NIPSA Global Solidarity Newsletter, May 2009

Newsletter

Issue 5

May 2009

Children of the Kayembe Club who will benefit from this project

New NIPSA supported Livelihoods project in Malawi

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IPSA has agreed to Fund a livelihoods project with Concern Worldwide at a cost of ÂŁ12,000.

This livelihoods programme, which will last for one year, sets out to improve the livelihoods of the rural communities through sustainable development, using and managing natural resources in the three focal traditional authorities in

Nkhotakota District of Central Malawi. In order to reduce land erosion, the programme will focus on bringing about real and tangible improvements in natural resources management, which will increase forest resources, improve agricultural conservation practices, increase capacity of the implementing partners and the local communities and increase game and fish resources

through fish ponds and established forest conservation areas.

A key area for the programme will be the development of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to be vibrant and accountable organisations.

This will take place through a variety of organisational development activities and (continued on page 3)

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Chairperson’s Foreword

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ne of the perks of being Chair is that I’m allowed a sneak preview of the Newsletter before it’s distributed and I really do feel that each new issue is better than the last – and, as the production is down to someone else (namely Geraldine), I’m happy to extol its virtues!

Across the page, you’ll see that we’ve managed to secure funding from DfID to provide training for Global Solidarity Champions who will subsequently be equipped to educate NIPSA members in their own areas. This is a great opportunity for members to participate in more in-depth training than we’ve normally been able to provide and I’d encourage you to apply.

We’ve just come through lent and some of you may have decided to forgo treats such as chocolate for a few weeks. The difference between us and many people across the globe is that we have the luxury of choice - and that’s the theme of many of the reports featured in this issue. I hope the reports will inspire you to find out more, get involved and actively support the issues we’ve championed.

Janette McNulty

Chairperson, NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee

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Would you like to become a Global Solidarity Champion?

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IPSA has recently received funding from the Department for International Development (DfID) to pilot a Global Issues training course. The course aims to educate and equip 40 NIPSA members with the knowledge and skills to become Global Solidarity Champions. The intention is to run two 3-day training sessions each targeted at a maximum of 20 NIPSA members across NIPSA’s membership base. The first of these sessions will commence in October 2009 with the second planned for February 2010 and run one day per week over 3 weeks.

The aims will be: V

to understand and recognise the important role the international trade union movement contributes to the work for justice and equality in the world;

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to enhance awareness, knowledge and understanding of international development issues;

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engage participants with the challenges of development and their role as agents for change; and

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support participants in their individual and collective efforts to effect positive social change.

The Expected Outcomes A Global Solidarity Champion will be equipped to:V

Contribute to build international solidarity structures within NIPSA.

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Play a key role in mobilising and educating other NIPSA members, other trade unions, to work towards the eradication of global poverty and hunger.

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Work with the NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee in raising awareness and encouraging members to contribute to the NIPSA Developing World Fund.

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Take part in the future work of the NIPSA Global Solidarity Committee to develop links and co-operation with the international trade union movement.

When details about the course have been finalised they will be issued to Branches. In the meantime if any member would like to become a Global Solidarity Champion you can forward your details to: Geraldine Alexander, NIPSA Headquarters, Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park, Belfast BT9 6DP Tel: 028 9066 1831 E-Mail: geraldine.alexander@nipsa.org.uk

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New NIPSA supported project Livelihoods project in Malawi (continued from page 1) network engagements. The programme will build the capacity of existing and new local partners to continue to place the poor and vulnerable to the centre of the development process.

Approximately 5,000 households will directly benefit from the programme, resulting in 22,500 indirectly benefiting.

Beneficiaries of the project will include:V V V

Female headed households; People living with HIV and AIDS and their care givers; Small scale subsistence farmers with less than 1 hectare of land.

In order to bring sustainable positive changes to the communities, Concern will work with community based organisations and local nongovernmental organisations, both of which will be in the community long after the completion of the project, ensuring skills and lessons are passed on and further developed.

Programme Aims and Activities The programme aims to increase the availability of natural woodlands, firewood, timber, poles, fish and game through tree planting, the demarcations of village forest areas and local communities being trained on sustainable management and utilisation of natural resources and environment, in addition to the construction of fish ponds.

