Category: News and events

The Labour Education Foundation in Pakistan is seeking support for a new Labour Film Community (LFC) project, in the development, production and screening of cause based films intended to target the most marginalized sections of society.

Further details are available at www.indiegogo.com/projects/labour-film-community-pakistan .

LFC’s foremost goal is to develop a parallel media for representing the voice of the workers, downtrodden ethnic communities and other oppressed classes in Pakistan. At the same time, LFC intends to engage the people from the working class – especially youth – for film trainings, workshops, social media education and documentary-making sessions – in order to educate them for reflecting their lives to the world and to empower their communities by using the medium of film.

The Global Labour University (GLU) invites trade unionists and labour activists  interested in global social justice and international social movements to apply to its Masters in “Labour and development? in South Africa and “Social Economy and Labour? in Brazil.

The  programmes focus on workers? rights, economics, labour movements and international solidarity, globalization and development. The unique collaboration between the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the international trade union movement and universities from different continents creates a global study environment and offers great opportunities for international networking and cross border collaboration.

The deadlines for application are

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; South Africa   31. August 2013
Contact: Pulane Ditlhake  glu.southafrica@wits.ac.za

University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil  1.102013
Contact: Jacqueline Aslan Souen, e-mail:glu.brazil.2010@gmail.comA limited number of scholarships will be awarded to students. 

Visit http://www.global-labour-university.org for application and programme details.

Politics, Organisation and Education

Dave Spooner, GLI UK, and Teresa Conrow, labour educator and organiser, are leading this plenary.  There will be no recording of this session, but follow the talk at #ISS13 on twitter!

The Fall & Rise of Labour?

New trends in trade unionism. What will the international trade union movement look like in 2020?

Discussion lead by Liv Tørres, Norwegian Peoples Aid and Han Dongfang, China Labour Bulletin, Hong Kong.

The Public Service Challenge

Greg Thompson of Unison, UK, Marcela Olivera from the Municipal Services Project in Bolivia, and David Hall of PSI talk about the challenges to public services.

The Anti-Capitalist Challenge

Fatima Aquado Queipo of CC.OO in Spain, and Lefteris Kretsos of Syriza in Greece talk about the anti-capitalist challenge to the trade union movement.

The Climate Challenge

The Political Challenge

Bala Tampoe of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union of Sri Lanka and Dan Gallin of the Global Labour Institute in Geneva talk about the challenges facing the movement.

#ISS13: Pre-school briefing

The opening session of the Global Labour International Summer School. Dave Spooner of Global Labour Institute, UK presents a Starter Kit for International Trade Unionists: A brief guided tour around the political and organisational landscape of the movement – for participants new to international trade union discussions.

Watch the session here:


Type your comments here

The GLI 2013 International Summer School (8-12 July) will be broadcast live on the internet by our partners, Union Solidarity International.  The summer school sessions will be available through the GLI and USi websites, with further information about each session available at usilive.org/gli.

You can join the discussion live by commenting on the page, or using #ISS13 on twitter. We look forward to your contributions!

The Cornell Global Labor Institute is coordinating the Trade Unions for Energy Democracy initiative.  The initiative aims to advance democratic direction and control of energy in a way that promotes solutions to the climate crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and the repression of workers’ rights and protections.

The AFL-CIO has partnered with the Global Labour University to develop a global online conversation about the Future of Worker Representation.  GLU is moderating an open discussion forum regarding five key questions on the future of worker representation, and encourages all interested parties to join the conversation in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

All non-UK participants in the GLI 2013 International Summer School are invited to the Durham Miners’ Gala, taking place in the city of Durham, over the weekend immediately after the summer school.

The Durham Miner’s Gala is the biggest and most colourful celebration of trade union and community spirit in Britain. Held on the second Saturday of July, the Durham Miners’ Gala sees trade unionists from across the country descend on Durham city and the event has developed into the largest gathering of trade unionists in the country.

Highlights include wave after wave of banners, each typically accompanied by a brass band, which are marched to the old Racecourse, where political speeches are delivered. In the afternoon a miners’ service is also held in Durham Cathedral which may include the blessing of any new banners. See durhamminers.org.

Your visit will be hosted by Unite the Union, including transport from Northern College on Friday 12 July, an invitation to the big Unite social event on the Friday evening, two nights shared-room accommodation in Durham, and transport return to Manchester Airport on the morning of Sunday 14 July.

To take part, please contact: annie.hopley@31.172.241.170.

Please note that a return coach will drop participants at Manchester Airport at 12:00 noon on Sunday 14 July. Please book your return flight accordingly.

An invitation flyer is available to download here.