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Far East Journal of Psychology and Business Vol. 1 No 1, December 2010

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ROLE OF LABOR UNIONS BEYOND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Dr. Muhammad Tariq KhanAssistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences

Hazara University Mansehra (Hazara), PakistanE-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

According to definition of labor unions, they have always been attributed with securing financialand non-financial benefits for their members through collective bargaining. But unions have alsobeen playing role beyond collective bargaining for society in: protection of environment andclimatic change, energy planning and management, sustainable development and public health,alleviation of poverty, and providing training and education services to worker,. In this literalresearch article those aspects of labor unions have been exposed which are beyond collectivebargaining.

Keywords: Labor Unions, Environment, Energy Planning, Sustainable Development, PublicHealth, Poverty, Training

Paper Type: Review Research


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INTRODUCTION

According to World Labor Report 1997-1998 of ILO, The Australian Bureau of Statistics hasdefined unions as: An organization, consisting predominantly of employees, the principleactivities of which include the negotiation of pay and conditions of employment for itsMembers. Buchmueller et al (1999) expressed that the role of US trade unions in obtaininghealth and welfare benefits for their members, dates to the 18th century and according to Munts(1967) earlier union organizations were established for the provision of health and welfarebenefits and later on they became engaged in bargaining with employers over wages. Accordingto Knowles and Eade (n.d.) the core business of labor unions is to organize press for fair termsand conditions of work, negotiate on behalf of the work force, provide services for members,network, and mobilize them.

So trade unions are considered the organizations only struggling to secure benefits for theirmembers, such as financial gains like rise of wages, bonuses, various allowances insurancebenefits, overtime payment and non financial benefits such as job security, comfortable workplace recreational facilities and decreasing fear of employer through collective bargaining. Butseveral studies have shown that unions also have beyond collective bargaining role such as rolefor environment, energy management, role in politics and law making, public health,productivity and efficiency improvement social role in poverty alleviation and disasters likeearthquakes. Participants of conference on sustainable development (CSD 2001) admitted thattrade unions have taken an active role in other international fora on sustainable developmentissues, including: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),European Union (EU), Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Health Organization(WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO), International Labor Organization (ILO), and theUnited Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and unions want to cooperate with local andnational governments, other Major Groups, and international agencies to bring about patterns ofdecision-making that are consistent with the goals of sustainable development.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research article has been developed on descriptive secondary information obtained fromresearch literature about labor unions in protection of environment, management of energy,alleviation of poverty, public health and safety and struggle for education and awarenessthroughout the world.

ROLE OF LABOR UNIONS BEYOND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Unions Role for Environment and Climate Change

Labor unions in some countries exerted efforts for improvement and protection of environment.According to CSD (1998) National trade union centers in Ghana, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Zambia,Tanzania, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, among others, havedeveloped policies and action plans on environmentally sustainable development priority issues.In Spain trade unions participated in coalition to present action plan on climate change. In Italythree trade union organizations discussed with local organizations and residents about


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establishing an inter-regional park to promote tourism, improve agricultural practices andstimulate local industry, whilst saving and cleaning up the environment. Following meetings anddiscussions, an accord was reached on an organizational structure to set up the park. In UKTransport & General Workers' Union and the General and Municipal Workers'

Union arranged a meeting between senior managers and Greenpeace to introduce an acidrecycling plant to solve the problem of discharge of harmful chemical waste.

Discussants of CSD (2001) quoted in detail example of Japan, Spain and Germany. JapaneseTrade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO) has initiated a nation-wide program to educateworkers and encourage them to adopt more environment-friendly patterns. Unions have planned,implemented, evaluated and reviewed initiatives, to reduce energy consumption and waste bydeveloping committee structures and educational programs, holding clean-up campaigns in thecommunity, to encourage sustainable behavior and promoting a general understanding ofenvironmental issues. As a second stage, the programme is directing attention to domesticbehavior, by encouraging family eco-meetings, specific measures to conserve water andenergy, and encourage family purchasing which looks for environmentally-friendly products andeco-labels. UGT (Union Generale de Trabajadores) in Spain has applied research intoenvironmental problems to introduce a sustainable development strategy, discussed its impact onspecific industrial areas, and effective ways to bring about change in both community andworkplace. It examines the economic impact of these problems on specific industrial areas, andupon employment. Finally, it examines the various ways in which trade unionists can employlegal and trade union instruments to bring about change, both in the state of the environment, andin workplace culture. Similarly in Germany unions are collaborating with government andemployers federations in a programme of building renovation to contribute to climate protectionand sustainable jobs. The Alliance for Labour and Ecology for the Energetic Renovation ofBuildings aims to renovate 300,000 flats, creating 200,000 jobs, reducing both CO2 (Carbondioxide) emissions and the oil bill of tenants and landlords and the state.

