Does the idea of transnational unions have legs?
The United Steelworkers in Canada and unions from six other countries recently signed a global accord designed to present a united front in bargaining with their common employer: Brazilian-based Companhie Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). This company, whose amalgamation with Sudbury-based Inco was completed last January, has interests in Brazil, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Norway and Australia.
According to a union president from Brazil, the union agreement, known as the Sudbury Unity Accord, was intended to increase “communication and common action among union members.”
This federation may be part of a growing trend whereby trade unions become as transnational as many of the corporations with which they bargain. In May, representatives of Amicus and the Transportation and General Workers Union (combined as UNITE, and now the largest union in the United Kingdom) met in Ottawa, Ontario, with their conterparts from the United Steelworkers. The unions will meet over the next year to lay down the foundation for a legal merger. At 3.4 million members in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, it would be the world’s biggest union, according to a USW press release.
Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said such a “super union” might “coordinate strikes at a company with plants in both Britain and America” in an effort to resist the “pushing down” of pay rates, benefits and working conditions.
Last November in Vienna, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) was formed from the amalgamation of two international trade union organizations and with affiliation with eight other national unions. With over 160 million workers in 153 countries, the ITUC has the potential for exerting a lot of clout. Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress and the chair of the ITUC Workers’ Capital Committee, observed, “Let’s remember, we have the largest democratic network in the world, with reach, depth and breadth, and we need to utilize that capacity a lot more.”
In particular, in respect to union-linked pension funds, Georgetti, wants more disclosure rules for pension managers’ voting practices. He advocates a “more activist approach not just to the benefits, but also to the way money is managed,” especially in private equity funds.
Finally, some Canadian unions are part of Union Network International (UNI), a global union network established in 2000 to unite unions representing service sector workers. UNI’s agenda includes negotiating globally for framework agreements and upholding human and trade union rights. Most recently, representatives from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), which is affiliated with UNI Graphical, helped organize employees in Peru and Brazil at plants owned by Canadian print giant Quebecor.
Commenting on a first agreement covering 180 workers at Quebecor’s facility in Lima, Duncan Brown, national director of CEP Graphical said, “We have overcome the things that can divide us — including geography and language.”
This trend towards righting what unions see as an imbalance of power between corporations and unions in a global economy may solidify the trade union movement’s influence. However, global unions may need to guard against a split in focus: Should time and money be spent on social issues like poverty and workers’ rights or should resources be used on the more practical aim of recruiting membership in the unions themselves?
According to a union president from Brazil, the union agreement, known as the Sudbury Unity Accord, was intended to increase “communication and common action among union members.”
This federation may be part of a growing trend whereby trade unions become as transnational as many of the corporations with which they bargain. In May, representatives of Amicus and the Transportation and General Workers Union (combined as UNITE, and now the largest union in the United Kingdom) met in Ottawa, Ontario, with their conterparts from the United Steelworkers. The unions will meet over the next year to lay down the foundation for a legal merger. At 3.4 million members in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, it would be the world’s biggest union, according to a USW press release.
Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said such a “super union” might “coordinate strikes at a company with plants in both Britain and America” in an effort to resist the “pushing down” of pay rates, benefits and working conditions.
Last November in Vienna, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) was formed from the amalgamation of two international trade union organizations and with affiliation with eight other national unions. With over 160 million workers in 153 countries, the ITUC has the potential for exerting a lot of clout. Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress and the chair of the ITUC Workers’ Capital Committee, observed, “Let’s remember, we have the largest democratic network in the world, with reach, depth and breadth, and we need to utilize that capacity a lot more.”
In particular, in respect to union-linked pension funds, Georgetti, wants more disclosure rules for pension managers’ voting practices. He advocates a “more activist approach not just to the benefits, but also to the way money is managed,” especially in private equity funds.
Finally, some Canadian unions are part of Union Network International (UNI), a global union network established in 2000 to unite unions representing service sector workers. UNI’s agenda includes negotiating globally for framework agreements and upholding human and trade union rights. Most recently, representatives from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), which is affiliated with UNI Graphical, helped organize employees in Peru and Brazil at plants owned by Canadian print giant Quebecor.
Commenting on a first agreement covering 180 workers at Quebecor’s facility in Lima, Duncan Brown, national director of CEP Graphical said, “We have overcome the things that can divide us — including geography and language.”
This trend towards righting what unions see as an imbalance of power between corporations and unions in a global economy may solidify the trade union movement’s influence. However, global unions may need to guard against a split in focus: Should time and money be spent on social issues like poverty and workers’ rights or should resources be used on the more practical aim of recruiting membership in the unions themselves?
