Latest news with #BuildingandWoodWorkers'International
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dave Spooner obituary
My brother Dave Spooner, who has died of cancer aged 69, spent 40 years in the international trade union movement, and for the past 14 years was director of the Global Labour Institute (GLI) in Manchester. At GLI from 2010, Dave promoted solidarity among trade unions around the world through education and research. He had a particular interest in helping to organise workers in the informal economy, co-operating closely with the Building and Wood Workers' International, the International Union of Food Workers and the International Transport Federation. Dave was born in Eltham, south-east London, to Douglas, a mathematics teacher, and Audrey (nee Marchant). He attended the nearby Colfe's grammar school before studying full-time at the Italia Conti stage school, which was then in Clapham, from 1970 until 1972, a move that landed him the lead role in a children's film, Blinker's Spy-Spotter (1972). After taking part on a Royal Geographic Society expedition to rural Iran in 1975, Dave studied history at Sussex University, graduating in 1979. Active in student politics, he joined Big Flame, a small Marxist/feminist/libertarian group. He spent two years as a national community organiser with the Student Community Action Resources programme in Manchester, then in 1981 joined War on Want's transnational project as a co-director, focusing on export-processing zones but also preparing educational material for British trade unions. Following fieldwork in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Hong Kong, in 1984 he co-founded International Labour Reports, a bi-monthly international magazine on the globalised economy and trade union organisation. Dave edited the publication while working as a researcher at the Greater London council's popular planning unit. He then moved to Hong Kong as co-director of the Asia Monitor Resources Centre (1986-89). As senior economic development officer for Manchester city council from 1989 to 1992, Dave helped to set up the Labour Telematics centre in Whalley Range, supporting the use of computer communications by the trade union movement, before undertaking a feasibility study (1993-94) on the use of telematics in four African states as a consultant to the International Labour Organisation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. He became general secretary successively of the European Workers' Education Association and the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations. From 2008 he worked as an operations manager at Wiego (Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising). From 2012 to 2016, he organised residential GLI summer schools for international trade unionists, drawing on his experience of training for Unite. Dave's most recent publication, Understanding Informal Transport in Africa: Labour Impact Assessments as Tools to Improve Workers' Conditions, drew on years of innovative fieldwork he had carried out in several African cities. His archive is being curated by the Working Class Movement Library. He married Elaine Morrison in 2016. She survives him, as do two sons, Sean and Joe, from a previous relationship, with Mary Sayer, seven grandchildren, and three brothers, Robert, Stephen and me.
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Dave Spooner obituary
My brother Dave Spooner, who has died of cancer aged 69, spent 40 years in the international trade union movement, and for the past 14 years was director of the Global Labour Institute (GLI) in Manchester. At GLI from 2010, Dave promoted solidarity among trade unions around the world through education and research. He had a particular interest in helping to organise workers in the informal economy, co-operating closely with the Building and Wood Workers' International, the International Union of Food Workers and the International Transport Federation. Dave was born in Eltham, south-east London, to Douglas, a mathematics teacher, and Audrey (nee Marchant). He attended the nearby Colfe's grammar school before studying full-time at the Italia Conti stage school, which was then in Clapham, from 1970 until 1972, a move that landed him the lead role in a children's film, Blinker's Spy-Spotter (1972). After taking part on a Royal Geographic Society expedition to rural Iran in 1975, Dave studied history at Sussex University, graduating in 1979. Active in student politics, he joined Big Flame, a small Marxist/feminist/libertarian group. He spent two years as a national community organiser with the Student Community Action Resources programme in Manchester, then in 1981 joined War on Want's transnational project as a co-director, focusing on export-processing zones but also preparing educational material for British trade unions. Following fieldwork in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Hong Kong, in 1984 he co-founded International Labour Reports, a bi-monthly international magazine on the globalised economy and trade union organisation. Dave edited the publication while working as a researcher at the Greater London council's popular planning unit. He then moved to Hong Kong as co-director of the Asia Monitor Resources Centre (1986-89). As senior economic development officer for Manchester city council from 1989 to 1992, Dave helped to set up the Labour Telematics centre in Whalley Range, supporting the use of computer communications by the trade union movement, before undertaking a feasibility study (1993-94) on the use of telematics in four African states as a consultant to the International Labour Organisation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. He became general secretary successively of the European Workers' Education Association and the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations. From 2008 he worked as an operations manager at Wiego (Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising). From 2012 to 2016, he organised residential GLI summer schools for international trade unionists, drawing on his experience of training for Unite. Dave's most recent publication, Understanding Informal Transport in Africa: Labour Impact Assessments as Tools to Improve Workers' Conditions, drew on years of innovative fieldwork he had carried out in several African cities. His archive is being curated by the Working Class Movement Library. He married Elaine Morrison in 2016. She survives him, as do two sons, Sean and Joe, from a previous relationship, with Mary Sayer, seven grandchildren, and three brothers, Robert, Stephen and me.
Washington Post
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
International labor union says FIFA blocking access to Azteca Stadium for inspection
MEXICO CITY — An international federation of labor unions on Tuesday said FIFA denied it access to the Azteca Stadium to inspect conditions of construction workers doing renovations ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Ambet Yuson, the general secretary of the Building and Wood Workers' International, said FIFA told them that they didn't need inspections because the local workers already have a union and that there have been no incidents so far. 'The World Cup is global, and we must play by global rules and the global labor standards,' Yuson said at a news conference. 'The role of an international organization as BWI is to come and to be an independent inspector to see if what they are saying is true or not.' The Azteca has been temporarily closed for renovations since May 2024 and stadium owner Emilio Azcarraga Jean recently said the plan is to reopen sometime this year. Azcarraga Jean hasn't fully disclosed what modifications will be made to the Azteca for the World Cup that Mexico will co-host with Canada and the United States. The stadium, which opened in 1966, will host five games at the tournament and will become the first to host three World Cup opening matches. It also hosted the tournament openers of the 1970 and the 1986 World Cups. 'Building on past cooperation with FIFA, an agreement for joint inspections in Mexico, U.S. and Canada was negotiated, but FIFA pulled out before signing, blocking independent oversight at dangerous construction sites,' the BWI in a statement. The Azteca Stadium director, Felix Aguirre, did not immediately respond to a request for an interview. A FIFA spokesperson told The Guardian that the stadium's renovation 'is not managed by FIFA' but that the the governing body 'strives to respect and promote the highest international labor standards and seeks to ensure that the rights of workers in the various activities directly related to its operations are upheld.' FIFA added that in cooperation with the Azteca Stadium, it is 'actively engaging with stakeholders and monitoring the conditions offered to the workers.' BWI claims to have inspected working conditions for the past four men's World Cups, as well as the past three summer Olympics. According to the BWI, only 7% of the construction workers in Mexico belong to a union, making them vulnerable to poor conditions and wages. 'In all World Cups, construction workers die and we have not heard that somebody died in a construction site in Mexico,' Yuson said. 'Should we wait for someone to die? Or should we do the inspection now so we can prevent a single death?' ___ AP soccer:
