{"id":798,"date":"2023-08-29T16:02:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T15:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/worldcongress\/news\/organizing-gender-equality-and-amazon-workers-rising-day-1-of-unis-world-congress\/"},"modified":"2023-08-31T00:50:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T23:50:29","slug":"organizing-gender-equality-and-amazon-workers-rising-day-1-of-unis-world-congress","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/worldcongress\/news\/organizing-gender-equality-and-amazon-workers-rising-day-1-of-unis-world-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Organizing, Gender equality and Amazon workers rising: Day 1 of UNI\u2019s World Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"
Day 1 of UNI Global Union’s 6th World Congress kicked off in Philadelphia, with an action packed agenda under the themes of union power, women\u2019s rights and the fight to Make Amazon Pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe come together in this Congress to chart the next four years but also to celebrate and to recommit to the power of global unionism. Because even though the forces aligned against workers are big, we are bigger. The largest democratic movement in the world. And we have the potential to be even bigger. We must be united and strategic. We won\u2019t win these goals by asking politely. We will need to fight. When we fight, we win,\u201d<\/em> said UNI\u2019s General Secretary Christy Hoffman.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOur mission is to strengthen unions in order to improve workers’ lives and shift the balance in global power. And this means not just talking about it, but actually making a difference. Getting things done. And we are doing that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The first part of the day \u2018Building Union Power for All\u2019 was moderated by Rocio S\u00e1enz, Executive Vice President, SEIU (USA), <\/strong>and shone the spotlight on the organizing successes of UNI affiliates across the regions. \u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Clark<\/strong> the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association<\/strong> and President of UNI\u2019s World Players Association, explained how their union organized the minor leagues for the first time ever: \u00a0\u201cWe were fortunate enough to get our first contract. Health benefits, pension, doubling or tripling compensation overnight. And it wouldn\u2019t have happened without having the right leadership, the right players.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Taketoshi Matsuzaka<\/strong>, from the commerce division of UA ZENSEN<\/strong>\u00a0spoke about the historic pay rises for workers during this year\u2019s sector wide wage negotiations, which take place every spring. \u201cOur Spring Offensive really put the spotlight of union activities in Japan \u2013 and on the radar of young workers, as well as part time workers that are outside the trade union movement,\u201d said Matsuzaka.<\/p>\n Organizing through global agreements<\/strong><\/p>\n UNI\u2019s global agreements with multinational companies play a transformative role in supporting workers who are organizing in challenging environments. Cristina Gogescu<\/strong>, General Secretary of FSC in Romania,<\/strong> described how UNI\u2019s global agreement with supermarket retailer, Auchan, opened the door to establish a union at the supermarket chain in March this year: \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur target is to get at least 35 per cent membership by April next year so that we can start negotiating a collective agreement. So far numbers are growing steadily and we are confident we will get legal recognition as planned.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Similarly, Liz Passaro<\/strong> from SutraH&M<\/strong> (Peru) shared her union\u2019s winning campaign, which was supported by UNI and leveraged the global agreement with Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M: \u201cWe were able to sign our first collective agreement and first salary increase in over six years and the company is committed to staying neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n UNI Organizing Centres<\/strong><\/p>\n UNI\u2019s world-beating regional organizing centres in Eastern Europe (COZZ and UNISEEOC), Colombia (COE) and Western Europe (EPOC) were recognized for their impactful work in building trade unions on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have organized greenfield non-union sites in Poland, Hungary and Czechia in the Care, ICTS, Graphical & Packaging, and run infill campaigns in Commerce and Finance. In the last year alone COZZ has successfully organized Thales in Poland, Elanders in Hungary and Alzheimer Care homes in Czechia. We have six ongoing campaigns including Google and Orpea. The strategy is not simply succeeding in few companies, sector or country, we aim at resilient trade union structures throughout Europe that can withstand any new assault of neo-liberalism,\u201d<\/em> said Oliver Roethig<\/strong>, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Breaking Through organizing campaign is one of most important strategies set by the unions in the world. Implementing this, we expect to build workers\u2019 power that can make real change in the life of people. That helps us fight against inequality and poverty. COE is part of our broader strategy that has more 70 people working in Americas, helping unions to develop organizing, to reach better Collective Bargaining and to protect democracy,\u201d<\/em> said Marcio Monzane<\/strong>, Regional Secretary of UNI Americas.<\/p>\n Carol Scheffer<\/strong>, from UNI\u2019s Irish affiliate, the Communication Workers Union, explained:<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>The benefit of EPOC is that it will develop this capacity within all levels of our unions from grass root representatives to more senior union officials. This approach ensures that we have to a consistent and common understanding of how we can best grow worker power.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Global alliances<\/strong><\/p>\n The Congress also highlighted the importance of international networks and global solidarity to build power. UNI\u2019s DHL Alliance in Africa has achieved remarkable success in organizing unions at the world\u2019s biggest logistics company, expanding from five to 32 countries on the continent so far.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to have international alliances. In many countries there are a lot more people who can benefit from the freedom to organize and many will benefit from having unions,\u201d said <\/em>Ibrahima Sarr <\/strong>from SNTPT, <\/strong>in Senegal<\/strong> .<\/p>\n Rosalina Ngakopu<\/strong>, from E t\u016b<\/strong> in New Zealand spoke of her union\u2019s campaign to secure a Fair Pay Agreement for security guards, which lays the ground for national bargaining on a sector-wide level. \u00a0E t\u016b has been supported by UNI\u2019s U.S. affiliate SEIU along the journey.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>In 2022 our strong Pacifica female leaders did the E t\u016b oral submissions for FPAs to Parliament\u2019s select committee hearings. We went hard and strong, we did not care about the push backs, the push backs inspired us to work harder to achieve what we have set out to do,\u201d<\/em> said Ngakopu.<\/p>\n UNI also used the occasion to launch a new fundraising initiative<\/a> to allow individuals to show their global solidarity and boost organizing capacity around the world through a financial contribution online. \u00a0<\/p>\n UNI\u2019s Breaking Through Awards for organizing against the odds were awarded to unions in Finland<\/a>, Nepal<\/a>, Uganda<\/a>, as well as Jobs with Justice<\/strong>, a labour movement in the U.S.. Executive Director Erica Smiley, <\/strong>expressed her gratitude for the recognition, stating:<\/p>\n “Receiving this award From UNI Global Union is truly an honour and testament to the visionary labour, community, faith and student leaders who sought to build a network of nimble organizations and unions that would collaborate as equals around a shared vision for expanding organizing a collective bargaining power for everyone and a commitment to creative approaches that would match the experiences and conditions of the\u00a0modern\u00a0worker.”<\/em><\/p>\n