Introduction
In 2006, the GLI was in its ninth year of activity. The highlights of the year were:
WIEGO became an organization. The GLI has been part of the international WIEGO network almost since its inception: WIEGO and GLI were both established in 1997. The GLI started working with WIEGO in 1998 and two years later Dan Gallin (DG) became director of the WIEGO Organization and Representation Program. He served in that capacity until the end of 2002. Since 2000 he has been a member of the WIEGO Steering Committee and in 2006 he joined its Managing Committee.In 2006 activities in connection with the WIEGO network remained a priority, in particular activities to promote the ILO Home Work Convention (C. 177). In July, Argentina became the fifth country to ratify the Convention. Exploratory discussions took place on extending the WIEGO network to Europe, with the GLI as a base. The GLI has also participated in preparatory work on setting up an international network of domestic workers’ organizations.
In April 2006, the WIEGO General Assembly adopted a Constitution after extensive preparatory work in which DG was also involved. The new structure formally establishes WIEGO as an organization based on its three constituencies: membership-based organizations of informal workers; research, statistical, and academic institutions; and international development agencies (non-governmental and inter-governmental).
The GLI’s commitment to WIEGO arises from our view that organizing workers in the informal economy, and particularly women workers, must be one of the top priorities of the labour movement.
As we said in our mission statement: “Justice for women, and equality on the job and in society, requires not only alliances between unions and the women’s movements, but the feminization of the trade union movement: the massive influx of women workers into unions, all the way to leadership levels. Only by changing this aspect of its inherited culture can the trade union movement become fully representative and gain the power to carry out its mandate.”
We also believe that workers in unprotected and unregulated jobs cannot secure their rights as workers and as citizens unless they organize in trade unions, which are their only available effective self-help organizations. These workers, very many of whom are women, now constitute a major and growing part of the world working class. Most are still unorganized and the conditions under which they work and live are in many cases an affront to decency and justice. That is the main reason why organizing women workers in informal employment must remain a priority.
Last but not least, the GLI has historical links of solidarity with SEWA, the largest informal women workers’ organization in the world and the principal affiliate of WIEGO. These links, which go back nearly twenty-five years into the pre-history of the GLI, have only become stronger over the years. In July 2006 SEWA was finally accepted as a member organization of the ICFTU and thus became a founder member of the ITUC in December 2006.
New Publications
Contributions from the GLI (DG and Karin Pape (KP)) appeared as part of anthologies, in the form of brochures or on the GLI web site, in English, French and German. They served in part to support ongoing activities (such as the brochures and articles authored by KP as part of the campaign to secure ratifications for C.177), in part to assemble, organize and disseminate basic knowledge about the ideas and the history of the labour movement and to place its development in perspective.
“The Labour Movement” by DG, which is a short overview of the history and structure of the labour movement in the world intended as education material, appeared in Bahasa Indonesia as a 70-page brochure published under the title “Gerakan Buruh” by the IUF Indonesian office. Four thousand five hundred copies were printed (2,500 in February and another 2,000 in December) and nearly all distributed. A Thai translation has been made by the Thai Labour Campaign and will be published when funding for publication becomes available. Editorial work has continued with the Collège du Travail (Geneva) on a book with a selection of DG’s writings, to be published in 2007 (in French).
A new GLI web site is under construction and will replace the present site in 2007. It will be more user-friendly and easier to keep updated. Contributions from several authors on labour movement issues and labour history are in the pipeline.
Consultancies
The GLI has assisted researchers, students (among others, from UNRISD and the ILO’s Global Labour University) trade unionists and activists of social movements with information and advice throughout the year.
The GLI library, which contains approximately 1,500 volumes, continues to be a valuable resource for research and continues to grow. In 2006 over seventy volumes were added, through purchases and donations.
International Trade Union Movement
The major event of the year was the founding, on November 3, of the ITUC through a merger of the ICFTU and the WCL joined by eight national centers without previous international affiliation.
The GLI intends to work with the ITUC on organizing workers in the informal economy, which has been declared a priority of the new organization, and on other issues wherever the opportunity may arise. We intend to be supportive and constructive in our relations, despite reservations, some of which are set out below.
The merger established the largest international trade union organization in history (158m. members in 153 countries and territories)6. and seeks to be an “instrument of a new trade union internationalism”. How effective an instrument it will be is not yet clear.
Many questions remain. The first one is whether the new organization can cut loose from the bureaucratic heritage of its predecessors focused on lobbying in international institutions instead of preparing for and organizing for the global power struggle transnational capital has imposed on the movement (see introductions to GLI annual reports for 2003 and 2004). If this is to be old wine in new bottles, the operation will be a failure – contrary to wine, established trade union bureaucracies do not improve with age.
