A Real Breakthrough; New Formula,
What people say makes us excited::
Yes, I DID receive your new formula. Sorry I didn't
respond sooner, but I took some time off and went
away for a long weekend.
I am VERY impressed with the sample you sent.
I
have used it about six times now, and I have really
experienced great relief...more than any other product that I have tried so far! So, I am very happy to pass that news along to you. And, I am also very happy to have found a product that works.
It seems to work almost immediately. The smell as well as the color is much more pleasant than your last formula, too.
Congratulations on a very fine product!!
You must be very excited to share this with people.
Sincerely,
Mary Selfridge
New Year Message
Circular No. U001/GS
Nyon, 3 January 2005
To all affiliated organisations
New Year Message
Dear Colleagues,
2005 opens with the scenes of utter destruction and death from the tsunamis that hit so many Asian nations with lethal force. At the time of writing it is estimated that 150,000 lives have been lost, millions have lost homes and livelihoods. The people of many nations acted with a sense of urgency. We hope that the global support effort can get swiftly care and support to the needy. The entire UNI family mourns the loss of life and we send our condolences to all those who lost loved ones.
In the age of global communications we can send messages around the planet in seconds yet this terrible disaster caught people unawares. With early warning perhaps tens of thousands of lives could have been saved. We may not be able to predict such natural disasters but we can be better prepared to warn people of danger and to limit the human and physical damage. The UNI-Asia and Pacific Executive will meet in February. By then we will have a much fuller balance sheet of the social and economic costs of the tsunami. The unions in the devastated areas require our help and they must be full partners of economic construction. We are in touch with the unions in the region to obtain an assessment of the impact of the tsunami on the members and the union infrastructure.
UNI and UNI-Apro must ensure that the global effort leads to the rehabilitation of the wrecked communities and that the help is there for the long term. Unions should be involved with employers and governments to rebuild infrastructure, build homes, schools, hospitals and employment. The ILO must take the lead in a job creating reconstruction effort. In the aftermath of 9/11 the ILO put together a tripartite conference to examine how to deal with the job losses in the hotel, aviation and tourism sectors. UNI has proposed that the ILO now put together an initiative for jobs and infrastructure in the ravaged communities. This could also contribute to a more comprehensive UN reconstruction effort.
Poverty, homelessness, unemployment, sickness are not 'acts of nature'. In South Asia alone three million people die each year from infections and parasitic diseases many of which are curable with cheap medicines. It has been estimated that every two weeks more people die from preventable diseases than in the tragedy of 26 December 2004.
UNI has joined the global campaign to Make Poverty History. This global campaign brings together trade unions, NGO's, charities and religious groups to significantly reduce world poverty. UNI and its affiliates are asked to play their part to mobilize their members to gain massive popular support for this anti poverty drive. UNI has long called for debt relief. We continue to be angry and frustrated that little more than 10% of the debt owed by the world's poorest countries has been cancelled. As UNI-Africa has pointed out each year Africa faces demands for debt payments in excess of $ 10billion. Almost no countries have reached the UN targets of 0.7% of GDP to be devoted to development.
The second UNI World Congress in Chicago in 2005 will be able to assess how successful the campaign has been. The Congress convenes under the theme IMAGINE. We will focus our efforts on jobs, organizing, campaigning and dealing with multinationals.
As UNI enters its sixth year we have established the world's largest network of unions. It spans all continents, and levels of economic development. But UNI is more than a loose network of like minded organizations. The message from UNI's Executive in November 2004 could not have been clearer. We want UNI to act and to be seen as a global union. We broke new ground with the creation of UNI. We now have to do likewise with our action. All parts of the organization have a contribution to make as we put our ambitious global agenda into place. We want to better connect our world with workplace concerns, globalise our organizing and campaigning, globalise labour relations with companies. We continue to be tested by companies that talk social partnership at home and do the opposite elsewhere. We continue to be unhappy at the lack of resolution of the dispute with Group4Securicor in the USA, the refusal of T-Mobile recognise unions and the dangers that Wal-Mart employment practices pose to all working people.
We have a full work plan in place for 2005. It promises to be a year that will bring change to global union structures. UNI has welcomed the unification talks between the ICFTU and WCL. We hope that the founding congress of a new international can take place in 2006. Each of the regional executives will meet before May with UNI-Apro in Singapore in February, UNI-Americas in Sao Paulo in April and UNI-Europa in Berlin and UNI-Africa in Tunis in May. UNI sectors and groups have their programmes in place. The preparations for our second World Congress are well advanced.
UNI is well positioned to continue its development and provide improved services to members. As the year turns it is normally a time of hope, optimism and promise but so many of our members in Asia have had the worst possible start of the New Year. Our promise must be to the victims and communities stricken by disaster in Asia. Asia rebounded from the financial crisis of seven years ago and Asia will recover again but it will require long-term commitment of the global community and the full involvement of its people in reconstruction efforts.
Let's make sure this happens.
Yours sincerely,
Philip J. Jennings
General Secretary
