IFWEA 20th General Conference Minute

Albufeira, Portugal, 2-5 October 2003

Item 1: Opening of the General Conference

The Conference was opened by the President, Dan Gallin, on Thursday 2 October  at 10.00. He gave the floor to IFWEA’s Vice-President, Joao Proença who welcomed the delegates on behalf of the Portuguese affiliates, UGT, ISET, and FJF.

The floor was then given to the Mayor of Albufeira, Mr. Desiderio Silva, who extended a warm welcome to the delegates on behalf of the local authorities in Albufeira.

The President then expressed his gratitude to the Portuguese hosts for IFWEA’s opportunity to hold its General Conference in a country which less than three decades ago brought down a Fascist regime and established a vibrant democracy. He reminded the Conference of the importance of the trade union movement that emerged from the April Revolution in the democratisation process that followed this event. He also emphasized the role that the Portuguese unions have played in marking a Lusophone presence in IFWEA.

The floor was finally given to the Minister for Employment and Social Security of Portugal, Mr. Bagão Félix, who gave his reflections on the major themes of the General Conference and on the social responsibilities of private companies.

The President subsequently declared the opening session to be concluded.

Item 2: Election of Conference Committees

The President proposed that the following two committees be elected:

Credentials and Election Committee:

Alana Dave, ITF (Chair)

Orlando Quesada, LEARN – Philippines

Mike Chungu, WEA-Zambia

Andrew Harvey, GFTU-UK

Yuliya Simeonova, OKOM-Bulgaria

Jorma Turunen, TSL-Finland

Björn Wall, ABF-Sweden

Bente Wilhelmsen, AOF-Norway

Resolutions Committee:

Robert Lochrie, WEA-England & Scotland (Chair)

Károly György, MSZOSZ-Hungary

José Marcos-Sánchez, PLADES-Peru

Sahra Ryklief, LRS-South Africa

Susan Schurman, George Meany Center, USA

Elizabeth Tang, HKCTU, Hong Kong

Decision: The proposal was unanimously adopted.

Item 3: Adoption of the Agenda and Standing Orders

Decision: The proposed agenda and standing orders were unanimously adopted.

Conference adjourned at 11.15 until Saturday morning to give time for a series of seminars under the heading “the Impact of Globalisation – the Right to Know” (Attachment ….) as well as for the two committees to prepare their proposals and regional meetings. 

Saturday 4 October, 09.00

Item 4: Report of the Credentials Committee

Alana Dave delivered the report from the Credentials Committee. 56 affiliated organisations were represented by 80 delegates. In addition, there were 29 observers present. (Attachment…..)

Decision: The report was unanimously adopted.

Item 5: Report of the Acting General Secretary

Aslak Leesland delivered the report. (Attachment…..)

Item 6: Report of the Regional Secretaries and Co-ordinators

The following regional reports were delivered:

Africa: Sahra Ryklief

Asia and Pacific: Orlando Quesada

Latin-America: José Marcos-Sanchez

Europe: John Atkins

(Attachment…..)

Item 7: Adoption of the Report of the Acting General Secretary and of the Regional Secretaries and Co-ordinators

Decision: The reports were unanimously adopted

The floor was then given to Mr. António Guterres, the President of the Socialist International, who greeted the Conference on behalf of SI.

The Congress was subsequently addressed by Assistant General Secretary Mr. José Olivio Miranda Oliveira who greeted the Conference on behalf of the ICFTU.

Conference adjourned at 13.00 and resumed its work at 14.40.

Item 8: Resolutions

A. Resolutions concerning financial matters

The President announced that the Global Labour Institute had withdrawn draft resolutions No. 1 “Affiliation Fees” and No. 3 “Dissolution of IFWEA”.

Joao Proença introduced draft resolution No. 2 “Affiliation Fees” on behalf of the UGT-Portugal. 

David Spooner introduced the four-year core budget proposed by the Executive Committee based on the assumption that the Secretariat be moved to Manchester, UK. (Attachment…..)

K.C.Choudary withdrew draft resolution No 5 “Location of Secretariat”.

Decision:

Congress unanimously decided to move the Secretariat to Manchester, UK. It was further unanimously decided to increase affiliation fees by 20 % in 2004 and 5 % annually in each subsequent year. 

B. Resolutions concerning the new Constitution

The President introduced draft resolution No. 4 “Constitutional Amendment” from the Global Labour Institute

Joao Proença introduced draft resolution No. 9 “Constitutional Amendment” from the UGT-Portugal.

