Greetings from Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Brazil, to BRICS Trade Union Forum, Durban, 23 March 2013 CentralÚnica dos Trabalhadores (CUT),Brazil, 24 March 2013 Firstly, I’d like to thank COSATU for organizing this important Trade Union Forum, here in the beautiful and pleasant city of Durban, where in the next days our heads of state will convene.
I’d like also to salute her Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa. Besides that, I want to salute all other trade union comrades, men and women, who are here today. We’ll be gathered here in the next few days to deal with a very important issue for the world of labor: the new political relations that are being built by five among the most important counties in the world, the BRICS. For CUT Brazil, that necessarily means international solidarity amongst worker’s in these countries. For the first time the BRICS community meets in African soil. We welcome with enthusiasm South Africa’s recent entrance into the bloc, for what it represents to the efforts to democratize the international multilateral institutions. We also recognize that South Africa’s membership to the BRICS strengthens its political characteristics, beyond its natural vocation to undertake coordinated actions on economic matters. We believe that such an alliance of countries as the BRICS, which dares to question the current global power structures and to propose innovative alternatives, cannot refrain from the dialogue with society. Therefore, we don’t want to see in the BRICS the repetition of institutional arrangements in which trade unions are neither received, nor heard. Having known that there are ongoing negotiations to establish a BRICS Business Council, we demand coherence from our governments and the opening of a similar institutional space that would allow workers’ participation. We strongly believe to have a lot to contribute to the BRICS process, building on the multilateral experiences in which we, as CUT Brazil, currently participate in, such as: the Social and Economic Advisory Council (FCES) in the Mercosur; the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) at the OECD; and Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) at the Organization of American States (OAS). We are willing to support and to promote the Trade Union political coordination process within the BRICS, working with respect to our rich diversity in order to reach our common objectives: the struggle against neoliberalism, against transnational corporations’ abuses and for the fulfillment of the Decent Work political agenda in all our countries. Important decisions – such as the creation of a BRICS Development Bank – are expected as the outcome of the Summit. We have the responsibility to make the workers’ voice heard and to present our vision on the key issues that are at stake here in Durban, keeping in mind that this is a new process for our governments and so it is to us. Thank you very much! -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
