GAC - Bridgetown Protocol - Labour Working Group Report



		THE BRIDGETOWN PROTOCOL HOME TABLE OF CONTENTS Back to Working Group Reports PART III - WORKING GROUP REPORTS LABOUR WORKING GROUP REPORT Chairperson: Marie Clarke Walker Rapporteur: Mary McCarthy INTRODUCTION PRIORITY AREAS BARRIERS INTRODUCTION The Labour Working Group comprised of activists from the United States, Canada, England, Barbados and St. Vincent. From the discussions it became evident that notwithstanding the fact that we were from different countries, our experiences and the issues on which we are working are the same. · There is low participation of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants in our local unions. · There is no accurate data on the number of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants in our respective local unions and the movement as a whole in our respective countries. · Where there are policies on the books, the issues of racism are not generally a priority. · In relation to our numbers in the rank and file membership, there are proportionately few Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants in senior leadership positions in the movement. · Decision makers and leaders are predominately white males who are old. Young people, particularly young men of Afrikan descent are conspicuous by their absence. · Our members have limited understanding of how some issues, for example, immigration/migration and globalization impact on their daily lives. · Unions have generally tended not to work in coalitions with communities who, in turn, perceive unions, because of their strike activities, as disruptors in the community rather than a mobilizing consolidating force. · The contributions of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants to the labour movement are often not recognized or valued. The Labour Working Group proposes that labour should be at the forefront of the Reparations movement because this struggle is about redress for the unpaid work of our ancestors and the ongoing exploitation that we experience in the workplace on a daily basis as Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants. PRIORITY AREAS 1. Raising the consciousness and awareness of our members, and the community, and the critical necessity to monitor how this work is done. In order to accomplish this goal unions must develop educational, and other programs that are relevant, and meet the needs of their Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant membership. Unions must work in partnership with community organizations and provide information to create awareness about critical issues. It is necessary to engage in educational work at all levels – in the schools, in the community and within the membership. In Canada there has been some positive developments with the provision of scholarships that enable workers of colour to become better equipped to take full advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves in the movement. There should be scholarships specifically earmarked for Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants. 2. Organizing, self-organization development and building solidarity. Organized workers generally enjoy a better standard of living. Unions must, therefore, increase their organizing activities in our communities. In doing this work, they must ensure that the organizers hired to do the job are appropriately representative of our Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant communities. Within unions, as Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants, we must take responsibility to organize ourselves, and where we take this initiative we must demand of our unions the space and the support for our initiative. Within our own groups we need to educate ourselves on the rules, policies and practices that govern our respective organizations. This would empower us as Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants to become more active and confident as we self-organize 3. Coalition building, advocacy and campaigning. As we have already identified, unions need to build links with the communities and, in addition, Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant union members need to build and strengthen links with each other. The Barbados conference has provided a unique opportunity to begin to do some of this work. Unfortunately, because of the systemic racism that exists in many of our labour organizations, the participation of labour in this conference leaves much to be desired. In order to revitalize our organizations and increase the visibility of unions in our communities, we must be prepared to campaign for, and advocate on behalf of, our community partners and in coalition with them. By using campaigns as a vehicle to educate both rank and file members and their communities, unions will assist in politicising members and communities and building effective, broad based coalitions for change. BARRIERS & STRATEGIES BARRIER: The establishment is threatened when Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants unite, and frequently creates obstacles to prevent us coming together. STRATEGY: The need to politicise our organized and unorganized Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant workers is paramount; organize, educate and mobilize within the union and in the community. We need to provide leadership training; and encourage and support Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants to run for office. BARRIER: We are not aware of how we can impact on decision making processes because we lack knowledge about where we are located on national, regional and international level. Also, we have no idea what our strength in numbers is at these levels. STRATEGY: We need to collect the relevant data, develop a database and share the information we have with our members. Importantly, our labour members and the community must develop strategies to support our Afrikan and Afrikan Descendent members who are in leadership. BARRIER: We have an aging leadership and membership characterized by resistance to change. Also, we are generally reluctant to innovative approaches to doing business. STRATEGY: We should organize, recruit and mentor youth for leadership positions within the union, applying a balanced gender perspective. We need to involve young people in developing and delivering programs. For example, the Canadian and the US governments and national labour bodies have begun to look at the trades and the lack of workers of colour and youth that are choosing trades as a viable career. In an attempt to change this, government and houses of labour are meeting with those trade unions to see if we can begin to break down some of the barriers. CLC (Canadian Labour Congress) and CBTU (Coalition for Black Trade Unionists) are discussing solutions such as how to change the existing structures, and thereby encourage more youth of Afrikan Descent to enter the trades, apprenticeship and training programs. The key thing here is for unions to change the way in which they promote these programs and for governments to make them more accessible. Both parties have identified the barriers in this area, and there is some acknowledgement of this as the discussions continue. As these generally are professions where it is possible to begin to make a living wage, they are essential in enabling people to take care of their families. BARRIER: Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants are neither encouraged nor informed about positions within the labour movement. Many unions have no discrimination clauses. STRATEGY: We need stronger legislation in some places, but in the majority of cases there is a need for stronger enforcement mechanisms and resources. There is a need to bargain non-discriminatory language and houses of labour must take responsibility to educate and develop enforcement mechanisms so that affiliates will see the positive aspects of developing strong language. Also, we must take advantage of programs, such as the recent development scholarships that enable workers of colour to become better equipped to take full advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves in the movement. Opportunities include staff positions, leadership positions and key roles (locally, nationally and internationally). BARRIER: Systemic racism and harassment in the workplace and community STRATEGY: Many trade unions encourage employers and local unions to form committees and develop policies that should be combating discrimination. We chastise employers when they do not comply However, as employers, the trade unions are just as guilty when it comes to following through and implementing such policies. This is where we need to look seriously at changing the structure of our unions. Some unions and union leadership continue to behave as if they are exempt from their own policies. They must be held accountable for both their actions and non-actions. Countries are failing miserably when it comes to their assumption of responsibility with meeting specific goals established to protect the rights of migrant workers, as defined in International Labour Organization conventions. Countries that have signed on to key conventions are failing to adhere to them and many countries have not even signed. Unions must lobby their governments and hold them accountable for signing the conventions and enforcing the agreements that they make. We have to lobby governments to recognize credentials of migrant workers. Unions must also lobby governments to enact or repeal legislation when and where necessary. BARRIER: While the seniority principle is a very important and somewhat sacrosanct principal in the labour movement, it often creates a barrier for Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant workers joining organized workplaces, particularly in this time of privatisation and downsizing. This impacts particularly so on our youth and women. STRATEGY: There are creative ways of maintaining the principle of seniority side by side with the principle of equal access to employment for Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants and other equity seeking groups. Each situation is different and unique and the union must be willing to explore innovative solutions. Back to Working Group Reports _________________________________ Please direct questions or comments to website@globalafrikancongress.com Copyright © Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants World Conference Against Racism 2003. All Rights Reserved.