ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real changeYou can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

2012-13 has been a year of consolidation for UnionAID, with existing projects continuing to meet their objectives and membership and funding support continuing to grow steadily. By March 2013 Solidarity membership stood at 162. Accumulated funds will enable us to continue to develop new projects with a growing number of committed activists, and people signing up to become Solidarity members.

In the absence of Ross and Helen Wilson in Myanmar (from where Helen continued to provide essential project management support) for most of the year Christine Ross and Nanette Cormack stepped up to play a leadership role. and the Trustees are grateful for the additional time and effort which they have put in during the remainder of the year. UnionAID is heavily reliant upon volunteers, particularly with fundraising and project management. We are proud that we are able to achieve a high level of professionalism in our work while at the same time keeping out our administration costs at a minimal level. The trustees are grateful to our volunteers who play such a key role in our fundraising, and to Sue Windsor and Jane Elliott who ensure that our financial management is excellent.

Fundraising activities, such as our annual iRaffle and film screenings, are now a part of our annual routine and make an important contribution to our project funds. However, we continue to look to individual supporters to sign up as Solidarity members and commit through ongoing direct debits to regular

donations to support our project work. This is the financial foundation for our work and our objective is to build this support so we can build our project work which provides such vital support to workers and their families in developing countries in our region.

As the project reports indicate our development projects continue to be successful. The NZ Aid Programme support for the Mae Sot Occupational Skills Training Centre ended in February and surpassed all the project objectives. It has been a very successful project in providing skills training to young migrant women from Burma who cross the border looking for work so they can send financial support back to their families. We are proud that our skills training has ensured that they have all been able to

get jobs immediately they complete our two week course.

The presence of Ross Wilson in Myanmar working for the International Labour Organisation also enabled him to make an assessment of possible UnionAID project assistance there and we

expect to establish new projects there during the 2013-14 year.

A major disappointment during the year was the decision of the NZ Government not to approve funding for our Burma Young Community Leaders Programme in 2013. This has been acknowledged by everyone, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and MFAT officials, as a very successful programme over the past four years. As the ILO Liaison Officer in Yangon, New Zealander Steve Marshall has noted:

“One of the critical shortages in this country is human capital with capacity to support and lead change processes. I can attest that the Young Leaders Programme plays a valuable role to that end...”

Immigration issues are said to be the reason for the funding suspension and we are hopeful that these can be resolved so that the programme can resume in 2014.

Our Tamil Nadu project has gone from strength to strength as the Dalit communities it serves successfully develop cooperatives to enable them to secure their economic independence, and educate their children. We are very grateful to Gareth Morgan for generously agreeing to support this project by matching our fundraising dollar-for-dollar.

The new project in Sri Lanka has also successfully achieved its objectives of assisting Tamil women in the former civil war areas in Eastern and Northern Sri Lanka to organize unions in the new garment factories which have been established there.

And last but not least, the Trustees acknowledge the generous support from our donors. Without your financial support we wouldn’t be able to provide the assistance to workers in developing countries through our projects. Those workers are very grateful and we can all feel proud that the projects are making a real positive difference to their lives and to the future for their families.

Peter ConwayHelen KellyMary-Jane RiversRoss Wilson

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Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real changeYou can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

1. The Tamil Nadu Labour Union (TNLU) Dalit and Tribal Economic Development Project

The project continues to impress, with outputs either meeting or exceeding expectations. Ross Wilson, Christine Ross and Helen Wilson from UnionAID made a monitoring visit to the project in early March 2013. A detailed report from this visit has been prepared for the Morgan Foundation (available at http://unionaid.org.nz/2013/04/dalit-and-tribal-workers-economic-development-project-mid-term-report/).

Four of the five intended worker cooperatives are now established and constitutions drawn up, with a total membership of 927 (610 women and 317 men). These are the Basket Weavers, the Sandalmakers, the Narikuravar (Gypsy) Craft, and the Kodai Vegetable Growers Cooperatives (previously the Agriculture Farming Cooperative). The fifth cooperative to be established is a cooperative for flower growers. This will also establish direct links with the flower vendors micro-enterprise for mutual advantage.

Four micro-enterprises have been established, currently with 20 members in each. Membership is continuing to grow and by the end of the project there will be 30 members in each of the Small Florists, Vegetable Vendors, Rope Bracelet Makers and Manure Producers enterprises.

Training has been a significant component of this project and the numbers of people trained is over-target at 1120 with basic training, and 495 trainers trained (ToT). The intention is for further ToT and general training with a projected total at the end of the project of 662 trainers and 1820 trainees. The extra training courses have been undertaken because there is an identified need among the membership both for more vocational skills and business management skills.

This three year project with TNLU commenced in June 2011 and will be completed in June 2014. It is funded on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the Morgan Foundation, up to $30,000 per year against new monies raised by UnionAID each project year.

