The Asia Pacific IWA Sub-Secretariat was created to assist the IWA Secretariat
support and co-ordinate communication with IWA affiliates in the broader AsiaPacific region. It is answerable to IWA Congress through the IWA Secretariat.---- Delegates and observers from three IWA affiliates based in the Asia Pacificregion (ASF, PPAS and WSF) attended the 28th IWA Congress in Alcoi, Spain. To thebest of our knowledge, this is the greatest participation of IWA affiliates fromthe Asia Pacific region ever. ---- The 29th Congress of the IWA will be held inJakarta in December 2025. It will be the first IWA Congress held in Asia. ---- Asa result of a discussion that took place at the first Asia Pacific IWAConvergence in Jakarta, November 2022, the Asia Pacific Sub-Secretariat wasconfirmed as a joint responsibility of ASF and PPAS and expanded from twocomrades to five; one from ASF Melbourne North, two from PPAS Jakarta and twofrom ASF Perth.It has been agreed to hold a second Asia PacificIWA Convergence in Jakarta in June 2023.2nd Asia Pacific IWA ConvergenceSince the 28th IWA Congress, the majority of thework of the Asia Pacific Sub-Secretariat has beentaken up with planning and organising the secondAsia Pacific IWA Convergence. The firstConvergence was attended by comrades fromAustralia, India and Indonesia. Reports fromAustralia, India, Indonesia and the Philippines werereceived and discussed. On the last day, adiscussion was had about building and expandingthe IWA in the Asia Pacific region and raisingawareness about and promotion of anarcho-syndicalism. With this in mind, it was decided tohold a second Convergence.The first Convergence has been successful ingenerating unprecedented interest in anarcho-syndicalism and the IWA in the region and there arefirm commitments from comrades in Australia, India,Indonesia, Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailandwith expressions of interest from Bangladesh,China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines andSingapore in attending.Reports on the situation of workers in thecountries of comrades attending will be received inaddition to discussions about how to continue tobuild and expand the presence of the IWA andpromote awareness in the region.Change to Naming ConventionsAfter concerns were raised by comrades inSingapore and Myanmar, the Asia Pacific Sub-Secretariat decided to change the method by whichInitiatives are named. Previously, Initiatives werenamed after the nearest IWA section, initially ASF(Singapore and Manila). After the admission ofPPAS to the IWA at the 27th IWA Congress, it waschanged to PPAS, e.g. ASF Manila Initiative waschanged to PPAS Manila Initiative (now MK, IWAFriends Group in the Philippines).It was decided to rename all such Initiatives byIWA to avoid associations with the particularcountries of IWA affiliates in the region. Henceforth,PPAS Singapore Initiative is now known as IWASingapore Initiative.IWA Myanmar InitiativeHaving made contact with anarchists inMyanmar, the Asia Pacific IWA Sub-Secretariatassisted with the foundation of a new Initiative inMyanmar; IWA Yangon Initiative.Currently, they are a small group of about 25based in Yangon, they are comprised of comradeswho have had previous involvement in trade unionactivity, social rights activism as well as theBurmese Anarchist Federation and LibertarianMarxist Group. IWA Yangon Initiative was founded23rd February 2023. They are cautious in theiractivity as they live under a military dictatorshipwho have demonstrated their determination torepress religious and ethnic minorities and anyother perceived threat to their rule. The focus oftheir activity is the translation of texts from Englishinto Burmese ('anarchy' is translated literally as 'noking'). They are continuing to discuss the possibilityof applying to affiliate to the IWA as a FriendsGroup.Solidarity campaign with sackedAnsell workers in Sri LankaReaders of previous reports will know that agroup of 11 workers sacked by Ansell in October2013 for attempting to unionise with a reformistunion affiliated to 'IndustriALL' contacted the AsiaPacific IWA Sub-Secretariat in June 2021 seekinghelp in their campaign to be re-instated with fullcompensation. Asia Pacific IWA Sub-Secretariatcalled upon ASF to respond on account of Ansell'sglobal headquarters being based in Melbourne.Since then, ASF Melbourne North has initiated acampaign of solidarity protest actions andparticipated in campaigns organised by AustraliaAsia Worker Links, an organisation comprised oftrade union and left-wing activists. ASF MelbourneNorth is responsible for communications directlywith the 11 sacked Ansell workers and reports toASF Secretariat and Asia Pacific IWA Sub-Secretariat. The campaign is ongoing.https://iwa-ait.org/content/iwa-external-bulletin-may-2023-a4-version_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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