According to World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, 2002) in Romania, theNational Free Trade Union Confederation of Romania-Brotherhood (CNSLR-FRATIA) joined abroad local coalition to reduce pollution and in Guatemala, Kenya, and Thailand theInternational Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF) worked with pesticide companies toassess the Global Crop Protection Federations Safe Use Projects (SUP) and the Conservation,Hotels, Domestic and Allied Workers Union in Tanzania worked for environmental managementand for better working conditions for a sustainable tourism industry.

Discussants of United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change UNFCCC (2006)quoted the examples of unions of Spain, Argentina and Belgium in contribution for environment.In Spain in 2006, the first round of the Social Dialogue Tables was held with representatives ofthe Spanish trade union confederations, business organizations, along with environment, labourand industry Ministries, wherein, parties assessed the first year positive results of the compliancefor the industrial sectors with the National Allocation Plan (NAP). Seven follow up DialogueTables were then organized, one for each industrial sector, for the purposes of reviewing themandatory green house gases (GHG) emissions reduction in the NAP. In Argentina trade unions& government reached on a Sustainable Development Agreement. At the end of June 2005 the


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Confederacin General del Trabajo (CGT) signed an agreement with the national governmentof Argentina to jointly implement agreed measures that would address environmental issues.CGT and its affiliates hosted first workshop on "The World of Work and SustainableDevelopment" to design an initial programme of action, with a particular emphasis on theenvironment and planned five regional meetings where trade union leaders and representativesfrom the government, social movements and international organizations had to discuss ways ofincluding environmental provisions within collective agreements, links to decent jobs policiesand legal frameworks for the environment at the workplace, among other issues. The meetingsaimed to provide conclusions and commitments, based on sectoral and regional realities, as abasis for the first Environmental Commitment between the government and workers. InBelgium government along with Belgian Trade Unions, has shown how flexible mechanisms canbe made to support social and employment policy. According to UNFCCC under the rules for the2008-2012 year period, Belgium must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5% (compared totheir 1990 levels). To do so it has incorporated a set of social criteria within the terms of its call-

for-tenders to purchase greenhouse gas emission quotas thereby following recommendations of atechnical committee composed of government, trade union, employer and NGO representatives.Through the implementation of the flexible mechanisms policy makers must truly seek a balancebetween economic, environmental and social impacts. Trade Unions therefore call ongovernments to legislate new statutory rights that are prerequisites to full participation, i.e., timeoff and training to carry out duties for environmental representatives, revision of employmentrights regulations to formally recognize environmental duties and provide for paid release,among others.

According to CSD (2001) the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has provided ablueprint for measures to integrate labour market issues into government support for alternative

production measures: promotion of new and cleaner technology through taxation and othermeasures; introduction of eco-labels for clean production; development of eco-efficiencyindicators; support for research and development of new and cleaner technology; reduction ofobstacles for entrepreneurs of environmental technology; provision of training for eco-entrepreneurs and self-employed; training for workers in environmentally-friendly production;participation of workers in introduction of new, cleaner production; adaptation of organization ofwork to environmentally friendly production; and further development of ecologicalmanagement instruments such as the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

UNFCCC (2006) also reported that European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is leading agroup of organizations and governments composed of the French consultancy SYNDEX, the

German Wuppertal Institute, the Spanish institute ISTAS and the Italian institute Sind Novaconducting a study on the implications of climate change and CO2 reduction, policies foremployment and economic activity in 11 EU countries.

The project is co-financed by the European Commission and Belgium, Finland, France, Italy,Spain and the U.K. The main objective is to explore how employment, qualifications andvocational training can contribute to a transition towards a low-carbon EU economy, which isfair from the workers' point of view. In addition, the purpose is to promote dialogue aboutemployment and climate change among actors and social partners, within sectors, countries andthe EU region.


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According to discussants of UNFCCC trade unions called on governments to facilitate thedevelopment of such measures by placing climate change within a sustainable developmentframework which integrates national development and poverty reduction strategies with otherenvironmental priorities; e.g. biodiversity and desertification. Such planning must also be linkedto mitigation and adaptation policies, including those for vulnerable groups (i.e. the poor, youth,the unemployed, those who will suffer for their dependency on fossil fuels) because they affecttheir access to energy, water, sanitation, agriculture, health, education, transport and disasterprevention, etc.

According to proceedings of CSD (2001) representatives of trade unions i.e. InternationalConfederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to theOECD (TUAC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and representatives ofbusiness, at a Climate Change Conference pledged to work together to obtain recognition byworld governments of the need for research into employment implications of climate change ormeasures to mitigate its effects.

UNFCCC (2006) revealed that the Spanish good practice provides a good example of effectiveworker and Trade Union participation on climate change decision- making. SpanishGovernment, Unions & Business community Created Tripartite Climate Change Plan in 2005. Atrend-setting agreement, to institutionalize joint oversight of national compliance to the KyotoProtocol was adopted by the Spanish government, along with the leading trade union andbusiness organizations in the country. Trade unions urged COP12 (12th Conference of the Partiesfor UNFCCC) to move forward on the policies: (#1) Promote analysis, discussion and action onemployment consequences of climate change policies and consequent events. A joint trade unionstudy on employment consequences of climate change policies in Europe should be employed asa model for other regions. (#2) Ensure trade union participation, in decision-making, as theinvolvement of workers is essential to the sustainability of climate change policies affecting bothproduction and consumption. (#3) To target workplaces as consumers of energy, and otherresources and generators of wastes linking clear workplace targets, for energy efficiency andwaste minimization, to sectoral and national carbon and waste reduction strategies. (#4)Encourage public investment to support a long-term shift in energy policy, towards sustainablelabour-intensive energy solutions.

In UK a joint government-trade union committee is working through a wide range of strategicpolicy issues to tackle climate change. For the unions, a key issue is to strengthen unionengagement, both in the workplace and at a strategic policy level covering energy and climate

change issues. The Green workplaces Project, had key aspects including: designing trainingcourses, setting up frameworks for negotiating and representing members on environmentalissues, and developing pilot projects which can be built on in future years. The project is basedon the principle that union involvement is crucial both in pushing management to take urgentaction on climate change, encouraging behavior change amongst the workforce, and takingcollective action to tackle climate change through workplace action. The Trade UnionsSustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC) was set up in 1998 published aconsultation report, Greening the Workplace (in 2005) and a new 10-points guide for unionactivists (in 2006) (UNFCCC 2006)


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Energy, Resources Planning and Management

Energy is a basic requirement for personal, community and industrial life, but today it is beyondthe reach of millions of the worlds people, while on the other side of a Global Divide, levels ofuse are threatening the natural and human environment (e.g., global climate change) (WSSD,2002).

According to CSD (1998) in Spain The trade union centre, Confederacion Sindical deComisiones Obreras, led a co-ordinated effort by trade unions, industry, environmentalorganizations, academics, researchers and consumer and citizens' organizations to draft andpresent a common proposal for an Action Plan on Climate Change to the Spanish Governmentwith specific measures to be developed as part of the National Plan, including: Promotion ofenergy efficiency and renewable energy, Limitations of emissions in transportation,Development and implementation of clean technologies in industry, Promotion of sustainableforms of agriculture and limiting emissions from waste treatment. In United Kingdom at a CocaCola-Schweppes Beverages plant, unions lent support to a programme that produced significantreductions in the use of energy, water and materials.

Discussants of WSSD (2002) expressed that in Germany, trade unions collaborated withgovernment, employers, and NGOs in alliance for 'Work and Environment' in a National Plan toconserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Trade unions joined a broad-based communitycampaign in Zaragoza, Spain to show that water savings are possible. Trade unions have workedwith employers and community partners to plan and implement strategies to limit private car useand to promote efficient, comfortable and cheap public transport. In Barbados, the BarbadosWorkers' Union (BWU collaborated with government agencies and NGOs on a number ofspecific projects to rehabilitate tourist locations suffering from abuse and inattention. InArgentina, the National Civil Personnel Union (MUPCN) launched a reforestation project withthe National Civil Personnel Mutual, to recycle CO2, create employment and add retirementfunds to workers' pension earnings and in Ghana, the Timber and Wood Workers Union (TWU)established a nursery and tree plantation as a showplace and training ground for good forestpractices.

