7 December, 2017IndustriALL Global Union accepted the affiliation of nine new trade unions at the recent Executive Committee meeting held in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, in November.
They include four trade unions from Latin America, two from the Middle East, two from Albania and one union from Africa covering sectors including energy, textile, manufacturing and materials.
The new unions have already been taking part in IndustriALL activities. Sutraprotisa union, which is part of new Peruvian affiliate FETRIMAP-CGTP, took part in IndustriALL’s World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industries in Budapest at the end of November. The Peruvian union has also been part of the CMPC trade union network for two years, receiving solidarity support from IndustriALL and the network in bargaining with the pulp manufacturer.
New Brazilian affiliate, FERAESP, joined the IndustriALL Shell Global Union Network meeting in the Netherlands in September, and has since shown strong commitment to the recently launched campaign against Shell, which operates as Raízen in Brazil.
The largest new affiliate is Argentinian union SEIVARA, which has 6,000 members, 33 per cent of whom are women and 90 per cent of whom are white-collar workers. The union is active in the materials sector, particularly the glass industry.
Panamanian union, SITIESPA, includes members in the electricity sector who are all white-collar workers.
Both the new Albanian affiliates SPILT and FSPILASH represent mostly women workers in the textile sector.
New African affiliate, SAP, is currently fighting a legal case to defend eight workers who have grievances with Total Gabon. The new affiliate will aim to use IndustriALL’s global framework agreement with Total to help resolve the issue.
IndustriALL’s General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:
“We warmly welcome our new affiliates into the IndustriALL family, which have come close to us through struggles, campaigns and networks. We are ready to fight their corner and champion their interests. Our new trade unions can also be sure to benefit from the international solidarity from our brothers and sisters around the world.”
New affiliates November 2017:
- Sindicato de Empleados de la Industria de Vidrio y Afines de la República Argentina (SEIVARA) from Argentina
- Independent Trade Union for Textile and Light Industry (SPILT) from Albania
- Trade Union of Workers of Light Industry, Handicrafts and Agro-processing (FSPILASH) from Albania
- Federation of Rural Workers of the State of Sao Paulo Brazil (FERAESP) from Brazil;
- Egyptian Federation of Mining, Quarrying and Building Materials – EUMQB
- Syndicat Autonome des Pétroliers (SAP) from Gabon
- General Trade Union for Workers in Electricity in Jordan (GTUWE) from Jordan
- Sindicato de los trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Similares de la Republica de Panama (SITIESPA) from Panama
- Federacion de Trabajadores de la Industria Manufacturera y Afines del Peru (FETRIMAP–CGTP) from Peru
The Executive Committee in Colombo also approved the reaffiliation of the Automobile and Farm Machinery Workers' Union of Russia (AFW), and the Suriname Bauxite Mine and Metal Workers’ Federation (SBMWF).
It brings the total number of unions to 620 from around 140 countries.