We hope to invite a wide range of interested organisations to this seminar. We are particularly interested in exploring how the international study circle model could be applied in an industrial context. The education programme will be used to link workers in the company in different countries, and will focus on key trade union issues, the international strategy of management and an international strategy for the union in response to the company. In this way, we hope that the international study circle will strengthen the international organisation of workers within the corporation. A further international study circle is being planned for women workers and will focus on the globalisation of the food industry.
Women make up a large percentage of the workforce in the industry.
They are involved in planting, harvesting, processing, preparing and serving the food we eat. Increasingly, the food industry is dominated by large transnational corporations which have impacted dramatically on people's working lives and food quality, safety and sustainability. For example, the high proportion of pesticides used in modern food production is a serious problem for women workers. The international study circle will include women workers from Nicaragua, Peru, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Britain, Kenya, South Africa, Estonia, Bulgaria and the Philippines. It will aim to strengthen the participation of women workers in trade union activities and enable them to build new alliances and networks of solidarity.