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ITF 42nd Congress Mexico City 5–12 August 2010

Item 8 of the agenda:

CONGRESS THEME DOCUMENT SECOND DRAFT STRONG UNIONS – SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

CONTENTS

A. INTRODUCTION

B. THE VISION

C. THE STRATEGY I. BUILDING STRONG UNIONS – ORGANISING GLOBALLY II. ADVANCING UNION RIGHTS AND LABOUR STANDARDS III. FIGHTING FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

D. DELIVERY

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A. Introduction

1. For the last three decades we have seen unions around the world on the defensive. Workers in the transport sector, as well as in fisheries, have experienced devastating consequences from privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation. Unions have suffered from new employment practices which increasingly casualise, outsource and transfer work offshore. In many sectors we have seen the emergence of global operators who put workers in the same workplace on different wages and conditions from each other when workers are brought in from lower cost countries. We have seen many governments mounting attacks on union rights, employment and working conditions. There has been a serious weakening of union strength and membership around the world. Yet unions have been engaged in many remarkable fight backs and transport unions have almost always played a key role in these.

2. The global economic crisis which surfaced in 2008 has had a major impact on jobs and incomes in both developed and developing countries. Yet the catastrophic consequences of the failure of governments to regulate capital, and the speed with which the mechanisms of globalisation spread these around the world has not yet altered their attachment to liberalisation, with unions often the only organised force ready to challenge these policies.

3. ITF unions are keen to respond to the crisis by organising energetically and growing their industrial strength. This means that ITF’s organising globally programme is more relevant than ever. It also means that trade union rights must be defended, not undermined, in the face of economic stringency. Crisis and debt is putting a squeeze on the public purse, which tends to produce more liberalisation and deregulation in public services. Transport is a vital public service and a key engine for economies to develop. The response needed from governments is to promote public services, and support large –scale investment in transport-­‐related infrastructure.

4. At the same time the issue of making globally agreed binding commitments to tackle climate change have come to the head of the political agenda. The failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit to produce a system of global regulation has highlighted the urgent need for civil society organisations, including trade unions, to intensify pressure. Only governments, acting together, can enforce the changes in technology, production and consumption which are now urgently needed to avoid major damage to the planet. The ITF will continue its work to oppose the neoliberal development model and to replace it with a new model of development based on sufficiency, sustainability and social solidarity. The trade union movement has to play a central role in making sure that climate change measures produce more and better employment. This is true in all sectors including transport. We have to fight for a just transition to a low carbon society in which the creation of decent green jobs plays a central role. With such challenges being faced the ITF needs to link with and contribute to a wider social movement fighting for global social justice.

5. These conditions provide many challenges for transport unions but also major opportunities, eg the overall growth in women transport workers. Building and preserving strong democratic trade unions must continue to be our number one priority. But to be effective there have to be sufficient decent jobs. Public transport has to play a central role in the process of greening the economy. A regulated fisheries industry is vital to food security. The global labour movement has to show that strong unions are a crucial part of building consensus for change amongst working people.

6. We believe that decent working conditions in secure jobs, transport services which serve the public good, and operate in a socially and environmentally sustainable way are complementary and achievable goals. Strong Unions and Sustainable Transport are part of the same process.

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7.

8.

Today transport workers occupy a key position in a globalised world economy dependent on global just-­‐in-­‐time distribution systems for freight and effective public transport in urban areas. Transport is the glue which holds together today’s global economy, and strong transport unions are central to the future of the whole global labour movement.

This means that the ITF bears a heavy responsibility. It is vital that the ITF should be an organisation which fully reflects the genuine democratic trade unions representing men and women transport workers of all ages around the world.

B. The Vision

9.

We believe we can only achieve these goals if we have a clear vision and commitment to making unions stronger. The strength of our unions is our base. The ITF is proud of its record in advancing the interest of transport workers around the world, but we are also committed to transforming the ways we work to ensure we meet the new challenges we face.

