25 March, 2013IndustriALL Global Union’s Brazilian affiliate, the Confederação Nacional dos Metalúrgicos (CNM-CUT) would like to continue the training project in Mozambique focussed on reinforcing the role of women in the union structures.
In Mozambique the final workshop of the project on building gender structures in the National Union of Metal; Metal-Mechanic and Energy Workers in Mozambique (SINTIME) ended on 15 March with a decision to continue and further develop this project.
In discussions with CAW, Canada and IndustriALL head office, Paulo Cayres, CNM-CUT President and Marli Melo do Nacimiento National Women’s Secretary, have proposed to host a study visit in Brazil of a group of participants, to further complete their training and provide them with practical experience of the daily union work.
Conducted by the CNM-CUT, the project is a result of international support from the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and IndustriALL in close cooperation with SINTIME. The goal of this project, which involves 25 women workers from our affiliate in Mozambique, is to transmit the experience of the Brazilian metalworkers in developing democratic gender structures at all levels of their union.
As Paolo Cayres, CNM-CUT President says:
It has been a fantastic experience, we have not come to “educate” women, we came to exchange experiences with our Mozambican comrades; in a certain sense, we are returning the solidarity that we received in the past from CAW and IndustriALL to develop the Brazilian women workers’ structures, which has greatly assisted CNM-CUT to advance equal rights and become an example for workers in other countries.
The project started in September 2011 and several top Brazilian women leaders have travelled to Mozambique to work on topics such as women and the labour movement, gender, trade union and human rights, women workers’ health, collective bargaining and women in the labour market.
The project seeks to respond to the difficulties expressed by the young women workers in Mozambique regarding their daily difficulties at work, the lack of opportunity to study and advance as a trade unionist, in addition to the lack of training on National and International labour standards which protect women workers. SINTIME’s leadership has committed to continue supporting this project by continuing to involve these women participants in all other union building activities. CNM-CUT has further agreed to support SINTIME by sending union leaders to Mozambique to participate in organising drives that the union is carrying out this year.
Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL AGS, warmly thanked the participants and the CNM-CUT leadership for their commitment and hard work,
this is precisely the kind of fruitful South-South cooperation that IndustriALL hopes to develop with more affiliates in the future.