Interview with Maria Helena André, Director of ACTRAV

ACTRAV INFO: You took over as Director of ACTRAV on 2nd September 2013. What are your aims as head of the department to support the trade union organizations?

Maria Helena André: Let me say that it’s an honour and a pleasure for me to take up the position as Director of this department. In ACTRAV, we have a dynamic team both on the ground and at Headquarters in Geneva, to strengthen tripartism within the International Labour Office (ILO) and to better serve our worker constituents. My vision for ACTRAV is quite simple. We are part of ILO and our constituents are the trade union organizations that represent the workers; and in this respect ACTRAV has two objectives. First, we must work with a spirit of solidarity within ILO to help the Office to develop and see put into practice the results, conventions, resolutions and recommendations to help the trade union organizations working on the ground. ACTRAV must be able to influence ILO’s policy and its various departments for better consideration of the workers’ cause and the world of work. Secondly, we have the trade union organizations and the workers for whom and with whom we work on the ground. Our work with the trade union organizations must have an impact on ILO’s agenda in order to do more to help the trade unions on the ground all around the world. The ACTRAV team provides support to the Secretariat of the Worker's group as well as to members of the Workers'group of the Governing Body to help them prepare for the sessions of the Governing Body and the International Labour Conference.

I believe that the application of international labour standards must be a crosscutting issue that involves everybody. I think that in a globalised world there has to be healthy competition that must adhere to the principles of international labour standards. And the trade unions have a big responsibility in this, because they have to work together with the governments and the employers’ organizations. ILO’s tripartite approach is very important for this; that’s why ACTRAV’s work to support the trade union organizations has to enable implementation of ILO’s agenda and ensure that that agenda can strengthen the place and role of the trade union organizations and consequently the defence of workers’ rights, so as to establish greater social justice in the world.

ACTRAV INFO: You are the first woman to be appointed head of ACTRAV. How do you see gender equality within the trade union movement generally?

First of all, I think that we’ve come a long way in terms of women’s participation in trade union organizations. But I think that there is still a long way to go, because women’s participation needs to be opened up more than it is today. Most trade union organizations these days have “women’s” departments to address issues that affect women in their places of work; I don’t support that approach. I think that setting up a “women’s” department is very important, but equality issues mustn’t be focused only on the gender perspective. Equality also has to encompass other important issues, such as helping women and men manage their family lives. For example, there are single-parent families today who need to be able to reconcile their family life with their professional life. And these issues are just as important for men as for women. That’s why equality cannot be dealt with solely within a women’s department, but has to be part of an overarching policy in trade union organizations. And I think that there is still a lot of work to be done on that.
Secondly, in many trade union organizations, women are in management roles and are making decisions. But the idea of parity or quotas for women’s representation in these organizations has not sufficiently taken root, because some trade unions have executive bodies that are made up entirely of men. I think that the trade unions should not preach equality and then fail to practice it in their own organizations.

Lastly, I think that with the mass influx of women into the workplace, trade unions as social partners need to take account of the diversity in the workplace when they engage in collective bargaining. To achieve that goal, trade unions need to put together more mixed teams of men and women, so as to be able to negotiate better with employers and governments, and not all-male teams as is still the case in many countries.

ACTRAV INFO: On 7th October, the international trade union movement will be celebrating World Day for Decent Work under the theme “Organize!”. On that occasion, what message would you like to send to the trade union organizations that have expectations so far as ILO is concerned?

In order for trade union organizations to be strong, autonomous and independent, they have to be representative; and in that sense, this year’s theme of organizing in trade unions is very important for two reasons.

Firstly, because the trade unions need to expand their support base in order to become more representative. The work carried out by ILO through ACTRAV to support trade union organizations also aims to strengthen these organizations to make them more representative with technical means, to be able to negotiate with employers and governments. I think that the work of developing the resources of trade union organizations is therefore very important and the trade unions must be more active in places of work so as to recruit more workers. This calls for new recruitment strategies, not the same strategies that were used 30 or 40 years ago. We have to think about young people, about women, about minorities; that means opening up our language and practices as trade union organizations. I am certain that the trade unions are aware of these challenges and that they will therefore act so as to respond better to the needs of workers.

Secondly, trade union organizations also implies the aim of decent work for all. This presumes better social protection and employment security for all, and in particular for workers in the informal economy. There are millions of workers in the informal economy today and there are enormous challenges involved in unionizing them, something that is essential to better protect their rights. What’s more, given the importance of the issue of the informal economy, the ILO’s Governing Body decided in March 2013 to put a normative item on the agenda of the 103rd session of the International Labour Conference on the need to make it easier to transition from the informal to the formal economy. The aim is to enable a recommendation to be drawn up on the issue. In June 2014, the workers, employers and governments will therefore be considering together in the tripartite framework, the elements of a response to facilitate transition from the informal to the formal economy. I think that this is the beginning of a process which has the end goal of allowing access to decent work to millions of workers in the informal economy.

Finally, I think that the theme of trade union organization also implies greater solidarity within the trade union movement, especially in this time of economic and financial crisis, which is affecting workers first and foremost. Unity within the trade union movement is therefore essential, and ILO is able, through ACTRAV, to support trade unions in order to strengthen social dialogue, tripartism and the application of international labour standards.