OPG to the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) to help the Confederacion de Trabajores de la Republica de Panama (CTRP) and its member unions increase their role in national affairs and strengthen their capacities for collective bargaining. Activities will include: conducting a national survey on labor issues; creating an Industrial Relations Services Department (IRSD); and training of union leaders. To increase CTRP”s role in national affairs, the project will fund a national survey which will focus on the major economic and employment problems of workers in different regions of Panama and industrial sectors. Survey results will be widely disseminated, and conferences will be set up to discuss the final conclusions and explain CTRP”s position on various national issues. To strengthen collective bargaining capacities in Panama”s union, AIFLD will help CTRP to improve the quality of the TA which it provides to member unions. To this end, an IRSD will be established within the CTRP to give affiliates the technical and legal assistance they need to resolve differences and negotiate collective bargaining agreements directly with management. Collective bargaining will also be strengthened via an education program for CTRP unions and members. This will include seminars on collective bargaining for local union negotiating teams that are preparing for contract talks and training of mid- and top-level union leaders in a variety of labor-related subjects. Various educational aids will be utilized in these programs, e.g., case studies, video recorders, and films. AIFLD will complement this in-country training by providing scholarships for (1) courses at the U.S.-based George Meany Labor Studies Center, (2) programs at Harvard University for top union leaders, and (3) the U.S. Department of Labor seminar on the use of economic data in collective bargaining.
