UnionAID annual report 2013

ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Trustees’ Report 2012-13 has been a year of consolidation for UnionAID, with existing projects continuing to meet their objectives and membership and funding support continuing to grow steadily. By March 2013 Solidarity membership stood at 162. Accumulated funds will enable us to continue to develop new projects with a growing number of committed activists, and people signing up to become Solidarity members.

In the absence of Ross and Helen Wilson in Myanmar (from where Helen continued to provide essential project management support) for most of the year Christine Ross and Nanette Cormack stepped up to play a leadership role. and the Trustees are grateful for the additional time and effort which they have put in during the remainder of the year. UnionAID is heavily reliant upon volunteers, particularly with fundraising and project management.

We are proud that we are able to achieve a high level of professionalism in our work while at the same time keeping out our administration costs at a minimal level. The trustees are grateful to our volunteers who play such a key role in our fundraising, and to Sue Windsor and Jane Elliott who ensure that our financial management is excellent.

Fundraising activities, such as our annual iRaffle and film screenings, are now a part of our annual routine and make an important contribution to our project funds. However, we continue to look to individual supporters to sign up as Solidarity members and commit through ongoing direct debits to regular

donations to support our project work.

This is the financial foundation for our work and our objective is to build this support so we can build our project work which provides such vital support to workers and their families in developing countries in our region.

As the project reports indicate our development projects continue to be successful. The NZ Aid Programme support for the Mae Sot Occupational Skills Training Centre ended in February and surpassed all the project objectives.

It has been a very successful project in providing skills training to young migrant women from Burma who cross the border looking for work so they can send financial support back to their families.

We are proud that our skills training has ensured that they have all been able to get jobs immediately they complete our two week course.

The presence of Ross Wilson in Myanmar working for the International Labour Organisation also enabled him to make an assessment of possible UnionAID project assistance there and we expect to establish new projects there during the 2013-14 year.

A major disappointment during the year was the decision of the NZ Government not to approve funding for our Burma Young Community Leaders Programme in 2013. This has been acknowledged by everyone, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and MFAT officials, as a very successful programme over the past four years. As the ILO Liaison Officer in Yangon, New Zealander Steve Marshall has noted:

Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real change

“One of the critical shortages in this country is human capital with capacity to support and lead change processes.

I can attest that the Young Leaders Programme plays a valuable role to that end...”

Immigration issues are said to be the reason for the funding suspension and we are hopeful that these can be resolved so that the programme can resume in 2014.

Our Tamil Nadu project has gone from strength to strength as the Dalit communities it serves successfully develop cooperatives to enable them to secure their economic independence, and educate their children. We are very grateful to Gareth Morgan for generously agreeing to support this project by matching our fundraising dollar-for-dollar.

The new project in Sri Lanka has also successfully achieved its objectives of assisting Tamil women in the former civil war areas in Eastern and Northern Sri Lanka to organize unions in the new garment factories which have been established there.

And last but not least, the Trustees acknowledge the generous support from our donors. Without your financial support we wouldn’t be able to provide the assistance to workers in developing countries through our projects. Those workers are very grateful and we can all feel proud that the projects are making a real positive difference to their lives and to the future for their families.

Peter Conway Helen Kelly Mary-Jane Rivers Ross Wilson

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

2013

79,821

2012

40,895

28,825

242,754

7,900

5,817

229,037

271,579

4,488

188,142

33,798

-

-

45,151

Funded by UnionAID

Project Expenditure

Grant Income

47,925

Surplus/(Deficit)

Grant/Project Income & Expenditure

267,890

5,959

Fundraising/Promotional Expenditure

Total Expenditure

4,779

257,151

315,814

6,019

Operational Expenditure

Project Expenditure

Expenditure

Total Income

Interest

32,001 197,330

Fundraising Income

-

Grant/Project Income

Foundation Donations

53,446 27,018

Kiwi Solidarity Member Donations

General Donations

253,484

Total Assets

242,057

Equity

194,131

165,305

28,826

2,476

2,476

196,608

234

196,374

2012

Accumulated funds are available for funding projects as they are identified and developed.

Accumulated funds consist of residual amounts from foundation donations, project management fees from BYL project, and Kiwi Solidarity and general donations.

A copy of the Audited Financial Statements is available on request from the UnionAid office, or from the website.

This summary has been extracted from the 2013 Audited Financial Statements.

Notes to the Summary Financial Statements

194,131

Accumulated Funds

Current year surplus

47,925

11,426

Represented by:

11,426

Current Liabilities Total Liabilites

Liabilities

-

253,484

2013

Fixed Assets

Current Assets

Assets

2012

Income

2013

Statement of Financial Position As at 31 March 2013

Statement of Financial Performance For the Year Ended 31 March 2013

Financial Report

Projects Report UnionAID Project Work in 2012 -2013

1.

The Tamil Nadu Labour Union (TNLU) Dalit and Tribal Economic Development Project

The project continues to impress, with outputs either meeting or exceeding expectations. Ross Wilson, Christine Ross and Helen Wilson from UnionAID made a monitoring visit to the project in early March 2013. A detailed report from this visit has been prepared for the Morgan Foundation (available at http://unionaid. org.nz/2013/04/dalit-and-tribal-workerseconomic-development-project-mid-termreport/).

Four of the five intended worker cooperatives are now established and constitutions drawn up, with a total membership of 927 (610 women and 317 men). These are the Basket Weavers, the Sandalmakers, the Narikuravar (Gypsy) Craft, and the Kodai Vegetable Growers Cooperatives (previously the Agriculture Farming Cooperative). The fifth cooperative to be established is a cooperative for flower growers. This will also establish direct links with the flower vendors micro-enterprise for mutual advantage.

