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Dialogue of the Heads of Delegation, the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General with the Representatives of the workers, private sector, civil society and other social actors in the framework of the XLIII General Assembly of the OAS
Date:
June 3, 2014 – 9:00 am
Venue: Centro de Convenciones CONMEBOL, Room 4
The aim of this Dialogue was to provide the representatives of the different
groups with an opportunity to present their recommendations on the theme of the
General Assembly, “Development with Social
Inclusion,” for consideration by the Heads of Delegation of the Member
States, the OAS Secretary General and the OAS Assistant Secretary General.
This Dialogue provided time for workers, private sector and civil society representatives to present the recommendations of their respective
groups in two separate rounds. After each round of presentations, the Heads of
Delegation of the Member States were offered the floor to share their
comments and thoughts in reference to the social actors’ interventions.
The workers' presentation was made by Graciela Congo, Secretary of Education
of the Authentic Central Worker's Union (CUT-A) of Paraguay; Roni Barbosa, Executive Director of
the Unified Workers' Central (CUT) of Brazil and Vice President
of the Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE); and Iván Gonzalez Alvarado,
Policy Coordinator of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas. The
speakers presented the
Trade Union Declaration, which called into question the "neoliberal
hegemonic model" of the past three decades and proposed that this General
Assembly send a signal that the region is committed to breaking the logic of
economic conservatism. The speakers further noted the importance of fostering
trade unionism now rather than waiting for economic conditions to improve and
called for social protection and social security for all workers. The workers'
representatives also presented the
Development Platform for the Americas (PLADA),
launched in Santiago, Chile in May, which is intended to reduce structural
inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean through sustainable development.
Delegates from 22 Member States were present at the dialogue.
Furthermore, on June 1 and 2 workers' representatives held 2 coordination
meetings with the support of the GS/OAS where the Trade Union Declaration was
finalized and where the speakers of the dialogue were selected. Even though only
representatives of the CUT of Brazil, CAST of El Salvador, TUCA and the centrals
of Paraguay, represented by CUT-A and CNT, were present, the Declaration was
negotiated in advance among the main trade unions of the region under the
leadership of TUCA and COSATE. Workers' representatives participated as well in
a Dialogue with the Secretary General of the OAS on the morning of June 2.
Relevant documents and information: