The Global Labor Relations University Conference & 2009 Annual Conference, hosted by the TATA Institute of Social Sciences, was held in Mumbai, India from February 20 to 24, 2009.
The Global Labor Relations University (GLRU) system was initiated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FEF), the International Trade Union Confederation and other institutions. The system is currently composed of relevant universities in Germany, India, South Africa, and Brazil. Its main task is to cultivate specialized talents in the field of labor relations through postgraduate courses, and conduct special research on labor relations and union issues through annual academic conferences. It's the second time for the China University of Labor Relations (CULR) to attend this conference at the invitation of the FEF, following last year's conference held in Berlin.
The theme of the Mumbai conference is "Adverse Impacts of the Financial Crisis on Labor Conditions". Professor Li Deqi, President of the CULR, and Professor Yang Hanping, Vice President of the CULR, were invited to attend the conference by the FEF and gave special speeches on the impact of the financial crisis on Chinese labor relations and the challenges facing trade unions.
During the conference, President Li Deqi had discussions with the head of the Workers' Activities Bureau of the ILO, representatives of the FEF, as well as leaders of relevant universities in Germany, India, South Africa, and Brazil, respectively. He mainly introduced the recent development and basic principles of Chinese trade unions and the basic situation of the CULR. All parties agreed that the academic activities held by the GLRU should invite the CULR more, to gain a better understanding of the unremitting efforts and beneficial experiences of Chinese trade unions in building harmonious labor relations, and they should continuously improve the curriculum of labor relations and expand the scope of student exchanges through cooperation.
(Foreign Affairs Office)