Four micro-enterprises have been established, currently with 20 members in each. Membership is continuing to grow and by the end of the project there will be 30 members in each of the Small Florists, Vegetable Vendors, Rope Bracelet Makers and Manure Producers enterprises.

Training has been a significant component of this project and the numbers of people trained is over-target at 1120 with basic training, and 495 trainers trained (ToT). The intention is for further ToT and general training with a projected total at the end of the project of 662 trainers and 1820 trainees.

The extra training courses have been undertaken because there is an identified need among the membership both for more vocational skills and business management skills.

This three year project with TNLU commenced in June 2011 and will be completed in June 2014. It is funded on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the Morgan Foundation, up to $30,000 per year against new monies raised by UnionAID each project year.

2.

The FTUB Occupational Training Centre Mae Sot Project

This training centre project, after two years funding through NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has come to an end. The occupational training complex now boasts two classrooms, an office, a dormitory and kitchen for the trainees, a house for the trainers, and three ablution blocks.

In spite of moves towards democracy in Burma, there has been no decrease in the numbers of migrant workers seeking higher wages in Thailand. This project provides these mainly women migrants alternatives to human trafficking, and

Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real change

enables them to send remittances to their impoverished families in Burma. The course also equips them with information about Thai labour laws, Thai language and culture and human rights so they can take up issues in the workplace.

Over the two project years, the intensive two week course has taught industrial sewing skills to 738 migrant women and 60 men (mainly brothers of trainees) well above the projected 350 per year.

All trainees have found work in the many factories along the Thai-Burma border and in Bangkok within days of completing the course. A small survey of employees showed 100% satisfaction with the trainees’ skills and some factories provide fabric offcuts and thread for the training centre.

Because of the effectiveness of this training, and the fact that self-sufficiency is unlikely in the short to medium term, UnionAID has decided to pick up the operation costs of the training centre for the 2013-2014 year.

3.

Sri Lanka Garment Workers Project

Union membership is now 100% in two of the five factories organised under the UnionAID Sri Lankan partnership project with the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZGSE).

When the civil war in Sri Lanka ended, garment factories were set up in the north and east of the country to take advantage of the cheap labour and in response to the government’s intention

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

to establish Free Trade Zones there. Under our project with the FTZGSE, a branch office has been established and two organisers appointed. Their success in managing unlawful dismissals or termination of jobs, failure to pay wages or overtime, and ethnic discrimination, has seen a rapid growth in union membership among the mainly female workforce.

4.

Burma Young Community Leaders Project

In June 2012 six young leaders arrived from Burma for the fourth intake of the six month programme which is managed

by UnionAID volunteers and fully funded by MFAT. As with other intakes, these six young men and women represent a wide range of ethnicities and organisations, and included a journalist, two representatives from ethnic political parties, one from Save the Children and two from small civil society organisations.

All completed the six month course at Victoria University of Wellington satisfactorily and returned to Burma in late December. We are grateful to the host families who give the students the added experience of New Zealand family life and culture.

We now have 23 alumni who have returned to their organisations in Burma or on the Thai-Burma border, and are making a significant contribution to the transition to democracy. We hope that the NZ government will decide to continue to fund this very worthwhile project in 2014.

5.

FTUB Parami School projects

A number of small projects have supported specific activities at the school established by our project partners, Saw Min Lwin and Htwe Nge, in Mae Sot. The school provides an excellent education from pre-school to Year 11 for over 700 children of migrant workers from Burma.

Although UnionAID has managed these, the funding has been provided directly by individual unions.

The education unions (PPTA, NZEI, ISEA and TEU), for example, have paid the salaries of four teachers who provide lessons to Years 9 and 10 children in science, physics, computer studies Thai language, and biology and social studies.

These will enable these children to progress to Year 11.

The Association for Social Studies Teachers (ASSA) has paid for special resources required for the Montessori teaching in the Parami pre-school, which is attended by up to 70 children.

According to Min Lwin, the results are already impressive, with the children quieter and more focused on learning.

The pupils who live at a distance from the FTUB school get safely to and from school each day in transport generously paid for by the Rail and Maritime Union (RMTU) and Maritime Union (MUNZ).

The school has one vehicle of its own, and they lease two extra cars to ferry the children. The three vehicles do six ‘ferry’ trips each a day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon, bringing over 400 children safely to and from school.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust (UnionAID) An independent charitable trust established by the NZ Council of Trade Unions –Te Kauae Kaimahi as an independent international development agency for New Zealand unionists and their families.

Uniquely union: Workers in New Zealand helping workers overseas Registered Charity – Charities Commission Reg No CC42051 Trustees: Ross Wilson Executive Chair, Peter Conway, Helen Kelly and Mary-Jane Rivers.

P O Box 6689 Wellington 6141 Email: admin@unionaid.org.nz Visit: unionaid.org.nz

Union Foundation Members: Union Foundation Members: NZ Council of Trade Unions –Te Kauae Kaimahi (CTU), Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union(EPMU), Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), National Distribution Union (NDU), NZ Dairy Workers Union (NZDWU), NZEI Te Riu Roa; NZ Educational Institute, N Z Post Primary Teachers Organisation (PPTA), Public Service Association (PSA), Rail & Maritime Transport Union (RMTU), Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU), Tertiary Education Union (TEU).

Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real change

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051