Course Description

 

 

1. BACKGROUND

Training is one of the major functions of trade unions. Training of their members and officials is essential to strengthen the organization and improve its various functions. Particularly in view of the involvement of trade unions in an increasing number of social and economic issues in the recent years, it has become even more vital for the unions to continue and expand their training activities for both their leaders and members.

The Workers' Education Programme of the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) of the ILO assists trade unions in their training activities in order to expand their membership and activities and to enhance their capacity of representing members, to improve their negotiating skills, and participating in various decision-making processes. The Programme for Workers' Activities of the International Training Centre of the ILO (ACTRAV-Turin) is an integral part of this ILO/ACTRAV's Education Programme, and has a specific task of implementing various training activities to assist trade unions in strengthening their expertise and training capacity in current strategic technical issues.

This training course, gA3- 00312 : Trade Union Training for NWJ on Job-Security of Telecom Workers in the Era of Global Mega-Competitionh , is designed to assist the All NTT Workers Union of Japan (NWJ) to develop the capacity of their next generation leaders and activists to make proactive responses to various changes foreseen in their industries so as to continue to effectively protect and promote job-security of their members in the era of global mega-competition.

The telecom markets in the world have experienced dramatic changes in the past three decade s. Privatization, deregulation and liberalization have transformed the once most-protected and monopolized market into one of the most liberalized market where telecom companies must engage themselves in a survival type of competition. While technological advancement has been playing a key role in altering the technical characteristics of the telecom industry, the strong political wills, often influenced and guided by international forces, to open up the markets and facilitate competition have been the key factor for deciding the rules of liberalization and the ways telecom companies compete in the national market.

During the process of privatization and liberalization, employment situations at the former dominant carriers have significantly been changed. Although most of those carriers could avoid compulsory redundancies, a large number of employments have been reduced through such measures as voluntary early retirement, reduction in new recruitments, and job transfers to other sections, subsidiaries or even outsourced companies. It is now commonly perceived that telecom unions in the world no longer can assure their members of job security as in the past when a telecom worker could join a company at age 18 and retire from that company, often from the same building.

Today, as competition gets even tougher, telecom companies are trying to further streamlining and flexibilizing their employment by way of outsourcing and increasing use of atypical forms of employment, at the expense of quality formal employment. If the number of quality formal employment in the telecom industry further shrinks in the coming years, the telecom employment in general become more volatile and insecure, putting more negative pressure on existing quality employment.

Under these difficult situations, how can the world telecom unions try to maintain or promote the level of job-security of their members? How can NWJ try to assure their members of the same level of job-security as in the past?

This training programme will provide the NWJ participants with some useful analytical points and views for finding an answer to these important questions. Through their studies on the efforts by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Union Network International (UNI) and some major European telecom trade unions in assuring fundamental rights, promoting decent employment and protecting job-security for telecom workers, the participants will be encouraged to try to find the best approach for their future actions.

 

2. PARTICIPANTS

This program is a tailor -made training course specially designed for All NTT Workers Union of Japan (NWJ) . 16 participants will be selected by NWJ under the following criteria:

  • 40 years old or younger;
  • More than 2 years of union experience as elected full-time or part-time union official; and
  • Possession of aspiration for advancing the trade union movement.

NWJ, with a membership of over 2 1 0,000, is one of the largest enterprise-based trade unions in Japan . It is the core member of the Japan Federation of Telecommunications, Electronic Information and Allied Workers (JOHO-ROREN), which is one of the major affiliates of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO), the trade union national center.

 

3. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

This training programme will contribute to:

  • Expanding a pool of next-generation leaders and activists within NWJ who have capacity of a nalyz ing and interpret ing global trends and perspectives so as to take proactive steps in safeguarding the rights and interests of their members;
  • Facilitating debates within the NWJ concerning new strategies and programmes for protecting and promoting job security and socio-economic welfare of their members under the era of globalization ; and
  • Promoting the participation of the NWJ in various international campaigns organized by ILO, UNI/APRO and their telecom selectors, and other international organizations in promoting gdecent workh for all. 

