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ITUC, ETUC and PERC - International and European dimensions of trade

union work

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International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

• 1 November 2006, Vienne

• ICFTU and WCL

• 168 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates

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ITUC mission

• promotion and defense of workers’ rights and interests, through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within the major global institutions

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ITUC priorities

• trade union and human rights

• economy, society and the workplace

• equality and non-discrimination

• international solidarity

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ITUC structure• Congress (every 4 year)• General Council (once a year)• Executive Bureau (twice a year)• General Secretary• Secretariat• The ITUC regional organizations are the Asia-Pacific Regional

Organization (ITUC-AP), the African Regional Organization (ITUC-AF) and the American Regional Organization (TUCA)

• Plus PERC• CGU

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European Trade Union Confederation

• The ETUC was founded in 1973, with the specific aim of operating at cross-border level with the institutions of the expanding European Union.

• 82 trade union organisations in 36 European countries,

• 12 industry-based federations.

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ETUC mission

• The ETUC works for the development of a united Europe of peace and stability, where working people and their families enjoy full human and civil rights and high living standards.

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ETUC• The ETUC works with all the EU institutions - Presidency, Council,

Commission and Parliament - in developing employment, social and macroeconomic policy:

• annual Tripartite Social Summit each spring; • putting the trade union point of view on European Commission

proposals; • liaising with a cross-party Intergroup of MEPs in the European

Parliament; • coordinating trade union participation in a number of advisory

bodies, including the Economic and Social Committee and the EU agencies for vocational training, living and working conditions, health and safety.

• It also takes part in negotiations with employers at European level to reach ‘autonomous’ agreements on topics affecting European workers, such as teleworking (2002), work-related stress (2004), and harassment and violence at work (2007).

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ETUC structure

• Congress

• Executive Committee

• Steering Committee

• General Secretary

• Secretariat

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Pan-European Regional Council

• 19 March 2007, Rome

• ITUC and ETUC contribution

• Members of ITUC = members of PERC

• GS of ETUC = GS of PERC

• 89 trade unions from 43 countries

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PERC mission• to promote in the region the strategies, priorities and policies of

the ITUC. • to contribute to the social development, to the consolidation of

democracy and to a better respect of human and workers’ rights.

• to determine policies and action on matters that affect the interests of working people in the region, support bilateral and multilateral cooperation and promote trade union action and representation through

• the strengthening of the trade union movement in all its constituencies

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PERC structures

• Assembly• Executive Committee• Women and Youth Committees• Task-forces• Workplan• Secretariat• Offices

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Youth: ITUC Congress• The Congress recognises that dealing effectively with the concerns and

expectations of young working women and men, and achieving their full integration in trade unions, is crucial to the strengthening, revitalisation, creativity and future of the trade union movement everywhere.

• It commits the ITUC to campaign for decent work, and quality education and training for young people and to promote action to improve organisation and representation of young women and men in trade unions.

• The Congress calls on the ITUC to develop and implement policy and action on young workers’ issues, to facilitate the exchange of national experiences, to involve young trade unionists in its campaigns, and to be a catalyst to develop their potential for the movement

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Youth work: ITUC• Campaigning for decent work and influencing the policies of

important international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. 

• Promoting action for organisation and representation of young men and women in trade unions, so that their voice is heard at all levels within unions and their rights are protected at work. 

• Improving transition from school to work, reach out people in schools and in their first experience in employment to shorten the time they might find themselves unemployed and to increase their participation in trade unions. 

• Ensuring universal access to quality education and training.

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Youth work: ITUC

• Youth Committee

• Youth coordinator (Philippe Gousenbourger)

• Youth Community Blog http://youth.ituc-csi.org/

• Youth mailing list youth@ituc-csi.org

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Youth work: ITUC

Skype: itucyouth 

MSN Messenger: itucyouth

ICQ: itucyouth

AIM: itucyouth

Yahoo! Messenger: itucyouth

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ETUC Youth committee• adopts positions on matters affecting young people at work, to

be submitted to the ETUC Executive Committee;• influences the work of the ETUC, ensuring that there is a youth

perspective in policies as appropriate;• develops action programmes and co-ordinates the normal

activities on the basis of these action programmes;• organises seminars, conferences, study sessions and

campaigns where appropriate, for the delegates of its member organisations;

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ETUC Youth Committee

• Meets at least twice a year

• Steering Committee which is composed of 7 elected members

• The youth secretariat

• http://youth.etuc.org/-en

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ETUC youth committee

Young people and trade unions:• recruitment• organisationYoung people and employment• level of unemployment• quality of jobs

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ETUC Youth Committee issues

The role of young people in the union movement:

• conference in March 2003 on young people and trade unions entitled: ‘Our future: our unions!’

• trainings (for the participants) on the European Union institutions, the Constitution and the Community ‘acquis’, the European dimension of trade unionism, with particular reference to the social dialogue.

