BASTUN meeting in Vilnius

The BASTUN (Baltic Sea Trade Union Network) meeting took place on 13 April in Vilnius, Lithuania. About 30 representative from BASTUN member organisations - from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and ITUC/PERC - attended this meeting.

The participants paid a tribute to FNPR National Secretary E.Sidorov and Poland plane crash victims with a minute of silence.

It was the last meeting under Lithuanian presidency. From the 15th of June the presidency will pass to Norway. Therefore the agenda and priorities of Norwegian presidency, including health and safety, energetic safety, was discussed and adopted. It was agreed to organize joint BASTUN-PERC seminar on energetic safety in Latvia.

Participants were introduced to the complaint re violation of association freedoms that the Russian unions sent to the ILO. The BASTUN supports this complaint and, in solidarity with Russian colleagues, the meeting agreed to organize the next session in St. Petersburg, using this opportunity to meet trade union members at their workplaces.

The KTR (Russia) was introduced as a new BASTUN member.

Among other issues it was agreed to work towards study exchange visits between the countries. One of the expected visits is to UK TUC Organizing academy.

/Sergeus Glovackas