Two farmers show the man made pools which will be used to pump water into surrounding fields to provide irrigation in the dry season

It also aims to implement land and water conservation measures and create awareness on sustainable use of natural resources by conducting open days where environmental issues will be discussed and holding a series of training classes targeted to the Civil Society Organisation and the

rural communities.

The community will be encouraged to take ownership of the project to ensure sustainability of the project outcomes.

This will involve each community coming up with bi-laws for their community woodlots; and providing each Women grinding maize and household within each seed into flour community with trees to plant around their homesteads and gardens for their own use.

Programme Sustainability and Monitoring The programme will play a large role in creating a vibrant civil society by utilisation of the professional experience and productive relationships with government institutions. Civil Society Organisations will consistently collaborate with government to contribute to the systems which monitor the local condition of the poor and vulnerable. This will ensure that appropriate actions are taken for the tangible benefit of the poor and vulnerable.

Concern places a priority on developing organisational capacity for partners, who will then act as mentors to other partners.

Network building will be supported throughout the programme and exchange visits will be encouraged between districts.

The involvement of Local Government Institutions (such as District Forestry Office and District Fisheries Napilira Kapichira from Kayembe Office) ensures that Club harvesting green maize cobs they will fulfil their which have been pre-sold to some roles in assisting restaurants in Lilongwe, Malawi civil society in the future. Documentation of good experiences, best practices and lessons learnt will be created by these organisations and shared to ensure continuation of the areas within this programme.

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“Stop Harming, Start Helping”

Oxfam International ice sculptures by the entrance to the conference at the UN climate change talk in Poznan, Poland, December 2008. The message, that rich countries should ‘Stop Harming, Start Helping’, could not be missed by the delegates and the media on their way into the building.

2009 will be a very important year for the future of the planet and its inhabitants.

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orld leaders will meet in December 2009 to negotiate and decide on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol to protect the world’s climate. With just 12 months to go until these critical talks in Copenhagen, the world is far off track in its efforts to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change. Now is the time for strong leadership from our politicians.

Climate change is a global justice issue. Carbon emissions from rich countries have

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contributed most to climate change, yet it is the poor in the developing world who are already feeling the devastating effects and are least able to cope. They will continue to be hit first and hardest by climate change, a problem they did not create.

Throughout the year, Oxfam Ireland will be campaigning actively to ensure that this new global deal is fair and delivers a strong and comprehensive plan to address the challenges presented by our rapidly changing climate. In particular, the needs of developing countries must be at the heart of this crucial global deal.

For more information please visit www.oxfamireland.org/ campaigns and if you would like to get involved in some campaigning, please feel free to contact Oxfam’s campaigns team at any time at campaigns@oxfamireland.org or Joanna.rea@oxfamireland. org or call us at 028 9083 5941.

Oxfam Ireland is also a member of climate change campaigning groups in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland and they will be involved in delivering many joint actions and activities in 2009 – go to www.stopclimatechaos.ie for more details.

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Trócaire campaign is a ‘matter of life and death’ says UN agency chief in Belfast “The failure to protect innocent people in times of conflict is quite literally a matter of life and death”, John Ging, head of the UN in Gaza said, speaking at a Trócaire lecture in Belfast on 25th March 2009. “The deaths of 300 children in Gaza in the latest violence is an illustration of what happens when this failure occurs”.

John Ging, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, spoke at Trócaire’s annual lecture at the Queens University in Belfast. Mr Ging manages a human development and humanitarian programme for one million refugees which is valued at £350 million with a staff of over 10,000.

Mr Ging’s presentation highlighted the plight of civilians caught up in the violence in Gaza, particularly during the latest crisis, which began at the end of December. Speaking before the lecture Mr Ging said, “Even though the spotlight has moved from Gaza, there is still a huge humanitarian task facing us in the region. The lack of humanitarian access is still the most pressing problem”.

“There are tons of essential aid items including food and medicine sitting in Egypt which is badly needed in Gaza. This aid cannot be transported into Gaza as there is only one crossing point open”, Mr Ging continued. “The onus is on Israel to facilitate the movement of this aid. It

Eithne McNulty

John Ging

is shameful that this movement has not already taken place.”

Mr Ging concluded, “We cannot even begin to think about reconstruction in Gaza until the current humanitarian emergency has been addressed”.

