WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE IN VIENNA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 VIENNA 003297

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STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR AND IO/T
USAID FOR DCHA/DG (KIMBERLY LUDWIG)
NSC FOR AMBASSADOR KOZAK
PARIS ALSO FOR USOECD
LABOR FOR ILAB (BILL BRUMFIELD, BOB SHEPARD)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD EAID PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI ILO
SUBJECT: WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE IN VIENNA

SUMMARY


1. Delegates from 306 national trade union organizations
representing 168 million workers in 154 countries met Nov.
1-3 in Vienna to found the International Trade Union
Confederation. "The Confederation exists to unite and
mobilize the democratic and independent forces of world
trade unionism in giving effective representation to
working people, wherever they work and in whatever
conditions," says its constitution. Rejecting
government-dominated labor organizations like those in
China and Cuba, the Confederation offered associate
(dues-free) status to struggling independent unions
including the Unitary Council of Cuban Workers (whose
imprisoned leader, Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, was arrested
in the 2003 crackdown on human rights defenders),the
Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (whose exiled leader,
Maung Maung, attended the Vienna meeting),and the
Cambodian Labor Confederation. BCDTU/BKDP Belarus, KVPU
and FPU Ukraine, and ZCTU Zimbabwe were among the unions
represented at the meeting. The UK's Guy Ryder, elected
unanimously to be the Confederation's General Secretary,
cautioned the delegates that it was easier to pledge unity
in Vienna than to realize it back home. "It remains to be
seen whether or not we will be capable of doing it," he
said. "And if we fail we should not look for the fault in
our stars but in ourselves."

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW CONFEDERATION


2. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is
the product of the merger of two international
organizations, joined by eight national trade union centers
previously unaffiliated to either of them. The larger of
the two, the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions (ICFTU),was founded in 1949 to provide a
democratic, secular alternative to the communist-dominated
World Federation of Trade Unions, which lingers on although
it is much diminished. The smaller of the two was the
World Confederation of Labor (WCL),originally called the
International Federation of Christian Trade Unions, founded
in 1920 and as its name suggests an organization with a
strong religious orientation.


3. ICFTU and WCL delegates met separately in Vienna Oct.
31 to dissolve their respective federations in preparation
for the founding of the ITUC. The ICFTU delegates voted
for dissolution by acclamation. At the WCL meeting,
however, only 95 percent voted for dissolution; two percent
voted "no" and three percent abstained. Those speaking out
against dissolution were chiefly from WCL affiliates in
Western Europe, according to an observer who attended the
meeting. The eight previously unaffiliated unions joining
the ITUC as founding members are from Angola (UNTA-CS),
Argentina (CTA),Madagascar (FISEMA),Colombia (CUT),Nepal
(GEFONT),France (CGT),Poland (OPZZ),and Nigeria (TUC-N).

THE FOUNDING CONGRESS


4. Leroy Trotman from Barbados, chairman of the Workers'
Group in the ILO, proclaimed the creation of the ITUC at
the first sitting of the founding congress on Nov. 1. Some
1600 delegates were present, plus numerous observers.
There was music by the wind players of the Vienna State
Opera, and then the speeches began. "The history of
international trade unionism has been marked more by
division than unity," said Emilio Gabaglio, former head of
the European Trade Union Confederation and the first to
speak, "but it is imperative to create a united and
pluralistic movement to meet the challenges of a globalized
economy." Austrian President Heinz Fischer called unions
essential institutions in free societies. "There are no
free trade unions in a dictatorship," he said. Austrian
Trade Union Federation President Rudolf Hundstorfer said
that, for all the problems facing workers in Europe,
including high unemployment ("a continuing disgrace") and
relentless pressure from employers to make concessions,
voluntary cooperation between workers and employers had
achieved much in Europe and the Austrian unions would
support efforts by the ITUC to promote this practice
globally. The congress chairwoman, Sharan Burrow of
Australia, read a message of congratulations from UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan.

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THE ITUC PROGRAM


5. Among the aims of the ITUC, says the constitution
adopted unanimously in Vienna, is "to be a countervailing
force in the global economy, committed to securing a fair
distribution of wealth and income within and between
countries, protection of the environment, universal access
to public goods and services, comprehensive social
protection, life-long learning and decent work
opportunities for all." A program resolution also adopted
unanimously calls for more effective and democratic
governance of the global economy, including the
establishment of a working group on trade and labor
standards at the WTO with full ILO participation; the
defense of trade union rights; the eradication of
employment discrimination and child labor; safer and
healthier workplaces; and a stronger ILO.


6. Nearly 100 delegates took the floor to comment on the
program. Their remarks reflect the sometimes conflicting
views within the new confederation. Hans Jensen of LO
Denmark, saying trade is crucial to development, called on
the ITUC to develop a strategy to bring the WTO negotiators
back to the table. But Jan Sithole of SFTU Swaziland said
WTO policies are ravaging African countries and Young-Ok
Jin of KCTU South Korea said bluntly, "We don't want a WTO
or an FTA." Gerd-Liv Valle of LO Norway said the ICFTU had
made progress in getting the World Bank and the IMF to
recognize the importance of core labor standards. But Ana
Knezevic of UATUC Croatia said that, while the Bank and the
Fund have agreed to talk to trade unionists, "they don't
accept our recommendations." Amal El Amri of UMT Morocco
said the ITUC must be able to propose alternatives to the
Bank, the Fund, and the WTO.


