Our reason to be
Since March 08, Unite in Brussels has been under the
responsibility of the Political Department
headed by Mr Charlie
Whelan.
Brussels Office
- The official opening of Unite took place in Oct 14th 2008
and was pretty well attended. It was followed by a meeting with the
EPLP in Parliament. Please click here to see our delegation.
By being present we are gradually establishing
personal contact with them.
- Physically speaking, the office is a stones throw from
each of the European Institutions and thus allows us fast
access for face to face contact on an hourly/daily/weekly
basis, with the relevant makers and shakers in the
various places. In addition, it allows us the ability for
direct monitoring of the relevant pieces
of legislation and verify at what stage they are at. From
the train station (point A on the map below), the office is just
4km away at 40 rue Montoyer, 1000 Brussels (point B).
View Larger Map
In terms of staffing, the Unite office in Brussels is
managed by Mrs Ghislaine Sanchez-Martin, graduate in Languages and
International Commerce, (incl. Logistics, Marketing, Procurement
and EU law) and fluent in 4 European Languages (French, Spanish,
Italian and English) plus some basic knowledge of another 3
(German, Mandarin and Portuguese). She is a French socialist and
has been contributing to the health NGO, "Médecins sans frontières"
for some years now. As a student, she also was part of a team who
painted a fresco for "Amnesty International" in the South West of
France. With a local organisation, she contributed to decorate the
rooms of a small clinic where children suffering from the down
syndrome were looked after. At that time, she was also an active
member of the "touche pas à mon pote" (translation = hands-off my
mate) movement, in reaction to the right-wing Front National
(equivalent to the BNP) party. Needless to say, she now is a member
of Unite.
Unite's global agenda
- Unite's priorities in Brussels are: to strengthen
social policy, defend jobs in all sectors, improve the environment,
fight against poverty, get some EU fundings and make sure human
rights are not conveniently forgotten.
- As the Unite presence in Brussels is relatively new, it
is also vital that we consult and make our presence felt with the
various other European Trade Unions. As an example, our
Joint General Secretary, Derek Simpson, met Berthold Huber, Gen Sec
of IG Metall, in August 08.
- Also, we must ensure appropriate connections are made
and maintained with Industry since Brussels is an
exceedingly important lobbyist platform for all. By being in situ,
we are more able to do this more effectively
- Finally, our presence in Brussels, also enables our
Executive members and Joint General Secretaries to maintain our
relations with the EPLP (European Parliamentary Labour
Party) on a regular basis. This gives Unite an opportunity
to share its concerns with EU labour politicians to ensure our
issues will be properly heard.
How are we effective?
- By simply being present and
- by carefully monitoring the various
legislation being processed through the various stages of
the EU.
This is of particular importance because legislation passed on the
European stage is ultimately cascaded down to the various EU
members.
Therefore, by influencing the key players in the EU (Parliament,
Commission, Council), meeting representatives of the British
government and others, we are ensuring a voice for all British
citizens.
Other contributions
- Our Brussels office also provides a convenient
facility for Unite members/delegations and organises
meetings with EU political figures. It is an opportunity to bring
to the forefront Unite members concerns and provide timely
fashioned responses to their queries.
You may want to read the minutes of meetings
organised through 2008 and this year’s.
Unite's 2008 achievements:
- Creation of the “Unite in Europe” website from
scratch. It contains all necessary information about the
ins and outs as well as current hot topics in the EU news.
- Laval-Viking-Ruffert petition website www.lavalvikingruffert.eu:
to fight against Social Dumping was created. (over 1500 votes to
date)
- Temporary Agency Workers Directive: The
negociations lead by Unite's Joint General Secretaries with the
British government, helped the EU legislation to move forward. It
was eventually voted after 6 years of stalling.
- European Works Council: was voted as well,
after over 14 years of stagnation.
- Human rights: Colombia and GSP+ preference:
Awareness on the killing of over 40 Trade-Unionists was raised in
EP through a Written Declaration supported by our Labour MEPs. We
did not get enough votes (138 out of 393 requested) but we did
raise the profile on the issue.
Unite's 2009 agenda
- Successful EU elections
- Intensify communication between MEPs and members through our
magazines, emails (activist), etc. The objective being to gradually
include Europe in people’s minds
- Use the Parliament and the EU network to promote specific
campaigns of ours (Miami 5, Colombia, etc.)
- Get access to EU funding
