ITF and Qatari government continue talks under the ILO technical cooperation programme

March 12, 2018

An ITF delegation, led by ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton, visited Qatar last week to hold discussions with top officials to set a framework for the implementation of the common objectives, agreed by both sides at a previous meeting held in London on 4 October last year.

The ITF delegation met with HE Mr. Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport; HE Mr. Issa bin Saad Al-Jafali Al-Nuaimi, Minister of Administrative Development – Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA); Mr. Fernando Casadevall, Qatar Airways’ Chief Human Resources Officer; Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Director General of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Houtan Homayounpour, responsible of the ILO office in Doha.

The ITF delegates welcomed the Ministers’ commitment to the ILO technical cooperation programme (TCP), under which the ILO and the Government of Qatar agreed to work together to strengthen national regulations and practices. They also agreed to work together to strengthen the capacities of the government, employers, and workers to realise fundamental principles and rights at work, in line with international labour standards. Under the TCP, the government of Qatar will promote a speedy process to resolve individual grievance procedures and will regulate the creation of joint labour committees at company level, among other measures.

After the meetings, Stephen Cotton declared: “We believe that accelerating our cooperation with the aim of reaching an agreement will provide a clear message to the regional and global community that the Government of Qatar is fully committed to the TCP and workers’ rights generally. With the government’s support, and under the umbrella of the ILO TCP, I am certain that we can develop a road map to be launched in the next few months for the full protection of labour and social rights of all transport workers in Qatar.”

Comprehensive training on gender equality presented at the ETF Congress

A comprehensive training program on gender equality was presented at the fifth Congress of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), which was held last week in Barcelona. “This is a useful training tool on every level,” commented Diana Holland (UK), chair of the Women’s Committee of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

The training package contains 4 modules on various topics related to gender equality in transport, complemented by a training kit facilitating the implementation of the 4 modules in actual training situations, and a whole range of tools to help the trainer – who could be both an activist and an academic level professional. The biggest advantage of the training program is that it is adaptable to the specific needs and resources of every workplace and each trade union organization. Прочети още

GROUND HANDLING WORKSHOP ON TRAINING AND QUALITY STANDARDS

On 9 – 10 February 2017, the ETF together with ACI Europe and Airport Services Association co-organised a workshop on training and quality standards in ground handling. This event is part of an EU co-financed project in the framework of social dialogue.  http://fttub.org/ground-handling-social-dialogue-support/

As a starting point of the debate, STC-Group (consultant of this project) presented the results of their desktop research and case studies in the selected countries. This was followed by the presentation of the views of the individual organisations and a debate with the audience.

The three organisations agreed to explore possible common grounds on the revision on the EASA Basic Regulation as well as preparatory work for the assessment of the Directive 96/67/EC on ground handling services. The final conference presenting the outcome of the project will take place on 28 – 29 April 2017 in Copenhagen.

FIRST WORKSHOP OF THE GROUND HANDLING PROJECT

The Social Partners representing employers and workers in the European Ground Handling – ACI Europe (ACI), Airport Services Association (ASA) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) – met on 8 and 9 December 2016 in Barcelona to discuss the issues of market access and social conditions in the ground handling industry. This workshop was part of an EU co-financed project in the framework of social dialogue.

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The aim of the project is to prepare social partners’ views in light of the assessment of the Directive 96/67/EC that was announced as part of the Commission’s Aviation Strategy for Europe. Before the workshop, an extensive research has been conducted by the consultant company Syndex consisting of desktop and questionnaire research.

The participants agreed that market opening without social regulation has caused excessive pressure both on the ground handling companies and workers. There is a need for rules that will ensure level playing field and binding social protection for the workforce.

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Therefore, all the three organisations will continue their joint efforts to have a sustainable and fair ground handling sector. The next workshop taking place in February 2017 will look at quality and training standards. Finally, the closing conference in April 2017 will present the outcome of the project to a wider audience.

FTTUB was represented at the workshop by its International Relations and Civil Aviation expert Antonia Panayotova who is also a member of the Steering Committee of the project, as well as by Petranka Shomova, a chairman of FTTUB’s  trade union organisation at Varna Airport and by Albena Vasileva from FTTUB’s organisation at Sofia Airport.

More for the social conditions in UPT

DSC05533On  January 27 and 28, in Frankfurt, Germany, the third and final workshop on the European social partners’ project “Social conditions in public transport” was held. Its beginning was the seminar in Sofia, and it is expected to close by a conference in May. The seminar was attended by Nikola Rusatev – the deputy sector representative for public transport in the FTTUB Youth Committee and Mila Nikolova, expert. Прочети още

Employment and working conditions in urban transport in Europe

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On 12 and 13 November 2015 in Paris was held the second seminar within the project “Social conditions in public transport companies in Europe”. The first one had earlier taken place in Sofia (see here). The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), EVA academy and UITP – the employers’ organization for public transport, are partners in this project.
The FTTUB representatives Mila Nikolova and Madlen Yordanova, sectoral representative to the Youth Committee, participated in the seminar titled “Employment and working conditions.” There were presented the findings of the study conducted by ICF through questionnaires in public transport enterprises of 11 European countries. Прочети още

Railway section with a seminar and a study

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On 4 and 5 November 2015, at the ITF headquarters in London, the FTTUB representatives Daniela Zlatkova and Nadezhda Staneva participated in a seminar on “Perspectives for employment and training of staff in railway companies.”
At the seminar, a study on the promotion of employment and quality of work in the European rail sector was presented. The study had three focus points: Прочети още

Successfully completed another training “Basic knowledge of English”

On February 19, 2015 was successfully completed another training “Basic knowledge of English”, which FTTUB already traditionally organize for their affiliates.
After three months, full of effort, diligence and perseverance, students from the Trade union of Sofia Airport successfully passed the final exam and received their certificates.

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Austrian visit in Sofia

After the visit of CITUB and FTTUB reps in Austria last December(see here), on 26th and 27th January the visit was returned. Our guests have also been trained within the international project for decent work. Doris Bauer is employed in a governmental organization leading social projects and Harald Obenhaus is a TU activist working in a company for new generation automotive and railway parts.
In the morning of 27.01., the guests visited the headquarters of FTTUB. They have been acquainted with the activities of the Federation on various projects. Ms. Serkedjieva, Director of VTC, presented the FTTUB trainings – both professional and trade union ones. Important trade union issues were discussed, including how to work on through trainings and projects at national and international level.
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Austria shares its example of decent work

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From 15 to 17.12.2014g. Mila Nikolova – FTTUB expert and Martin Ivanov from the CITUB visited Austria as last phase of a Confederation’s training in decent work, part of a joint international project. There, in the rich and full of meetings program, they met trainers and participants in the same training; visited labor unions, public structures, infrastructure projects and sites related to transport, in response to the interest shown by FTTUB.
During the first day the guests were given a brief presentation of the structure and way of conducting social dialogue, in which Austria differs from the other European countries. Прочети още