“Role of communication in trade unions” SEE Youth meeting

The meeting of young trade unionists from SEE “Role of communication in trade unions” was held on 2-3 December 2015 in Skopje, Macedonia. There were 20 young trade unionists from Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Sweden, and Ukraine in the meeting. The meeting was organized within ITUC/ PERC – LO TCO Project for SEE.

Purpose of the meeting was to gather young trade union representatives from the region, exchange experiences about the relevance of communication in trade unions, adopt new skills and improve the existing ones, and establish the Network of SEE Youth for communication.

The examples of ways in communication in trade unions were presented during the meeting, the current trends in communication and what this communication should be with the members and potential members, which tools and channels are used for communication, and which are the priorities for communication in the region.

Anton Leppik and Tim Noonan addressed the participants by Skype on behalf of ITUC/ PERC from Brussels. Participants had an opportunity to discuss the matters of communication, PERC priorities and ITUC campaigns with colleagues from Brussels.

Åsa Odin Ekman, TCO Sweden, presented interesting video examples in her presentation, examples how the young people are engaged in Swedish trade unions, why is it difficult for trade unions to reach young people, what is the Swedish model applied, and she pointed at ample other matters for discussions about communication.

Olesia Briazgunova, KVPU Ukraine, Vice President of PERC Youth Committee, spoke about PERC Youth Committee, its activities and priorities for newly elected Committee, and she introduced the brochure “Introducing Unions to Yung People”. Participants showed a great interest for the brochure and gave their positive comments.

Following the two-day meeting, the Network for Communication in SEE was established, they expressed the wish for further activities and building trade union strategy for better communication, both at national and regional levels.

Participants highlighted priorities for communication in the Region:
1. Networking of the young (e-mail, social networks...)
2. Education of the youth by seminars, Skype-Viber conferences...
3. TARGET GROUP: young trade unionists, and also those who will become members.
4. OBJECTIVE: raise awareness of the young about the role of trade unions and trade union activities, motivation of the young, exchange of experiences, development of communication strategy, introduction of positive solutions from the region....
5. OUTCOME: Network established, dialogue developed, debates held in all major cities in the region (joint campaigns for the World Day of Decent Work, and similar), educational productive workshops held on the topics of relevance and role of trade unions, better communication among the members, better organization...
6. EDUCATORS: renowned trade union representatives, young trade unionists, University professors...
7. WAYS TO EXCHANGE EXPERIENCES: Skype and Viber conferences, meetings at least once a year, alumni network...
8. WAYS TO ATTRACT THE YOUNG: video clips to attract young people to actively engage in the work and trade union work and activities, which they would share on social networks...

Without an active involvement of the young in trade unions activities, there are no productive solutions and protection of workers’ rights, particularly the young in this field. The priority is primarily to attract the young people that would facilitate the education in this field, and establish the strong network and maintain sustainability at the regional level.

ITUC PERC SEE Office