Trade Union Seminar on Development Education – Building Global Solidarity

Trade unions and their partner NGO representatives from all over Europe gathered in Vienna on 5-7 November 2012 to share their experiences in development education (DE), discuss the role of DE in the trade union movement as well as trade unions‘ contribution to the DE community.

The seminar was organised by the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN), an initiative of the International Trade Union Confederation – the main international trade union body, representing 175 million workers in 153 countries around the world. International solidarity is one of the fundamental principles of the trade union movement and building it, one of its key objectives.

Trade unions carry out educational activities and campaigns in the area of decent work, gender equality, migration and many others, raising awareness both within the trade union movement and among a wider public. While in some countries trade unions have been committed actors of DE for decades, the domain seems still underexplored by the movement in many others. The TUDCN has committed to further foster development education in the trade union movement as well as improve the recognition of trade unions as DE actors.

The report from the seminar as well as the TUDCN statement on the role of trade unions in development education, an outcome of the meeting, will soon be available on the ITUC website.

For more information please contact Kasia Szeniawska, ITUC at kasia.szeniawska@ituc-csi.org.
In the photo: participants of the Seminar in Vienna.


Information provided by Kasia Szeniawska, ITUC