Two years ago we wrote: ” There is a real danger that the majority of the trade union movement will seek solutions to its crisis by restructuring exercises that will provide the appearance of power without its substance.” This danger remains, especially if the “Global Unions” remain stuck in branding exercises and in internal issues of structure and organizational “architecture”.
The second question is whether the new organization has a vision for the future of our society. So far, the political basis of the ITUC, as stated in its program, does not appear to go far beyond the ILO “decent work agenda” and the UN Millenium Goals. These already reflect compromises reached formally and informally between contending social forces. They are not labour movement programs. They are certainly not a challenge to the existing global social order. Yet, this social order, which has generated unprecedented levels of oppression and exploitation of working people all over the world and which, through its methods of production, is threatening the future of life on this planet, needs to be fundamentally challenged.
Can the largest international labour organization the world has ever seen do without a serious analysis of the global capitalist system, without a vision of an alternative social order and a program on how to get there? Of course it can. The question, though, is how relevant it can be in the absence of such a vision and such a program, and without a realistic assessment of the situation of the world’s working class, and hence of its own situation.
Despite these considerations, which are widely shared, the founding of the ITUC has raised hopes and expectations. Whether it is beyond its capacity to live up to these remains to be seen, and it will be seen in the course of 2007, which will be a crucial year. The ITUC can prove itself through action: identify and declare an enemy (there are many), engage in a significant struggle on an issue perceived as crucial by its membership, and win it. Such action would unify it and establish its credibility. It would require, in the German expression, “jumping over its own shadow”, in other words, a miracle. But the worst case scenario is never a certainty and as Marx observed, history would be mystical in character if accident played no part in it.
International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations
The GLI, which is in effect a workers’ education organization, has continued to be affiliated to the IFWEA and has participated in its activities.
In recent years, the IFWEA has been undergoing a crisis of its own because of the political and organizational collapse of most of its traditional base – the workers’ education associations in Europe, caused in part by the drying up of public funding. It has survived by becoming increasingly an organization of trade union educational institutions, but the transition has been slow and may be too slow to guarantee its future, which is now in the hands of the trade union movement.
Although the need for labour education as a tool for ideological rearmament and for organizing has never been more obvious, it is by no means clear that a sufficient number of financially strong and committed unions will come forth to support and develop the organization. If not, yet another valuable and irreplaceable resource will be lost. The IFWEA has pioneered international study circles by internet, has driven discussions on labour policies and is currently engaged in creating education programs for workers in informal employment.
Dave Spooner, IFWEA General Secretary, has announced that he will not run for re-election at the next General Conference (Ahmedabad, December 2007), in order to work full time for his union, the T&GWU, soon to merge with Amicus.
The GLI is making arrangements for the next EC meeting (Geneva, June 5 and 6, 2007).
Finances
Throughout most of its existence, the financial situation of the GLI has been precarious, even though it is run on a shoestring: its staff works almost entirely on a voluntary basis. Most of the funding has been project-related and payment for work performed has been the principal source of income. In 2006 the financial situation has been more precarious than usual and the GLI has kept going largely through private donations. It is hoped that in 2007 the situation will improve, partly by new project funding, partly by core funding commitments by several unions.
Because of the press of other work and lack of core funding, several activities planned for 2006 were temporarily suspended, among these plans to create an international network of GLI partner institutions.
Meetings
(DG = Dan Gallin; KP = Karin Pape)
January 10 (KP): Board meeting IRENE, Amsterdam
February 9 (DG): Global Unions, Global Justice: Time to Create a New Development Agenda for International Labour? Cornell Global Labor Institute, New York (speech: Organizing: Means and Ends; on the GLI web site)
February 10 – 11 (DG): International Conference: Global Companies – Global Unions – Global Research – Global Campaigns, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, New York
May 29 (DG): Global Labour University, Berlin (lecture: Organizing Women Workers in the Informal Economy).
May 31 – June 15 (DG, KP): International Labour Conference, 95th Session, Geneva (DG as IFWEA, KP as member of German workers’ delegation)
June 6: GLI Board meeting, Geneva (DG, KP)
October 3 – 6 (DG): 13a Conferencia regional REL-UITA, Santo Domingo
October 9 (DG): 4ème Rassemblement pour les Droits Humains, Canton et République de Genève, Genève (introduction: “Présentation de la thématique”, published by the Département des Institutions de la République et Canton de Genève, in report on the meeting, January 2007). DG chaired the morning session of the meeting.