 

4. IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to:

  • Better explain the process, key factors and driving forces of the current process of globalization, as well as its economic and social impact on workers in the difference spheres of the world;
  • Grasp the current programmes and activities of the ILO and its Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV), in particular their efforts in minimizing the negative impact of globalization through the promotion of gdecent workh, and apply the decent work concept in their day-to-day trade union activities;
  • Understand the value of international labour standards (ILS) as an universal instrument for protecting and promoting workers' rights and interests, and participate in the procedures and supervisory mechanisms of the ILS;
  • Comprehend the missions and programmes of the Union Network International (UNI) and its Telecom Sector, and promote their programmes and activities in Japan as well as in Asia and the Pacific region;
  • Understand the current trends in telecommunication industries in Europe, in terms of changes in regulatory framework, level of competition, employment trends, situation of outsourcing and atypical forms of employment and union density, and foresee future trends in the Japan ese telecom industries ;
  • Introduce to their colleagues the concept of gemployabilityh as one of the means for promoting job-security in the era of globalization, and propose ways and means to improve gemployabilityh of NWJ members; and
  • Grasp various strategies having been pursued by European telecom unions in securing employment and promoting welfare of their members in the current contexts , and propose best policies, strategies and action programmes for NWJ.

 

5. COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

The course will consist of the following sections:

a) International Labour Organizations (ILO) and Decent Work: Challenges for workers in the era of globalization

  • T ripartism and the standard setting role of the ILO;
  • Role s and functions of ACTRAV;
  • Major characteristics of globalisation ? trade, production, finance and technological advancement ? with a special view to their positive a s well as negative impacts on workers and trade unions ;
  • Major driving forces of globalization, including key international institutions such as WTO, IMF and World Bank , as well as multinational enterprises ;
  • The concept of gDecent Workh and efforts being made by the ILO /ACTRAV to achieve it; and
  • International instruments for workers' organizations to promote and protect workers' rights and interests.

b) ILO and Telecom Sector: Workers' Rights, Employment and Equality

  • ILO's sectoral activity in the area of telecommunications; and
  • The ILO Tripartite Conference on Post and Telecommunications and follow-up actions on its conclusions.
c ) International Labour Standards
    • Subjects and contents of ILS, standard setting procedures, system of supervision and monitoring and technical assistance;
    • Core labour standards and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up;
    • Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; and
    • Private voluntary initiatives as a means to promote ILS.

    d ) Union Network International and UNI-Telecom Sector
  • Introduction to UNI and its Telecom Sector, focussing on the current priority agenda and action programmes;
  • Analyses of current trends in telecom industries, in particular in the areas of workers' rights, employment and job-security, competition, industrial relations, union density and quality services; and
  • Current global campaigns by UNI-Telecom, such as organizing workers in call centers and mobile phone companies, and the importance of international solidarity actions in the era of globalizing networking economy.

e ) Employment, Employability and Job-Security in Telecom Sector

  • Introduction to the concept of employability;
  • How to ensure workers' employability: education, training and life-long learning; and
  • Role of governments, employers, trade unions and workers themselves.

f ) Telecom Sector and Multinational Enterprises: Framework Agreements and their Impact on Industrial Relations in the Region

  • Introduction to private voluntary initiatives to promote international labour standards, and the concept of Framework Agreements;
  • Assessment of the impact of the existing Framework Agreements that UNI has concluded with three telecom multinationals; and
  • Possibility of Framework Agreements with companies that originate in Asia and the Pacific Region or Japan .

g ) The Current Labour Agenda in the European T elecom M arkets and the Responses by Telecom Unions

  • Experiences in UK , Italy and Denmark on:
  • Trends in regulatory framework, employment, workers' rights and conditions, outsourcing, and union density;
  • Changes in industrial relations;
  • Policies and strategies of the telecom unions to protect and promote job-security and employability of their members;
  • Experiences in organizing unorganized workers in competitions, outsourced companies and atypical forms of employment; and
  • Union strategies to stay relevant in the future .

h ) Study Visit to Geneva

  • Observation of International Labour Conference;
  • Briefing on ACTRAV; and
  • Visit to UNI Headquarter Office.

i ) Individual Work Plan

(See gMajor Outputh section below)

j ) English Lesson

k ) Evaluation

  • Daily review;
  • Weekly evaluation and
  • End of the course evaluation.

