INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS FEDERATION KEY DEVELOPMENTS,

Transcription

1 42 C 14/RWSC/KeyDevelopments INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS FEDERATION 42nd Congress Mexico City, 07 August 2010 Railway Workers Section Conference KEY DEVELOPMENTS, A. Workers' rights and mobilisation of solidarity 1. The ITF Railway Workers Section continues to regard promotion of workers rights and global mobilisation of solidarity as one of its top priorities in its activities. Whilst many campaigns have been successfully organised and often in the developing countries, there is a worrying trend arising in the industrialised countries, such as those in Europe, where workers rights were better secured in the past. In addition to the reactionary decisions taken at the European Court of Justice such as the Viking or Laval cases, a railway signaller s national strike by the RMT was stopped through a High Court injunction in April Similar decisions have been taken against other planned strike actions in the bus and aviation sectors in the UK. This Section and the ITF must take note of this development with serious concern and discuss ways to support our affiliates in securing their right to strike. 2. The key question in mobilising our global solidarity and winning these disputes is the tools and methods we could use in our campaigns and actions. Protest letters and electronic mails can be a starting point, but we need more than that as our options. We must identify those measures that we have been using, but also to see what other measures are potentially available. 3. For example, the ITF sent a safety mission to Thailand to investigate a dismissal case and to study the safety standards in the Thai railways. In Turkey where members of our affiliate, BTS were arrested on trumped up charges of being members of a terrorist organisation, an ITF representative took part in the court hearing. In both these instances, the presence of an international delegation had a major political impact to turn the tide in favour of the affiliates. In the case of the BTS, the union had sent its representative to the Section meeting in advance. In another case, the general secretary of the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railway Union (ZARWU) was released from prison a few days prior to his attendance to the Section Conference in Curitiba. Direct and vivid messages from those who have been involved in a dispute can sometimes provide irreplaceable information. Since the Conference, the British TSSA union has developed a twinning solidarity programme with ZARWU. 4. The second point to note is the question of timing. How swiftly and accurately can the affiliate involved in the dispute inform the ITF of the conflict that has started? Better still, can they warn us in advance? Such efficiency requires a good degree of trust between the ITF and its affiliates and a general understanding that the Federation upholds promotion of workers' solidarity as its cornerstone and is ready to react immediately. The more time we waste in responding to disputes, the more difficult it gets to organise our counter actions efficiently. The question of timing is also closely linked

2 page 2 to the ways in which we escalate our campaign and also in knowing important dates on the calendar that may relate to the actions we organise. For example, the ITF mission to Thailand coincided with the final meeting of the tripartite committee which was investigating the dismissals and our presence there did impact their decision. The ITF also worked with LabourStart to launch its mass mailing campaign just before the deadline for submission of an appeal by management to the court on the decision of the tripartite committee. Multinational operators 5. Another question that we need to consider is the longer term objective in the industrial relationship with multinational companies who are in conflict with our affiliates. Often they are international operators and more than one affiliate of the ITF organises these workers. For example, the ITF and its unions who represent employees in National Express have met several times to discuss ways in which a global dialogue could be established. Although the recent financial crisis in this company has not allowed us to further progress this objective, the ITF Executive Board meeting has adopted guidelines for ITF Global Framework Agreements (Annex 1) and we would need to consider how such a global relationship can be achieved in our Section. Another case to note is the expansion of Deutsche Bahn. It has recently announced that it will acquire Arriva, which operates public transport services in 12 countries in Europe. Deutsche Bahn has already bought English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) and Chiltern Railways in the UK. An ETF meeting to discuss the European rail unions response has taken place in October B. Railway Restructuring and Safety Safety 6. The challenge to maintain a safe workplace in rail has been left almost entirely to the unions. As governments move to safety self regulation, unions are the first to observe the reduction in maintenance standards, the removal of workers essential for public safety, the deskilling of jobs and the dangers arising from the loss of skilled professionals in management. These dangers have been reflected in the support of unions for the safety first campaign coordinated by the Section. Safety has been an important link between the unions and the traveling public but still the challenge remains. The recent dispute in Thailand arising from poor safety standards that led to an accident is a recent example of the union being the only defender of the workers and champion of the public seeking safe rail travel. As technology improves, standards should follow, but in too many countries this is not the case. Vigilance must continue. Railway privatisation and globalisation 7. The ITF Railway Workers Section conference in Curitiba in 2008 concluded that neo liberal policies had led to two decades of rail restructuring around the world and had brought about a reduction in the number of rail networks and a sharp rise in the casualisation of the workforce. It had also caused short cuts in safety, job losses, the closure of unprofitable lines and an increase in sub contracting. Meanwhile, labour productivity had sky rocketed. The Conference agreed that, whilst the workers and the unions are not necessarily opposed to the changes in the industry, such as the technological renovations that could benefit the workers and the traveling public, it reaffirmed its position that "enough is enough" with regards implementation of neo liberal policies and will oppose any further development of such political trends. The ETF Railway Section is currently discussing its policy paper on liberalisation of domestic rail passenger transport. Many railway unions, such as our colleagues in Thailand, continue to fight against railway privatisation and are supported by the ITF and its affiliates. 8. The collapse of the private companies involved in track maintenance and separately in renewal of the London underground are glaring examples of incompetence of the private sector in rail infrastructure.

