Here is a round up of the status of UIDF projects around the world:
Botswana
The Botswana Public Employees Union Gender Equality project has made a great start. They have conducted a two day workshop in conjunction with a Human Rights Group and the Women’s Affairs Department under the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. This unique event has resulted in the following: the production of issue-based leaflets; gender issues are included in newsletters; increased awareness of gender equality amongst males and females at all levels of the union; the development of gender equality policies and the provision of training.
Israel and East Jerusalem
In Israel and East Jerusalem, the Workers Advice Centre have won an historic court judgement that “WAC-Mann is eligible to act as a union”. The project has also allowed them to establish their legal team and take on many more individual and group cases on behalf of their members. In particular, following a very bitter strike by forty Palestinian workers against industrial abuses, the Salit Quarry case has seen the cessation of the Salit Quarry Company and the Jerusalem Court has been appointed as Trustees.
Kav LaOved have made continual progress with the ‘Improving Conditions of Migrant Caregivers’ project. The project has enabled them to: produce three new leaflets on key employment advice; successfully overturn/cancel some of the elements of the Ministry of Interiors Policy changes as a contravention of human rights. They have also created a Facebook page for easy access to information for vulnerable workers. Many of Kav LaOved’s recommendations were accepted in their report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in the previous period but the fight goes on.
Colombia
The Defending TU Rights in Colombia project has now completed three sets of workshops on trade union and human rights for over one hundred trade unionists. The training has empowered trade unionists to focus on gathering evidence; conducting investigations; looking at complaints; produce national bulletins and updates on the constant life-threatening dangers faced by individuals just for being trade union members. Educating trade unionists about their trade union and human rights is a powerful tool in supporting the resistance and the fight against the reprehensible treatment faced by trade unionists in Colombia.
The Women’s Sugar Cane Committee project initiated by UNISON Northern Region has met its objectives this year. The project empowered women in South West Colombia to fight back against the terrible conditions imposed by giant Sugar Companies, through a series of workshops on human rights, workers and women’s rights. Clare Williams Regional Convenor and Patrick Kane Local Organiser provided a fantastic presentation on the project at the International Seminar in October 2011. They are hoping to have one of the women come over to speak to the Regional Women’s Conference to give a first hand account of their struggle, the project and share experiences. The legacy and development of a relationship between international partners and UNISON regions and branches is a key objective of UIDF projects. The presentation is available here (http://www.unison.org.uk/international/docs_list.asp)