According to UNFCCC (2006) German & Belgian trade unions work with their governments onEnergy Planning & Conservation. The Belgian government established an energy conservation

fund for the housing sector planed and proposed by the Fdration Gnrale du Travail deBelgique (FGTB) aimed to help households to invest in energy efficiency, specially focusing onsocial groups for which the fund will provide pre-financing and support during the preparation,execution and maintenance stages of the energy saving projects provided by the investments.This Belgian proposal was inspired by a very significant experience developed in Germany,where the national trade union centre (DGB) with the German unions are collaborating withgovernment, environmental NGOs and employers federations in a programme to renovatebuildings, contributing to climate protection, whilst creating sustainable jobs. In United KingdomTrade Unions Congress (TUC) developed workplace-based projects to raise awareness of climatechange and energy issues amongst union members. The Project Leader of Carbon Trust funded


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Green workplaces Project is working with union reps and management to measure currentenergy usage and also attitudes, awareness and understanding amongst trade union members.The project aims to use this information to target areas where there is particular scope formeasurable improvements in energy efficiency. The Trade Unions Sustainable DevelopmentAdvisory Committee (TUSDAC) has supported several new initiatives related to energy, cleancoal and transportation. Joint UK Government & Trade Union Committee adopted Twin-TrackPolicy & Workplace Approaches wherein workplace-based projects were developed to raiseawareness of climate change and energy issues amongst union members.

Role for Public Health and Sustainable Development

According to CSD (2001), the tradition of union-management partnerships for occupationalhealth & safety is being expanded to include sustainable development. These partnershipsimply that employers and workers share an interest in the overall state of the environment, andinsofar as they are based on trust, equity and transparency, can be powerful motivators forchange. Occupational health & safety toolkits are being developed to guide health and safetyactivists through identification, analysis, and response to workplace problems, and are now beingrepackaged to accommodate environmental concerns or activities. A workplace culture ofoccupational health & safety is now being incorporated into a workplace culture of sustainabledevelopment, as unions undertake campaigns that encourage, workers to see themselves also asenvironmental citizens.

UNO admitted during World Summit on Sustainable Development WSSD (2002) that theworlds trade unions have formulated a position on sustainable development based on research,interaction with members and employers. This position is distinguished by a clear focus on theSocial Dimension, and in particular, on quality employment as the key to poverty eradication andother sustainable development priorities. According to discussants of WSSD in Bangladesh,Japan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and the Philippines the Japan International Labour Foundation(JILAF) has sponsored health and safety training programs for thousands of workers by trainingtrainers. Italian unions participated in multi-party agreement to protect the Mediterranean Sea byextending safety measures on ships carrying dangerous cargoes.

UNO confessed in WSSD (2002) that since 1992, AIDS/HIV has emerged as one of the mostpressing workplace issues of our time with 23 million working people suffering from this disease(17.5 million in 43 African countries alone). According to WSSD the ICFTUs (InternationalConfederation of Free Trad Unions) African Regional Organisation (AFRO) has launched a

Five-Year Plan on AIDS focusing on workers in road & maritime transport, mining andagricultural communities, plantations, the commerce and hotel sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.Public Services International (PSI) and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) havealso launched projects on the belief that trade unions can ensure more sensitive treatment ofworkers facing the disease.

ILO (2005) reported that trade unions around the world have made HIV/AIDS prevention andcare a priority area of their work by using their expertise in dealing with occupational health andsafety hazards as well as environmental concerns to fight the pandemic. The value addition oftrade unions in the fight against HIV/AIDS is that they have closer links to their members, are


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trusted by them, and can therefore easily relate to those who are infected. Trade unions are alsodeveloping partnerships with employers, as is spelt out in the ICFTU-International Organizationof Employers (IOE) statement entitled Fighting HIV/AIDS together: A Programme for futureengagement. The Ghana Employers Association has been running its HIV/AIDS project with theGhana Trades Union Congress since mid-2001, and in South Africa, in the car industry, Ford hasestablished a well-functioning partnership with the Congress of South African Trade Unions(COSATU)-affiliated National union of Metal and Allied Workers of South Africa onHIV/AIDS, through the involvement of shop stewards in the companys HIV/AIDS work. Oneparticular area where the trade union voice has been heard more and more is the campaign forhigh quality, cheap and affordable life-saving drugs. Pressure has been put on governments toensure that the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS), and intellectual provisions in regional and bilateral trade agreements, are implementedin a manner that does not impede such access. The vulnerabilities of the poor also mean thatwork-related accidents often plunge entire extended families into extreme poverty. According to

the ILO, some 2.2 million people worldwide succumb to work-related accidents or diseasesevery year. Some 160 million are victims of work-related illnesses and around 270 millionoccupational accidents occur annually. One can therefore appreciate the scale of the problem.The daily grass-roots work of trade unions to ensure compliance with health and safetyregulations at work is therefore a crucial contribution to poverty reduction.

