On Oct. 20-21, the
city of Berlin hosted the Third Congress
of the European Federation of Food,
Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT),
the IUF’s European regional
organization. Harald Wiedenhofer, EFFAT
secretary-general and IUF regional
secretary for Europe, spoke with
Sirel about some of the key issues discussed at the Congress
and commented on labor cooperation
between the IUF’s Latin American and
European organizations.
-How many people participated at the
Congress?
-There were over 300 participants from
34 European countries. Our 93
affiliates were all there, and this,
besides being a great satisfaction, gave
us the certainty that everyone was well
represented.
-What were the main issues discussed at
the Congress?
-The most important issue discussed at
the Congress was precarious work and
what could be done to address this
challenge. In fact, the slogan of the
event was:
“Social Justice from Farm to Fork –
Fight Precarious Work!”
-From “Farm to Fork” is part of the
program and action strategy that
Rel-UITA, the IUF’s Latin American
division, adopted in its Twelfth
Conference in Cordoba, Argentina in the
year 2000…
-Yes, I’m familiar with those documents
(laughter)…
-So, Social Justice from Farm to Fork…
-The thing is, the reality in Europe
is one of increasing expansion of
precarious, seasonal and temporary work,
especially in the agriculture and food
sector, where these forms of work are
replacing stable employment.
We’re very concerned about this, which
is why we adopted the
Charter on Precarious Work.
-Another issue discussed was climate
change…
-We believe climate change is, and must
be, a concern of the sector’s workers,
so we’re creating a broad coalition
with several NGOs, in particular those
specialized in environmental issues.
At the Congress we recalled how
environmental protection was already on
the agenda at the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
and how Article 16 of the Rio
Declaration mentioned the important
role that trade unions were called to
play in that area.
It is also our duty to consider health
at work and safe labor conditions as a
part of living and working in a healthy
environment. This is the special
challenge we face here in Europe.
-Were you satisfied with the discussions
and the outcome?
-Yes, we’re very satisfied with the
results and the documents adopted.
Specifically on an international level,
and with respect to Latin America,
the Congress adopted resolutions on the
situations in Colombia,
Honduras and Peru.
In particular we issued a resolution
demanding that the European Union stop
all negotiations with Honduras
while the dictatorial regime continues
in power.
As for Latin America-Europe cooperation,
I’d like to underline that we were
cooperating even before the Congress,
having launched a process of
unprecedented cooperation with
Rel-UITA last year, and our
intention is to continue and strengthen
these efforts. Supporting each other and
keeping a close watch on transnational
corporations and their operations in
both regions are challenges we must
undertake together.
In this sense, for example, we’re
planning to hold a
Conference of Dairy Sector Workers in
Latin America
in
March 2010,
and we’re already beginning to cooperate
and work together to guarantee the
active and fruitful participation of the
sector’s European unions.
From Montevideo, Beatriz Sosa
Martínez and Gerardo Iglesias
Rel-UITA
November 20, 2009
Photos: Gerardo Iglesias
