Asia Pacific: BWI Global Organising Academy consolidates regional team

Under the theme "Workers' Power is Union Power/Union Power is Workers' Power," the Global Organising Academy (GOA) in Asia and the Pacific held its second general assembly of organisers on 26-27November 2023, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thirty one (31) organisers (32 percent women and 48 percent youth) from nineteen (19) trade unions in nine (9) countries – Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines – attended the event. The two-day activity was highlighted by workshops and group discussions on organising issues and experiences in BWI’s strategic sectors.

Collectively, the participants examined the challenges posed in establishing trade unions in present-day workplace environments and national contexts. Case studies on organising strategies in public infrastructure projects and tower crane operations in India; brick kiln factories in Cambodia and Pakistan; wood companies employing a largely migrant workforce in Malaysia; real estate/building projects in Australia; and under repressive military rule as in Myanmar were also shared and presented. BWI Education Secretary Tos Anonuevo reviewed the BWI strategy and linked it to the work of GOA.

The GOA AP plan for 2024 and the future was discussed and adopted:

• The continuing development of the individual organiser through self-learning, sharing sessions, continuing training, and GOA-led capacity development activities.
• Progress in forming new unions and recruiting new dues-paying members applying innovative approaches and strategies. A monitoring tool for one's progress has also been developed for this.
• Support to the BWI Asia Pacific statutory structures (RWC and RYC) and in its network building and consolidation in the region.
• Support to BWI Global Campaigns and call to action.
• Continuing GOA AP Team development through other creative activities, strengthening sisterhood/brotherhood, and using various communication/information platforms.

BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson, in his solidarity remarks, underlined the importance of trade union organising amidst the challenges facing workers globally, such as attacks on labour rights, the rise of authoritarian rule, worsening effects of climate change, wars, and declining union membership, among many others. BWI should be able to effectively address said issues with the help of GOA, he said.

BWI Asia Pacific Regional Representative Dong Tolentino warmly welcomed the participation and presence of Myanmar labour leader and BWI Vice-President Phyo Sandar Soe, who hails from the Building and Woodworkers’ Federation in Myanmar (BWFM). Sandar, who worked underground in Myanmar to coordinate the labour movement, was able to elude Myanmar’s security forces and slipped out of the country this year. She is also a GOA-AP member.

At the end of the meeting, the organisers exchanged GOA pins and tied white ribbons to each other’s left wrists to express their commitment to the GOA-AP tasks and the continuing solidarity of the organising team. They shouted at the top of their voices – "Workers’ Power, Union Power!,” "Women Power, Union Power!,” and "Youth Power, Union Power!"

The activity was successfully conducted with the support of BWI and its solidarity support organizations, namely: SBTF and Union to Union (Sweden), FES (Germany), SASK (Finland), LO-Norway, Swiss SOLIDAR, and Open Society Foundation (OSF).