10. The ITF is committed to:

 BUILDING SOLIDARITY -­‐ supporting and empowering transport workers and the wider international labour movement in their struggle for social justice around the world with strong and effective international solidarity actions.  PROVIDING A VISION – challenging globalisation and leading the way towards properly regulated transport industries; supporting people-­‐oriented policies which benefit men and women transport workers, transport users and the environment;  FIGHTING FOR UNION RIGHTS – actively defending the fundamental rights of all transport workers and their unions around the world;  OPEN AND ACTIVIST – representing and being accountable to transport unions, big and small, in every region and every sector of transport, through democratic processes and by engaging rank and file union members in international solidarity action.  ORGANISING GLOBALLY – developing a strategic approach and practical tools for strengthening union power globally;

nd 11. The objective of the 42 Congress in Mexico City must be to ensure that the work programme, strategic priorities, structures and resources of the ITF during the period until 2014 are fully living up to this vision.

C. The Strategy

12. The Congress theme ’Strong Unions – Sustainable Transport’ has been broken down into three main areas: I. Building strong unions-­‐ organising globally II. Fighting for union rights and labour standards III. Campaigning for sustainable transport

i. Building Strong Unions – Organising Globally

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13. Workplace conditions and collective bargaining for transport workers are often dictated by the pressure coming from other sectors of the economy to reduce their supply chain costs.

14. Transport unions occupy a vital position in a globalised economy which is crucially dependant on efficient global and regional logistics and distribution systems. Effectively run public transport will be a major factor in tackling climate change.

15. The Organising Globally programme adopted in Durban in 2006 aimed at identifying strategies which would use this position to increase union strength and leverage through globally or regionally coordinated actions. Among other things this identified six major objectives covering Logistics/Supply Chains; Global Hubs and corridors; New Entrants, Low Cost Operators; Multinational Passenger Companies; New Forms of Work; Defending Union Rights. The Report on Activities (Congress doc no. EB/April 10/14(a)) shows how the ITF and its affiliates have already started to take these forward.

16. The programme involved adopting a long term strategic approach and methodologies which required greater internal coordination and planning in the ITF secretariat and a stronger engagement by ITF affiliates.

17. The Organising Globally strategy will remain at the core of ITF activities for 2011-­‐2014. The outcomes of this strategy should be clearly measurable in terms of gains in union leverage and engagement in international solidarity in the programme areas. It is vital that we are able to evaluate our effectiveness. The review which has been conducted of the FOC campaign is a major contribution to building and defending unions in the maritime sector.

Key Areas of Work

18. It is proposed that the following areas of work be the key elements of the Organising Globally Programme for the period 2011 -­‐ 2014:

Fighting social dumping and organising across borders

19. In a globalised economy, employers are increasingly shopping around the world for the cheapest and most compliant labour force. The ITF’s Flag of Convenience Campaign resulted from the need to address such abuses in the shipping industry, but what has been commonplace in the maritime sector for decades is now spreading to other modes of transport. Migrant workers are exploited and used to undermine established labour conditions elsewhere. Many governments in different parts of the world are coming together in new regional economic blocs. This has often led to social dumping within these regions. In the European Union, the ITF and its allies in other sectors have had to challenge rulings which put commercial freedoms above trade union freedoms, and which are likely to influence the law in countries in other regions. The ITF must support unions in setting minimum labour standards which outsourcing or social dumping cannot be allowed to undermine.

20. In some regions, transport and fisheries workers regularly spend much of their lives working in other countries but often under the (cheaper) conditions of their country of origin. Social dumping and work across borders may require a new form of international union organising. The ITF will develop projects to organise and protect the union rights of transport workers (e.g. truck drivers, inland waterways workers, airline crew) whose work involves them moving across international borders

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and outside their home country. This will require close cooperation between ITF unions in different countries to offer common trade union services.

21. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will implement at least one project in at least three regions to develop union protection for cross border transport workers by 2014.

Organising precarious/outsourced/contract workers

22. Only a minority of the world’s transport workers are in secure jobs. There has been a consistent trend of employers avoiding decent labour standards and rights, and of separating their operations into business units or outsourcing them to contractors in a way which isolates workers and makes collective representation extremely difficult. The global economic crisis has been used by many employers as a further means to shed jobs, casualise or outsource work, to cut pay and worsen working conditions. Many public transport services have been privatised and fragmented into small owner-­‐operator businesses.

