Few would argue against the fact that the AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions, including the SIU, together stand as the strongest ally and most powerful voice of American workers. In much the same way that the port councils of the Maritime Trades Department help amplify the concerns of U.S. maritime workers through solidarity, the AFL-CIO leads the way for working families by harnessing the collective clout of trade unionists from throughout the nation.On a global level, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)—which last month conducted its 40th Congress—fills the same role for its 600-plus affiliates and the 5 million workers they represent, again including the SIU.
To borrow an old phrase, if the ITF didn’t exist, we’d have to create it. In a hurry.
Many of you know the ITF as the people we work with to fight runaway-flag shipping. But the federation is so much more.
In an age when terms like “global economy” and “global competition” have become second nature, there’s simply no question that the federation, headed by General Secretary David Cockroft, is an invaluable asset to merchant mariners and other transport workers worldwide. The ITF is a dynamic vehicle that promotes workers’ interests through international campaigning and unity.
I see the ITF as the best way for unions to protect their members’ interests on a broad scale. As was so evident at the recent House hearings concerning the U.S. Maritime Security Program, the companies we negotiate with are global. The only way we have a fighting chance to protect worker rights and improve our way of life is to answer with a global voice.
In fact, as part of the ITF’s flag-of-convenience campaign and as its primary mission in the next four years, the organization’s Congress last month urged increased worldwide union cooperation under the banner “Globalizing Solidarity.” Noting that “new forms of union coordination, deeper contact between unions representing members employed by the same companies, and international campaigning on issues of common concern has become a central part of ITF work,” the federation’s executive board and staff presented the ITF Congress with an action plan for increasing global trade union cohesion.
In a series of motions enacted by the delegates from more than 87 nations, the ITF Congress adopted a response to the threats posed by uncontrolled globalization of the world economy. The plan includes developing union campaign strategies to deal with these trends, preparing materials on this matter for affiliated unions and establishing a team of professionals to assist unions in solidarity efforts.
The job of the ITF, one adopted motion states, is to “promote solidarity among workers in the transport chain and to guard against company strategies to pit different groups of workers against each other.” Clearly those are fundamental and essential goals for our industry. And I’m extremely confident in the ITF’s ability to deliver on those objectives, with the strong support of its affiliates.
We in the SIU are very proud of our association with the ITF. It’s a relationship that goes back many years, and one that always has been positive and productive. Understandably, much of our effort has been directed toward improving the living and working conditions of mariners around the world. It’s an ongoing project, and we have achieved some success, most notably in the increasing number of vessels covered by ITF contracts, in port-state control and the inspections they perform when ships dock in their harbors, and in securing tougher international rules for mariner training and certification. We will not let up.
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