Eithne McNulty, Trócaire’s Regional Manager, said she was delighted with the success of the event. “The lecture gave people in Belfast an opportunity to learn about the issues facing people that are caught up in violent humanitarian crises around the world”, she said “Trócaire is working in countries such as Sudan, Colombia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Burma, with communities that have been forced from their homes by war and violence”. Trócaire is providing humanitarian assistance such as shelter, food and healthcare to vulnerable families. The organisation is also helping people to return to their homes and to get the support they need to rebuild their lives.

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a i b m

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Brian Moore, NIPSA President, reports on the project to rehabilitate trade union victims of violence in Colombia

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his project, which began in March 2007, is managed by the Permanent Committee for Human Rights (CPDH), the largest human rights organisation in Colombia. The total cost for the project is £20,000 of which NIPSA is funding £12,500 via Justice for Colombia. I am pleased to say that this project followed on directly from a pilot project that NIPSA participated in through Justice for Colombia and which functioned from September 2006 to the end of February 2007.

Basis for the project NIPSA has previously highlighted to members the fact that Colombia is infamous for being the country in the world where more trade unionists are murdered than any other. But trade unionists are attacked in many other ways too: some are imprisoned without trial, many are forced to flee their homes and jobs after being threatened, some simply disappear and others are the victims of attempted assassinations that leave them both physically and mentally scarred. Torture and physical attacks are also common in Colombia and some trade union members have been abducted and tortured before being released with a warning to leave and give up their union activities. It is an extreme situation and the Colombian Government does nothing to prevent the violence.

In 2006, a group of Colombia trade unions approached the CPDH and asked them to look at the possibility of starting a project to assist those union members who had suffered psychologically as a result of the violence. Three groups of people were identified who required such assistance: a) b) c)

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Trade union members (and their families) who had survived assassination attempts; Trade union members (and their families) who had been tortured or physically attacked; The children of trade unionists who had been murdered (often murdered in front of the children).

The project aims to assist those union members who had suffered psychologically as a result of the violence. It aims to support and ease their recovery progress and assist them with adapting to life in a large city. Most of those involved come from rural regions and there is a huge gap between urban and rural life in Colombia – they arrive lost, disorientated and with skills that are of little use in the city making it hard to find employment. In many cases the children are terrified of the city, having never experienced anything similar before.

The beneficiaries All of the beneficiaries of the project are trade union members, the spouses of murdered trade union members or the children of trade union members. Most of them have fled violence or threats of violence in their home regions to come to Bogotá where they are now living in the most precarious conditions. Others have witnessed terrible violence, including having seen family members murdered.

In total 37 families have benefited from ject the project to date. These e pro h t m ed fro families are made nefitt e b o h up of 49 adults, ren w Child 28 adolescents (aged 13 to 16) and 39 children (aged under 13) – a total of 116 individuals.

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The above mentioned people all live in the Ciudad Bolivar shantytown on the outskirts of Bogota – a shantytown that is home to around one million people, most of whom have been forcibly displaced from their original homes in various different parts of Colombia.

Some of the individuals involved were happy to speak and want us to know about their experiences of participating. One such individual was:

Virginia Saray An active member of the regional agricultural workers union, SINTRAGRIM, in the municipality of El Castillo in Meta department. Paramilitaries threatened her husband and three children and murdered her best friend (also a union activist).

In April 2005 the paramilitaries detained her for two hours during which time they beat her and threatened to kill her if she did not agree to leave the region immediately. The family now lives in Bogotá and Mrs Saray suffers from a variety of psychological problems as well as physical disabilities due to her beating. According to Mrs Saray “The activities that the CPDH have arranged for us helped to give me a tremendous amount of courage and to get my life back on track. I’d like to say thank you to all those people who made it possible, I will never forget the solidarity shown.”

Project outcomes Because of the sometimes intangible nature of this type of work, it is hard to explain or quantify with words the achievements of this project.

However, it has allowed some of the people who have suffered more than any other in Colombia to regain some dignity in their lives. It has been one of the most positive projects that NIPSA has been involved with and the improvements in stability and emotional recuperation of those involved is clear to see.