23. There have already been a number of programmes in the ITF working with precarious workers such as owner-­‐drivers of taxis and minibuses. In 2006 -­‐ 2010 the ITF looked systematically at organising strategies for precariously employed transport workers in different countries in its ‘Organising Informal Transport Workers: Global Research Project’ and in a further report ‘Back to Basics?

Organising unprotected transport workers’. These highlighted the fact that, while some of these workers have organised into trade unions, there is a need to recognise and work with other forms of worker organisation which precarious workers have developed among themselves, and to link them to the trade union movement.

24. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will develop networks of organisations, which will include both unions and other associations, which act on behalf of workers whose livelihoods come from precarious or informal work in the transport sector by 2014. This will include developing at least five projects operating in at least three regions. It will develop education and training materials and trainers from these projects for organising workers in precarious/informal forms of transport work. The ITF will gain external funding for these projects.

Organising in Global Logistics

25. In 2006 -­‐ 2010 the ITF identified a number of key transport and logistics companies which play a strategic global or regional role. International union coordination in these companies would deliver a significant increase in leverage for the unions representing their employees, but also more widely in the industry. A number of global express delivery companies such as DHL, UPS, and global terminal network operators Maersk/APM, and Dubai Ports World have already been targeted for building international union networks. Some of these companies are intermodal logistics operators and there has been a need for the ITF to develop a cross sectional approach. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will deliver strong sustainable global and regional union networks functioning in at least eight major global and regional transport companies by 2014. The ITF must review and draw lessons from its existing experience in building these international union networks looking at both its strengths and weaknesses.

26. Globalised production and services rely on key locations where supply and distribution is centralised.

These are locations where leverage of transport unions could be significantly strengthened through international coordination, and where the absence of union organisation seriously weakens union leverage elsewhere. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will have long term

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organising projects under way with the assistance of affiliates in at least three new global transport hubs/corridors by 2014.

27. The globalisation of production frequently relies on complex time-­‐sensitive global supply chains. The just-­‐in-­‐time delivery of car parts, and the movement of perishable goods require highly efficient and reliable operations. Global supply chains can provide opportunities where the power of transport unions can be significantly strengthened through international union coordination.

28. These logistics systems link workers in production, distribution and retailing. Closer international links between unions in different industry sectors are necessary for effective coordination of workers in global supply chains. Organising along supply chains frequently cuts across existing union organisation and structures and is likely to be a significant challenge for ITF affiliates. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will have long term international organising programmes being undertaken in at least two global and two regional supply chains by 2014.

Organising in Passenger Transport Multinationals

29. In 2006 -­‐ 2010 the ITF identified a number of key multinational passenger companies such as National Express, Veolia and Connex which play a strategic global or regional role in the bus and rail industries. The airline industry continues to operate through global alliances and in some cases full mergers. International union coordination in these companies and alliances has been being developed over a number of years. A number of these companies have already been targeted for building international union networks. This strategy should also be linked to organising in companies linked to tourism and cooperation with the IUF and UNI in this sector.

30. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will deliver strong sustainable international union networks to strengthen existing networks and increase union leverage in at least four major global or regional passenger transport multinationals by 2014, and three major airline alliances by 2014.

Organising Globally Coordination at the national level

31. Unions in many countries are seeing the need to review their own response towards declining membership and union power. The ITF, with the active assistance of its affiliates, should provide support for unions in developing their capacity to build their union membership and organising capacity.

32. National Coordinating Committees exist to promote cooperation between transport unions, eliminate “yellow” unions and to increase union participation in ITF programmes such as Organising Globally. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan for making NCCs a more effective part of the ITF’s strategic plans. The ITF will identify 10 priority NCCs in at least four regions and will have improved their effectiveness according to preset criteria, by 2014.

33. Some countries, such as China, occupy positions of particular strategic importance in the global economy and where there would be a clear benefit for unions around the world for there to be stronger union organisation in these countries. . The ITF will identify a limited number of countries where global benefits would be gained from assisting unions to build a stronger union movement or for potential national organising strategies to be supported by the ITF. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will operate special programmes with affiliates, supporting organising, in at least three countries identified as having special strategic importance.

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Organising Young Workers

34. The Durban Congress agreed to create new ITF structures and activities for young transport workers.

The ITF’s first Youth Conference, held in 2008, identified a number of priority issues for young transport workers such as precarious employment; two-­‐tier wage systems; union rights for young workers; and including young workers in union and ITF decision making.

35. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which integrates the issues of concern identified by young workers into the work programmes of the ITF. There will be programmes for young transport workers in all ITF regions and a mechanism which enables the Young Workers Steering Committee to have a continuing and sustainable involvement in the work of the ITF as a whole.

Organising Women Transport Workers

36. The ITF’s key priorities developed in previous ITF Congresses are to fight the effects of the crisis on women transport workers across the globe, to develop the capacity and leadership skills of women transport workers; to strengthen their participation in national and international union activities including the implementation of equality programmes; make transport unions stronger through mainstreamed gender work within ITF organising activities and to promote positive worker and employment practices which benefit women transport workers.

37. The Women’s Committee will additionally focus on developing women trade union leaders to lead both workplace campaigns and build union/community alliances. This will build union capacity to undertake sustainable transport campaigns combating the economic and social challenges of climate change, HIV, and the lack of accessible public transport. These challenges in turn result in increased poverty, disease and higher death rates for workers and their children. The ITF recommits itself to working with women transport workers to continue to organise for our rights: through strengthening collective bargaining; challenging occupational gender segregation; and fighting back against exploitation and discrimination.

38. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will:  Map the employment of women workers in at least three major areas of transport employment in order to identify organising opportunities  Implement at least one international organising campaign focused on women workers in each of at least three major areas of transport activity  Undertake at least three capacity building programmes to organise women transport workers in existing and new workplaces where precarious and casual labour practices predominate.  Provide detailed gender reports of the ITF Organising Globally activities and project outcomes.

ii. Advancing Union rights and Labour Standards

Addressing the Global Economic crisis

39. The global financial crisis still poses great threats to international growth and development, particularly for jobs. The Global Unions group, in which the ITF plays an active part, has been calling for an end to the prevailing neo-­‐liberal model of economic globalisation, pointing out that the global

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crisis has served to show up the serious fault lines in the current model of huge capital accumulation through risky, unregulated financial transactions, and its failure to spread the wealth in a fair and sustainable way, through the creation of decent jobs and livelihoods for all. As part of the Global Unions the ITF will be pressing governments and international bodies to take the following urgent measures:  A globally coordinated recovery programme for more sustainable growth in jobs and incomes  New rules to regulate global financial markets  An end to wage deflation and inequality  A large scale investment programme in infrastructure, including green infrastructure initiatives  Effective and accountable global economic governance of the international economic and social institutions – the IMF, World Bank, WTO and the OECD

40. The ITF response to the economic crisis must be very closely tied into broader Global Unions work. It should further global objectives, but concentrate in areas where the ITF has specific influence and impact, or where its affiliates are most affected. The ITF’s response to the global economic crisis should include the following:  Continue work with global unions to further lobbying at international level for progressive solutions to the crisis  Promote trade union rights work as part of recovery plans  Promote public services, including public transport, as a key element to economic stimulus  Support large scale investment in transport-­‐related infrastructure.  Coordinate work on tax evasion and financial regulation throughout the ITF, and work with the GUFs on their eight-­‐point plan for financial reform  Continue to develop tools and education to further inclusion of gender issues in collective bargaining and to empower women, young workers, migrant workers and precarious workers in ITF unions’ mainstream agendas  Work with ITUC and TUAC to see how the sectoral dimension can be included in global governance discussions  Build alliances with other civil society organisations as part of a wider global social justice movement.

A strategic approach to union rights

41. The most important function performed by the ITF throughout its history has been the ability to respond quickly and effectively whenever any of its affiliated unions -­‐ large or small and in whichever section or region -­‐ needs help. The ITF is strategically placed to respond to such attacks and must use all the resources available to it to mobilise international solidarity. Strategic planning is becoming central to the ITF’s activities, but by definition, emergencies cannot be planned for. This has been clear over the past four years with campaigns such as that in defence of the Tehran Bus Union whose President and senior leaders have been in jail and the murder of Pedro Zamora of the Puerto Quetzal dockworkers union in Guatemala. These campaigns have depended on the very active involvement of ITF affiliates and the support of human rights organisations, Global Unions and others.