Heins (2004) reported that since UNCED labour unions have engaged in a wide range ofactivities. For example, labour union members have participated in sessions of the OECD, FAO,WHO, WTO, ILO and UNEP that address the issue of sustainable consumption and production.Moreover, they have been involved in a large number of national and local initiatives to promotemainly the social pillar of sustainable consumption and production. Additionally, represented by

the ICFTU they have been actively involved in the CSD mechanism since 1996 when the ICFTUfor the first time coordinated the labour union input to the CSD as a one-hour 'Day of theworkplace' session. The contribution in 1997 was a session themed as 'Trade Union Dialogue'. Inthe following years labour unions' input to the CSD focused on the role of workers and unionswith respect to concrete thematic aspects of sustainable development, such as Business andIndustry (1998), Sustainable Tourism (1999), Food and Agriculture (2000) and SustainableEnergy and Transportation (2001). Over the years not only ICFTU and TUAC participated in thedialogue sessions with other stakeholders, but also other international unions representingvarious industry sectors.

Role in Poverty Alleviation

Ebbinghaus (2002) expressed that unions use their institutionalized involvement in social policygovernance in order to advance their interests in the ongoing reform process. According toWorld Bank, (1995) the struggle against poverty is intrinsic to the trade unions mission and theyactively engaged in poverty alleviation strategies throughout their history. While concurring thatthe consequences of union activity will vary from country to country, Aidt and Tzannatos (2001),using evidence predominantly drawn from the OECD countries, acknowledge that trade unionscan smooth the employer/employee relationship through their actions to enforce agreements, andby providing channels for employees to voice their grievances. Moreover through policy


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dialogue, trade unions make representations to governments and international agencies, andcampaign for pro-poor policies, monitor them and promote the formulation of alternative ones.

According to (ILO 2005) the organizing work of trade unions is one key effort at povertyeradication. The more organized the workers are, the better they can determine their own destiny,as they best understand their own economic and political situation. ILO report further revealedthat trade unions are a crucial part of the fight against poverty and their actions contribute to theregulation of the global economy. Trade unions together with other organizations are involved inthe Global Call to Action against Poverty, and campaigning for extended debt cancellation forall low-income countries without IMF/World Bank structural adjustment conditionalities.Historically, trade unions have ensured equitable redistribution of the gains from economicgrowth, reducing poverty amongst the lowest wage earners through their collective bargainingactivities. Through policy dialogue, trade unions make representations to governments andinternational agencies, and campaign for pro-poor policies, monitor them and promote theformulation of alternative ones. This involves such initiatives as organizing unemployed youth inthe informal economy, organizing market women and establishing coalitions with peasantassociations. These initiatives include targeted programs aimed directly at the poor or at theworking poor, involvement in campaigns or collective bargaining in order to defend and promoterights at work, and policy interaction at national or international levels in order to create theconditions for poverty eradication and for pro-poor policies. The earliest benefits that UnitedStates and United Kingdom trade unions offered included providing resources for a decent burialand the campaign for a good public education for children.

According to Knowles and Eade (n.d.) many of the large European and North American laborunions and global or regional union federations also raise funds from their members for aid anddevelopment work. There are far too many to describe each one individually, but some of themost important include AFCSME, AFL-CIO and the United Electrical, Radio and MachineWorkers of America in the United States, the Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund in Germany; theFederatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging in the Netherlands; the Trade Unions Congress in the UK;and many of the Scandinavian unions. Some of these have formed specialist developmentorganizations such as Norwegian Peoples Aid networks and special union funds such as theSteelworkers Humanity Fund, founded by the United Steelworkers of Canada, whose membersdonate 40 cents a week on the basis of which co-funding from the government is leveraged,currently running at a total of some CA$5 million annually.

Role in Training, Education and Skill Building

According to some researches unions are also taking interest in workers training, education andskill building either pursuing government or employers to arrange training or arranging trainingprograms themselves to build their skill and enhance the earning capacity of workers.