The President introduced draft resolution No. 10 “Moving the Secretariat to Manchester, UK” from the Executive Committee.

Robert Lochrie introduced draft resolution No. 13 “Individual Membership” from the Workers’ Educational Association – England & Scotland”

The floor was then given to Emma Laycock who had been invited to the General Conference as legal advisor. She commented on the proposed “Memorandum of Association” and “Articles of Association” which, if adopted, would serve as a new Constitution for IFWEA, aiming at giving the organisation status as an independent legal entity under English law. Questions were raised by several delegates and clarified by Emma Laycock. 

Decision:

The proposals are referred to the Resolutions Committee for final editing and inclusion of the abovementioned draft resolutions. The revised version should be presented to the Executive Committee which is delegated the right to adopt a final version on behalf of the General Conference. 

C. Other resolutions

Robert Lochrie introduced draft resolution No. 6 “Labour Media and Education” (Workers’ World Radio Productions). 

Decision:

Draft resolution No. 6 was unanimously adopted.

Robert Lochrie introduced draft resolution No. 7 “Globalisation in Trade Union Education” (Workers’ Educational Association – England & Scotland).

Decision:

Draft resolution No. 7 was unanimously adopted.

Robert Lochrie introduced draft resolution No. 8 “Workers’ Education in the Informal Economy” (Workers’ Educational Association – England & Scotland).

Decision:

Draft resolution No. 8 was unanimously adopted.

Angela Hale introduced draft resolution No. 14 “Women’s Platform Proposal” which was agreed at the women’s seminar preceding the General Conference.

Decision:

Draft resolution No. 14 was unanimously adopted.

Conference adjourned at 17.10 

Sunday 5 October, 09.40

Item 9: “Action Programme 2004 – 2007

The floor was given to Aslak Leesland who introduced the draft Action Programme.

Decision:

The Action Programme was unanimously adopted The Secretariat should incorporate comments made in the meeting and present a revised version to the Executive Committee for adoption.

Item 10. Budget 2004 – 2007

The draft budget proposed by the Executive Committee was unanimously adopted. (Attachment….)

Item 11. Elections

The President read the list of candidates for the new Executive Committee that had been proposed by the Election Committee.

Decisions:

Joao Proença was unanimously elected President

David Spooner was unanimously elected General Secretary.

The following Vice-Presidents were unanimously elected:

Titular: Alternate:

Sahra Ryklief, LRS Joaquim Fanheiro, OTM

Namrata Bali, SEWA Akhlaq Ahmed, Taj Workers’ Education Institute

Károly György, MSZOSZ Yuliya Simeonova, KNSB

José Pereira Dos Santos, Pablo Checa, IESI

Força Sindical

Susan Schurman, Kent Wong, UALE

George Meany Center

The following candidates were unanimously elected as members of the Executive Committee:

Titular: Alternate:

Mike Chungu, WEAZ Radhakrisna Sadien, Mauritius State Employees’ Federation

José Marcos-Sanchez, PLADES Norberto Ríos, ENS

Elizabeth Tang, HKCTU Rey Rasing, LEARN

Bente Gyp Wilhelmsen, AOF-Norway Aslak Leesland, AOF-Norway

Jorma Turunen, TSL Kirill Buketov, KAS-KOR

Michel Bradley, GFTU Colin Barnes, WEA E&S

Rudolf Helfrich, DAA Oswald Bazant, VWV

Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, ABF Ulf Lundgren, ABF

David Joyce, ICTU Manuel Bonmati Portillo. UGT-Spain

Giampiero Alhadeff, SOLIDAR Suzanne Sumner, SOLIDAR

Alana Dave, Global Unions

Hasan Barghouthi, DWRC Edam Raidon, Lebanese Trade Union Training

The following internal auditors were unanimously elected:

Björn Wall, ABF

Joe Holly, WEA E&S

Congress adjourned for 20 minutes to allow for a brief meeting of the newly elected Executive Committee.

Item 12: Conclusion

Joao Proença announced that the Executive Committee had unanimously invited Dan Gallin to become a Special Advisor to the Executive Committee for the forthcoming General Conference period. This implies that he will be entitled to attend all meetings of the Executive Committee in a non-voting capacity. 

This announcement was applauded by the General Conference, and a vote of thanks was extended to the representatives who now left the Executive Committee.

Conference was closed at 12.15.