December 15 – 16 (DG): International Institute for Labour Studies: Workshop on: “Cross-border Social Dialogue and Agreements: an Emerging Global Industrial Relations Framework?”, ILO, Geneva (paper: International Framework Agreements: A Reassessment; on the GLI web site)
IFWEA
April 4 – 7 (DG): International Workshop: Workers’ Education and Workers’ Media in a Global Economy, Cape Town (speech: Visions, Agendas and Tasks for Workers’ Media and Education Co-operation, unpublished)
April 8 – 9 (DG): Executive Committee, Cape Town
October 31 (DG): 19th ICFTU Congress, Vienna
November 1 – 3 (DG): Founding Congress, ITUC, Vienna
November 11 – 12 (DG): Executive Committee, Stockholm
WIEGO
January 13 (DG, KP): Press Conference to present “11 gute Gründe” Brochure on ILO Home Work Convention, Berlin
February 23 – 24 (KP): Workshop “Moving Forward to Promote the Ratification of Homework Convention C. 177” (organized by FES Thailand, HomeNet Thailand and GLI), Bangkok (paper: Homework in the Context of Globalization, Situation of Homework at Global Level) (report on web site of HomeNet Thailand: www.homenetseasia.org/thailand/news2006_ILO177.htlm
April 21 and 25 (DG): Steering Committee, Durban
April 22 – 23 (DG, KP): General Assembly, Durban
April 24 – 25 (DG, KP): Conference: “World Class Cities” and the Urban Informal Economy: Inclusive Planning for the Working Poor, organized with the support of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and StreetNet, Durban
November 7 – 8 (DG), Management Committee, Boston
ICTUR
(DG): Administrative Council, June 3, Geneva
Collège du Travail
(DG): Board Meeting, June 16, Geneva
Pages de Gauche
(DG): Editorial Committee: March 17, August 25,
October 27 (Lausanne)
SOLIFONDS
(DG): Board: March 28, Bern
Publications
Les archives du mouvement ouvrier: un enjeu identitaire, par Dan Gallin, in: “Archives, histoire et identité du mouvement ouvrier”, Alda de Giorgi, Charles Heimberg, Charles Magnin (ed.), Collège du Travail, Genève, 2006
Die Schweizerischen Gewerkschaften und die internationale Arbeiterbewegung (Streiflichter), von Dan Gallin und Adrian Zimmermann, in: “SGB Festschrift zum 125”. Jubiläum, SGB, Bern, 2006
Les syndicats suisses et le mouvement ouvrier international, par Dan Gallin et Adrian Zimmermann, dans: “La valeur du travail, histoire et histoires des syndicats suisses”, Editions Antipodes, Lausanne, 2006
Dan Gallin: Foreword to: “The Future of Organised Labour, Global Perspectives”, by Craig Phelan (ed.), Peter Lang, Bern, 2006
Karin Pape: Zusammenfassung der Konferenz “Organisieren – Nicht Resignieren Das Recht auf Vereinigungsfreiheit für die informelle Wirtschaft”, Modelle, Strategien, Hindernisse, 18. und 19. März 2004, Berlin
Karin Pape: Informelle Ökonomie und Gewerkschaften in Deutschland
(both contributions in: “Organisieren – Nicht Resignieren. Armutsbekämpfung durch die Umsetzung des Rechts auf Vereinigungsfreiheit in der informellen Wirtschaft”, Heft 110, Schriftenreihe Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit, Justitia et Pax, Bonn, Oktober 2006)
Karin Pape: The Story of Poshamaa-ben and a Special Trip to India, in: “Development has got a face, Reports and Experiences from an Exposure and Dialogue Programme”, EDP e.V., Bonn, n.d. (2006)
Dan Gallin: La nouvelle Internationale syndicale est née à Vienne, Pages de Gauche (Lausanne), décembre 2006
Other Activities
DG has continued as an editorial board member of Antipode, a journal of radical geography (http://wip.antipode-online.net/default.asp.), a member of the advisory editorial board of Federation News, the journal of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) (www.ier.org.uk or: www.gftu.org.uk) and of the editorial boards of International Union Rights, the journal of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (London) (www.ictur.org) and of Pages de Gauche (Lausanne), (www.pagesdegauche.ch).
DG is also a member of the Board of the Collège du Travail, a workers’ education foundation in Geneva and, since December 2005, a member of the Consultative Commission on International Geneva, an advisory body set up by the Geneva cantonal government to monitor relations with the international organizations established in the Canton.
Secretariat
Karin Pape has continued working part time as an administrative assistant and as a researcher and writer on informal economy issues (see also: Meetings, Publications).
As in the past, Oscar and Nora Payuyo have been responsible for cleaning and maintenance.
Finances
Donations received in 2006 included CHF5,000 from the Swiss General Workers’ Union UNIA (recorded in the accounts of 2005), CHF600 from the Collège du Travail and CHF5,250 in individual donations. The Human Rights at Work Foundation (Fondation des Droits de l’Homme au Travail) contributed USD7,500 in support of the GLI/WIEGO activity promoting the ILO Home Work Convention.
Ms. Mariane Grobet-Wellner has kept the GLI accounts in the period under review. The accounts for 2006 are being audited, as last year, by Mr. J.J. Mermier (CIFISOR S.A.). The auditor’s report will be available on request when it is received (French only).
The financial report for 2006 is attached as an annex: