ITUC Policy, Campaigns and Activities for Young Workers Daniela Aleksieva President of ITUC-PERC Youth Committee

Contents: 1.What is ITUC and PERC? 2.ITUC and PERC Youth Committees – aims, priorities, activities and forthcoming events. 3.ITUC Campaigns and activities for young workers

What is ITUC ? International Trade Union Confederation Founded on 1 November 2006, from the merger of former ICFTU and WLC Represents 170 million workers in 157 countries and territories and has 312 national affiliates. Main principles: TU Democracy & Independence

ITUC The ITUC’s primary mission is promotion and defense of workers’ rights and interests, through: - international cooperation between TUs, - global campaigning and - advocacy within the major global institutions. Main areas of activity: - trade union and human rights - economy, society and the workplace - equality and non-discrimination - international solidarity

ILO TUAC to the OECD GUFs ETUC Cooperation

CONGRESS General Council Executive Bureau General Secretary Secretariat ITUC Bodies YOUTH CommitteeWOMEN Committee

ITUC` bodies & Youth representation 1. The Congress (every 4 year) Youth quota: our aim is min.10 % participation of young delegates 2. General Council (once a year) Youth quota: 2 members nominated by the YC and representing the gender parity 3. Executive Bureau (not less than twice a year) Youth quota: The Chairperson of the ITUC YC is member of the EB 4. Vice-presidents of ITUC Youth quota: The Chairperson of the ITUC YC is one of Vice-Presidents of ITUC

ITUC Youth policy ITUC Youth policy – developed and coordinated by : - youth structure (ITUC Youth Committee) - youth officer (Philippe Gousenbourger) Main document : ITUC Youth Resolution “A Decent Life for Young Working Men and Women” /June 2010 / ITUC Youth Blog - blog.htmlhttp:// blog.html

ITUC Youth Committee Main role: to propose and develop the ITUC`s policies and actions for young people and to make recommendations to the General Council ITUC YC` Action Programme: Campaigning for Decent Work and influencing the policies of important international organisations. Promoting actions for organisation and representation of young men and women in TUs to ensure that their voice is heard at all levels within unions and their rights are protected at work. Ensuring universal access to quality education & training. Developing TU education activities and materials for young workers

ITUC YC` Action programme Facilitating exchange of ideas and experiences Involving young trade unionists in ITUC` campaigns Ensuring full integration of young people and providing guaranties about the youth representation in ITUC`bodies Monitor trends in TU membership of young workers Developing communication technologies to enable exchange of information between TU organisations ITUC Youth Resolution “A Decent Life for Young Working Men and Women” /June 2010 /

4 th ITUC Youth Committee Meeting (19-20 July 2010) & 2 nd ITUC World Congress (21-25 July 2010) Article about 4 th ITUC YC meeting – pre-meeting-the-world-s.htmlhttp:// pre-meeting-the-world-s.html Youth mobilisation in the Rally for global justice organised on World Public Service Day (23 June) - global-social.html ; global-social.html Young people in support of Hertz Rental Car workers` strike - ; ITUC youth resolution “A decent life for young working men and women” -

ITUC regional organizations: Asia-Pacific Regional Organization (ITUC-AP) African Regional Organization (ITUC-AF) American Regional Organization (TUCA) + Pan-European Regional Council (PERC)

ITUC-AP ITUC - AF TUCA PERC ITUC Regional organisations

ITUC - PERC Pan – European Regional Council Founded on 19 March 2007 (at a Founding Assembly in Rome, Italy) Brings together all the ITUC affiliates from European countries, from Lisbon to Vladivostok: - 87 national trade union centres with - total membership of over 85 million - from 55 European countries. Works in very close cooperation with ETUC (GS of ETUC = GS PERC)

PERC priorities Organising and recruiting; Renovating and consolidating the TU structures; Strengthen the trade union education; Promoting trade union and fundamental workers` rights; Strengthening social dialogue at all level; Fighting discrimination, achieving equality; Ending child labour; A decent future for young workers; Promoting migrant workers and organising them; Investments flux – relocation and enterprises Energy policy; European neighborhood policy

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Executive Committee General Secretary Secretariat PERC` Bodies Youth CommitteeWomen Committee

PERC` bodies and Youth Representation 1.General Assembly - meets at least once every 4 years - Youth quota: 3 seats for youth delegates with voting rights 2.Executive Committee - meets at least once a year - Youth quota: 1 seat for youth delegates with voting rights

PERC Youth dimension PERC Youth policy – developed and coordinated by the youth structure, which operate through two bodies: Youth Conference Youth Committee with a Bureau

