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10/24/2007.... Significant role for unions in eliminating poverty
- Labour news from UNI global union - for trade unions in a global services economy. -
UNI World Executive meets in Delhi: October 25-26
“Unions can play a significant role in eliminating poverty in India and other countries,” said Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI global union, on the eve of the organisation’s first ever World Executive meeting in New Delhi.
“Global unions have a similarly vital role in ensuring that multinational companies - who are showing increasing interest in India - behave well as employers and as corporate citizens wherever they operate.”
UNI is the global union for skills and services with 900 affiliated unions and 15 million members - nearly one million of them in India.
The meeting of the 90-strong UNI World Executive at the Ashok Hotel is being opened by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes (9am, Thursday October 25).
“We want to extend the union footprint in India to give more workers a voice and a bargaining tool to ensure that they share in India’s growing economic wealth;” said Mr Jennings.
“Globalisation so far has widened the gap between rich and poor - we need to build a new globalisation that benefits working people and their families, not just the privileged few.”
UNI is involved in projects in India to organise security guards, IT professionals, call centre and back office workers, shop and mobile phone workers. The aim is to build new unions in the private sector and to help existing unions across a range of services that includes banking, post, telecom, media and entertainment and graphical.
UNI has established a liaison council to bring together its 27 Indian affiliates and has opened development offices in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin.
“We salute India on its 60th independence birthday, born out of collective action by the Indian people,” said Mr Jennings. “We believe that the collective strength of working people can help significantly in the war on poverty, strengthen democracies and ensure fairer societies worldwide.”
Globally UNI has been pressing governments to step up the regulation of financial markets in the light of the summer’s global credit crisis and has been involved in talks with top private equity groups to press for greater transparency in their buy-out operations and greater respect for workers’ rights.
UNI is pressing multinational companies to sign global agreements that commit them to respect workers’ rights and the environment wherever they operate around the world.
It is also involved in the campaign against the Wal-Martisation of the global economy - a race to the bottom based on exploitation and low wages and typified by the world’s biggest retailer that is anti-union in the USA and Canada.
“Poverty is but the worst form of violence.” Mohandas Gandhi
A press conference will be held at 6pm on Wednesday October 24 at the Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi
Press contacts:
Philip Jennings, UNI General Secretary: philip.jennings@uniglobalunion.org
Noel Howell, UNI Press & Information: +41 79 446 2703 (mobile)
press@uniglobalunion.org
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http://www.uni-apro.org - uni-asiapacific@union-network.org |