Aims of the exchange programme

• To help activists and trade unionists to understand different organising initiatives in different contexts
• To contribute to building up a regional solidarity network of the labour movement by offering a place whereby workers and activists are sharing their experiences and organising initiatives
• To initiate an in-depth discussion about a working plan through which we network different organising initiatives with each other and by doing so turn them into a regional movement building initiatives
• To base ATNC networks regional movement building plan firmly on its partners’ organising activities, demands and aims in the different countries
• To strengthen the partnership between ATNC network organisations and their partners in different countries, so that organisations from same countries should be able to work closer together on country level in developing organising initiatives and plans discussed in the exchange programme. 

Expected concrete results

• Understanding of different organising initiatives
• Publishing and circulating a collection of organising initiatives
• Mapping of South East Asian Labour Movement
• Groups of workers who follow up regional network and reflect local and national agenda on the regional network

SUMMARY REPORT

Introduction
Since 2002, ATNC monitoring network has been working to build up a regional network through which labour organisations in Asian countries can pursue solidarity actions against Asian TNCs.  The network was set up to compensate the limit of the solidarity  campaign by the consumer movement, in which the development of workers’ movement is increasingly dependent on external pressure on the basis of corporate code of conduct and local organising initiatives against national government and employers took a second priority.  By setting up a regional network that is targeting Asian employers, we prioritise workers self-organising attempts and support them by organising coordinated research, education and training programmes, and publication project 

We are working toward to building up a regional network of labour organisations:
 
Firmly based on the local labour activism that prioritises horizontal solidarity within Asia. The regional network contributes to actually strengthening national labour movement, through which ‘grass-root activism’ turns into ‘solidarity-based campaign’ and vice versa.

Indeed, such a plan is not realisable within current form of ATNC network, we need more partnership with local, provincial, national labour unions and NGOs as well as other prominent network of labour organisations. This workers exchange programme is the first step toward developing a regional network firmly based on local labour activism and furthermore developing a current of movement building in Asia.

Day one and two were spent primarily introducing one another as organizations and individuals. This is considered significant as it is expected that the people present will forge relations over a longer term, rather than only as an exchange during three or four days. Time was spent firstly introducing the situation in each individual country as context, followed by a presentation of each organizations organizing initiatives, or simply how each organizes or works in their country and in the region if applicable.

Organising initiatives - Groups Works
Following is a story of an ATNC made up for the group works. Participants broke up into four groups to discuss the situation and come up with a plan of action…

Situation

‘Global Garment’ is a Taiwanese company, which operates in the South East Asia. In addition to the five-year old factory in Cavite, Philippines and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the company opened one more factory in a developing country called ‘Papaya’ in South East Asia three years ago. Located at the capital city of Papaya, the Mango, Global Garment Papaya employs about 2,000 workers and 70% of them are women workers who migrated from rural areas in search for better job. Most of them work under short-term contract, from 3 months to 6 months. Other than Global Garment Papaya, there are about 100 factories producing garment, textile, and electronics components, employing mostly young women workers. Global garment, specialised in knitwear, produces various items and exports about half of its products to the US, EU and Asian countries such as Japan and Korea.

The Papaya, which had been mostly agriculture-based country, recently started pushing a development strategy focusing export promotion, by aggressively inviting foreign capital with a package of incentives. In addition to tax holidays for three years and tax-free import and export of goods, the government introduced a series of anti-labour legislation including ‘no union no strike’ policy in the export processing zone. The Papaya Patriot Union, established in 1994 by the government itself, has not organised any protest against the government’s move to further deregulation of labour and anti-labour legislation. In spite of the hostility of the government and employers to the labour movement, there is a small but independent trade union called ‘Papaya Workers Solidarity Union’ (PWSU).

Workers in the Global garment factory in Papaya have been facing many problems for the last three years. Working hours often exceed 10-12 hours a day while workers have to work in suffocating condition with Papaya’s tropical whether with a poor ventilations in the factory. Workers cannot take annual and maternity leaves, which are guaranteed by the labour protection law, and only a few managed to take maternity leaves however with no payment for the period. Due to the disposable nature of their employment, it is very difficult for the workers to challenge any decision made by the management.

