning. Other agenda items included the need to share successes from the region with a wider audience, the managing of resources and growth in membership numbers. Following improvements to its membership system the ITF is now able to provide detailed membership breakdowns by section and region so that affiliates can target their growth planning at a national level.
Rob Johnston ITF assistant general secretary, said: "By approaching our work in the region in a more systematic way we can take advantage of the opportunities that the Centres of Excellence provide. The ITF is unique in being able to adopt this model and we are already starting to see the benefits for affiliates.
”We’re sharing our plans with our affiliates every step of the way because their participation is vital to making this process effective and accountable. Just one example is the ITF National Coordinating Committees (NCCs). They’re a crucial tool for us to be able to coordinate work at a national level and make sure affiliates across sections, regions and departments are engaged and working towards the same purpose. Each COE now has a number of identified priority NCCs to make sure that happens.”
Get more on the Asia Pacific review and what it means for transport unions and their members.
