This week I had the honor of opening the ITF – International Transport Workers’ Federation Arab World Regional Conference in Oran.
You can read the speech I gave below.
Dear friends,
Dear comrades,
I am happy and proud that as President of the ETF I can speak here today at the ITF Arab World Conference.
I am particularly proud and delighted because the countries of Europe and the countries of the Arab world are in fact neighbors with a common border, the Mediterranean.
Which means we share a lot.
We share a past
But we trade unionists, above all, we want to share a common future, a future of solidarity.
And yes, our affiliates face the same challenges.
Deregulation.
Privatisation.
The low-cost model that they try to impose on us everywhere.
The exploitation of workers.
Attacks on unions and union representatives.
There are so many levels at which our affiliates, the European trade unions, and those in the Arab world can collaborate and therefore must collaborate.
And we already do.
In aviation we have developed the joint medco project.
And this collaboration between our unions in the aviation sector demonstrates that we have every interest to work together.
Let’s first talk about global warming and climate change.
We all know earth is getting warmer with all the negative consequences.
Extreme heat, forest fires, floods, shortage of drinking water and large-scale famines.
This kind of problems don’t stop neither on either side of the Mediterranean.
We will not accept workers to pay the price for this climate change.
We want the polluters to be called out. Let us together call on employers and governments to invest in sustainable innovation, in public transport and in infrastructure.
Comrades,
After the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria we directly launched a humanitarian campaign.
And as President of the ETF, I am extremely proud that the ITF and the ETF together have been able to develop this international solidarity.
Comrades,
Some want Europeans to believe that refugees and immigrants are the cause of the crises with which we are confronted in Europe.
But we trade unionists know that no one leaves their country for fun.
Refugees coming to Europe flee for wars, for famine, for poverty…
Not only do we have to be extremely vigilant and rigid with regard to racism and with regard to exclusion.
We also have to fight together against wars between people, against starvation, against world poverty.
Let’s also talk about human rights.
Around the world, both with you and with us, human rights are in question.
Journalists and trade unionists are intimidated and sometimes even imprisoned.
I am referring to what happened recently in Tunisia.
We clearly denounce the harassment and imprisonment of Tunisian trade unionists.
And we also denounce that Esther Lynch, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, was expelled from the country after taking part in a demonstration, as a sign of solidarity with Tunisian trade unions.
The right to strike, the right to organize trade union actions, freedom of press, these are human rights!
And it is our responsibility to defend these human rights. And let’s be clear, comrades, we demand that all trade unionists who are today in prison – anywhere in the world – be released unconditionally.
Allow me to take this opportunity to explicitly thank the ITF of the Arab world, in the person of Bilal Malkawi and Nermin Al-Sharif for their intervention in an incident with Italian fishermen.
Thanks to your intervention, these fishermen, who were detained on Libyan territory, were released. You have proven that international solidarity is not an empty word for Arab trade unionists, but that it materializes in practice.
Comrades
We, trade unionists, always have our heads in the clouds.
We dream of a better world for the workers we represent!
But we also have both feet on the ground.
We work day after day to achieve that dream.
Step by step.
By negotiating, when possible,
But by taking action when it is necessary!
So, comrades, let us be well aware that we are stronger together.
Long live union unity!
Long live international unity!
Long live the ITF!
Together we are stronger!