3 page 3 When economic failure results, the government is required to again become an active participant. In New Zealand, the government was forced to buy back the railway before total private sector collapse; re investment in Argentina came only after years of stagnation; the privatised rail operations in many countries require large amounts of state subsidy. But still the privatisation model persists. 9. The competition model is again faltering as national railway companies expand to become international transport operators. Even state owned railways are seeking national and international expansion on profitable routes. This process seeking to control the market will result in less peripheral service and more job losses. The campaign by rail unions to seek an end to liberalisation and the reestablishment of secure employment practices will continue. The battle is far from won. C. Campaigns and Action Day 10. The ITF and its workers and trade unions in the railway industry have been campaigning over the years to promote railway safety and better working conditions in the industry and to encourage these workers to join a trade union where they can seek improvements in their conditions and protection of employment. Safety First! 11. The ITF International Railway Workers Safety First Campaign started in the spring of 2000 after the ITF Delhi Congress in 1998 adopted its policy paper Mobilising Solidarity and approved a Congress Resolution, which called on the ITF to organise a Day of Action to promote the railways in the 21 st Century. Since its conception in 2000, the Safety First Action Day has been both popular and successful in its organisation. Unions have warned on the ITF Action Days, with strike actions in some cases, that safety will be jeopardized if competition is introduced by undercutting the current working conditions and social standards. Unions have stressed that the railways are part and parcel of social and economic development in society and are neither for fragmentation nor for sale. 12. In promoting this Action Day campaign, the ITF emphasizes that the railway workers unions should be in the forefront in developing alternatives to railway restructuring. Through the annual ITF Action Days, the unions and their members began to realise that they were not alone in their struggle against these unprecedented changes in their conditions and that international campaigning could be a starting point in their fight backs. 13. Affiliates have used the Action Day and its international influence to highlight their local as well as national campaigns. There have also been cases of unions using the Action Day to start negotiations with government or management and to consult with railway companies emerging in the market. Regional demands have also been highlighted as demonstrated by railway and road transport unions from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela who used the Action Day in 2007 to draw attention to the importance of the participation of unions in the Mercosur Governments policy discussion. 14. Whilst Safety First has been the prime feature of this Action Day campaign, it has been used to promote workers rights in Iran (2008) or to campaign against violence at work (2009). 15. Two trends that the Secretariat has observed in the organisation of the Action Day are that whilst many unions have held protest events against privatisation or deregulation of the industry on an Action Day, those who have sustained the annual event tend to campaign positively to promote the railways. For example, in India, our national rail federation, AIRF holds ceremonies, rallies, workshops and meetings with government officials in all parts of the country to campaign for promotion of railways. Likewise,

