10TH INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS OF SOUTHERN INITIATIVE ON GLOBALISATION AND TRADE UNION RIGHTS
(SIGTUR)
Perth, Australia – from 2nd to 6th December
2013
Com. M. Krishnan, Secretary General, Participated
Against
the everyday reality of the human social and psychological destructiveness of
Neo-liberal capitalist Restructuring, one hundred and twenty (120) Trade Union
activists from fourteen countries across four continents in the Global South,
representing democratic unions from Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Japan, India, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, South
Korea and Australia gathered in Perth, Western Australia from 2nd to
6th of December 2013.
The
five days program of workshops and plenary debates focused on four issues: -
(1) Challenging the power of global corporations
(2) Public sector
restructuring
(3) Transport and Communications and
(4) Trade Union education
and empowering workers in the age of neo-liberalism.
The congress endorsed
continuing to build and strengthen global solidarity networks and actions in
the above mentioned four areas. The congress recommended that noting the
intense anti-privatisation and other public sector struggles which are presently
being fought on all continents within the SIGTUR network, priority shall be
given to intensifying these struggles and SIGTUR coordinators shall prioritize
this defined objective. Further the congress noted development and emergence of
global campaign against Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) by the SIGTUR
participants and leading role played by them.
Congress
recommended that SIGTUR participants shall work strongly for country to country
and union to union initiatives and solidarity actions that intensify these
campaigns. Congress decided that a continuing exchange of ideas on union
education on workplace issues and political economy should be promoted across
the network as part of a process of further developing the social and political
consciousness of workers.
The
congress was addressed by Com. Ged Kearney, ACTU President, Com. Christy Cain,
State Secretary & National Vice President of Maritime Union of Australia
(MUA), Com. Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the MUA & International
President of International Transport Federation (ITF). There were II sessions
consisting of workshops and plenary sessions.
The
Indian delegation consisting of 13 leaders of various organizations was lead by
Com. Amanulla Khan, All India President of the All India Insurance Employees
Association. Com. M. Krishnan, Secretary General represented the Confederation.
SIGTUR’S OBJECTIVE
“Step
by step we will build a globally integrated labour movement in the south, in
the most fundamental battle of our era. In this we represent the hopes and
aspirations of generations to come; hopes for a just global economy providing
security for all in society; for a planet whose fine tuned ecology is protected
before all else and for world society that relegates the weapons and methods of
warfare to the dustbin of history, where they truly belong. In each of these
struggles we will never cease to advance, for while we have breath in our
bodies we will remain committed to what is best and to what drives our
movement: a solidarity which will last forever”.
courtesy : NFPE
