Trade Unions for all over the world met again on September 24-25, at the annual central event of the global trade union movement at the International Trade Union Forum in Beijing China.
The Forum was successful co-organized by ACFTU China, WFTU, OATUU and ICATU for the ninth consecutive year and a wide discussion and analysis was made for all the eminent issues concerning the trade union movement of the current times.
George Mavrikos, General Secretary of the WFTU addressed the representatives of the mass organizations and amongst others he noted:
“On behalf of the WFTU, an organization representing 90 million organized workers in 120 countries of the 5 continents, we assure the All china Federation of Trade Unions, the Organization of African Trade Union Unity and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions that we ratify our commitment with this joint effort and this common coordination.
Dear collegues,
Today, the situation for the world working class is very difficult. The unsolved problems are many and great. We can highlight as the most important and most urgent of them the prolonged unemployment, which keeps on growing. In all continents, in all countries, the situation for the workers is bad. The women, the youth and the elderly have the biggest percentages among the unemployed. The official figures speak for themselves and testify this bad situation.
The ILO based on the data provided by the governments raises the number of unemployed workers on a worldwide level for 2012 to 197 millions. But this number is not taking into account the underemployed, the part-time workers, is not taking into account the unregistered and the unofficial work.
Considering this reality, the dream for millions of families all over the world is having a job and for this job to be full, adequately paid, so that every worker is able to satisfy their contemporary needs.
Our estimate as WFTU is that unemployment will be growing. The recent developments in Ukraine, the intervention from abroad against Syria, the ongoing civil war in Libya, the aggression of Israel against Gaza generate new thousands of unemployed, immigrants and refugees. The dream of all these workers and peoples is that the aggression of the imperialists stops, so that the peoples will be able to decide for themsleves freely about their present and future.
The WFTU, we are highly conserned about the spread of Ebola epidemic in Africa. The poverty and the unemployement, the looting of the natural and economic resources sharpens, the problems of the simple and poor people. At the same time diseases re-appear that until a few years ago were considered completely extinct. Tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases keep killing peolpe in the 21st century.
As WFTU we believe that the international organizations -unfortunately so- do not meet their founding purposes, their statutes and their role. The example of Palestine is the most typical. Since 1948 up to this day, dozens of UN resolutions have not been applied. Thus, the dream and right of the Palestinian people to their own independent homeland still remains a “pipe dream” up to this day.”