 

6. MAJOR OUTPUT

Individual Work Plan

At the end of the course, each participant will produce an individual work plan that contains the following components:

  • Proposal for measures to be taken by his/her own Enterprise HQ on job security, employment promotion and employability for their members; and
  • Proposal for measures to be adopted by his/her own enterprise HQ as contributions to the promotion of fundamental principles and rights at work in the telecom sector in Asia .

Throughout the program, each participant continues to develop his/her work plan, exchanging views with tutor, resource persons and their fellow colleagues. On the last day of the program (i.e. Friday, 21 June), they must submit the first draft of work plan, containing the major outline of the two components. The outline will then be followed up after returning to their country for completion.

 

7. COURSE PREREQUISITES

In preparation for the course, each participant is required to prepare and submit in advance a report about their organization, members and priority issues. It should be created with a word-processor, on A4-size paper with double-space and 2.5cm margin, and possibly saved in MS Word format.

The Report should contain, as minimum requirements, the following categories:

  • Overview of the participants' organization (Enterprise HQ or Branch), including membership, gender balance, distribution of members across job categories and/or service areas, etc.;
  • Employment data and trends in the past five years (segregated by gender, services, job categories and ages);
  • Prediction of employment trends in the next five years;
  • Analyses of job-security level of their members, with identification of the most vulnerable groups within their organizations;
  • Measures being taken to promote job security for their members, particularly those who are identified as vulnerable;
  • Current discussion/debate or measures taken to promote gemployabilityh of their members, including any new measures concerning skills and capacity building, and carrier development;
  • Any organizing activities implemented in the past two years and analyses of their result; and
  • Personal objectives and goals that you want to achieve at the end of this training program.

The report should be no more than 3 - 5 pages long.

The above report should be submitted to the NWJ Headquarters by Friday, May 21, 200 4 .

 

8. TRAINING METHODOLOGY

An active learning method will be employed throughout the course, which will encourage the participants to fully involve themselves in all aspects of the training program .

In order to achieve the expected outputs, i t is important for the participants to set their own objectives and goals at the beginning of the course, and periodically review the level of their achievement . For this purpose, there will be a gmorning reviewh session at the beginning of each day, where participants have a chance to review what they have learnt in the day before and to reconfirm the contents of the day's sessions.

The individual work plan will be used not only to assess the level of achievement of the course objectives, but also to facilitate a follow-up of the program. The participants are expected to complete and implement their work plan, and to send a progress report to ACTRAV one year after the course.

 

9. SUPPORT MATERIALS

A number of training materials, handouts and booklets dealing with the subjects will be distributed to the course participants.

 

10. LANGUAGE

The course will be mainly conducted in English with simultaneous English- Japanese interpretation.

 

11. DURATION AND STARTING DATE

The course is scheduled for two weeks, starting from Monday, 31st of May until Friday, 11th of June 200 4 . There will be a pre-course orientation session on Sunday, 30th of May .

A study visit to Geneva ( ILO HQ, International Labour Conference and UNI HQ ) is planned on 3-5 June 2004 .

 

12. THE CENTRES' TRAINING RESOURCES AND RESIDENTIAL FACILITY

The training will be conducted by professional staff of the ILO Turin Centre, in collaboration with external resource persons with specialized expertise in the course subjects.

The Centre's resources include classrooms, a learning resource center and library, a computer training laboratory and an interactive language laboratory. Located on the banks of the River Po, the Centre's campus provides a congenial environment in which to study and live. The accommodation is provided in serviced bed/study rooms with private bathrooms. Other amenities on campus include a restaurant, cafeteria, bank, travel agency, post office and an infirmary.

 

 

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