4 page 4 the Trade Union Council of Railway Workers and Transport Constructors of Ukraine organises inspections, meetings, distribution of information and seminars to campaign on safety. Strong Unions Sustainable Transport 16. As we approach the next ITF Congress in Mexico City with its slogan, "Strong Unions Sustainable Transport", the ITF is once again reviewing the progress of the Action Day campaign in order to propose its next step. One key feature of this new Congress theme is promotion of public transport against excessive use of private cars. Will our Action Day campaign be a suitable opportunity to focus on such an issue? If so, how will it affect the organisation of the event? Or should we continue to uphold the traditional campaign message of safety first and plan events to promote public transport separately? D. Logistics/Supply chain 17. Multinational ownership and specific cargos being transferred around the world have introduced new challenges for union organisation. Logistic suppliers are multinational, multimodal, and cargo focused. As more multinational rail freight companies emerge as a result of liberalisation of the rail industry and as railway owners or operators increasingly become part of the international logistics chain, the ITF and its railway unions need to consider joint union activities to strengthen union responses to address employment and working condition questions, as well as organising on a regional or international corridor basis. The Section has identified several companies for targeted strategic work. Deutsche Bahn, a significant player in the railway industry that is expanding its scope into other countries/regions and other industries including logistics through DB Schenker, is one of these companies, as well as Bolloré, SNCF, ALL and Canadian National. 18. The Section has also supported the development of the ETF Logistics Working Group and works closely with the Dockers Section on the Maersk campaign. It is therefore an issue which involves effectively all the Sections of the ITF (with the exception of the Tourism Section). How can we coordinate our activities in this area of work? 19. Since 2007, the Road Transport Workers and Dockers Sections have been coordinating their activities on container cargo safety. In 2011, the ILO will hold a Global Dialogue Meeting on container cargo safety. A small working group is set up between the Inland Transport, Dockers and Seafarers Sections to prepare the ITF s representation to this ILO meeting and will include participation of railway unions. Global delivery 20. Regarding multinationals such as UPS, DHL, TNT and FedEx, the newly created coordination office on Organising Globally projects leads this area of work in consultation with the ITF Sections, together with our sister organisation UNI who holds members in the postal sector. This is part of the process implemented from the Secretariat Review and some structural changes that are taking place within the Secretariat. On this point, the ITF Road Transport Workers Section (who has a larger overlap of work on these companies with the new department) notes that major changes are taking place in the freight transport industries and agrees the need for the ITF to respond to these changes with some flexibility in cross sectional work. It has also agreed that the good work of the Section must continue and that there was no need to create a new Section within the ITF. This point is reiterated by the ITF General Secretary in a circular to all affiliates where he states that, The key strength of the ITF has always been, and remains, within its industrial sections. Questions related to cross sectoral work on freight transport issues also need to be considered.

5 page 5 E. Relationship with the ITF Urban Transport Committee 21. The Road Transport and Railway Workers' Sections of the ITF have set up a permanent body called the Urban Transport Committee, which brings together the unions who represent rail, tramway, light rail, metro, as well as bus and taxi workers. The previous Congress in 2006 agreed that the four key themes of the work of the Committee over the next four years would focus on health and safety; transport policy; multinational companies; and organising the unorganised. In principle, the two Sections endorse the activities of the Committee, although there has been no major conflict of interest between the parties concerned for many years. Quality Public Services (QPS) 22. The ITF is currently working closely with other Global Unions on promotion of "Quality Public Services (QPS)" with a special conference set on October We have often discussed issues such as privatisation and deregulation of public services in our own sector, in isolation from the other services that are equally under attack. Its main purpose, therefore, is to build a stronger unity within the trade union movement and with the wider social movement to promote, improve and extend access to public services. In particular, the ITF has emphasised the importance of follow up action plans from the conference. The Inland Transport Section Secretary has been given a lead role on behalf of the ITF to work with the other Global Unions. Given the fact that the bulk of the public transport services are provided by the workers represented by the Urban Transport Committee, how can we use our platform to promote this new area of work? How can we ensure that other modes of transport (sea, river and air) are included in our agenda? The last ITF Urban Transport Committee meeting in January 2010 fully endorsed this new initiative and agreed to allocate part of its next meeting during the Mexico Congress in August 2010 to discuss this matter, together with senior guests from members of other Global Unions. F. Relationship with other organisations ILO 23. The Section works closely with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on two aspects. One relates to the campaigns on workers rights in countries such as Iran or Turkey where an intervention of this office can influence the case. For example, the ITF together with the ITUC (and ICFTU until November 2006) submitted our joint complaint to the ILO Freedom of Association Committee on Iran with a favourable recommendation to our claims. It is, on one hand, worthy to note that the process of investigation by this office in the ILO can take some time and that a submission of a complaint in many cases will not obtain an instant response from the ILO. However, a favourable conclusion from the ILO can be used in our public relations in wider circles such as the media, politicians, policy makers and the public. 24. The Section has also been working continuously with the Transport Sector of the ILO to develop the first ever sector specific HIV/AIDS toolkit for the railway sector. The ITF s social partner in the ILO structure, the UIC (International Union of Railways), is part of this process. World Bank 25. Since the last Congress, the focus of the ITF s relationship with the World Bank has been to monitor and analyse the Bank s strategies and priorities relating to transport, and to assist unions in understanding what the Bank s policies mean for transport workers including how unions can respond. Several meetings with the Bank s official have been held.