PERC Youth structure 1.Youth Conference Organized at least once in two years; Participation of all PERC affiliates` representatives who must be under 35 years old; Discussion and adoption at least a work program for the next year; 2.Youth Committee with a Bureau Composed of 9 elected members (under 33 years old at the beginning of their 2-years mandate); Bureau: President and 3 deputies elected by the Conference President of PERC YC = member of PERC Executive Committee; Members of the Bureau = delegates to the ITUC YC; Meet at least one time a year; Working language – English and Russian

In the beginning of establishment … In accordance with article 10 of the PERC Constitution (“Executive Committee shall set up a Women’s and Youth Committee and determine their mandate, composition, and procedural rules, as well as their relation to the ETUC’s Women’s and Youth Committees and the existing Women’s and Youth networks operating in the CEE and NIS region.”) the 1st meeting of the PERC Executive Committee (3 March 2008) decided to approve creation of Transitional Youth Committee in a view to finalise committee building process in 2009.

Transitional Youth Committee March 2008 – July 2009 Two T.YC` meetings, which discussed: - internal structuring and nomination of PERC members to the ITUC YC - outline for preparation of the PERC Youth Conference and rules and procedure for building permanent Youth structure Coordinators of the process: Anton Leppic (PERC) and Juliane Bir (ETUC)

1 st PERC Youth Founding Conference 9-10 July 2009, Brussels 59 delegates from 49 affiliated organisations (70 registered participants, including speakers) Program - divided into 3 main thematic sessions: - youth employment before and in time of global economic and financial crisis; - trade union campaigning; - youth organization and representation in trade union movement.

Conference participants …

1 st PERC Youth Founding Conference On the basis of the discussions the delegates to the Conference adopted 2 main documents: Concluding statement to guide the PERC YC in its work and to deliver its voice to the trade union decision making bodies; Terms of references and Rules of Procedures of the PERC YC (developed by the T.YC) => ELECTIONS AND …

Building up the 1 st PERC Youth Committee 9 YC members with Bureau (1 President and 3 Deputies): Daniela Aleksieva, KNSB, Bulgaria (P) Benoit Constant, CSC, Belgium (VP) Tugba Balci, HAK-IS, Turkey (VP) Hans Richard Schmidt-Nielsen, AC, Denmark (VP) László Kovács, MSZOSZ, Hungary (CM) Andrea Mone, CISL, Italy (CM) Ilze Mikhailova, LBAS, Latvia (CM) Ivana Prnjat, CTUM, Montenegro (CM) Aleksey Slyazin, FNPR, Russia (CM) (P) – President, (VP) – Vice-President; (CM) – Committee member

1 st PERC Youth Committee

Main tasks of PERC YC Develope a youth section of the PERC working program; Provide advice and recommendation to the PERC ExC; Examine labour market and workplace issues related to youth; Implement campaigns on recruitment and integration of young workers (decent work campaigns); Promote networking of young unionists; Support work of youth structures of the affiliates; Promote training of young TU leaders and activists.

PERC YC Priorities To promote: - a rights-based approach to the problems of young workers; - specific programmes to facilitate the transition from school to working life; To ensure: - the full integration and active participation of young people in TUs; - the integration of concerns and needs of young workers into TU policies, campaigns and actions; - youth mobilization and active participation in different common activities at national and regional level - WDDW (7 October); Further development of the European networking, strengthening the cooperation with ETUC YC and other youth structures in the region, and build common actions.

Cooperation Brussels, 11 December 2009 ETUC Youth Committee Meeting (Elections of a new Bureau)

Meetings/ Events of interests (July 2009 – July 2011)

Meetings of the PERC YC ( ) 22 January 2010, Brussels 20 July 2010, Moscow 25 February 2011, Ankara

Activities and events organised by or in cooperation with PERC YC: 1 st ITUC World Women`s Conference (19-21 October 2009, Brussels) - Meeting with the Presidents of youth sections/networks of SEE (19 February 2010, Kotor, Montenegro) - csi.org/meeting-of-the-presidents-of-youth.html ; csi.org/meeting-of-the-presidents-of-youth.html International conference “The women`s right in the workplace” (18-19 March 2010, Sofia, Bulgaria) - ; CSIT Youth Seminar “Move together” (9-13 June 2010, Albena, Bulgaria) - archive/newsshow-youth-activities-----8th-international-workers- sports-festival--csit-young-leaders-seminar archive/newsshow-youth-activities-----8th-international-workers- sports-festival--csit-young-leaders-seminar

Activities and events organised by or in cooperation with PERC YC: The 6 th meeting of North East European Youth (27 June – 1 July 2010, Palanga, Lithuania) - csi.org/spip.php?article420 ; csi.org/spip.php?article420 All-Russia Youth Forum “Chkalovsk 2010” (21-24 July 2010, Chkalovsk, Russia) - csi.org/spip.php?rubrique81 ; csi.org/spip.php?rubrique81 ETUC Youth Conference “More jobs and better jobs for young people in Europe” (26-28 August 2010, Madrid, Spain) - ETUC Youth Study Session on migration (20-26 September 2010, Strasbourg) - csi.org/spip.php?article450http://perc.ituc- csi.org/spip.php?article450 2 nd SEE TU Youth Encounter with DGB Youth (10-14 October 2010, Zagreb, Croatia)

Activities and events organised by or in cooperation with PERC YC: ITUC –PERC/ FES Conference “Breaking gender barriers for young women and men” (14-15 October 2010q Warsaw, Poland) – ; The 3 rd Baltic Youth Winter School ( 10 December 2010, Kaliningrad, Russia) - csi.org/spip.php?article478; csi.org/spip.php?article478 SEE Youth Network Meeting (25 March 2011, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina ) - csi.org/spip.php?article541&debut_old_art=10#pagination_old_ arthttp://perc.ituc- csi.org/spip.php?article541&debut_old_art=10#pagination_old_ art ITUC – PERC and ILO-ACTRAV Workshop “Developing project-making skills” (25-27 May 2011, Overijese, Belgium) WDDW` 2009 and WDDW` statements and videos

Priorities for Youth activities focused on 3 main subjects: Organizing, recruitment and integration of young people in trade unions; Youth employment and its gender dimension; Vocational education and training Long-term priorities: Strengthening the cooperation with PERC Women Committee and ETUC Youth Committee through preparing and organising joint projects and activities; Contribution to the ITUC campaigns and actions

Forthcoming events/meetings Trainings for young activists of SEE and NIS for running organising and community campaigns (11-12 August 2011, Baku and September/October 2011, Montenegro) 2 nd Youth Conference on Education (October 2011, Poland) – organised jointly by PERC Youth and ETUC Youth Committees. It will be followed by elections of the new PERC Youth Committee (for next 2 years ) Contribution to the ITUC campaigns and actions, in particular Youth organising campaign, WDDW`2011, Decisions for life etc. PERC General Assembly – youth contribution to the development of PERC Programmes

What is the ITUC using/doing? 1. YouTube Channel - ITUC video portal – 254 videos uploaded and more than channels views Content: good videos from affiliates, video messages from ITUC leadership, ITUC promotion clips Best videos: Women at work - and Hammerchild Facebook – ITUC page 1839 “fans” Updates about ITUC news and interaction with facebook users

What is the ITUC using/doing? 3. Twitter – Used to give the latest news available on the website Less developed than Facebook but it`s becoming a growing actor in the dissemination of the news. 4. Blog: Different than a traditional website, enables people to write about various subjects without being official news of our website + people can like, comment, share your article with others. ITUC Youth Blog: Launched in October 2008 – give a space to young people’s voices on trade union issues - content from young trade unionists around the world: more than views and articles from 26 different countries in 3 languages. Look at the feedjit tool on the blog - csi.org/map/?x=73&y=53&w=160&h=94 csi.org/map/?x=73&y=53&w=160&h=94

What is the ITUC using/doing? 5. ITUC Flickr account Share photos about ITUC events 6. New ITUC website: User – oriented, make access to information easier Congress 7. Online Petitions: No to Nuclear weapons -

ITUC Campaigns: Organising Young people “You can make a difference!” Decisions for life World Day for Decent Work Play Fair 7 Horrors of the World Decent Work Decent Life for Women World Trade Union Body to Press Deutsche Telekom/ T-mobile on Employee Rights

World Day for Decent Work - 7 October Day of mobilization all over the world: one day when all the trade unions in the world are united and stand up for decent work.

Active youth participation in different national and regional activities. Information about all activities – Video` In 2011 WDDW will concentrate on precarious work, which refer to non-permanent, temporary, casual, insecure and contingent forms of work.

WDDW` 2011 – 7 October Please go to the WDDW web site ( ) for more information, campaign materials such as the logo and posters and to sign up your events! No action is too big or too small for WDDW!

ITUC Youth Campaign on Organising Young Peopl ”You can make a difference!”

Why ITUC launching this new innovative campaign? Research, made by ITUC in many countries has shown that: → young people over the years have not changed their attitudes to the questions unions are dealing with, but rather have changed how they want to be reached and the conditions of membership they prefer → young people are still most interested in the direct benefits they can get by joining a union, but also they are interested in questions linked to “global consciousness” (global warming, peace, human rights, solidarity, justice and fairness) 23 March 2010 – ITUC started launching the new campaign

What is the aim? → to show that trade unions, through their membership in the ITUC and other global union organisations, are dealing with many “global” questions; → to explain to the young people why joining a trade union not only offers them support and security at the workplace, but also helps them contribute to global solidarity and human rights issues; Since trade unions organise and recruit in different ways in different countries and sectors, the main objective of the new ITUC` youth campaign is to give an additional aspect to the traditional recruitment arguments by focusing on the international aspect of being member of the trade union and relating this to the young person's own personal experience. to connect global trade union work to the recruitment and organising of young people

What is the “menu” of the campaign? Trade union organisations:  are able to pick and choose from the tools` menu and to include them in their own work, campaigns, actions or activities that they are already doing in their countries;  can develop the tools on their own rather than a ready-made and inflexible campaign package Campaign` menu includes many different tools: video, social networking, posters, website and special campaign guide

MORE WEB TOOLS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Where you can find them? & How you can use them?

1. Special animated video of JOE Who is JOE? – very unaware dog, who seems quite selfish and doesn`t really take the time or effort to try to find out what is going on in the world. What is the aim of the video? – to explain, in an easy accessible for young people way, what the ITUC and other trade union organisations doing on a global level. The original video is in English. Subtitles in more than 40 different languages. Feel free to use the video and post it everywhere you want at no cost! (copyrights belongs to ITUC and you cannot change it in any way before asking ITUC )

1. Special animated video of JOE (2) What YOU can do to help JOE? Share the video with your friends, colleagues, co- workers, trade union members! Share the video on any social networks or web platforms you are using in your country! Put the video on your website or blog! Become a fan of “Joe” on Facebook! ( 54?ref=nf ) 54?ref=nf

2. Ringtones for mobile phone Get musically involved in the campaign and upload the Joe` ringtones! Available in mp3 and iphone format. Download here:

3. Special action guide to best practices on organising young people “On the job for a better future” Ideas and some good practices how to mobilise and organise young people; The guide is available in 3 languages: - English – French – - Spanish - Feel free to spread this action guide to your own member organisations and let them also be inspired by the good actions of others!

4. “Change the world” website “Change the world” – a company, which uses child labour and exploits women. It is proud of its actions and has only one aim – to maximize the profit of the company. The website is available in 3 languages: English, French and Spanish Have a look at this intriguing interactive website and see what you can do about this company which is not doing so well on the ethical front … Watch it to the end and follow the instruction!

5. Posters Posters of the company “Change the World” Available in 3 languages: English - French - Spanish -

6. Facebook The ITUC exists in many places in the virtual world as well as in the physical world. ( Become a fan of “Joe” on Facebook and help him recruit more young people to his campaign!

7. ITUC`s Youth Blog The ITUC`s Youth Blog is a space where young workers from all over the world are sharing their experiences and ideas. Launched just a year ago the blog has so far already received contributions from 26 different countries and had more than views. If you want to learn what others from all corners of the world are doing for young people, to find all the information about the youth campaign and to download all action materials, click here:

8. Your story Have you done a successful campaign targeting young people? Have you organised any kind of activities and actions targeting young people? If “YES”, and if you want your colleagues to know about your youth activities, you can send brief information to csi.org and your story will be uploaded at ITUC Youth Blog and spread to ITUC Youth mailing csi.org ITUC Youth is waiting your story! BE MORE VISIBLE!

Our common goal: Have a look at the ITUC` campaign tools and consider how they could be used in your country and union! Give full and active support to the new and innovative campaign of ITUC !

Decisions for Life Campaign Part of the ITUC Decent Work Decent Life for Women Campaign and designed within the framework of Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG3) to ”Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women”

In brief The Campaign is part of Decisions for Life Project MDG3 Fund Project funding: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MDG3 Fund Duration: Launched in October 2008 – Ends in June 2011 Key partners: ITUC ITUC UNIIUFPSIIFJ UNI (in cooperation with IUF, PSI and IFJ), WageIndicator Foundation WageIndicator Foundation (specialized in setting up wage related websites) University of Amsterdam/AIAS University of Amsterdam/AIAS (specialized in worldwide inventories concerning the decent work agenda, wages, and companies’ industrial relations systems)

Young women’s decisions Career Family planning Work/life balance How can I combine work with family? How do I choose a career? How do I keep my job when I fall pregant?