42. This ability to provide urgent solidarity action needs to be linked with a pro-­‐active approach to unions under severe sustained union rights attacks. The ITF should work with the ITUC and other Global Unions to identify specific sectors, countries, regions or sub-­‐regions where sustained and severe attacks on union rights are coming from governments, employers and where international

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pressure can make a difference. The ITF will develop more awareness and preparedness for international solidarity among ITF affiliates. The ITF Seafarers Rights Centre will promote knowledge on seafarers legal rights and develop networks of lawyers able to defend the rights of seafarers’ who are one of the most vulnerable groups of workers.

43. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will identify a limited number of countries where capacity building support will be pro-­‐actively directed to defending union rights. By 2014 the ITF will have built a trade union and human rights coalition with NGOs, lawyers groups, and human rights organisations in each of these countries.

Advancing Labour standards

44. The process of social dumping is growing throughout the world as strong unions find themselves under increasing pressure from cross border employment or migrant workers from countries where social standards and union rights are much weaker. This development is particularly apparent in Europe, where decisions of the European Court of Justice (including one case (Viking) where the ITF was the principal defendant) have effectively aimed at establishing the precedence of commercial rights over human and trade union rights. This now requires an internationally coordinated strategy to assert the dominance of ILO Social Standards over economic rights in international law, both in Europe and globally. Employers in other regional blocs are rapidly learning their lessons from Europe.

45. The ITF’s campaigns against deregulation, liberalisation and social dumping should link with other civil society organisations opposed to the negative effects of neo-­‐liberalism as part of a wider movement to defend the rights of workers and communities.

46. There are many regulatory or standard setting bodies which take decisions affecting the job conditions of transport workers. The ILO, which has adopted ground breaking international standards for seafarers and fishers, is developing activities in other modes of transport through its sectoral activities programme. Bodies like the IMO and ICAO take decisions which are both technical and social in nature. The EU adopts policies which affect the daily conditions of transport workers not just in Europe but in other regions too, such as with “open skies” agreements. There are also an increasing number of bodies such as ASEAN, SADCC and MERCOSUR, which regulate transport markets and standards and affect workers’ conditions at a regional level. To establish an effective trade union counterweight (similar to that already being done by the ETF in relation to the European Union) will require considerable additional resources from the ITF, its regional offices and its affiliated unions.

47. To provide a mechanism to influence regulatory bodies in a way which improves workers’ rights and conditions and opposes social dumping will require two strategies. Firstly to identify the bodies which need to be influenced by trade unions. Secondly to engage the officials and activists from ITF affiliates directly in the process of exerting this influence.

48. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will evaluate ITF participation in all existing international bodies dealing with industry and labour standards in transport, assess the benefits to transport workers, and identify international and regional bodies where the ITF is not yet present but where pressure to support ITF unions should be developed.

iii) Fighting for Sustainable Transport

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49. The 42 ITF Congress will be preceded by a major conference on climate change and transport which will lay the ground for the ITF’s policy on sustainable transport.

50. For ITF unions, transport must be both environmentally and socially sustainable. It must contribute to the urgent task of cutting CO2 emissions, but it must do so in a way which ensures that the burden of climate change measures is not imposed on workers. Sustainability means operating industries with decent social standards and work practices, including the right to collective bargaining.

51. The climate change crisis is currently occurring at the same time as the economic crisis. Climate change has the most damaging effects for those who caused it the least – the poor and our future generations. As has been clearly expressed by Global Unions in their submissions to the G20 governments, working people were not the cause of either crisis but they must be a part of the solution.

52. A major cause of the global economic crisis has been the removal of regulatory controls under neo-­‐ liberal government policies and the same forces that have driven the deregulation of transport around the world. While in most countries neo-­‐liberal policies still continue to be pursued, the urgent need for drastic government intervention to stop the collapse of the financial system, the widespread recognition that government intervention also needs global coordination, has created a new awareness of the need for sound national and international regulatory measures and integrated transport planning within which business and industries need to operate. It should be made clear that government stimulus policies designed to invest in public infrastructure, including transport should only be developed with full trade union participation at national, regional and global levels.

53. The ITF should take a science-­‐based approach to climate change. The data amassed and reviewed by more than 2,000 scientists working with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has led to the conclusion that the level of global warming must be kept at least within 2 degrees centigrade above normal levels. There is an urgent need to sharply reduce the volume of emissions entering our atmosphere. Emissions from transport are rising faster than any other energy-­‐using sector of the economy.