The global garment branch of the Papaya Patriot Union has been set up at the beginning, as the owner accepted advice from the local authority and union federation. However, the union seems not interested in what workers have been through at all. Six months ago, the management refused to pay the long-overdue bonus, which the owner promised to pay as a compensation for non-stop 14 hours a day work for the peak season in the last summer. A few workers in the sowing section complained to the union office, in search for help. However, after a few days later, they’ve been informed that they don’t have to work for Global garment anymore and this month wage cannot be paid because they did not finish their job.

With frustration and anger, fellow workers, together with the laid-off workers, realised that it was time to act. Since then, they have been discussing about the problems with colleagues and now want to organise themselves and change the situation. They are also seeking for more participation from fellow workers and support from labour organisations, including PWSU.

Please set up 1) short-term organising plan (six months) and a longer-term following plan (one-two year) in the situation above, by using your own experiences/method/new initiatives of organising or supporting to organise workers. You might be one of the fellow workers, activist from a labour NGO in Papaya, union organiser from PWSU, or activist from international solidarity organisation…

Group 1 presentation
Six month plan
Ngo respond to organizing initiative, and service local union. 

1.    Have to give education to the worker, at least 85% must be given information or training on basic or genuine trade unionism. Also paralegal and political education. Have to form organizing teams to spread info and eventually form the union.

Organizing team within every department which has 10-15 members in each. In  first phase of forming a union its’ important to organize step by step in secret, the company must not discover the formation of the union. If discover they will do what they can do to prevent the formation of the union. Within six months organizing team must be in place, and they need capacity to do propaganda.

2.    Investigation.  Need to know about the company and the problem of the workers, and about the sister company.  Need to find out if sister company has a union, as other factory may be used to destabilize the efforts of the other factory as production could be shifted to other countries.

3.    Legal services for any possible problems of the workers being organized.

a.    dismissal
b.    prepare registration
c.    file case against the company

       TO:

1.    Region (local)
2.    campaign and alliance

a.    cba
b.    contractual workers
c.    TU repression

International networking
1.    campaign II (int’l)
2.    workers action

a.    slow down
b.    snowball

Group 2 presentation
Before taking action analyze the situation to have a united analysis of the Papaya workers.
At first in organizing and helping workers have to do Social Investigation to understand the situation.  If want to organize with better tactics and techniques need through analysis of the situation.

Social analysis: corporation has 3 factories in 3 different countries.
Papaya garments has 2K workers, 70% women, short term contract workers; knitwear, export markets in US EU and East Asia.

Papaya Country:
Agri-based country; government push industrial strategy by inviting foreign capital with incentives including on taxes, anti-labour policy such as ‘no strike no union’, but exemption is formation of yellow union named PPU to prevent other organizing within factories in the country.

Workers situation:
PWSU is small but independent union. Must know what are the issues of the workers to understand their perspective:
Long hours of work, bad OHS, no leave, and major issues confronting workers are contractualization, long overdue bonuses, long hours of work, no leaves and existence of yellow union which:

• doesn’t’ represent the interests of the workers
• ignore the problems
• connive with the employer

And illegal dismissal is final major problem facing the workers.

Actions:

1. discussions with other co-workers
2. want to organize to change the situation
3. seeking more participants

What to be done in short and long term.

6 month plan
4 components of the work: SI, contact building, action plan

1. SI (social investigation)
Do investigation on 3 subjects

1. The company management, the production, influence in the local or national economy, and the relations with the other factories in Cambodia and Cavite; know when are peak production to do actions at that time to affect the production. After that, must know the influence of management to government agencies, the national police, the influence on the national government so can look at how big is the actions that could be undertaken
2. The workers: who among the workers have advanced consciousness and have determination to continue the struggle?  Another reason to know who’s advanced as need to prioritize their relevance then put focus on secondary and backward workers (or know about them).-what are the issues of the workers? Economic status of the workers? Who are the affected workers? Does it affect a lot?  Firstly put focus on issues that affect many workers.
3. Relations of the co and workers to other issues. Maybe other factories have the same experience or face the same problems.

SI is very important to make a positive action or plan. Social investigation is a continual process, it doesn’t finish on the first stages.

