Fuente: www.cioslorit.net

CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE PRESENTS THE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF THE INTEGRATION PROJECT

"The union movement and the social dimension of the integration projects" was the title of the continental conference of the Integration Project held Nov. 17- 18 in Panama City. The conference was divided into "phases" and reviewed the project’s past year (its objectives, activities and results), discussed the themes for the coming year, exchanged experiences among the sub-regional instances for union representation and of the national confederations and the current situation of the Bilateral Treaties and their impacts on men and women workers.

The conference was attended by Víctor Báez, Amanda Villatoro and Rafael Freire (representatives of the ORIT secretariat) and had broad participation of Union Coordinators from Central America, the Caribbean and the Southern Cone, from the Andean Labor Consultative Council, the Caribbean Labor Congress and the affiliated and fraternal centers of ORIT, which evaluated the past year of activities together with project coordinator Carlos Ruiz. Representatives of Spanish entities cooperating with the project also participated including the Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) and the Fundación Paz y Solidariedad.

The first part of the conference was dedicated to an evaluation of the activities, at which time was presented the principal advances in the Integration process and a review of the national and sub-regional seminars conducted. Carlos Ruiz presented the principal consensuses reached in the discussions during the seminars. He identified some points that need greater debate such as alternatives forms of integration in light of the neoliberal process represented by FTAA and the bilateral trade agreements and well as the form of alliances between the union movement and other sectors of civil society.

The representatives of the conferences or countries that are the focus of the project presented quite positive evaluations of the national seminars sharing the same vision of the coordinator that these activities have been the strength of the project until now, because they have taken the discussion to the workers.

After this overview, a presentation was made by ORIT assistant Hilda Sánchez about the current situation of integration and globalization processes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The intervention of Hilda contributed to the understanding of the evolution of the commercial treaties in a global and regional realm and for the consequent reflection about the alternatives for combating the commercial accords that disfavor the development of peoples.

The possibility for alliances with other social actors in the integration processes was another issue that was highlighted during the conference. Hector de la Cueva, representing the Continental Social Alliance (ASC), maintained that unions should preserve their autonomy and their political lines, but should make an effort to prepare joint actions with social movements that work on the same issues.

The system of alternatives and alliances was presented and discussed during the conference by ORIT General Secretary Víctor Báez and by the secretary of Social and Economic Policy Rafael Freire. They indicated that the Integration Project, the Labor Platform of the Americas (PLA) and the Development Platform of the Americas (PLADA) are important tools for the defense of national and sub-regional sovereignty, for union training and for the construction of a new union internationalism that combats the difficulties of the 21st Century. According to Rafael Freire, the unions cannot limit themselves to working with labor demands but must present an alternative development program with alternative routes and joint actions with other social sectors.