Concrete results that are easy to quantify include the improvements that have been seen in the academic achievements of the majority of the children involved. Despite their severe emotional problems, these children have been able to return to education and the benefits are clear, as their teachers’ have confirmed.

Whilst the adolescents in the group have more complicated issues, for example, most have lost contact with their friends, positive progress has

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ash also been ing clo made with them the s in and the fact that they now ‘Ci uda understand the reasons for their dB oliv suffering and can see a way forward ar ’ has been of great help. Parents have also reported that the adolescents are now more aware of the suffering that their own parents went through and that the issue of ‘blame’, which many had previously attributed to their parents, is now easier to cope with.

A final indication of the successfulness of the project is that several trade unions – the health workers union ANTHOC, the public sector workers union FENALTRASE, and the agricultural workers union FENSUAGRO – have lobbied for it to be continued.

I am proud as I am sure all of you will be as a NIPSA activist to be associated with this and previous projects and that we in our own small way are providing an invaluable contribution to the lives of our Trade Union comrades in Columbia who are at A march of trade unionists and the front line students on the way to the Plaza in protecting the rights of workers.

NIPSA, I hope, will continue to support the Columbian Trade Unions as we strongly believe that this support and solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Colombia – the most dangerous place on earth for trade unionists – should remain a priority.

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Latest Report on the CODEMUH project

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s reported in the Autumn 2008 edition of the Newsletter the NIPSA Developing World Fund has been supporting this two year project with Trócaire since February 2007 totalling £24,000. This latest report demonstrates how the money donated has assisted women factory workers in Honduras defend their rights.

During 2008 the Honduran Women’s Collective (CODEMUH) has continued to work for the promotion and defence of the rights of women. CODEMUH’s strategy is to provide training and information that enable women to independently defend their rights in the workplace and in the home. Particular focus is placed on the labour rights of women working in maquilas or sweat shop factories, as well as on women who have to confront situations of domestic violence at home.

The context of this work during 2008 has not been favourable.

The Honduran government continues to promote the maquilas as one of the key solutions to the nation’s underdevelopment, citing the creation of jobs in these factories as a major success.

While it cannot be denied that the industry employs many thousands of workers, this benefit must be weighed against the conditions in which

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they work and the long term negative impact on workers’ health. Maquilas are frequently granted exceptions from the national labour law, for example they have their own minimum wage which is lower than the national minimum wage. And the authorities normally turn a blind eye when workers’ are summarily dismissed without payment of their benefits, even if their dismissal is for health reasons caused by their jobs.

Applicants are still normally obliged to take HIV test to prove their negative status, despite this being illegal under Honduran law. 78% of all the abuses reported to CODEMUH during the year were directly related to labour rights.

CODEMUH’s training programme is aimed at community activities and leaders living in the residential areas around the industrial parks. These women become specialists in the mechanisms for filing a formal complaint in cases of domestic violence, abuse and labour rights infringement. They are then able to advise friends and neighbours in their area who face similar situations, showing them the correct procedures to follow as well as accompanying them to provide moral support. The trainees are also responsible for creating and maintaining a women’s network in their area through household visits, meetings, telephone

contact and the distribution of information on issues related to the promotion and defence of women’s rights. This means that an independent system for training and providing information has been set up, which no longer depends heavily on CODEMUH in order to continue.

CODEMUH has also been involved in lobbying activities aimed at the Honduran government. In March 2008 CODEMUH presented the National Congress with a proposal for the reform of the labour law to prevent professional illnesses and accidents. The proposal was presented by one of the minority parties in Congress, but rapidly won the support of 37 of the 128 deputies, including the Vice President of Congress. This represents an important step forward in terms of recognition by the nation’s politicians of the need to legislate to protect workers in the maquila industry.

Throughout the year CODEMUH has continued to receive complaints from many maquila workers alleging that their health has been destroyed by their occupations, and that as a result not only have they not received the support of their employers but usually they have been summarily dismissed for not being able to fulfil their functions. The following is an example of this: Continued on page 12

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“Make it happen – choose Fairtrade”

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his was the theme for Fairtrade Fortnight 2009.

Oxfam Ireland who have been retailing Fairtrade products for almost 20 years is one of the largest independent retailers of Fairtrade products.