2. Contact building
    Focus: advance workers affected
Methods:
    Education, propaganda, house to house and other meetings/consultation. If really want to convince many workers that forming unions is the way to solve problems, and to understand the dynamics of workers must also get to understand the feeling of the family of the worker, and convince them that unions are very important in improving all their lives. Meetings and consultation should also be undertaken often.

Action Plan

1. union formation vs. PPU
2. continuing process of SI
3. continue giving education to workers
4. legal actions

   Filing of case vs mgmt including illegal dismissal, non pay, OSH, force OT, no leaves/benefits important: legal + extra legal=win.  Extra legal should pressure the management and the government agencies so that workers problems are solved immediately or quickly

5. networking and alliance
   a. PWSU has to network with others to support the workers
   b. ngo working locally to expose the situation at the factory through the media etc
   c. other workers in the area need to be mobilized or contacted and they can help influence other garment factories in the area. Papaya workers can be a model to others in the area.
   d. network with co-workers outside of Papaya, including Cavite and Phnom Penh
6. Actual actions of the workers inside the factory.
   -non production related actions
   -production related actions
   - depends on the forces, capability of the workers and the timing
7. Assessments.  Very important as the only venue you could know what are the negative, positive, output, results etc of the strategy and planning. Done after the action.  Could make some resolutions

Group 3 presentation

Step 1
Internal: consolidation of the core members in the factory and expansion of members
External: contact unions in the same region and national centre of independent unions.

National union centre and core groups of workers will work on:
Short-term financial support – external and skill education
How? Case of WWU
Labour law discussion groups
How? Case of SCW
If possible, petition letter to employer and government office
How the case of SCW
Get the fellow workers up to 100, who share same idea with the core workers
How? How?

After three months, we could organise a committee for a democratic union of Global Garment, which consists of leaders of GG, PWSU, local labour NGOs and with some contact with regional and international networks

Step 2
Possible to link with workers in other factories owned by same employer – contact labour groups in other countries through regional/international links
How? Case of ATNC

Community organising – particularly the area where most of workers are living. Involving families into community activity and promote unity among the workers
How? Case of the Thaikurabo Labour Unions

Long-term education programme regarding national, global (political) economy, democracy and so on.

END of group presentations on Papaya case

Philippines and Indonesia
Based on discussion, found facing the same problems.

• Challenges and problems
• Tu repression
• Low wages
• Union busting
• Anti-workers laws
• Contractualisation
• Continuous systematic propaganda of the management and their association, govt against union workers

If these are problem we are facing, what to do
The formula how – education + organising + mobilisation

What is our weakness?
Small number of organisers – how can we cover for example southern Tagalog
Skill and capability, knowledge
Financial resource to support workers struggle and campaign in different countries.

Education
Education; we have to have tu education and political education (problems in the factory is related with political situation, and government plays great role, we have to show the political problem, so that workers can see the bigger picture.

Training
Skills training on organising, training for organising tactic, para-legal training,
Study on the organising experience: have many experience of the Philippine and Indonesian organisers

Organising
Principle: We as organisers – sacrifice. It is not easy to organise union, need to be patient only to organise union. Much harassment by govt agent to make sure no union organised. What we do as organiser, we are organising not for money.  
How to solve the problems
Form the union, and continue to consolidate, has to recognise, they have to realise that how important it is to organise not only inside of factory, but outside of the factory and enclaves. Inward-only-organising has clear limit and vulnerable to attack. Consolidate the area by organising outside of its own factory.
Forming alliances – territorial, industrial (car, elec, garment..etc.), issues
Community organising – will help forming union, alliance building and consolidating the movement

Mobilisations
Legal actions
Actual protest or actions – to make sure to pressure govt
Sama samang Tuluegan, Sama samang tangulan

If we don’t know anybody in factory we have to send somebody to the factory

Q: when we organising TU or committee, we spend external fund. After that when we go back to get the due, it is very difficult to do, what to do?
Q: How we cope with the problems that we have very limited no. of organisers
May be it is long process of developing union organisers and
If we don’t’ do this thing as organizers, we just face the problem not directly, we are just organizer.  Should make propaganda so that workers organize through the union. Can’t get organizers that fast because cannot offer salary. Because of continuing efforts to give education, union leaders can little by little overcome problems.

