Contact

Don’t hesitate to contact us at NIR. Our head office is based in Stockholm and regional coordinators in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Hanoi and Bogota. Scroll down to meet our team .

Office

Näringslivets Internationella Råd (NIR)
International Council of Swedish Industry

Box 130 09
103 01 STOCKHOLM

Visiting Address:
World Trade Center
Klarabergsviadukten 70
111 64 Stockholm

E-mail

Mail: info@nir.se

Phone

Telephone: +46 8 783 00 50

Our team

Christine
Bäckström

CEO
Email: christine.backstrom@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 65

Mimmi
Bergström

Head of Secretariat
Email: mimmi.bergstrom@nir.se
Tel: 46(0)70-791 93 75

Lauren
McIntosh

Compliance Officer
Email: lauren.mcintosh@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 25

Petter
Sjöblom

Swedish Workplace Programme
Programme Design and Evaluation
Email: petter.sjoblom@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-999 03 85

Binta
Mutale

Swedish Workplace Programme Africa
Email: binta.mutale@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 80

Annie
Ross
Absence of Leave

Programme Director
Email: annie.ross@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 78

Kaveh
Hagi

Swedish Workplace Programme Latin America
kaveh.hagi@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 76

Maria Rindeskär

Programme Director maria.rindeskar@nir.se
Tel:+46 (0)70-791 93 79

Alessandra
Cornale

Programme Director
Swedish Workplace Programme
alessandra.cornale@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 81

Henrik Hallgren

Director Operations
Email: henrik.hallgren@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 99 96

Sena
Ramlochan

Programme Coordinator
South Africa
Email: sena.ramlochan@swpglobal.org
Tel +27 83 777 1118

Irene Ryynänen

Programme Controller Email: irene.ryynanen@nir.se
Tel +46 707 91 93 77

Maria
Castilla

Programme Coordinator Colombia Email: maria.castilla@swpglobal.org
Tel +57 310 667 02 15

Evalena
Persson

Swedish Workplace Programme Asia
Email: evalena.persson@nir.se
Tel: +46 (0)70-791 93 73

Thu Hien
Nguyen

Programme Coordinator Vietnam Email: thuhien.nguyen@swpglobal.org
Tel +84 396 846 321

Patricia
Ponce

Programme Coordinator Colombia Email: patricia.ponce@swpglobal.org
Tel +57 311 8180657

Perpetua Waithera

Programme Coordinator Kenya Email: perpetua.waithera@swpglobal.org
Tel +254 769 255 280

UP!

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UPSKILLING OF UNION SHOP STEWARDS

A lack of enabling environment for social dialogue at the workplace level, despite the provision of legislative acts that protect and promote workplace cooperation is a reoccuring issue  in Kenya. To implement good policy there must be a fertil ground.

Therefore SWP developed the UP!  project. Together with Swedish companies as an entry point, and with unions i South africa and Kenya. 

In Kenya SWP created the SWP UP! Programme targeting skills development of the union Shop Stewards from 18 companies in the Automotive sector in Kenya during 2021. As a result, the Stewards were able to use their skills to build trust and cooperation with management in new ways to avoid conflicts. 

A second cohort of training, in close cooperation with union AUKMW, takes place in 2022.

The training allows shop stewards to step out of their daily routines and understand their role and the purpose of their union, understand the labour market context, the laws that regulate relationships and the business itself. But on a human level, many shop stewards also highlighted that they feel respected as human beings, and that they have developed the skills to engage with supervisors and management and experience respect in professional relations. The experiences had deeply impressed them and helped to project the vision of dialogue and mutual respect and their own potential as a means to change workplaces.

The intervention of the SWP programme had a direct effect at the workplaces, where shop stewards listed several cases where they had managed to intervene and secure results in dialogue with management, avert crises or find solutions based on opportunities and the communication skills obtained during the SWP training. For the Amalgamated Metal Workers Unions in Kenya, the shop stewards pointed to how the training had enabled them to design their own strategies at the workplace in relation to supervisors and staff, and to achieve many concrete results.

Based on this shop steward upskilling, I feel confident that as a union we now have change ambassadors that will grow the industry, protect, and promote decent work principles for both the employer and the employees represented. And that disputes will be dealt with at the workplace level by though consultative dialogue.

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Rose Omamo

General Secretary
Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT AND TRAININGS IN THE UP! PROJECT IN KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA
Click Here