Among the participants were representatives of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. The meeting was held within the framework of Union-to-Union to strengthen the trade union movement in the regions of SEE and NIS. Participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss different issues, and listen to informative presentations.
ITUC-PERC representatives spoke about ITUC communication strategy and global campaigns. It was stressed that this line of work is very important, given the situation in the global trade union movement. According to the ITUC, 40% of working people in the world of work are in the informal sector of the economy, that means that only 60% are employed officially. Only 15% of formally employed workers are unionized. 8% of workforce are members of organizations that merged into the ITUC. So we still have a lot of work. And we cannot do it without communication!
Ruby Waterworth (EPSU) represented the experience of information work of the European public service union. In her presentation, she paid attention to examples of use of the Internet and of the trade union campaigns. "We usually have a lot of information, including - the specific facts and history of the people, - noted Ruby. - But it does not always reach our target audience and decision makers - government and employers. In this regard, I can advise to strengthen information work and actively use social media, which offers great opportunities."
Each participant represented the experience of their own organization in communication work and shared their expertise fighting challenges - how to make websites more attractive, how trade union organization could use broadcasts on television, organizing own press center, cooperation with the media, especially if they belong to the business community, successful practice workshops for journalists to discuss trade union activities and topics of interest to the media, effectiveness of engaging young people, analysis of the information policy in particularly using new technologies and new approaches to present information.
During the meeting, participants also worked in groups and searched for ways to improve both internal and external communication. They agreed to improve the exchange of information between their trade union centers and to respond and to show solidarity when necessary.
