From 15-18 March 2023 WOW-Asia organized its 2nd Congress in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. After a number of difficult years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the congress, which was initially planned for March 2020, could finally be organized. Seven years after the founding congress in Jakarta.
Where the founding congress could welcome three Asian organizations from thee different countries (Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia), this time twelve organizations from six different Asian countries participated. In particular Indonesia was well represented with half of the organizations present. Another positive sign was the fact that almost half of the delegates were women. This was one of the aims of WOW-Asia to have more women in their midst.
The focus on the first day of the congress was the future of work. The years of pandemic showed us all that the future of work is insecure. Whereas remote work was the exception before, this is increasingly becoming the standard practice today. In the Asian context there is more and more focus on remote work, although not all jobs and sectors are as open to this type of working arrangements. Examples from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands showed the developments taking place. Though the challenges of the mentioned countries are similar, the realities are far from the same. The fear of an insufficient number of jobs to support the number of workers on the labour market is real and a very worrisome future prospect.
On the second day the congress further elaborated on the debates of the first day. After finalizing this, the statutory congress took place where decisions were taken concerning actions for the next four years, amendments of the statutes, and elections for a new board.
Four important resolutions passed of which the most important was the adaptation of the current logo to a logo consistent to the new logo of the WOW.
The incumbent President Ms. Necie Lucero from the Philippine CDWP was re-elected for another mandate. Mr. Warish Ahmed from the Bangladesh BSCWF was also re-elected as Vice president. The board was completed by the General Secretary Mr. Carlos Rajagukguk (NIKEUBA-Indonesia), the Treasurer Ms. Peny Rahayu (RTMM-Indonesia) and Members of the Board Mr. Romulo F. Jimeno (CDWP-Philippines), and Mr. Ashraful Islam (BSCWF-Bangladesh).
The congress was organized in a very democratic and open fashion. This shows the importance given to the congress. It was a true display of transparency.
The World Organization of Workers – WOW congratulates Necie M. Lucero on her re-election as president of WOW-Asia and wishes her as well as the full board of WOW-Asia much success in furthering the interests of workers in Asia in general and of their members in particular.
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