54. The market-­‐based solutions put forward by most governments and large corporations do not even begin to seriously deal with rising emissions.

55. The ITF believes that environmental impact of transport is inseparable from the question of how transport is controlled and organised in today’s world, and how transport relates to the entire economy.

56. While recognising the immense dangers posed by climate change, the ITF also sees the current global environmental crisis as an opportunity for trade unions to partner with other social movements to challenge the processes of economic deregulation and globalisation which have led to an environmentally and socially unsustainable system of world production and distribution. The political and social solutions that need to be applied to address both the causes and effects of climate change can also be used to tackle mass poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, insecurity, poor health and other social inequalities suffered by a large portion of humanity.

57. These solutions will require economic and investment decision-­‐making to be much more accountable and democratic with much stricter regulation of the private sector.

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58. For transport, the most promising strategy for reducing emissions is based on a “Reduce-­‐Shift-­‐ Improve” (RSI) framework. The framework is based on the hard reality that the kinds of reductions required by science will require fundamental changes in the current system of globalised production which relies on global supply chains, low transport costs and cheap labour (reduce); changes in the way goods and people are moved around including the use of lower carbon modes of transport technology and much greater development of public transport systems (shift); and finally new methods and technologies to promote energy efficiency in all modes of transport (improve). This framework must include clear strategies for addressing the impact on jobs.

59. The urgent need to address climate change only reinforces the need for a long term approach to industrial strategy, including transport. This must involve investment, including public investment, in more environmentally friendly technology, bringing about a switch from the use of private cars to public transport and the adoption of sustainable transport policies, and stronger regulatory controls to enforce both environmental and social standards.

60. The ITF should seek to work with other organisations concerned with climate change issues where their interests and approaches converge with our own. The ITF should be part of a wider global social justice movement.

61. The work which the ITF is doing in the approach to the Climate Change conference in Mexico City must ensure that a clear ITF policy on sustainable transport -­‐ building on the work already carried out within the ETF through the TRUST (Trade Unions and Sustainable Transport) but adapted to the needs of ITF unions in other regions. This strategy must particularly address the issue of the impact of climate change on jobs and should be accompanied by an analysis in each ITF Section of the impact of climate change on jobs in their part of the transport industry

Promoting public transport

62. Public transport is a key element of any socially cohesive and environmentally friendly transport policy. In many countries, the reality is that formal public transport systems do not exist, relying on uncoordinated small private operators instead. As a result of liberalisation policies favoured by most governments, there has been a decline in the quality of public transport services, as well as in working conditions and emergence of new forms of less secure employment. A successful public transport system needs significant investment and ongoing financial support, as well as regulated, integrated and coordinated services under public control and accountability. Transport unions need to have an essential role in influencing the processes of how transport is controlled and organised, as well as the development and implementation of sustainable development policies.

63. Promotion of public transport will be a major focus of the ITF policy on sustainable transport during 2011 -­‐ 2014. The ITF is currently working closely with its global union partners, including the Public Services International (PSI) to promote Quality Public Services (QPS) with a special conference set in October 2010. This aims to build global and local union coalitions on public services. Follow-­‐up activities from this joint initiative must be closely entwined with our work on sustainable transport and in particular promoting public transport systems. This work should also involve seeking alliances with other civil society organisations that seek to protect public services.

64. The ITF will develop a 2011 -­‐ 2014 strategic plan which will produce materials, education programmes and campaigns supporting the Global Unions Quality Public Services Campaign in line with the strategy developed by that Campaign. The ITF will plan at least two campaign programmes

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during the period. The ITF will be an active partner in building global and local coalitions on public services and will be involved in at least four local or city alliances by 2014.

D. Delivery

Gaining engagement; setting priorities and delivering “SMART” work programmes

65. It is vital that the strategies and work programmes adopted by the ITF are relevant to and supported by its affiliates. These programmes require a more focussed and more long term commitment from affiliates. It will not be enough to pass a Congress Resolution or even to introduce a more effective set of work programmes and priorities if these are not shared by our member unions. Our strategy provides a framework which must be underpinned by the active participation of our affiliates in setting goals and targets and planning global and regional strategies for building stronger unions and increasing union leverage.