6 page 6 Employers organisations 26. In 2007, the ITF and UIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The two organisations have agreed that cooperation should have a focal point on HIV/AIDS; human factors and safety; sustainable transport; and issues for women railway workers. Some approaches have been made to the UITP, but a working relationship is yet to be established. Global Unions 27. A major development in the Section's work since the last ITF Congress is our cooperation with other members of the Global Unions. As described above, an active collaboration was created through the Justice for Iranian Workers campaign and this cooperation continues. This foundation is also expanding to other issues such as the promotion of workers' rights in Turkey. The working relationship with other Global Unions will continue with the QPS conference and its follow up after the ITF Mexico Congress. Social Movement 28. The ITF is actively involved in the World Social Forum and the European Social Forum. Based on the participation of the Section Secretary to these meetings since the last Congress, a special meeting was sponsored by Fagforbundet in 2008 to identify areas of cooperation between the trade union movement and NGOs in the social movement. The Railway Workers Section Steering Committee meeting in June 2009 agreed that the two Sections should work closely to promote this relationship. Again, follow up work from the QPS conference appears to be one area where such collaboration can be further pursued. G. Organising the unorganised workers Mobilising Solidarity 29. The ambitious and inspiring "Mobilising Solidarity" theme document for the ITF Delhi Congress in 1998 pushed the organisation to "flatten its pyramid" and through campaigns such as the Action Days in road transport and railways, brought the Federation much closer to the activists and rank and file members than ever before. It also unfolded rich and wide ranging activities in education with a dedicated department and staff. Women's activities also accelerated following the Delhi Congress. At the same time, the document only contained three paragraphs, at the very end of the text, on "organising the unorganised". ITF Congress theme 30. The Congress theme Organising Globally Fighting for our Rights, adopted in 2006, aimed to build and rebuild the strength of our affiliates and in particular to focus on different ways in organising transport workers. In the ITF Railway Workers Section, discussions have taken place on this theme in various meetings of the Section including its Steering Committee and Conference. Although, at this stage the Organising Globally programme does not have the same role in the Section work programme as for the Road Transport Workers Section, these discussions have highlighted the fact that the railway industry is changing and new forms of employment are developing, that rail union density is decreasing in many countries, and in other countries trade union rights are being attacked. It has also revealed that if strategies are not established to meet these new challenges, the industry and the unions will be further fragmented. 31. In 2009, the Secretariat organised a special meeting in Venezuela with its affiliate FENTRAFEVE, formed after the successful expansion of the Caracas Metro Workers Union to include railway workers. The meeting discussed experiences of trade union mergers involving rail/metro workers. In Uganda and Kenya, where a South African multinational has taken over the two railway systems collectively, the