Therefore Aidt & Tzannatos (2001) wrote that unionized workers tend to receive more trainingthan their non-unionized counterparts, especially company-related training. According to CSD(1998) and WSSD (2002) in India West Bengal Cha Mazdoor Sabha (union) educates itsmembers on the safe use of agro-chemicals and workers' rights. And the Hind Mazdur Sabha


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(HMS) Port and Dockworkers educated and organised cargo handlers in response to illegalimports of hazardous.

Wong (2000) stated that in Singapore unions urged employers to invest in training of workers,and also negotiated training clauses in collective agreements and sought to ensure highersubsidies for training lower- skilled, lower-income workers. She further wrote that unions urgedworkers, to enhance their skills as a means to ensure employment security by keeping pace withchanging job requirements, and to increase their earning capability in the longer term. InDecember 1996 to help workers to remain employable throughout life by providing nationallycertified skill training National Trade Union Confederation approached employers to sponsortheir employees for skills upgrading programs. On 30 June 1999, a total of 288 companies hadcommitted 21,800 workers for Skill Redevelopment Program (SRP) programs in five generallaunches and nine sectoral launches since December 1996.

According to Katz et al. (1993) in many countries unions are involved effectively in vocationaleducation programs. Adji (2002) reported that in Niger the USTN (Union des Syndicats desTravailleurs du Niger) is running a project to provide low-cost training to workers. The USTN isalso running a training school and an agricultural project. According to WSSD (2002) in theCzech Republic, the Mine, Geology and Oil Industry Workers' Union "Train the TrainersProgramme extends awareness into the community and Russian and Norwegian unionscooperate in the Barents Region to provide training and job experience for Russian workers,engineers and advisers in Cleaner Production (CP) technology, waste minimization, energyconservation, and sound ecological processes.

Mishel and Walters (2003) were of the opinion that unions also created awareness about lawsregarding health such as in USA about FMLA's existence and regulations. Booth et al. (2003)using data of British Household Panel Survey 1991-96 found that union-covered workers weremore likely to receive training and also received more days of training relative to non-coveredworkers. Among workers who received training, those with union coverage enjoyed greaterreturns to training and higher wage growth than did those without. TUC (2006) in a briefingpaper reported that union presence has a significant impact on the incidence of training. Analysisof the 2003 Labor Force which showed that 39% of union members had been engaged in sometraining in the previous three months compared to only 26% of non-unionized employees. TUCalso reported that employees get more training when the issue is negotiated with employers byunions rather than employers simply consulting with unions about the organization's trainingstrategy. TUC referred research by Francis Green 1996 which demonstrated that unionized

workplaces were 17% more likely to have a training centre and 11% more likely to have atraining plan. TUC referred other studies showing that training is more likely to deliver benefitsto members when unions not only secure recognition from the employers but also play an activerole in decisions about what is provided.

The participants of conference on sustainable development acknowledged that trade unions havedeveloped capacity for workplace centered education because unions are the foremost providersof adult education in many countries (CSD 2001). The discussants of Regional Meeting (1999)threw light on the potentially significant role of unions towards building social cohesion throughestablishing institutions for skill development and mobilization of investable resources, and


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through the development of cooperatives aimed at the provision of housing, credit and consumerservices. Fahlbeck (1999) evidenced it by reporting that in Sweden the extensive training andeducation programs conducted by virtually all unions. LO, for example, has a wide range ofeducational programs and runs several schools and Anyemedu (2002) also reported that in Ghanathe TUC has made the education of the members, one of its priority concerns.

ILO (2005) reported that a number of labor unions have undertaken for education, awarenessraising and advocacy. In Colombia, in 1995, reacting to the massive wave of dismissals fromgovernment institutions, the Womens Bureau of the Single Confederation of Workers ofColombia (CUT) started working out strategies designed to provide labor vocational retraining.This gave birth to the House for Working Women Heads of Household (Casa de la MujerTrabajadora Jefa de Hogar), which later started to train women in non-traditional trades bymeans of programs in finishing and silver plating, electrical fitting and graphic arts. SimilarlyArgentinas Sindicato nico de Trabajadores de Edificios de Rentay Horizontal (Single TradeUnion of Concierges) (SUTERH) opened the Centre for Professional Education in 1992 toprovide basic knowledge on occupational health and safety. In 1999, SUTERH established theHigher Education Institute and currently offers Applied Computing Sciences, Security andHygiene at Work and Technician Degrees in Intelligent Buildings.

Unions have also given workers awareness about their rights as Mishel and Walters (2003)quoted, that union members were about 10% more likely to have heard of the FMLA (in USA)and understand whether or not they were eligible. This is because of awareness given to them byunions.

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