66. The ITF Sections are fundamental to the delivery of Strong Unions – Sustainable Transport. It is vital that affiliates are ensuring that their priorities and targets for building strong unions and increasing union leverage are being implemented in effective Section work programmes and in ITF cross sectional programmes and initiatives.

67. The ITF’s regional structures must play a key role in ensuring that these strategies are relevant and meaningful to our affiliates and reflect their needs and concerns. This must be accompanied by a clear programme to ensure that unions in the regions have a more effective means to have their views and realities embedded in the development of work programmes in the ITF. The ITF will continue to implement the recommendations of the Secretariat Review, including the Regional Review.

68. The programmes of Strong Unions and Sustainable Transport must be backed up by effective ITF communications and education activities focussed on supporting union activism and affiliate participation.

69. During the period 2011 -­‐ 2014 we have to continue to evaluate every structure, activity and part of the ITF to ensure that it is operating not just because it has been in existence for a long time but that it delivers the results which the Congress has demanded. We need to increasingly operate flexibly and effectively within the ITF Secretariat. This means that we have to ensure that:  we identify and make use in the most effective way of all resources (human, financial, practical) which exist within the ITF family,  we constantly identify both the high and low priorities within the four year work programme and allocate scarce resources accordingly,  all ITF affiliates are both contributing to delivering the strategy and that they feel part of the process.

70. A cross sectional ITF-­‐wide approach is essential to the delivery of this strategy. It is important to continue to bring together the Section chairs and the Women’s Committee Chair to discuss the effective implementation of an ITF-­‐wide industrial strategy and to finalise a Strategy Group on Logistics.

71. The ITF will deliver its strategy Strong Unions Sustainable Transport building on the major changes in structures and working methods which have already been introduced as a result of the ‘Organising Globally’ programme. Each of the key areas of work requires a four year 2011 -­‐ 2014 work

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programme. These should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed (SMART) i.e. which:  set specific objectives and expected outcomes  indicate what activities will achieve  allocate resources needed  designate responsibilities and time frames

For all work programmes, including cross sectional programmes, it must be made clear where responsibility lies for the delivery.

72. The General Secretary will draw up a detailed four year work programme for the delivery of this ‘Strong Unions – Sustainable Transport’ document for submission to the first meeting of the ITF Executive Board following the Congress in 2011. The Executive Board will prioritise the activities for delivery in the overall 2011 -­‐ 2014 work programme.

Funding and Resources – Organising Globally

73. The ITF believes that it is only from a base of organised strength and power that the ITF will be able to exert its influence either on employers, governments or international bodies.

74. It is only through building stronger affiliates with more active membership that the ITF will be able to deliver its international support for organising in the longer term. The 2011 -­‐ 2014 programme must therefore be devoted to building stronger unions.

75. But if it is to succeed the programme requires substantial investment and resources. It is proposed that a new Organising Globally Fund should be established and funded from all sources of income to the ITF but open to special ear-­‐marked funds from affiliates. The purpose of the OGF would be to provide time-­‐limited funding to ITF projects, which are directly involved with the implementation of the Organising Globally Programme. This would enable the ITF to extend this work and to take on fixed term contract staff to take specific projects forward. This would include supporting ITF regional offices with capacity for implementing the Organising Globally Programme. The OGF would also potentially fund projects operated by groups of affiliates which met the right criteria. This Fund would be accountable to the Executive Board and should be activated as soon as the ITF has completed the necessary ground work for the effective delivery of organising projects (as outlined above). The ITF should set up a task group to propose available sources of finance; terms of reference; specific aims and objectives; funding criteria; rules and structure of governance, for consideration by the Executive Board before the end of 2011.

76. Organising Globally programmes and projects over the next four years should be measured and evaluated according to their achievement in increasing union leverage and delivering clear benefits from international solidarity. Success criteria will be determined within the context of the four year strategic plan.

77. As a result of the debate and discussion of this key programme by all ITF affiliates at the 2010 ITF Congress in Mexico City, the ITF will go forward into the next four years armed with both a vision and a clear strategy to enable it to build strong unions and promote sustainable transport.

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