Information needed on some "unions"

[Amusing Scrotum]

Seems like the best place to put this, in terms of getting a response. But if anyone can think of a better forum, then that feel free to move it -- just don't move it to a forum with hardly any traffic.

Anyway, moving on, can anyone provide me with information on the following bodies:Ö.B.U. - Austria (Österreichische Barkeeper Union)
U.B.B. - Belgium (Union of Belgium Barmen)
D.B.U. e.V. - Germany (Deutsche Barkeeper Union)
S.B.U. - Switzerland (Swiss Barkeeper Union)Are these bodies actual unions? And if they are actual unions, does anyone have any information on them? What have they achieved? How militant are they? Have they tried to organise waitstaff? Or have they linked themselves with waitstaff unions?

I don't think they're actually unions, in the way we'd use the word union. As I found those organisations here (http://www.iba-world.com/english/members/50c.php). As you can see, the list mainly contains Guilds and "Associations", which seem to be just professional bodies -- like RIBA or the RICS, for example. But I could be wrong, so any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Leo]

Well they have websites...

http://www.barkeeperunion.at/

http://www.bar-ubb.be/EN/index_en.htm

http://www.dbuev.de/

http://www.barkeeper-union.ch/

I don't think they are actual trade unions.

From the Belgian site:


The Union of Belgium Barmen (UBB) is an association started in 1961 through the enthusiasm and dynamic approach of the Belgian Barmen who wanted to defend the values of the ‘Art of the Bar' and the Know-How where the Cocktails are concerned.
The UBB is the only Association of Bar Professionals in Belgium recognised by the International Bartenders Association (IBA).

With a growing number of passionate members, the UBB is an Association in constant evolution where the respect for the rules and the international recipes fit in perfectly with the modern tendencies in the Art of drinking.
The Association stands unequivocally for quality in products and service, professionalism on the job, creativity and humour.

I don't think this really has much to do with politics so I will move this thread to chit-chat. Please send me a pm if you have any objections.

[Janus]

I don't think this really has much to do with politics so I will move this thread to chit-chat. Please send me a pm if you have any objections.
This thread fits in much better here in Research than it does in Chit Chat.

[Leo]

Yeah, I guess so...

[Amusing Scrotum]

Originally posted by Leo Uilleann+June 08, 2007 08:31 pm--> (Leo Uilleann @ June 08, 2007 08:31 pm)I don't think they are actual trade unions.[/b]

Yeah, that was my impression too. Though, been as it was only the Belgian site I could read, I wanted to see if anyone had any other information. Ah, found out what I wanted. From the IBA site:


IBA Rules & Regulations
Guild Members of the I.B.A. may not be nor connected with a Trade Union Organisation neither will be a member of any other International Bartenders Organisation.

The bodies I listed are all "Guild Members" of the IBA -- so they can't be trade unions. Which is a shame, given that I thought I'd found one of the few examples of service sector workers being organised into unions.

You can trash this thread now, if you want.

[which doctor]

Which is a shame, given that I thought I'd found one of the few examples of service sector workers being organised into unions.
How about the recent movement among some Starbucks in the USA unionizing with the IWW?

[HaniLives!]

Few examples of service sector workers being organized?! I don't know where you're located, but that's certainly not the case in the USA. The two unions here most focused on organizing the unorganized and that are making the strongest gains are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and UNITE-HERE, both of which organize in the service sector. The HERE side of UNITE-HERE organizes in the hospitality industry, so that includes bartenders, waitresses and the like. Las Vegas has become a union stronghold in the States due in no small part to the efforts of HERE's Local 226.

Also worth checking out is a joint project of SEIU and UNITE-HERE called Service Workers United: http://serviceworkersunited.org/

The IWW campaign at Starbucks is fine, but it should be noted that even the fairly new SWU project represents a number of workers that dwarfs the entire worldwide membership of the IWW many times over. The unions above and the unions that they have partnered with in other countries are the place to look for serious organizing in the service sector.