Yesterday, I was invited to speak on a panel in Gottingen, Germany – a conference organized by the trade union movement’s foundation, the Boeckler Stiftung, on the subject of ‘trade unions in the democratic process’,…
The second annual LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference held in Istanbul last weekend was supposed to be a celebration of all that unites us in the international labour movement. Participants came from nearly 30 countries from…
Last week’s LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference in Istanbul was meant to be an extraordinary event. Activists from the newly-independent unions of the “Arab Spring” countries were due to meet with colleagues from established unions from…
The following is the text of my opening address to the Second Annual LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference in Istanbul, Turkey – 18 November 2011. — Good evening everyone and welcome to the second annual LabourStart…
This article was published on the Progress website, here. A year ago, probably the only genuinely independent trade unions in the Arab world were the ones created in the wake of the invasion of Iraq….
In a previous life, I was a programmer. I still like to write a few lines of code from time to time – especially when I can solve a problem. This week I decided to…
In mid-November trade unionists from more than 30 countries will be gathering in Istanbul for the second annual Global Solidarity Conference organised by LabourStart. The theme of this year’s conference is “From social networks to…
For decades, the Arab world knew nothing of independent trade unions. The unions that did exist were state-controlled, reflecting the ideologies (in particular, Arab nationalism) of the ruling parties. Eight years ago, the first of…