The Regional Committee apart from taking stock of progress made in the region and took special note of strengthening women and youth representation in BWI structures. The event was held in Durban South Africa on 28 November 2017.
Dietmar Schäfers, deputy president of the BWI, addressed the Committee and mentioned: “Asia-Pacific has made substantial contributions to the work done by the BWI in the last four years. As trade unions, we need to fight for and continually work towards better conditions for workers across the world.”
In his remarks, BWI General Secretary shared “One of the recent victories in the region has been Myanmar – at the last Congress in Bangkok, BWI started organizing in Myanmar and now after four years, there is a recognized union also affiliated to the BWI.” He also extended special welcome to the unions from Australia to the Asia-Pacific region.
Apolinar Tolentino, Regional Representative for the region, shared that out of the 650 delegates 105 are from the region. 87 affiliates are coming from the region and including 23 women and 13 youth. 65 affiliates from 19 countries are represented at this 4th World Congress.