An Italian at the head of the World Union

An Italian, Luca Visentini, coming from the Uil, was elected general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (Ituc), i.e. the world trade union. The election took place at the convention in Melbourne, Australia. As a preliminary step, we ask Visentini:

What is the Ituc? Can it play an effective role in a world where industry is globalized and rules seem to be tailored to favor international finance, while labor markets are nationally divided?

“The Ituc federates the trade unions of the democratic world, ie more than 250 confederations with more than 200 million members. Naturally, we do not negotiate global labor contracts but we contribute to defining labor rules, having as interlocutors international institutions (UN, Oil, IMF, World Bank, OECD, G20, etc.) and the continental and world associations of entrepreneurs. Our action is aimed at defending workers’ rights and rights in general and at fighting inequalities”.

You mentioned the democratic world. Do you mean only the West?

“No, the World Confederation of Trade Unions has members on all continents. We also have about fifty million in Asia, where, however, there is the problem of China. A few years ago, trade union relations were also developing in China and labor contracts were beginning to be signed, but since Xi Jinping came to power, everything has disappeared and the union has returned to being an organ of the party”.

If China, which is the workshop of the world, is a trade union black hole, this is enough to throw all of globalization off balance. But seen from the World Union, is the overall historical trend favorable or unfavourable?

“We had ups and downs. Globalization started in the 1990s with almost no regard for workers. With the financial crisis of 2008 the tide changed: even the most liberal institutions, such as the Monetary Fund, realized that the unrestrained market was damaging and thus a certain social idea of ​​the economy developed. The Covid crisis has turned back the clock, but in the post-pandemic initiatives have arisen, such as the Next Generation Eu and other equivalents in the rest of the world, aimed not only at economic recovery but also at overcoming inequalities”.

So things were going in the right direction. But now? What fronts are you fighting on?

“The first emergency is the spread of authoritarian governments. Defending workers’ rights is only possible if rights in general are promoted, and from China to the war in Ukraine this is a difficult time. Then the war unleashed the energy crisis and global inflation and this threatens wages and creates downward pressure on working conditions. The World Union opposes a solution to the crisis that makes workers pay the bill. Our goal, which was also the slogan of the Melbourne congress, is a new global social contract”.

How did you arrive at the position you now occupy?

“I was born in Udine, I’m 53 and I’ve been playing for the Uil since I’ve been working. In 2011 I was moved to Brussels in the secretariat of the European trade unions and in 2015 I became general secretary. Now the Melbourne Congress has elected me with three-quarters of the vote.”