The Kit

International Workers Rights Education Kit

The purpose of this kit is to provide a resource which can be used by unions to introduce international development issues into union education work and union meetings.

The kit draws on the real life experience of two projects which UnionAID has partnered, an education project for Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot Thailand, and a union capacity building project for Dalit (untouchable) and Tribal (indigenous) workers in Tamil Nadu India.

The activity modules in the kit draw on Fact Sheets to provide a number of exercises and discussions for a range of situations, from large conference settings to smaller workshops and meetings. See the Facilitator Guide for help with choosing activities.

There are several key messages which summarise the reasons why we, as New Zealand union members, should actively support international development work:

Solidarity ‐ International union solidarity is a key union value.
Struggling families like us ‐ Workers and families in developing countries are real people like us struggling in a much tougher environment.
Globalisation ‐ Helping those workers to organise not only benefits them, but also protects jobs in NZ..
Basic human rights ‐ Helping workers exercise basic human rights guaranteed by international law.

I hope that the outcome will be a greater understanding of, and support for, the international development work undertaken by organizations like UnionAID.
Thanks to the NZ Aid Global Education Fund for their grant for developing the kit.
Ross Wilson
Executive Chair