Gerardo Martinez, UOCRA General Secretary and Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Republic of Argentina CGT, received Bernardo Kliksberg at UOCRA headquarters.
Dr Kliksberg is a prestigious economist, Director of the Study Centre of Corporate Social Responsibility of the College of Economic Science at the University of Buenos Aires, one of the foremost experts on Inequality and Poverty in Latin America, as well as the author of 47 books and senior advisor for UNDP, ECLAC and IDB. As Mr. Gerardo Martinez said, the meeting focused on the will of our trade union to strengthen academic links, in a strategic alliance that seeks fair Income redistribution with social justice and the broad experience of this highly important college concerning the proposals to remove inequality.

The meeting also dealt with the urgent need for a new way of mobilization of the civil society, a global citizenship that fights for user and consumer rights and highly demands for social and responsible corporate behavior. As economist Kliksberg stated, nowadays society is more aware and virtuous and tries to democratize companies. In this regard, he developed the issues on the present global economic crisis, defining it as the result of “corporation’s uncontrolled greed” and the urgent agenda of a modern unionism forging alliances with consumers, small shareholders, and other civil organizations for a better participatory democracy in the globalized world. “The crisis is not momentary”, it is a turning point for world economy, and that opens doors to find out policies which recover a violated right, the right to work.” Under this understanding, Mr. Gerardo Martinez developed the multidisciplinary work UOCRA carries out for a universal allowance for children, in order to achieve a real corporate social responsibility. The economist assured that it is necessary to put Corporate Social Responsibility into context during the global crisis process, the model designed by the Washington Consensus was intended for a few and it does not resist. Utopia is to modify global income”. With that motto, UOCRA and the University of Buenos Aires will deliver an International Seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility. By the end, UOCRA General Secretary gave Dr. Bernardo Kliksberg a present, the building workers trowel, in recognition for his labour as a “building worker” of a fairer and more supportive world.