7 page 7 Section and the African Regional Office have been working together with our affiliates in these two countries to build their capacities to meet new challenges. 32. Multinational companies such as Deutsche Bahn and National Express have been put to the focus of the Section s discussion. Several meetings have been held to discuss our strategy since then. Whilst it may not be a global organising campaign, unions such as the British RMT have been increasing their membership with their fight backs against the newly created private companies in protecting the members bread and butter issues. In some cases, changes in the government policies have brought back new investment in the railways where more workers are employed and consequently unionised. Building strong unions 33. The coming Mexico Congress will debate "Strong Unions Sustainable Transport" as its theme. Organising the unorganised workers to build strong unions will be one of the three key pillars of the Congress (the other two are workers' rights and sustainable transport) and it will carry on the work that the ITF commenced from the previous Congress in The recent creation of the coordination office on Organising Globally projects will undoubtedly make important contributions to the work of the Section, in particular to focus on strategic campaigns on specific targets, as agreed between the Secretariat and the affiliates concerned. The key points for discussion in the Section are: how do we carry out our tasks to encourage more affiliates to be engaged in organising work when we see the membership in the vast majority of traditional trade unions (irrespective of the sectors) in decline? One could argue that the railway industry is still better unionized. However, introduction of precarious work is evident in the industry across the world. What will be the particular roles of the ITF in assisting our affiliates with their recruitment campaigns? How will the well established foundation in the ITF's work on education or campaigning contribute? How will we link this question with issues on women and youth, as well as precarious work? Education 34. Since the ITF Durban Congress, the Section has continued to work closely with the ITF Education Department, the ITF Regional Offices and the ITF HIV/AIDS Coordinator to develop and implement education activities for its unions. These activities have included national and regional industrial seminars as part of donor sponsored programmes, specific development work on industrial issues, regional organising programmes, union development programmes, campaign activities, and Secretariat participation in union activist courses on organising and globalisation. For example, the FES sponsored programme for unions in the MERCOSUR region and inclusion of workshop templates for use by unions as part of the ITF booklet on violence at work. In addition to sector specific activities, the Section is also an active participant in general ITF education work, including the ITF Summer Schools programme. 35. In the coming months, industrial education seminars are planned in Africa, Latin America and Asia/Pacific, including an ITF/FES Mercosur Seminar and an ITF/FES Asian Railway Seminar. In West Africa, the Section is working with the ITF Coordinator for Francophone Africa, who is leading the ITF programme of activity on Maersk/Bolloré in the region, to follow up the workshop held in 2009 to launch an ITF West Africa Network on these companies. Workshops on HIV/AIDS at the forthcoming Congress will publicise information on union work on HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the Section and the ITF HIV/AIDS Coordinator are working together to develop national activity to promote the HIV toolkits that the Section has developed together with the ILO and employers organisation. In terms of general ITF education activities, an organising manual is being developed for affiliates, as well as a transport toolkit, which will include information on the World Bank and union experiences of restructuring.

8 page 8 Women 36. The Section liaises with the ITF Women s Department and the Section Women s Representative in its women s activities, which have included research and information, in particular on health and safety issues and violence at work since the last ITF Congress. Issues and activities for women workers are discussed at all Section meetings and seminars. The first ITF Worldwide Women Railway Workers Meeting was held in Following this meeting, a network of women in the Section was set up. 37. The ITF Women s Conference in February 2010 recommitted to mobilising and organising women transport workers to tackle the effects of globalisation and the economic and climate change crises facing women transport workers and to strengthen unions to meet these challenges. The ITF Women s Committee proposals for , outlined in the document, Making a Difference Women transport workers in the 21 st century prioritise fighting the effects of the crises on women transport workers; transport unions implementing equality programmes; and organising of youth, informal workers and strategic women workers in new workplace such as call centres and warehouses to increase union leverage and union power. The Women s Committee will additionally focus on developing women trade union leaders to lead both workplace campaigns and build union/community alliances, which in turn will build union capacity to undertake sustainable transport campaigns, HIV, and the lack of accessible public transport. The ITF recommits itself to working with women transport workers to continue to organise for their rights: through strengthening collective bargaining; challenging occupational gender segregation and fighting back against exploitation and discrimination. 38. In the Section, a meeting is planned towards the end of 2010 to look at the effects of outsourcing for women railway workers and union experiences of organising. The Women in Rail Network will continue and one area where more information will be collected is health risks at work associated with pregnancy and maternity. The Sections work on sexual harassment and violence at work will continue to include a strong gender element. The Section will also continue to encourage unions to build women s grass roots participation in Section campaigns. Young workers 39. The ITF s young workers programme was set up after the last ITF Congress to make the work of the ITF more relevant to young people by involving them in its activities. The first ever young workers conference was held in 2008 and an ITF Youth Network has been created since then. 40. Since 2008, the Section has kept the network informed of aspects of its work, in particular Section campaigns such as the Action Day and its programme on violence at work. The Section has also discussed issues and activities for young workers at its meetings and seminars. At the Railway Workers Section Conference in 2008, delegates adopted a resolution on young workers (Annex 2). Unions attending the Urban Transport Committee Meeting in 2010 also expressed their full support for the ITF programme on young workers. Delegates reported that young workers can be one of the most marginalised groups in the transport industry and one of the key issues that needs immediate attention is precarious work as the proportion of young people in informal work and short term contracts is extremely high. Participants also shared their experiences of organising young workers. 41. During its meeting in October 2009, the Executive Board endorsed proposals for amendments to the ITF Constitution. These proposals, which include the establishment of a Young Workers Committee and a regular Conference, will now be submitted to the ITF Congress in Mexico.

