Since the late 1980's, the UnionsWA International Committee has acted as the Australian council of Trade Unions (ACTU) representative to the Southern Initiative for Global Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR). SIGTUR works with unions in the southern hemisphere - mostly those in developing nations - to share information and take action through campaigns to enhance the rights of working people and their unions. We are also proud supporters of Union Aid Abroad APHEDA, follow this link to find out more about their great work.
Stay Informed
To stay informed of our activities, please submit your details online here. Have some questions? Please email [email protected].
Recent Reports & Past Events
Read the latest on the Not Here, Not Anywhere campaign to ban asbestos. The latest report can be viewed or downloaded here.
From 31st March, in a collaboration with UNI Global Union, the UnionsWA International Committee and SIGTUR are delivering online training, An Introduction to Organising for Asian unionists and civil society activists. Course content was mostly based on the work of Prof Marshall Ganz. The course outline can be viewed here.
On Tuesday 11th April we hear from Heidi Vivian, a PhD candidate and academic, provide a report on her research about the work of Indonesia LION. An abstract of her work can be viewed or downloaded here and her PowerPoint slides from the presentation are here.
On Wednesday 7th December the SIGTUR Committee hosted a zoom to hear Clare Siobhan Ruppert from the CUT (United Workers Central), the largest and most important trade union federation in Brazil representing over 7.4 million workers talks about the role of unions in Brazil, including the recent successful election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as President. A video of her presentation is below.
On Wednesday 20th April UnionsWA co-hosted a Zoom presentation (video below) on messaging research with discussion of ways in which we can communicate about race and employment issues to counter racism. Presentations, see below, are by Edwina Byrne of the VTHC and ACTU Researcher Simone Rosser. You can view or download the PowerPoint slides displayed during this presentation online here.
On Thursday 7th April 2022 we hosted an online screening of the short film 'Strike to the Beat' about the young Burmese movement Beat Revolution that has been protesting the military coup in Myanmar. This short film can be viewed online here. A briefing was also provided on a new Myanmar Campaign Network formed with support from Union Aid Abroad APHEDA. The campaign is urging supporters to sign this petition online to stop the sale of aviation fuel (used by the military for repression) available here.
On Thursday 4th November 2021 we are hosted Bill Johnston MLA as our guest speaker at a fundraising dinner to support the Indonesian campaign to ban asbestos. We enjoyed great food at the Mongoo Restaurant in Mt Lawley.
On Wednesday 6th October 2021 the International Committee/SIGUTR invited support to join in an open forum via Zoom to hear a report on the repression of unions in the Philippines from Elmar Labog, Chairperson of KMU, a Philippines union of over 150,000 members. Below is a short video interview that Elmar gave on his 2020 visit to Perth, covering some of these issues.
On Thursday 30th September 2021 we are hosted "Unions, politics and policy in Indonesia". You can view the keynote address by Prof Michele Ford below.
On Tuesday 31st August 2021 we hosted speakers from Indonesia for a zoom discussion "Indonesia, work and disease: COVID, asbestos and beyond". You can view the video of that discussion below.
To stay informed of our activities, please submit your details online here. Have some questions? Please email [email protected].