Gaining money is not a part of being an organizer.  This differs from a regular job because we have sometimes experienced that workers inside the factory leave work just to organize workers.

China, Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines

Common challenge
TU repression – laws in each countries that aggregate the condition, in addition to police and military, gangsters etc
Trade union division, yellow unions and another yellow union
Low education of the mass of workers
Capital relocation - moving to the region where independent union is not allowed. Change names…disguised closing down
Labour flexibilisation and contractualisation

Brain Storming Solution
1st group – SCW – community based and regional network approach
In the case of Indonesia, FSBKU – this is an alliance of workers has a general trade union (GTU). No matter what company or sector they are working for, they can join the union. It has
It is not limited to union membership….member can be individual and part of organisation. building support in the community – another important factor is community organising
Point is made that China, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia are at the different stage of organising
Have to share the know-how, resources
Trade Union division
Get more grassroot membership awareness
In the case of YU union officials can use the union fund for the personal use. collective action has to be pursued
Different forms of education like film and movies. Music concert, approach to illiterate workers etc
Liberation education and participatory wokshops

Identified problems

1. Problem of the labour movement and trade union

Lack of resource
Limited number of organisers; and skills, capability and training of the organiser
Union division/yellow unionism
Low women representation in Trade union

2. Traditional problems from authoritarian government

Union busting by employers, the state (MOL, military, police)
Criminal charges
Legal hindrances to form unions

3. New problems that we are facing recently

Labour Flexibilisation, informalisation, casualisation, irregularisation – (relative) decrease in the number of regular workers,
Capital mobility – corporate and labour law

4. Method to overcome the challenges

Community Organising, and New organising methods for irregular workers
Workers education – HOW?
Regional network – discuss tomorrow
Solidarity on the basis of practical cooperation on specific issues
Patient and long-term perspective
Regional coordination in tracing run-away capital and campaign for criminalisation of disguised closing down

Day Four: How to have sustainable mutual supporting network

Group 1

Resource Problems of labour movement and trade union

Solution by focusing main problem – organising highly educated workers??
Through education we can produce organisers
Education – women: gender sensitivity, paralegal-know more labour law, leadership training
Community – we are going to search the potential mass, produce more organisers – need patience
Network can help by means of education
The network can help by open communication, consistent communication

Problem by government and yellow union
Going to have booklet through the network – union busting case collection

Principle
Consistent communication
Commitment of network: we need motivation and commitment
Sacrifice

About capital mobility
Transnational investment – we need to campaign, we need social investigation – who is the owner, where it goes, where it is producing etc.
Mobilisation is needed – problems in Philippine can be helped by Cambodia and Indonesia

Addition to the first group
Gathering of information – union busting cases, eg. Series of booklet
Union busting cases illustration such as Yajaki
Name and shame the 10 most notorious union busters in Asia
Can be a basis between Regional network framework and concrete step..?
Database? – on companies
Different campaign models that involves different mobilising

Group 2
Way 1: Promoting continual flow of information
Way 2: developing a programme of research, education, campaign together

Lack of resource  
Each : Alliance with those who have - Local religious and political civil organisations
Network
Co-development of education material
Limited organisers – how to use volunteers and train them? – Possible volunteer training programme
Skill training CBA negotiation tactics training – module exchange, course sharing
Eg. CBA training, Social investigation, Theory, Trial, Role play, Proposal writing – how to justify the demands
Women representation
Cannot be directly promoted by network but contribute to empowerment work
Network provide resource persons and material from specialised organisations such as CAW, WAC and etc. to the training courses of the organisation

Traditional problem for authoritarian government
Union busting and criminal charges are subjected to regional campaign against national govt. and employer
These are
1) urgent campaign
2)  systematised way of handling union busting and closing down cases..(step by step by measure, where to contact, what to write…etc,
Focuses: Flexible labour and Mobile capital

Group 3
Discussing the capacity building – some has strong capacity in some area and some are not.
Collection of the experiences – forms of contractualisation and impact, response of union
Regional campaign about the contractualisation

