20 April, 2011To assist the two unions organizing metalworkers in Angola and strengthen their closer cooperation and mutual support, the IMF held a workshop in Luanda in April 2011, that was attended by union leadership and shop stewards drawn from 12 companies in the metal, chemical, electricity, energy and light industries.
ANGOLA: In addition to building unity and strong solidarity between Federaçăo Dos Sindicatos Das Industrias Metalurgicas, Extractiva, Energia E Quimica De Angola (FSIMEQ) and Sindicato Das Industrias Petro-Quimicas E Metalurgicas De Angola (SIPEQMA), the workshop also aimed at improving focus and basic skills of union officials and shop stewards on organizing.
Participants shared their experiences and found that they were not alone on issues. In fact most experienced the same key challenges in the workplace; no employment equity, wage disparities, occupational diseases, the use of subcontractors and retrenchments. Participants also discussed similarities in the two unions such as shrinking union membership, poor financial resources and the need for leadership and shop stewards training.
Participants discussed strategies to improve organizing including ongoing recruitment campaigns and joint training on collective bargaining. Participants undertook to build unity of workers in different plants and support to each other during disputes. In order to achieve this, participants recognized that communication between plants and the unions would need to be improved.
The unions also recognized the need for better cooperation with each other through joint activities which would build relations that would be useful for a possible merger in the future.