9 October, 2011Unions from around the world join local Swiss trade unions in mobilizing to defend trade union rights and decent work on the occasion of the World Day of Decent Work (WDDW) on October 7.
SWITZERLAND: On October 7, the World Day for Decent Work, 200 international trade unionists joined IMF affiliate UNIA and other Swiss unions outside the UN Headquarters in Geneva to demand recognition of trade union rights and the elimination of precarious employment.
Unions, including several IMF affiliates, who had been attending the ILO Workers' Symposium on precarious work, joined the call by the Swiss unions for stronger protection against dismissal for shop stewards and better union access to workplaces. Actions symbolizing the obstacles and pressures placed on unions in defending workers were held. Employer control over workers, particularly precarious workers, was illustrated by human puppets representing a worker and shop steward being controlled by strings held by managers. At the conclusion of the action, the union cut the strings and freed the workers to exercise their union rights.
Swiss union speakers told their international colleagues how trade union freedoms are being undermined even in Switzerland. Despite a recommendation to the Swiss government from the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association to strengthen protections against dismissal of shop stewards, no improvement has been noticed. In Geneva, the city that hosts the headquarters of the ILO, trade unions face major obstacles in exercising their right to provide information to workers about their rights at work.
The combined unions then marched from the UN to the ILO, carrying a symbolic social safety net containing union demands which were then handed over to ILO Executive Director Guy Ryder to conclude the actions.
Watch the demonstration on the IMF-TV Channel on youtube