Group 4
For the lack of resources
Financial aspects – network can help other organisations to help financially – can find funding partners?
Network has to try to find self-subsistence financing
Skills training for organisers
International campaign
Criminal charges against ….we should get support form the experts…
booklet serial topics
Database
10 company hit list – union busting (?)
Case with different campaign model
Sharing what network has 
Info flow
Resources

Contractualisation
National and regional conference
Research a framing of organisers of con
Campaign on regional level

Capital mobility
Systemised method to handle
Criminalisation of disguised close-down
Capacity building and sharing the strength of each organisation
Financial issues and possible network support (?)
There will be a conference on contractualisation in south Tagalog
Survey has been done on different sectors and different scheme, effect of contratualisation on workers economic, politically civil right. There was pre consultation on the provincial. The result will be used as the basis for the policy of the coalition of contracted workers in Southern Tagalog
Legislation (lobbying the government: senate: local government unit: government agents;
campaigns against contractualisation)
NCPWR can initiative by circulating information, AMRC follows up!  and following up meeting will be organised. More developed discussion with other Asian partners 

APPENDIX

Venue: Island Cove Resort, Cavite, Philippines, 28 - 31 January 2005
Participants list: Cambodia 4 (CCADW, WAC); Indonesia 3 (LIPS, KASBI, YAWAS); Philippines 10; Thailand 3 (TLC, Women Workers Unity Group, Alliance of Democratic Trade Unions); China 3 (HKCIC); Regional (AMRC)

Programme
First day (28th): We get to know each other and share each other’s organising initiatives
09:00 – 09:20    Introduction to each other: names and…so on.
09:20 – 09:40    Introducing the programme
09:40 – 10:40    Country profiles (1): Philippines and Cambodia  – prepared by organisers – 30 min inc.
10:40 – 11:00    Break
11:00 – 12:30    Country profile (2): Indonesia, Thailand and China
12:30 – 14:00    Lunch
14:00 – 15:00     Personal sharing (1) – I, before becoming an activist.. (group of 4 from 2 countries)
15:00 – 15:40    Who were we before? – sharing 
15:40 – 16:00    Break
16:00 – 17:00    Personal sharing (2) – I, as an activist (group of 4 from 2 countries)
17:00 – 18:00    Who are we now? – sharing
18:30 – 19:30 Dinner
After dinner Film Show

Second day: the organising initiatives
09:00 – 09:20    Recap of the first day and introducing the second day programme
09:20 – 10:40    My organising initiatives – How do I organise? – preparing groups presentation with fellow organisers using creative methods
10:40 – 11:00    Break
11:00 – 12:30    Group presentations (1)
12:30 – 14:00    Lunch
14:00 – 15:30     Group presentations (2)
15:30 – 15:50    Break
15:50 – 18:00    Mapping the movement – one from each organisation (organisational profile) – 30 min for each
18:00 – 18:30    Concluding      
18:30 – 19:30 Dinner
After dinner Film Show

Third day: identifying common challenges and overcoming methods
09:00 – 09:20    Recap of the second day and introducing the third day programme
09:20 – 10:40    Challenges to my movement and labour movement in my country (groups discussion)
10:40 – 11:00    Break
11:00 – 12:30    Group presentations and consolidation of the challenges
12:30 – 14:00    Lunch
14:00 – 15:30     Identifying the way in which we can tackle the common agenda? – groups discussion
15:30 – 15:50    Break
15:50 – 18:00    Group presentations and consolidation of the methods to overcome the challenges
18:00 – 18:30    Concluding      
18:30 – 19:30 Dinner
Going out after dinner?

Fourth day: building up regional network on the basis of local labour activism
09:30 – 09:50    Recap of the third day and introducing the fourth day programme
09:50 – 10:30    The ATNC network – before and now
10:30 – 12:00    Sustainable mutual support system in tackling the common problem– how it should look like?  What would be the role of regional network? What should be tackled at the regional level? – groups discussion
12:00 – 13:00    Lunch
13:00 – 14:30     Consolidation of groups discussion and setting up ‘what to do’ list (group discussion) - Action together?
14:30 – 14:50    Break
14:50 – 16:20    National plan for regional network?– group discussion
16:20 – 17:30    Concluding: what we are doing at the national and regional level?      
18:30 – 19:30     Dinner & Cultural Events

Workers’ Exchange, Cavite Philippines, January 2005