9 page 9 H. Industrial issues, Precarious Workers 42. Precarious workers who work alongside or in tandem with organised workers can be organised into existing unions even if there is a legal fight. However, more and more transport workers are working without union organisation and are being employed as contractors often outside the legal definition of employee. 43. The Section has supported research to identify the organisational issues and there is also much international literature on the subject, but still the problem grows. The ITF needs to identify which groups of precarious workers we support unions to organise. 44. The Urban Transport Committee at its last meeting in January 2010 accepted the need to identify specific organising projects to support precarious worker organisation. The Section policy should support this process and identify at least three projects to support in the next 4 year period. Violence (including harassment) in the workplace 45. Although there have been many programmes spearheaded by unions demanding proper legislation to criminalise violence against workers and demanding employers to develop and maintain safe workplaces and support for social campaigns to win public acceptance that violence is unacceptable, workers still report high levels of violence at work as liberalisation and privatisation of transport has resulted in increased incidences of violence and stress in the workplace. 46. Over the last four years many affiliates have called for support from the ITF to develop material for education in the workplace. The Urban Transport Committee identified the need for a more focused campaign in public transport and with the endorsement of both Sections, the Secretariat identified that although there was significant literature on violence, much of it was based on a top down structural approach through education rather than supporting workplace activism. 47. On the basis that unions should encourage workplace identification of the problems and give their members support to seek solutions the workers are satisfied with, the Secretariat developed material aimed to meet this challenge. An ITF booklet was successfully tested in India with both rail and road transport unions present. To date the booklet has been produced in Hindi, English, Russian, French and Spanish. A supporting leaflet has been translated into 25 languages. A bi monthly bulletin is distributed to a growing list of unionists who have registered an interest in the issues. 48. The challenge going forward is to liaise with affiliates to determine how best the Secretariat can support the introduction of the programme into the workplace. A short introductory film is to be produced to give impact to educational seminars. Regional Economic Groups 49. Liberalisation and the removal of border barriers have resulted in a collapse of national protections for national trade unions. In Europe the foundation of tripartite consultation has not been sufficient to protect previous national standards. The situation is worse in other regions of the world. 50. To confront this situation, the Sections have focused on supporting unions to develop a regional focus to their industrial and political work. Activities in the South America MERCOSUR region brought together both road and rail unions to use their combined strengths to focus on the Labour Ministers as well as supporting greater collaboration between the unions.

10 page Governments in other regions are developing legal frameworks to support common custom laws, the free movement of goods and people. Unions need support to counteract this liberalisation and most are struggling. The focus to build union capacity to confront regional issues that affect all unions is vital. There are not yet (except in Europe) regional union centres. The most vulnerable workers in any regionalisation are the transport workers. 52. The work going forward will require the identification of training resources with a greater focus on basic union recruiting and development but will also need skills and resources to engage in a practical way with regional governments. Regionalisation of rail ownership will increase unless liberalisation can be halted. Cross border issues 53. Specific issues at borders still require organising activity. Successes to date include the rail unions and the ETF winning driver standards and associated cross border issues. As railway ownership becomes multinational, the challenges in obtaining bargaining rights and enforcing union standards come into sharp focus. The Secretariat has supported cross border meetings linked to Eurostar. It has also convened a meeting in East Africa between Zambian, Ugandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian railway unions. HIV/AIDS 54. The Section identified HIV/AIDS as an important industrial issue because most workers who were diagnosed with the disease were being dismissed from work. Unions did not have an understanding of the disease, nor did they have an industrial response to the dismissal of members with the disease. 55. The Section supported the Education Department to focus on the education of union leaders to enable understanding of the disease and to assist them to develop an industrial response, while educating their members about the medical and social realities. 56. Today the ITF coordination on HIV/AIDS is conducted through the ITF HIV/AIDS Coordinator. In the Section we have used our association with the ILO, UN and employer bodies to support a tripartite approach in order to develop a balanced response. This process has resulted in the Sections achieving an industry based tripartite education programme based on the production of HIV/AIDS toolkits in both the Road and Rail Sections. 57. There is still no cure for the disease and the number of persons with the disease is increasing. It is important that in countries with lower levels of HIV the unions challenge social resistance to understanding the disease, to educate their members and win protection through their industrial bargaining. Annex 1: Annex 2: EB/Oct 09/10(d) Global Framework Agreements ITF Railway Conference Resolution on Young Workers