7th Asia-Pacific Seminar of Building Unions 14-15 March 2009, Bali, Indonesia

We the participants at the 7th Asia-Pacific Building Unions seminar held in Bali, Indonesia, 14-16 march, 2009, representing building and construction unions from Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, Mauritius, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia wish to place the following matters on record:

UITBB7thAsiaPacSemBali09Group

  1. We express our deep thanks and appreciation to our Indonesian host, FKUI, for the warm hospitality extended to us during our successful seminar in Bali.
  2. We express gratitude to the Japanese building unions and the Australian union CFMEU who also helped make this seminar possible.
  3. We urge all participants to further study the valuable contributions delivered at the meeting and develop action programs around the key policy issues that have been discussed and debated in Bali.
  4. We urge all trade unions from the building sector and more broadly to seize upon the opportunities opened up by the collapse of neo-liberal economic theory. We must put an end to the period of neo-liberal economic and political hegemony through the development of bold new policies that are in tune with the needs of the working class today.
  5. We ask that UITBB do further work to develop the key policy themes that have been discussed at this meeting, namely
  • The global economic crisis
  • The development of regional trade unionism
  • OHS issues including the need for a worldwide ban on asbestos
  • Organizing in the formal and informal sectors
  • Protection for migrant construction workers.

 

  1. We note that none of these issues will be advanced or won in the absence of militant struggle by committed working class organizations striving to build united action.
  2. We note the recent call by the WFTU for an International Day of mobilization and action on 1st April around the demands of an end to neo-liberal hegemony and rejection of the idea that the working class should bear the brunt of the global economic crisis. We urge participants and all trade unions to take up this call and generate rank and file based action on 1st April 2009.
  3. We note that the International day of Health and Safety at work is to occur on 28th April 2009 and we urge participating unions to engage in mobilizing activities on the day.
  4. We declare that the UITBB Asia-Pacific building union seminar process continues to be a useful forum for trade union leaders and activists in our region to come together to exchange views and develop strategies for building and construction workers in our part of the world. On this basis we urge that the UITBB look to organizing an 8th Seminar in 2010 with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Canada and Sri Lanka being among the locations that may be considered as possible hosts.

We so decide.