• a campaign entitled: ‘The first time, alone, it’s much more difficult’, on the subject of youth unionisation

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ETUC Youth Committee

Thematic discussions:

• Globalisation

• Employment

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Examples of ETUC youth committee activities

• Young trade unionists in @ction

• Demographic changes

• Yes for Europe

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PERC: youth work “A Decent Future for Young Workers”:

The PERC will:•Set up a Youth Committee that, in collaboration with the ETUC and the ITUC Youth Committees, will provide advises and recommendations to the PERC EB, and will be in charge of promoting programmes and initiatives to implement these recommendations

•Support the “Youth Networks”; define the new forms that these Networks should take in the framework of the PERC.

•Promote a rights-based approach to the problems of young workers; oppose any kind of discrimination that the young workers could suffer in terms of employment or participation in the life of the society.

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PERC: youth work “A Decent Future for Young Workers”:

• Promote specific programmes to facilitate the transition of the young people from school to professional life, programmes of vocational training, active employment and labour market policies that should aim at providing a decent work for all the young workers.

• Analyse with its members the obstacles to a full participation of the young workers in the trade union movement; encourage its members at actively promoting young trade unionism, at setting up specific programmes to recruit and organise young workers, at adapting their structures to facilitate young workers participation in the decision and action process of their organisations;

• Encourage the setting up of specific training programmes for young leaders and activists; support the organization of exchanges between young leaders and activists, through joint meetings, assemblies, youth camps or summer schools.

• Support the participation of young trade unionists, through the Youth Committees and Networks, into the ILO, the Council of Europe and other European, regional or international forums and institutions where issues of interest for them could be discussed.

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PERC youth dimension

• In accordance with article 10 of the PERC constitution, the “Executive Committee shall set up a Women’s and Youth Committee and determine their mandate, composition, and procedural rules, as well as their relation to the ETUC’s Women’s and Youth Committees and the existing Women’s and Youth networks operating in the CEE and NIS region.”

• The 1st meeting of the PERC Executive Committee decided to approve the establishment of Women’s and Youth Committees of PERC

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Youth work: PERC

• Youth committee – how to build?

• Are there existing youth representation mechanisms?

• What are relations with ITUC and ETUC?

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PERC Transitional youth committee

• to ensure a) the process of consultations is coordinated with the existing youth settings and b) the youth of the PERC organizations is participating in the PERC and ITUC activities.

• This transitional committee is composed by 9 members with 5 titular members representing PERC organisations from the EU, at least one of them being from the new member states; 3 – from the NIS countries, and 1 – from the counties of Western Balkans.

• The transitional committee shall operate on a base of the terms of reference and its activities shall be part of the PERC working plan. It shall also nominate its representatives to the PERC Executive Committee and to the ITUC Youth Committee.

• The transitional period shall be finished in 2009 by the Pan-European conference to build the Committee.

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PERC transitional youth committee

• Robert Hansen, LO-Norway, Norway • Fuad Mammadov, AHIK, Azerbaijan • Oksana Shevchuk, KVPU, Ukraine• Mina Vucojicic, Nezavisnost, Serbia• Erika Brselova, KOZ, Slovakia• Panjikos Argyrides, SEK, Cyprus• Tanja Mattias, LCGB, Luxembourg• Mikel Panos Bartolome, CC.OO, Spain• Evgeniy Sivaikin, FNPR, Russia

• And Vasil Andreev (FPU, Ukraine) and Ivan Djurisic (SSCG, Montenegro) were proposed as substitutes. Nomination of other substitute members shall be coordinated by the Youth committee members.

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Future Youth Committee basics

The T.Y. Committee requested its members to organise informal consultations in their regions – to make as broad inclusion as possible in this consultative process on a base of the initial concept of the meeting to be prepared by the secretariat. The Committee has requested the secretariat to explore funding possibilities.

• Made by the affiliates by the means of voting at conference• All are entitled to send their representative• It shall have mandate • It shall be responsible for implementation of the respective

PERC policies

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Priorities

• youth representation mapping in Europe;• Contribution to PERC task forces discussions;• Youth conference in 2009: concept and

arrangements;• Reporting to the PERC Executive Committee;• Working plan for 2009

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Activities: perc.ituc-csi.org• http://perc.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?rubrique81

• Demographic changes: challenge for Europe19 September 2008

• Trade union youth of Ukraine14 July 2008

• Trade Union Youth Summer School in Lithuania1 July 2008

• 20 June: Action Day of Young Trade Unionists in South East Europe “It’s Time – Against Youth Unemployment and for Greater Opportunities”30 June 2008

• Promoting Young Workers Interests through Social Partnership Channels project Evaluation conference, Kiev, 13-14 May15 May 2008

• The 1st PERC Youth Committee meeting22 April 2008

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