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Coming home from the International Trade Union School

What difference can we make from here?

10-day intensive in Vienna

I have just returned home to Aotearoa from the International Trade Union School (ITUSA) in Vienna, Austria. The programme is run by the International Trade Union Confederation and the ÖGB (Austria’s NZCTU equivalent). It is a 10-day intensive training programme aimed at developing young union leaders to succeed in building democratic workers’ power. The training brought young union leaders from across Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe together. It was a privilege to attend and represent young New Zealand workers. I have taken so much away from the experience; my head is buzzing with all the knowledge and expertise that was shared not just by the facilitators but by the diverse and accomplished participants.

A group of international trade unionists in gathered together in Vienna, Austria, holding various unions banners.
Our group pictured alongside Wolfgang Katzian (in the middle), the president of the ÖGB, outside the ÖGB’s office (nicknamed the catamaran) in Vienna, Austria.

The Power of International Solidarity

It is easy to feel alienated and removed from global events and issues living in Aotearoa New Zealand.We are so small and so geographically isolated. The common refrain is “What difference can we make from all the way down here?”. The training was a stark reminder to me to challenge this attitude. We have so much power to punch above our weight and make a positive impact on the global stage. Not only that, but our unions are an avenue to get involved in this mahi.

The same group of international unionists standing on the roof deck of a building. Clouds are in the background and everyone has their fists raised in a symbol of solidarity.
The group pictured on the roof of Arbeiterkammer or the Chamber of Labour in Vienna, Austria. The Chamber of Labour represents and advocates in the interests of 4 million Austrian workers and consumers. Membership is mandatory, every worker contributes 0.5% of their wages to fund the system. Workers/consumers can go to their local Chamber offices and get assistance if they have an issue at work or with a business. The Chamber of Labour is one part of the social partnership system in Austria. 

The power of international solidarity was evident listening to Marco Aristeo Gojol, the deputy secretary of SENTRO, a public and private sector union with 80,000 members in the Philippines, discuss his campaign work. Marco arrived in Austria in the middle of a campaign to save the jobs of Sofitel Philippine Plaza workers, who were being threatened with redundancy in a union-busting move from Sofitel, who planned to close the hotel for unspecified health and safety concerns for an indeterminate amount of time and open it again with new non-union staff. SENTRO had leveraged their international relationships with the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) to hold the parent company based in France to account for the exploitative practices of their subsidiaries in the Philippines. This alongside the local campaign work was successful, Marco found out while in Austria that the union had won all their demands, and the workers would be reinstated when the hotel re-opened. SENTRO’s win was an important reminder of the power of international solidarity, when we fight together, we can win.

Two people seated enjoying lunch wearing matching shirts.
Marco Gojol (SENTRO, Philippines) and I admiring our matching outfits in the canteen of the tractor factory. Workers in Austria often get lunch paid for or heavily discounted by their employers. Worker canteens in workplaces provide fresh and healthy means for workers during their lunch break.

Organising with Resilience and Creativity

The resilience and creativity of our colleagues organising in the global south and active war zones in often dire and difficult circumstances reminded me that hope is a verb (as cheesy as that sounds). I was so inspired listening to the creative tactics employed by Sushmita Rai, the representative from SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) in India, who talked about the challenges of organising women in informal work in India. The union is 2.9 million members strong, but the sector is huge and largely unorganised. These workers often don’t consider themselves workers, move from one job to another in quick succession, and usually don’t have phones or access to email. Sushmita explained that SEWA has started addressing these challenges by relying on the teenage children of workers, who have access to phones, to maintain contact with their members.  An upside is that when these young people enter the workforce, they have a pre-existing relationship with the union. The determination of SEWA members to improve the lives and conditions of workers left me feeling motivated and ready to continue fighting for young workers in Aotearoa.

Common Challenges, Unified Efforts

The same group of young unionists in the mountains of Austria.
The group pictured in the mountains of Bad Hofgastein. We visited a highly unionised tractor factory, where the local workers council (delegates) and union representatives explained how they organised and won excellent wages conditions for their members. They go home at 12pm every Friday! We stayed at a hotel owned by the union, where members can come stay for discounted prices. Absolutely stunning scenery, mentally I am still in the mountains in Bad Hofgastein.

Ultimately, I was struck most not by our differences but by our commonalities. We spoke about the issue of young people in low-paid and insecure work, climate change, the impact of housing shortages and affordability, the erosion of workers’ rights and protections, the threat emboldened far-right movements pose to our communities and the challenge of attracting a new generation of workers to the union movement. Some may face these challenges more acutely than others, but we are on the same team.

We have returned to our respective home countries armed with new tools to fight the good fight. The amazing organising team, including ITUSA facilitators Todd Brogan, our very own Carol Beaumont and Zainab Abudeeb, as well as Marcus Strohmeier, director of the Secretariat of International Relations for ÖGB offered us a wealth of expertise, and taught us what effective campaigning, organising and leadership looks like to enable us to win a better world.

I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to attend ITUSA and for the support of my Stand-Up Co-convenors Dr. Zoe Port and Brody Hitchcock, my union, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the NZCTU. I also want to recognise the hospitality of the ÖGB. Part of believing that change is possible is seeing for yourself how different things can be. The Austrian industrial relations system and the Austrian trade union movement is a powerhouse with 98 percent of workers covered by a collective agreement. Workers in Austria are organised and have won fair pay, decent conditions and excellent public services.

If they can do it, so can we. We are not alone, we are one global movement fighting for working people and against a failed economic system that serves only the wealthiest few. Solidarity forever!

Dave Habermann from the ÖGB,  Finja-Lee Bethke from the DGB (The German Trade Union Federation), Aleksandra Zdanowska from the FNV (Federation of Dutch Trade Unions) and Justine (right) pose in the mountains. Dave also acted as our personal photographer on the trip so we took a moment to celebrate him and his work.

Justine Sachs

Justine is a unionist and campaigner based in Tāmaki Makaurau.
She is an organiser at the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and one of the convenors for Stand Up. She’s an experienced campaigner having been involved in numerous single-issue campaigns and in local and national election campaigns for the Greens and Labour.
Justine hosts a regular radio show on 95bfm on workers’ rights and is passionate about her cats, and ensuring better conditions for working people.