17 November, 2011The transatlantic alliance created by Unite and the United Steelworkers holds its first congress in London and resolves to take joint action on organizing, coordinated collective bargaining and global solidarity.
UK: Workers Uniting, the transatlantic alliance set up by Unite the Union and the United Steelworkers held its first Congress under the theme "Fighting Back Globally" on November 11-12 in London. Delegates from the USA, Canada, UK and Republic of Ireland along with guests from Bangladesh, Colombia, Mexico, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and Mineworkers (ICEM) discussed a number of motions on joint action.
Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said in his opening speech that the first Congress "is taking place against a backdrop of global economic chaos and a global attack against working people". "We can globalize the fight for working people all around the world", said USW International President Leo Gerard.
The motions centred around the following themes:
- Political action in favour of job creation and against public sector and health care cuts
- Organizing with the help of strategic research and targeting joint companies
- Coordinating collective bargaining in joint companies
- Statement against behavioural health and safety
- Promoting equal rights
- Developing education and electronic communications
- Solidarity action to support unions in countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Bangladesh
ICEM's General Secretary Manfred Warda thanked the USW and Unite for their strong support for the process between the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF to create a unified global union organization for basic and manufacturing workers in 2012. IMF's General Secretary Jyrki Raina said the unions were showing the others the way to go in developing concrete cross-border action.
Workers Uniting represents 2.5 million active and retired workers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Canada.