NIPSA President Brian Moore pictured with Mary Cathcart, Shop Manager at NIPSA’s Fairtrade event on 9 April 2009

NIPSA invited Oxfam to set up a stall in their Headquarters selling Fairtrade certified products. This provided an opportunity to display their vast range of products and gave staff an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of people in developing countries.

While products with the Fairtrade Mark like food and cotton are becoming more widely available, fairly traded personal accessories, gifts and home décor items are less readily available. Oxfam Ireland is particularly proud of their unique and handcrafted gift range, and work with their artisan partners to continually upgrade designs and quality.

With the remodelling of their Fairtrade shops they are keen to expose new customers to their broad range of products.

Oxfam operates a Fairtrade shop in Rosemary Street, Belfast (as well as in Dublin, Cork and Galway). The focus of their shop is to continually increase their sales of Fairtrade products so that they can

increase the purchases from their Fairtrade producers. They are also introducing a new online shop from early October (www.oxfamirelandship.org) which will offer customers an additional way to purchase Fairtrade products.

Fairtrade is often defined as paying a fairer price. Price is a large component of Fairtrade, but there is much more to it including: V V V V V V V V V V

Paying a fairer price Empowering producers Creating market opportunities Bringing traditional skills to western consumers Providing business development training Purchasing directly from producers Long term trading commitment Partial payment in advance Promotion of safe and healthy working conditions Concern for human rights

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Sustainable use of natural resources

Fairtrade began in the 1950s with several overseas development NGOs such as Oxfam selling products through their traditional charity shops that had been made by partners overseas. Fairtrade has come a long way since then – there are now over 79,000 points of sale throughout Europe including nearly 3,000 independent outlets such as Oxfam Ireland Fairtrade shops. Sales of Fairtrade products in Europe now exceed €660m, over double the total from five years ago. Oxfam Ireland Fairtrade shops stock on average over 800 different products sourced from over 30 of the poorest countries in the world.

Fairtrade is a concrete way that consumers in Northern Ireland can make a difference to communities in the developing world, while getting great products for themselves at the same time!

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New Project Consolidating Banana and Tropical Fruit Workers Rights in Honduras

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IPSA’s Developing World Fund is helping support one of Trócaire’s partners in Honduras, COSIBAH. This organisation works on promoting unity and strengthening the trade union movement especially in the agribusiness sector.

COSIBAH was formed in 1994 and in 2007 Irish journalist Dave O’Connell visited the organisation with Trócaire. The following is his account of that experience.

Changing Times for the Banana Republic Twenty years ago there were between 600,000 and 700,000 Hondurans working on the country’s banana plantations but now there are fewer than 9,000. The fruit was far and away Honduras’ biggest export year after year – now it is down to fifth and the list is topped by the one million people who have left the country in the last five

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years alone to work illegally in the US. They constitute Honduras’ biggest export now.

The American giants Dole and Chiquita own almost 800km of plantations running from the commercial capital of San Pedro Sula right to the coast. Irish company Fyffes also has a slice of the market albeit a much smaller one. Those who remain to work on the banana plantations are appallingly paid, earning less than $5 for a twelve to fourteen hour day.

However it used to be worse and the efforts of the trade union organisation COSIBAH have at least ensured that workers no longer have to put in sixteen to eighteen hour days, the female banana packers get maternity leave (even if it is just four days) and they are paid in cash unlike the old days when they received vouchers for the company store.

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COSIBAH works on five main areas: raising awareness of workers rights; organising union membership; protection of the environment; communications and gender equality. It is with the last two in particular that Trócaire helps. Gender equality has long been a fundamental part of the organisation’s ethos but Trócaire also enables communication from the union to the workers through a network of seven community radio stations which are funded in part by the development agency.

These stations allow COSIBAH to organise the workers, to educate them on their rights as employees and to get news and messages into the heart of rural Honduras. Cheme Martinez is responsible for that communications programme; he himself began work on the plantations but then became a journalist and now combines both experiences to ensure he is one of the driving forces behind the workers’ union. “Radio goes beyond the narrow remit of reaching people in the banana business,” Cheme said. “It helps deal with exploitation on a wider scale.”

It is not just the pay and conditions that had to change. Ten years ago, Trócaire funded a study which found that the chemicals used to speed up banana growth had left 11,000 of the male workers sterile.

