The IDC attends the first meeting of dockworkers’ trade unions in Reunión
A delegation of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) will attend the meeting of Indian Ocean dockworkers’ trade unions which will be held on the island of Reunión, between 28 and 30 July. This meeting is vital in the strategy of constructing an alliance of dockworkers’ trade unions in the Indian Ocean, a sea which is a bridge between the giant Asian ports and the European and North American markets. The meeting will be attended by representatives from southern Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, the Comoros Islands and the Seychelles, and French territories such as Mayotte and Reunión itself.
On the agenda is the signing of a charter of friendship and co-operation by which delegates will seek to increase the exchange of information and their links of solidarity. Last May, the Reunión workers attended the Second IDC General Assembly, which was held in the port of Barcelona, in which delegates from over 20 different countries participated. At that meeting, it was clear that the IDC dockworkers are working in three main areas: international solidarity with dockworkers needing it; continuous training of workers; and prevention of accidents by an appropriate safety policy. These three aims will be undoubtedly be the focus of the debates on the island of Reunión.
Port Training Institute
One of the aims of the Reunión dockworkers’ trade union (CGTR) is port training, an objective shared by the IDC. The meeting coincides with the presentation of the Port Officers and Maritime Training Institute, a sincere commitment to guaranteeing job security and safety in the workplace for workers. The IDC, an organisation which represents more than 50, 000 dockworkers, has made training and prevention one of its raisons d’etre, in a strategy which has been embodied in the establishment of an international Safety and Prevention of Workplace Accidents Committee, made up of delegates from all around the world. The Reunión is an opportunity to continue to have a bearing on these areas.