2. The FTUB Occupational Training Centre Mae Sot Project

This training centre project, after two years funding through NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has come to an end. The occupational training complex now boasts two classrooms, an office, a dormitory and kitchen for the trainees, a house for the trainers, and three ablution blocks.

In spite of moves towards democracy in Burma, there has been no decrease in the numbers of migrant workers seeking higher wages in Thailand. This project provides these mainly women migrants alternatives to human trafficking, and

enables them to send remittances to their impoverished families in Burma. The course also equips them with information about Thai labour laws, Thai language and culture and human rights so they can take up issues in the workplace.

Over the two project years, the intensive two week course has taught industrial sewing skills to 738 migrant women and 60 men (mainly brothers of trainees) - well above the projected 350 per year. All trainees have found work in the many factories along the Thai-Burma border and in Bangkok within days of completing the course. A small survey of employees showed 100% satisfaction with the trainees’ skills and some factories provide fabric offcuts and thread for the training centre.

Because of the effectiveness of this training, and the fact that self-sufficiency is unlikely in the short to medium term, UnionAID has decided to pick up the operation costs of the training centre for the 2013-2014 year.

3. Sri Lanka Garment Workers Project

Union membership is now 100% in two of the five factories organised under the UnionAID Sri Lankan partnership project with the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZGSE). When the civil war in Sri Lanka ended, garment factories were set up in the north and east of the country to take advantage of the cheap labour and in response to the government’s intention

Projects ReportUnionAID Project Work in 2012 -2013

Projects Reportto establish Free Trade Zones there. Under our project with the FTZGSE, a branch office has been established and two organisers appointed. Their success in managing unlawful dismissals or termination of jobs, failure to pay wages or overtime, and ethnic discrimination, has seen a rapid growth in union membership among the mainly female workforce.

4. Burma Young Community Leaders Project

In June 2012 six young leaders arrived from Burma for the fourth intake of the six month programme which is managed by UnionAID volunteers and fully funded by MFAT. As with other intakes, these six young men and women represent a wide range of ethnicities and organisations, and included a journalist, two representatives from ethnic political parties, one from Save the Children and two from small civil society organisations. All completed the six month course at Victoria University of Wellington satisfactorily and returned to Burma in late December. We are grateful to the host families who give the students the added experience of New Zealand family life and culture.

We now have 23 alumni who have returned to their organisations in Burma or on the Thai-Burma border, and are making a significant contribution to the transition to democracy. We hope that the NZ government will decide to continue to fund this very worthwhile project in 2014.

5. FTUB Parami School projects

A number of small projects have supported specific activities at the school established by our project partners, Saw Min Lwin and Htwe Nge, in Mae Sot. The school provides an excellent education from pre-school to Year 11 for over 700 children of migrant workers from Burma. Although UnionAID has managed these, the funding has been provided directly by individual unions.

The education unions (PPTA, NZEI, ISEA and TEU), for example, have paid the salaries of four teachers who provide lessons to Years 9 and 10 children in science, physics, computer studies Thai language, and biology and social studies. These will enable these children to progress to Year 11.

The Association for Social Studies Teachers (ASSA) has paid for special resources required for the Montessori teaching in the Parami pre-school, which is attended by up to 70 children. According to Min Lwin, the results are already impressive, with the children quieter and more focused on learning.

The pupils who live at a distance from the FTUB school get safely to and from school each day in transport generously paid for by the Rail and Maritime Union (RMTU) and Maritime Union (MUNZ). The school has one vehicle of its own, and they lease two extra cars to ferry the children. The three vehicles do six ‘ferry’ trips each a day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon, bringing over 400 children safely to and from school.

Become a Kiwi Solidarity member - Support real changeYou can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing admin@unionaid.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

Union Foundation Members: Union Foundation Members: NZ Council of Trade Unions –Te Kauae Kaimahi (CTU), Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union(EPMU), Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), National Distribution Union (NDU), NZ Dairy Workers Union (NZDWU), NZEI Te Riu Roa; NZ Educational Institute, N Z Post Primary Teachers Organisation (PPTA), Public Service Association (PSA), Rail & Maritime Transport Union (RMTU), Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU), Tertiary Education Union (TEU).

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust (UnionAID)An independent charitable trust established by the NZ Council of Trade Unions –Te Kauae Kaimahi as an independent international development agency for New Zealand unionists and their families.

Uniquely union: Workers in New Zealand helping workers overseasRegistered Charity – Charities Commission Reg No CC42051

Trustees: Ross Wilson Executive Chair, Peter Conway, Helen Kelly and Mary-Jane Rivers.

P O Box 6689 Wellington 6141

Email: admin@unionaid.org.nz

Visit: unionaid.org.nz