Hurricane Mitch was just the excuse the banana companies needed to slash their workforces to a fraction of their former levels. However, the advent of the fair trade campaign and the strength of the union have helped give cause for renewed optimism.

And while all these things are relative, with the support of NIPSA and Trócaire working hard to raise awareness on a global scale, those left within what was once the country’s biggest industry can look forward to better days ahead.

HOW can you help?

BY RAISING MONEY

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he challenge is there for members and branches to work up fund raising ventures.

BY DONATING

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e encourage members, if they can afford it, to give regularly by either taking out a covenant or authorising a Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll deduction.

If you would like to do this, please complete the deduction slip below, and make a real difference to the lives of the poor people of the world.

NIPSA/Developing World Fund Payroll Donation Form

I want to give to the NIPSA Developing World Fund, direct from my salary the following amount per month: (please tick box) £5.00

cost in take home pay £3.90

£10.00 cost in take home pay £7.80 £15.00 cost in take home pay £11.70 £20.00 cost in take home pay £15.60 Above figures are based on standard tax rates.

Weekly paid staff should indicate amounts in panel below

£ Minimum donation £1.30 Cost in take home pay £1.00

Name Address may be omitted if necessary

Postcode Staff No Employer’s Name Work Location Signed Date

Please tick if you already use GAYE

Please return this form to NIPSA Headquarters

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Why is NIPSA’s Developing World Fund unique?

The Fund is unique because ..... ..... not a single penny of the money contributed by members goes towards administration - 100% of the money donated goes towards the specific self-help projects which NIPSA supports; ..... for every £1 contributed by members (who pay tax), NIPSA is able to recover paid tax, eg £5 per month deducted from your gross wage (before tax) actually costs you only £3.90 (at the basic rate of tax); ..... the General Council donates to the Fund each year. This money does not come out of NIPSA’s funds, but out of the Union’s fee fund, which is made up of the monies paid to union officials for their appearances on industrial tribunals and other public bodies.

Geraldine Alexander Global Solidarity Committee NIPSA Harkin House 54 Wellington Park BELFAST BT9 6DP Tele: 028 9066 1831 Fax: 028 9066 5847 Minicom: 028 9068 7285 E-mail: info@nipsa.org.uk Web: www.nipsa.org.uk Views expressed in this Newsletter are not, unless otherwise stated, the views of NIPSA.

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Latest Report on the CODEMUH project (continued from page 8) Santos Lourdes Campos Bardales (pictured below) is 33 years old and also works in a GILDAN factory since February 2000. Her daily production goal was 6,000 articles between a team of four, at a rate of 60 dozen articles per hour. In 2005 she started to suffer from health problems and was diagnosed with chronic tendonitis in her left shoulder and severe neck pain.

Due to economic pressures and the sheer psychological exhaustion produced by harassment from the company decided to resign and negotiate her labour benefits.

However despite her injuries being caused by her occupation, it was diagnosed as a common (non work related) illness by Honduran Social Security System doctors. Santos was therefore forced to accept the offer of labour benefits made to her by the company even though they did not include compensation for her partial disability. To date Santos has been unable to find work, because every job involves the use of her arms, and she cannot physically last more than one week in such positions and has been forced to abandon several employment offers as a result.

This case, and many other similar cases, highlight the way in which the “development” brought to Honduras by such industries is dependent on a large pool

of low paid labourers for whose rights the companies assume no responsibility whatsoever, despite provision to the contrary in Honduran labour legislation. Their strategy is to harass workers to resign when they begin to show symptoms of ill health so that these cases are not registered in the Honduran Social Security System as workplace illnesses. In a country with high poverty and unemployment rates, injured workers are left unable to find work to support themselves and their families, and much less to cover the costs of the medical treatment that they require. Such treatment is usually only available to the employed who are able to pay the monthly charge required for access to the Honduran Social Security System.

In this context, the work undertaken by CODEMUH with support from NIPSA often provides the only source of legal and moral support available to the victims of labour rights abuses and domestic violence, and is also one of the very few Honduran organisations that has managed to place this issue on the political agenda and force both the authorities and maquila owners to begin to recognise the existence and severity of the problems that women in Honduras are facing.

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