This presentation by partners of the Olof Palme International Centre and the ABF Sweden was open to all Conference delegates and was also accessible for online participation.
A panel presented four case studies of methods used by workers’ education organizations and trade unions to involve their members in political election campaigns and put their issues on the political agenda. Workshop participants shared their own experiences and discussed the key lessons for educators.
Maura is an IFWEA executive Committee member and an Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She is also the Head of Community Engagement at the University and Director of ENGAGE University of Limerick, and IFWEA affiliate.
Luis Garcia is the workers’ education program coordinator at the Labor Education and Research Network, a non-governmental organization in the Philippines that provides education, research, and networking assistance for workers and their organizations. He collaborates with unions and other workers’ organizations to design education programs that suit their needs and interests. He has also been involved in organizing workers from various sectors, such as public service, media, and manufacturing.
Hiller Alberto Hernández Muñoz, is Colombian, Social Worker, specialist in Educational Management and Master in Education; social researcher, university professor, director and coordinator of several educational organizations in Medellín Colombia.
He is currently the General Director of the Escuela Nacional Sindical, a Colombian civil society organization and think tank dedicated to the promotion of human and labor rights, research on the world of work, training and trade union innovation, as well as the management of international cooperation projects and the design of public policies related to the world of work.
Daniel Vencu Öhrlund Castro is a Swedish MP for the social democratic party in Sweden and board member of ABF.
He has a broad experience from international work concerning democracy and equality in Latin America. He has also been the secretary general for the Young Falcons movement in Sweden.
Godfrey Kanyenze is the director of the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), a research think-tank of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) established in September 2003. Before then, he worked as an economist for the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) (1986-2003) and as a statistician at the Central Statistical Office, now ZIMSTAT.
He has a BSc in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe, a Masters in Economics from the University of Kent (UK), and a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Sussex (UK).