7. A common theme in many interventions was the growing
power of multinational corporations, the failure of
governments to regulate them, and the need for a strong
international trade union movement to challenge them.
Bernard Thibault of CGT France said, "We will be judged by
what we do to change the power dynamics at the global
level." John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO said globalization
must be fundamentally restructured. Brendan Barber of the
UK's TUC said unions must learn to move "as fast as global
capitalism." John Evans of the OECD's Trade Union Advisory
Committee said unions must ensure that no multinational can
boast of being union-free.


8. Anita Normark of the Building Workers' International
said the growing number of framework agreements negotiated
in recent years between sector-specific global union
federations like hers and large multinationals would not
help workers in the absence of strong national labor laws
and a tradition of social dialogue between workers and
employers. Marcello Malentacchi of the International
Metalworkers' Federation, calling these agreements a key
tool to promote labor standards in global supply chains,
said they are the only alternative to unilateral corporate
codes of conduct, which he called no more than public
relations stunts. Larry Cohen of the Communication Workers
of America said that if companies refuse to abide by these
agreements, "We must be ready to fight back."


9. Renana Jhabwala of SEWA India spoke eloquently of her
organization's efforts to organize workers, mostly women,
in the informal sector. She said SEWA has 800,000 members
who are street vendors, domestics, small farmers and
artisans who have no rights and are often subject to
violence. "We were told they are not workers, as they have
no employers, and they are also too dispersed to organize,"
she said. "But our experience shows that they want to
organize and can be organized." Informal workers account
for 60-80 percent of workers in most developing countries,
she said, and she urged the ITUC to recognize these workers
and bring them into the fold of the trade union movement.


10. GFBTU Bahrain, PGFTU Palestine, GFJTU Jordan, KTUF
Kuwait, GFWTUY Yemen, UGTT Tunisia, and three federations
from Morocco (UMT, UGTM, and CDT) are among the Middle
Eastern and North African unions who are founding members
of the new Confederation. ITUC General Secretary Ryder
said the Confederation wants to enter into a formal
cooperation agreement with the International Confederation
of Arab Trade Unions.

ITUC STRUCTURE


11. "Unitary and pluralist," says the ITUC constitution's
Declaration of Principles, "the Confederation is open to
affiliation by democratic, independent, and representative
trade union centers, respecting their autonomy and the
diversity of their sources of inspiration, and their
organizational forms." Any changes to the Declaration of
Principles must be approved by a three-quarters majority of
congress delegates. (Amendments to most other sections of
the constitution require only a two-thirds majority.)
General Secretary Guy Ryder told the delegates in his
acceptance speech, "If ever we compromise on these
principles we will be divided and our house will fall."
Fred Van Leeuwen, president of Education International, the
global federation representing teachers' unions, put it
bluntly: "Organizations that are not independent and
democratic do not belong in the ITUC."


12. The delegates approved agreements to merge the former
African and Asian regional organizations of the ICFTU and
the WCL by Oct. 31, 2007. In the case of the Americas,
however, where the divisions between the two predecessor
confederations run deepest, the delegates adopted instead a
"statement of commitment" setting forth a series of joint
activities "in order to achieve union unification in the
Americas by the set dates." These dates are not specified
in the statement, but Ryder told the delegates the one-year
deadline applies in all three regions. In Europe, the
delegates adopted a resolution to establish a Pan European
Regional Council (PERC) of unions in countries "from the
Pacific to the Atlantic," also within a year. Mikhail
Shmakov of FNPR Russia called the European Trade Union
Confederation (which will continue to exist as an
autonomous body) a model for the PERC.


13. The delegates agreed to establish a Council of Global
Unions, described as a "structured partnership" among the
ITUC, the sector-specific Global Union Federations, and the
OECD's Trade Union Advisory Committee. A member of the
International Metalworkers' Federation told us the IMF
would remain outside the Council, but most of the other
nine Global Union Federations are expected to join. And
the delegates elected a 70-member General Council which
will meet at least once a year and is the supreme authority
of the ITUC between quadrennial congresses. Following the
adjournment of the founding congress, the General Council
met and elected Australia's Sharan Burrow as ITUC
President. The ITUC headquarters are in Brussels, where
both the ICFTU and the WCL were located.


14. As their final act, the delegates unanimously elected
Guy Ryder ITUC General Secretary. Formerly the General
Secretary of the ICFTU, Ryder in his acceptance speech

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alluded to the difficulties of founding the ITUC. It
required political will, he told the delegates, "a
commodity that can be made available or withheld at your
discretion." He asked them "to be absolutely resolute in
rejecting any type or temptation of organizing in internal
tendencies or fractions." He offered an outstretched hand
to governments, international organizations, and
employers. "But to those who oppose us," he concluded, "to
those whose business is exploitation and repression, whose
way of work is diktat and the abuse of financial and
political power and whose attitude is arrogance--and they
are still many--our message is that the outstretched hand
can quickly become a clenched fist, and that we will not
flinch from confrontation when confrontation is the only
way." The delegates gave him a standing ovation.


COMMENT


15. The delegates to the ITUC founding congress are under
no illusion that trade union unity will be easy to
achieve. But they spoke with conviction about the need to
unite to confront "globalization." The term means
different things to different unions depending on their
membership, the political environment in which they
operate, and the employers whom they face across the
bargaining table. The delegates all seemed to agree,
however, that unification is essential if trade unions wish
to be "a countervailing force in the global economy," a
force for increasing the labor share of national income,
promoting respect for international labor standards,
strengthening democratic institutions, and making a
contribution to peace through social justice.


16. More information about the ITUC is available at
www.ituc-csi.org.


17. This cable was drafted by Amembassy Berlin Labor
Counselor Bob Hagen, who with the help of Amembassy Vienna
attended the ITUC founding congress as an observer.

TIMKEN JR
Kilner