But there are work Job security Discrimination Tough working conditions Flexible and long hours Sexual harassment HIV/AIDS

Aims of the campaign Raising awareness about the obstacles/problems faced by young women at the workplace and empowering young women by giving them the information they need, and showing them that they have choices concerning their career, family planning and work/life balance. The campaign seeks to: - organize young women; - develop their leadership and negotiating skills; - get more women into decision-making posts; - help women negotiate more gender-specific causes in collective agreements; - help women press for changes in their country`s legislation, such as the ratification and application of ILO Conventions, including №183, the Maternity Protection Convention] - give women the confidence to seek better opportunities at work

Target groups Young women (aged 15-29), working or looking for work in 8 large occupational groups in the service sector. Why young women in the service sector? – it`s one of the faster growing sector internationally where millions of young women are employed, working on a-typical contracts with all the accompanying problems of job security, bad working conditions, long hours, often vulnerable to abuses such as sexual harassment.

Where? DFL is currently implemented in 14 developing countries in 4 regions (Africa, CIS countries, Asia and Americas): Angola Botswana Malawi Mozambique South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Ukraine Brazil India Indonesia

How? A triple approach: Grass root trade union campaigns Special websites for women & Research

Trade Union Campaign Young trade union campaign teams: Provide information Organize meetings and workshops for potential young female members Identify common problems related to work and discuss possible solutions Provide guidance for collective bargaining

KeyDates Key Dates 8 March 7 October 25 November National key dates

Campaign Material

Why women’s websites? Easy access to information for young women workers regarding: labour legislation issues Interviews of women sharing common problems Information on various service sectors Multiple country-specific web tools Job searching tips

How? What are the topics of interest of young women? How to reach/organize young women? How do young women become empowered? How do young women improve their conditions of work?

An innovative method DFL campaign is about me! Young women organize young women Create places for young women Develop leadership & negotiation skills Mentoring Be informed Gain confidence Decide for yourself Take action Make your dreams come true!

Impact: Young Women…..gain knowledge about their rights & acquire new skills EMPOWERED to take action Be informed

Impact: Young Women… …identify common challenges & dreams, are inspired, gain collective strength & confidence SPEAK OUT & become ACTIVISTS & LEADERS Be informed Gain confidence

Impact: Young Women… … decide when to get married, when to become a parent, change their career path, talk with their partner TAKE CONTROL of their own lives Be informed Gain confidence Decide for yourself

Impact: Young Women… …negotiate their salary, set up trade unions, engage in CBAs, influence government policies Become CAMPAIGNERS & inspire other young women to join! Be informed Gain confidence Decide for yourself Take action

Impact: Trade Unions Increase in TU membership. DFL rejuvenates TU leadership. Young women’s issues in the gender and TU programmes (e.g. organising). TUs become more appealing to young women. TU use ICT more intensively. DFL builds coalitions on the national, regional and international level.

Results reached so far.. South Africa: a nation wide coalition of trade unions and NGOs are reaching thousands of young women workers and focus on the inclusion of paid maternity leave in collective agreements. India: 4 young women campaign teams are operational in 4 regions. They reach young women at multiple events and places. Kazakhstan: thousands of young women negotiated 40,000 extra places for child care in 2010.

Results reached so far.. Angola: nation wide media coverage of the campaign, including the offer to develop a radio programme on young women’s issues. Belarus: formed on a trade union with the help of young women indoor/ outdoor vendors and appointed a woman as the President of their brand new union. Indonesia: focus on social benefits and the illicit practices of employers in the bank sector

Results reached so far.. Trade unions in Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa have formed youth committees and youth desks to lower the barrier for young women to join a union. Thousands of monthly visits to the women’s websites like in Brazil and India who reach 46,000 and 23,000 visitors a month respectively. Brazil: actions were taken to extend paternity leave into a 2-month period.

International Young Women`s Conference Participants: over 100 young women from 23 countries around the world Aim: planning the next stage of an international campaign aimed at reaching out to young women workers and making sure international decision makers hear about the issue that affect young women at work. DFL` Video: DiN3MamwnE?hd=1&versi on=3&hl=bg&cc_load_polic y=1 DiN3MamwnE?hd=1&versi on=3&hl=bg&cc_load_polic y=1

Stay connected! Follow Decisions for Life activities on: Join Decisions for Life on Facebook: Check out Decisions for Life photos on ITUC flicker:

Some useful websites: (ITUC) (PERC) (ETUC) (PERC Youth) (ETUC Youth) (ITUC Youth Community Blog) (ITUC Channel) (Micro-blogging: Twitter) (ITUC Flickr Account) (WDDW)

KNSB/ CITUB 1, Macedonia Sq Sofia, Bulgaria Tel Fax: